Forgot about this thread, but I guess we have some new cards I haven't seen others play since the last time I posted here. This is gonna be a long one...
First and foremost, Angel of the Ruins is amazing. The card sees so much play in so many decks, it's honestly incredible. Reanimator, Control, Oath of Druids, Artifact Ramp, fair Recurring Nightmare decks, the card is everywhere. It even fixes mana off of dual lands! Can't recommend this card enough, it's everything I wanted Emeria's Call to be and so much more.
Most cubes I see on here also don't play Plague Engineer which is baffling to me, because we've been playing it for well over 2 years now and that card is absolutely stellar, imo the second best black 3 drop after Rotting Regisaur. Whether it's in aggro, control, midrange, or even the slower reanimator decks, the card gets maindecked in everything. The same way an early Deranged Hermit can single-handedly win you a bunch of aggro matchups, Plague Engineer oftentimes does the same for 3 mana, except it is also one of the best cards available in aggro decks for wiping away your opponents' wide blocking token boards. It's great defensively and has a ton of applications aggressively too, and before anyone mentions that it's only goo din fair matchups, that hasn't been the case either. The card blocks everything well, and can trade with most fatties while cleaning up Myr Battlesphere and Hornet Queen tokens. I promise that card plays soooo much better than it looks, singleton format be damned. Should also mention that it just annihilates green decks of the Elf subtype and white off of Humans, and completely erases all the red 3cmc token producers from combat. The worst case scenario is a 2/2 with deathtoutch for 3 that "pings" something, a debuff that oftentimes lets one of your 2/2s or 3/3s trade up.
I remember bringing up Bomat Courier in the Cube-Card-of-the-Day thread a few years back encouraging others to test it, and I think a bunch of people did but then proceeded to cut it. I'm sure there's good reason for that, but in my playgroup's experience Bomat has been arguably red's second or third best 1 drop prior to Ragavan's printing. It constantly accounts for 2-4 dmage and 3-5 cards for 1-2 measly mana, and is even castable on turn one off of off-color moxen/mana crypt/sol ring which is not a menial upside. I have less to say for this card since its extensive standard dominance and occasional legacy showings already display the play patterns for the card, but just know that the little guy definitely finds it's way into all sorts of aggro and midrange decks, even off of splashes.
Beast Within and Song of the Dryads have been great too. I think people used to play them but cut them for space over the years, but tbh they've only gotten better as PWs and fatties have gotten more and more pushed over the years. Beast Within especially is certainly the better of the two, and makes its way into almost all our green decks, even in aggro and ramp. I'd put it in Council's Judgement territory without batting an eye, with Song a step below all the Oblivion Ring variants but still more than playable, especially in green.
For multicolor, we play all the obvious stuff, but Klothys, God of Destiny has been absurd. It goes in everything, gets splashed constantly, takes over games when it hits the board, and fills every niche you could want in draft and deckbuilding. Gruul is a solid color combination, and I'd vouch for Klothys as the easy #2 behind only Atarka.
Nahiri, the Harbinger isn't actually that great, but she's certainly playable and gets about as much millage as Figure of Destiny in our cube by nature of uniqueness alone. If you don't play her, no harm no foul, but I'd definitely give her a shot because people love to splash for her in all kinds of decks. Control, renaimator, Sneak Attack, Oath, etc can all get fatties off the top-end to win the game, and shes the kind of card that just gets the gears turning for people. If you have a Boros flex slot available that you're just using to test new cards, I'd highly recommend her.
I've mentioned Glare of Subdual before, and I'm not going to go into a whole spiel again, but it's been bar none the best Selesnya card in our cube for like 5 years straight now and it hasn't been particularly close either. It's just as dominant as Opposition vs everything except exactly control, and turns out like 80% of opposition is still ridiculous. Card just shuts down like 80% of other cube decks.
Ugin, the Ineffable has been a colorless Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and isn't going anywhere any time soon. Goes in Control, all the ramp decks, Channel decks, and even some midrange decks. The static ability is super relevant in ramp decks, especially if you play Eldrazi titans, and the card advantage it creates gets out of control insanely fast. It's been leagues better than Karn Liberated for us by comparison, and is without a doubt a premier 6 drop in our cube.
Sawtusk Demolisher has been some pretty stellar agressive/midrange top end for us so far. Has received substantially less extensive testing (just 2 or 3 months now since mutate wasn't on XMage) than every other non-Angel card I've listed so far, but a splashable pseudo-Demon of Catastrophes with haste and a Terrastodon proc has been really good for us so far. Again, by far the least testing of anything I've mentioned so far as most of the cards I'm bringing up have been in our cube for several years, but looks like it's gonna stick around for a while.
