I don't think, that any card will make the cut for me, except for maybe Gixian Infiltrator for my cube specifically. Apart from that I'm only kind of interested in Prison Sentence, because Scry 2 seems like a nice upside to Arrest, but right now, I don't think it will make the cut.
Edit: I forgot Scrapwork Rager, which seems quite decent to me.
I've been waiting for GftT for years and was pleasantly surprised when we got Cast Down, which is obviously the best possible one for constructed, but for cube this is still great. Maybe we get Ultimate Price and/or Power Word Kill as well in one of the next complementary products.
Edit: Btw. has anyone found a way to filter for rarity downshifts on Scryfall? I know you can exclude reprints, but that doesn't help.
Tolarian Terror/Writhing Necromass: As high variance as I expected. Requiring a specific card type compared to just any card with Delve makes these pretty awkward in most decks and requires a highly dedicated game plan.
Tattered Apparition: Absolute trash. Paying 4 mana at sorcery speed for a creature, that can be dealt with this easily is awful.
The only exception to my previous evaluations was 1 card, which I didn't have on the radar at all: Vineshaper Prodigy: You can basically forget, that this can be played without kicker, but it's still nice as a cornercase upside, like with Mulldrifter Evoke. A 4 mana 2/2, that casts a free Anticipate has been pretty amazing for me. Right now this is the only card I consider adding to the cube, since Simic isn't the strongest guild, IMHO.
so terror and necromass are bad because they dont have delve and because delve is antigy?
No they have a mechanic, which is a lot worse than Delve, because it requires a specific card type instead of any card in the graveyard and if you already have Delve cards, you might want to give it a second though before adding cards, which synergize extremely badly with them.
Even though the average powerlevel seems decently high it seems to be more focused into the UCs. I can't actually say I'm that unhappy with not getting anything exciting. We got so much new stuff lately, it has become harder and harder to cut anything.
Argivian Phalanx certainly seems interesting for token decks, with affinity for creatures over convoke. Thinking about this.
In Thrall to the Pit is basically Grab the Reins. Kinda interresting actually, even though it will not make the cut for me, because I'm happy with my Rakdos cards and 7 mana is though.
Tolarian Terror and Writhing Necromass don't seem particularly viable in limited to me. Asking for a specific card type compared to Delve makes it a lot harder to enable and it's not like all the Delve cards are always 1 mana easily. Also Delve is a nonbo with anything else, that wants a graveyard.
So far nothing really catched my eye. I'm kind of interested in Enlist, but it's kinda hard to evaluate without seeing it in action. It certainly has a lot of potential.
I was recently thinking about my last atorius slot. I have been running Curse of Chains for a while and while it's certainly a strong card I prefer more unique effects for my multicolor slots.
Chhose 1: Lyev Skyknight: Decent body and flicker target.
vs. Silver Drake: Self bounce is definitely a tempo loss, compared to flicker, but with the overabundance of etb effects (especially draw a card) we recently got in white, more ways to retrigger them would be nice.
I think that Auras is far stronger, but I e.g. personally cut auras, not because it wasn't strong, but because hexproof is a really frustrating and non interactive keyword. I'm not looking to include this archetype right now, but I can certainly see it being viable, mostly because a whole lot of the cards for this archetype are just totally playable on their own.
I will certainly test the Buglar and I'm quite optimistic. 20/39 white creatures in my cube have 2 or less power, including a lot of 4 drops like Guardian of the Guildpact and Coalition Honor Guard.
Choose 2: Tithe Drinker: Child of Night (decent card on it's own) with Extort on top. It's really fragile, but can also do a lot for you if your opponent can't handle it fast. From my experience Extort is obviously amazing, but the 2/1 body can rarely participate in combat and it feels more like a fragile enchantment.
vs. Blind Hunter: Bloodhunter Bat with Haunt. I don't think that the initial card is very impressive, but the haunt is is certainly not that hard to trigger and with the additional drain it definitely hits quite hard.
vs. Cartel Aristocrat: I certainly remember it being quite good, especially because I support a sacrifice theme in black anyway.
