I posted this on reddit shortly after it was spoiled and was met with resounding disdain and dislike. Nevertheless, I’m still very high on this card and am happy to see some similar perspectives here. This card should be an aggressive powerhouse, but I understand that Rakdos is very tight in smaller cubes.
A mono-color Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree that makes tokens of a more relevant type that ALSO taps for colored mana. That card was a house for me in constructed, and I have no doubt this card will be pretty great in cubes that can justify the slot.
While I’ve read and understand the criticism of this card on here and in other places of discussion, I nevertheless think this card is going to utterly fantastic for cubes of all sizes. Obviously this card is one that simple theorycraft will not suffice for, but this evokes a feel to me similar to that of Elesh Norn and Craterhoof when they were first previewed (early adopter on both). This should end games on the spot for decks built to abuse synergies, and it should simply stabilize the board for those without.
While I do enjoy Sun Titan gameplay, and think it’s still rock-solid in most cube sizes, my initial hot take is I would cube Archon over it if forced to pick only one.
I must be one of the few, but I very much am a fan of this one. I LOVE to play a good Upheaval-style deck that’s heavy on Signets/Talismans, and this can be a great turn-3 play to set up the rest of the game when you aren’t under a ton of pressure. In those style of decks (as well as heavy-creature UG decks) this card is very often going to be better than Dig Through Time, as the instant-speed isn’t a huge selling point, and delve is a heavy cost to pay.
For those of you that support the Phyrexian Obliterator/Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Geralf's Messenger mono-black deck, this is a nice pickup. Feels very akin to Skred, with a few minor points in favor (recognizes dual lands, can be played as a combat trick against larger creature, trumps indestructible) and a few minor point against (generally doesn't scale quite as well in 2-3 color decks and no random synergies with cards like Boros Reckoner). Thoughts?
I’ve only played with and against this card in limited and standard so far, but that being said I absolutely agree with sandino’s statement. This Nissa would be my choice above all other 5cc green walkers (and I’m a fan of pretty much all of them to varying degrees). This doesn’t feel like “new set hopeful excitement” either...the card is just extremely powerful and has impressed me immensely.
Ah, yes. I certainly recall those days, though I was more of an observer than a participant in that particular debate. Now Rude Awakening on the other hand....
I was admittedly a skeptic of this card at first due to the extremely specific and restrictive mana-cost (just like everybody else here). That said, I have watched enough of him in standard to see that once casting him isn't an issue, he almost acts as a (more?) powerful Consecrated Sphinx, which is very elite company to be in. Once you can cast him he WILL enter play (barring something like Venser, Shaper Savant), and he will at least cantrip (barring a Shriekmaw style creature). If allowed to run wild, he can very easily eclipse the game-impact of other six-drops like Wurmcoil Engine or the Titans. Am I being being a tad hyperbolic? Perhaps. Long story short though, he is not a low-power level card at the very least if you can stomach the very restrictive cost.
Not sure how many cube managers will adopt this card, but my initial take is that it looks somewhat interesting. I, personally, have greatly enjoyed playing Explore in a cube environment, but understand that I'm likely the minority. That said, adding instant speed to this effect can greatly enhance how valuable it is due to playing right into what blue-based decks want to do. At two mana you can have counter mana open, choose not to counter anything, and cast this followed by turn three four-drop. Something like Harrow has a similar play pattern without also allowing you to have four mana on turn three. Making this a gold card is certainly something to consider in regards to how many less decks can include this over Explore, but admittedly Simic is likely the weakest guild in almost every cube, so slots are not super competitive (at least at the beginning of this preview season). Thoughts?
This card seems like it has potential for inclusion in aggressive red strategies, though that's pretty obvious to anyone now that we know exactly what "Spectacle" requires. It feels like a variation on something like Thoughtcast in that it's a draw-two for one with certain stipulations that work better in a cube environment than Thoughtcast did. It's very helpful that you have until the end of your NEXT turn to cast the two cards, so that gives it a bit more flexibility than I initially expected. Thoughts?
Looks like we have ourselves another contender for the red two-drop slot. At first glance this appears to be excellent to me. It serves as the first activation of Dismissive Pyromancer right away without needing additional mana. Can be the discard outlet that cards like Bloodrage Brawler acts as (trades size for replacing the card). And with a little bit of black mana, it can serve a similar role to Bedlam Reveler (trading P/T stats and prowess for no instant/sorcery requirement and more flexibility). I think this is probably a serviceable mono-red card if you categorize it there, and a contender for precious Rakdos gold slots. Thoughts?
This card wasn't really on my radar and I wrote it off as a multiplayer-commander or casual card, but the following quote from Todd Steven's article today had me looking at it in a different light:
Experimental Frenzy is deceptively strong, and I'm very excited about this card. You'll want it to be the one of the last cards cast from your hand, of course, since you won't be able to play other cards in your hand, but it then has the potential to allow you to play many cards each turn. Since it says you may "play" the top card of your library, and not "cast" the top card of your library, you're able to play a land from your library as well.
This means that each turn you should effectively be able to not only hit your land drop but play each other card until you reveal a second land since you won't be able to play two lands in a turn. When you go to your next turn you will draw the land on top of your deck and proceed to play cards until you reveal your second land again. It won't matter that you can't play the card in your hand since it will be a land and you're hitting land drops anyway.
Yes, there will certainly be turns where you don't have enough mana to cast the couple spells before you find your second land, and that you may have to draw a spell you otherwise wanted to cast, but over the long run, you'll be playing more than two cards on average over each of your turns with Experimental Frenzy on the battlefield, allowing you to out-grind midrange and control decks. I think this is another card that's under-the-radar now, but when people start playing with it, they'll realize its power level.
Thoughts on the possibility that this card can translate to cube?
I had forgotten to post a thread on this card when it was originally spoiled, so it's going up now. I understand that this is a fringe card for most smaller cubes as Boros has quickly gotten extremely competitive for cubes with sections in the 3-6 card range (Boros Charm, Lightning Helix, Figure of Destiny, Ajani Vengeant and now Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and Tajic, Legions Edge), so consider this yet again a card for larger cubes. That said, I LOVE this card as double strike is probably my favorite ability to try to make work in cube games...giving new life to any remotely playable combat trick and making the games feel more like traditional limited. So with that, this keyword-soup creature gets me very excited in the ways I'm going to try to go all-in. Larger cubes maybe give this a second look, otherwise, I understand passing on it.
This is one of those last spoilers today that looked at the very least interesting. Might be relegated solely to C/U cubes or possibly just draft tables, but this take on the 1/1 flyer for one looks pretty reasonable to me at first glance. While Suntail Hawk loses value quickly as the game progresses, it gives you an option to Thoughtseize/Distress later in the game once the effect might be profitable to cash in. The tap symbol may hurt it too much, as summoning sickness may make this awkward when you simply want to Doomfall discard/Coercion, but I may give it a shot.
While I do enjoy Sun Titan gameplay, and think it’s still rock-solid in most cube sizes, my initial hot take is I would cube Archon over it if forced to pick only one.
Thoughts on the possibility that this card can translate to cube?