Component Pouch has only been in for 5 (I think?) drafts so far over Worn Powerstone, and has already blown away expectations. The card sees play in control and midrange decks all the time a-la pseudo-Coalition Relic, and the fixing has been invaluable. If you aren't comfortable with that swap, I'd at least recommend trying the Pouch in a different slot, as I am confidant that it has got to be better than something. Card deserves a fair shot, goofy die-rolling and counters aside.
And finally I know I've been mentioned her a million times before, but Arcane Artisan is amazing, and it amazes me that there are still cubes that support reanimator/show and tell/sneak attack/Oath of Druids (aka most cubes on here) that don't play it. It's a one-card combo enabler that gets around removal off the EOT activation, and can even loot for value in the late game.
And I think that's everything, whew now I need to go get dinner
Pieces of the Puzzle seems like a very narrow Forbiddn Alchemy / Strategic Planning variant. Digging deep and fueling the graveyard is nice, but only getting instants / sorceries is pretty narrow, plus a lot of reanimation effects are enchantments.
To be fair, Peices of the Puzzle has seen legacy play. I’m not sure it’s Cubeable at small sizes, but it’s good to think of it as a mega-Compulsive Research, or even a double Impulse than as a simple card draw spell. Card is definitely good in constructed, not that I can give input on its limited playability as it never made my maindeck in SOI/EMN drafts.
I remember seeing quite a bit of Jeweled Amulet fast edh combo decks. It never occurred to me that it could be cubable but it was good in edh, so I definitely want to try it out now. How does Springleaf Drum compare? Springleaf Drum has historically been like a mox for aggro/combo decks in modern and back in extended. Might that be something worth testing?
I also decided to go back and check my cube for cards that I don't see around much. They aren't necessarily the best cards ever, but I'm curious as to why I don't see them more as they've been pretty excellent for us: Orcish Lumberjack- It exchanges long term gain for short term burst, which we've found it necessary for midrange decks to survive. Dropping a thundermaw on t2 is insane, not to mention absolute degeneracies this early such as Sneak Attack and Plow under. Shrine of Burning Rage- Many used to play this but have cut it, but it's still excellent over here. Shrine often gets 7 or 8 counters by turn 5, which is just insane. Just drop it on turn two and watch it tick up unbelievably quickly. Najeela, the Blade-Blossom- Has been surprisingly good for us. Worse than Rabblemaster and Garrison, but better than all the other red 3's. It's a super fast clock vs decks that fail to react fast enough like combo or control. Arcane Artisan- It's been amazing for us, if you haven't tried it I'd give it a shot Glare of Subdual- Worse Opposition has still been excellent, especially great in its colors or even the cheeky winter orb combo. Tamiyo, Field Researcher- Has been great in aggressive and midrange decks as it can be a good card advantage engine and/or allow you to slow down games or even race if necessary. Broodmate Dragon- Plays really well as one of the few cards that can clog boards vs aggro and kill quickly vs other decks. Plays around removal really well and seems a lot better to me than the new 7/7 Jund dragon. Chained to the Rocks- Boros multicolored cards blow ass, but this has proved itself to be the best one for us. Garruk, Primal Hunter- This guy is actually just nuts. Great top end in ramp, and clogs of boards/draws cards like nobodies business. Lore Seeker- Not everybody gets to try these types of cards, but if you draft with paper this card is super fun and everybody is always excited when the Lore Seeker gets picked.
Nothing crazy, but certainly worth looking into if you haven't in the past! If you guys have any cards that preform really well but don't see others using don't be shy and please speak up, as I love to test new cards all the time, so any input is always greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Forgot to mention Painlands. If you play fastlands or filterlands, you should probably be playing painlands instead. They are much better cards in standard historically, and they are no different in a cube setting.
To this day I have yet to see another cube play Hymn of the Wilds. The card is insane and probably one of the best cards in our entire cube, if not the best. If cards are included in your cube on power level alone, this card is a must-have. If you don’t play it because it isn’t vintage legal, man are you missing out! It lets your aggro and midrange decks start the game with a mox that doesn’t cost a card every single game, at the small cost of not running any instants or sorceries. That sounds like a big sacrifice, but it really isn’t, it just means that hymn is not great when paired with blue, but the rest of the colors are all still really strong with it. I’ve played this card in my cube since about a month or two after the card came out, and I am speaking from personal experience when I say that it is absolutely amazing.
Awesome write-up! I'll definitely read the whole thing when I have more time and I get home, but hopefully there are some worthwhile gems in here.
All I can add is that Thalia's Lieutenant and Champion of the Parish have been really good in my cube, and at this point with the density of powerful humans I'd recommend them to everybody. Nothing crazy by an means, and in no way a staple, but the human package is certainly incredibly powerful and I feel like more people should give it a shot, just to see if they like it. Its just such an easy inclusion and the payoff creatures are super good, Parish oftentimes getting up to a 4/4 or 5/5 for :symw:, and Lieutenant being similarly good early game but a much better topdeck.