I remember Relief Captain not being all that good actually. Requireing 3 other creatures is a lot to ask and I really disliked Bolster, because the creatures couldn't target themself. That was just bad design.
I think most of the interesting cards and especially downshifts were spoiled in the first wave.
The difference between the threat of activation between Swiftspear and Seeker is, that the Seeker deals at least 2 damage or completely shuts of attacks, while the Swiftspear just threatens 1 damage. Sure it can threaten a decent block, but I don't think you really want to play the Swiftspear in a deck, that is looking to block, while the seeker fits into any deck.
Edit: I forgot Scrapwork Rager, which seems quite decent to me.
Edit: Btw. has anyone found a way to filter for rarity downshifts on Scryfall? I know you can exclude reprints, but that doesn't help.
Argivian Phalanx: Decent if you can curve out well. Definitely a medium-high variance card.
Citizen's Arrest: A decent alternative to some of the aura removal. Exiling is certainly a very high upside.
Talas Lookout: Rock solid playable.
Tolarian Terror/Writhing Necromass: As high variance as I expected. Requiring a specific card type compared to just any card with Delve makes these pretty awkward in most decks and requires a highly dedicated game plan.
Tattered Apparition: Absolute trash. Paying 4 mana at sorcery speed for a creature, that can be dealt with this easily is awful.
The only exception to my previous evaluations was 1 card, which I didn't have on the radar at all:
Vineshaper Prodigy: You can basically forget, that this can be played without kicker, but it's still nice as a cornercase upside, like with Mulldrifter Evoke. A 4 mana 2/2, that casts a free Anticipate has been pretty amazing for me. Right now this is the only card I consider adding to the cube, since Simic isn't the strongest guild, IMHO.
Argivian Phalanx certainly seems interesting for token decks, with affinity for creatures over convoke. Thinking about this.
In Thrall to the Pit is basically Grab the Reins. Kinda interresting actually, even though it will not make the cut for me, because I'm happy with my Rakdos cards and 7 mana is though.
Tolarian Terror and Writhing Necromass don't seem particularly viable in limited to me. Asking for a specific card type compared to Delve makes it a lot harder to enable and it's not like all the Delve cards are always 1 mana easily. Also Delve is a nonbo with anything else, that wants a graveyard.
Chhose 1:
Lyev Skyknight: Decent body and flicker target.
vs.
Silver Drake: Self bounce is definitely a tempo loss, compared to flicker, but with the overabundance of etb effects (especially draw a card) we recently got in white, more ways to retrigger them would be nice.
My changes are the following (Out > In):
→ Perilous Shadow > Vampire Sovereign
→ Witty Roastmaster > Dark-Dweller Oracle
→ Soul Reap > Dreg Mangler
→ Frostburn Weird > Izzet Charm
→ Spike Jester > Fireblade Artist
→ Abyssal Gatekeeper > Seekers' Squire
→ Imperiosaur > Experiment One
→ Stampeding Elk Herd > Gnarlback Rhino
→ Blind Hunter > Cartel Aristocrat
→ Heavy Ballista > Militia Bugler
Tithe Drinker: Child of Night (decent card on it's own) with Extort on top. It's really fragile, but can also do a lot for you if your opponent can't handle it fast. From my experience Extort is obviously amazing, but the 2/1 body can rarely participate in combat and it feels more like a fragile enchantment.
vs.
Blind Hunter: Bloodhunter Bat with Haunt. I don't think that the initial card is very impressive, but the haunt is is certainly not that hard to trigger and with the additional drain it definitely hits quite hard.
vs.
Cartel Aristocrat: I certainly remember it being quite good, especially because I support a sacrifice theme in black anyway.
I think most of the interesting cards and especially downshifts were spoiled in the first wave.
I'm most likely looking to include:
Vampire Sovereign
Dreg Mangler
Experiment One
Seekers' Squire
Gnarlback Rhino
Dark-Dweller Oracle
Fireblade Artist
Izzet Charm
I'm keeping an eye out for:
Advanced Stitchwing
Cartel Aristocrat