First and foremost, Angel of the Ruins is amazing. The card sees so much play in so many decks, it's honestly incredible. Reanimator, Control, Oath of Druids, Artifact Ramp, fair Recurring Nightmare decks, the card is everywhere. It even fixes mana off of dual lands! Can't recommend this card enough, it's everything I wanted Emeria's Call to be and so much more.
Most cubes I see on here also don't play Plague Engineer which is baffling to me, because we've been playing it for well over 2 years now and that card is absolutely stellar, imo the second best black 3 drop after Rotting Regisaur. Whether it's in aggro, control, midrange, or even the slower reanimator decks, the card gets maindecked in everything. The same way an early Deranged Hermit can single-handedly win you a bunch of aggro matchups, Plague Engineer oftentimes does the same for 3 mana, except it is also one of the best cards available in aggro decks for wiping away your opponents' wide blocking token boards. It's great defensively and has a ton of applications aggressively too, and before anyone mentions that it's only goo din fair matchups, that hasn't been the case either. The card blocks everything well, and can trade with most fatties while cleaning up Myr Battlesphere and Hornet Queen tokens. I promise that card plays soooo much better than it looks, singleton format be damned. Should also mention that it just annihilates green decks of the Elf subtype and white off of Humans, and completely erases all the red 3cmc token producers from combat. The worst case scenario is a 2/2 with deathtoutch for 3 that "pings" something, a debuff that oftentimes lets one of your 2/2s or 3/3s trade up.
I remember bringing up Bomat Courier in the Cube-Card-of-the-Day thread a few years back encouraging others to test it, and I think a bunch of people did but then proceeded to cut it. I'm sure there's good reason for that, but in my playgroup's experience Bomat has been arguably red's second or third best 1 drop prior to Ragavan's printing. It constantly accounts for 2-4 dmage and 3-5 cards for 1-2 measly mana, and is even castable on turn one off of off-color moxen/mana crypt/sol ring which is not a menial upside. I have less to say for this card since its extensive standard dominance and occasional legacy showings already display the play patterns for the card, but just know that the little guy definitely finds it's way into all sorts of aggro and midrange decks, even off of splashes.
Beast Within and Song of the Dryads have been great too. I think people used to play them but cut them for space over the years, but tbh they've only gotten better as PWs and fatties have gotten more and more pushed over the years. Beast Within especially is certainly the better of the two, and makes its way into almost all our green decks, even in aggro and ramp. I'd put it in Council's Judgement territory without batting an eye, with Song a step below all the Oblivion Ring variants but still more than playable, especially in green.
For multicolor, we play all the obvious stuff, but Klothys, God of Destiny has been absurd. It goes in everything, gets splashed constantly, takes over games when it hits the board, and fills every niche you could want in draft and deckbuilding. Gruul is a solid color combination, and I'd vouch for Klothys as the easy #2 behind only Atarka.
Nahiri, the Harbinger isn't actually that great, but she's certainly playable and gets about as much millage as Figure of Destiny in our cube by nature of uniqueness alone. If you don't play her, no harm no foul, but I'd definitely give her a shot because people love to splash for her in all kinds of decks. Control, renaimator, Sneak Attack, Oath, etc can all get fatties off the top-end to win the game, and shes the kind of card that just gets the gears turning for people. If you have a Boros flex slot available that you're just using to test new cards, I'd highly recommend her.
I've mentioned Glare of Subdual before, and I'm not going to go into a whole spiel again, but it's been bar none the best Selesnya card in our cube for like 5 years straight now and it hasn't been particularly close either. It's just as dominant as Opposition vs everything except exactly control, and turns out like 80% of opposition is still ridiculous. Card just shuts down like 80% of other cube decks.
Ugin, the Ineffable has been a colorless Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and isn't going anywhere any time soon. Goes in Control, all the ramp decks, Channel decks, and even some midrange decks. The static ability is super relevant in ramp decks, especially if you play Eldrazi titans, and the card advantage it creates gets out of control insanely fast. It's been leagues better than Karn Liberated for us by comparison, and is without a doubt a premier 6 drop in our cube.
Sawtusk Demolisher has been some pretty stellar agressive/midrange top end for us so far. Has received substantially less extensive testing (just 2 or 3 months now since mutate wasn't on XMage) than every other non-Angel card I've listed so far, but a splashable pseudo-Demon of Catastrophes with haste and a Terrastodon proc has been really good for us so far. Again, by far the least testing of anything I've mentioned so far as most of the cards I'm bringing up have been in our cube for several years, but looks like it's gonna stick around for a while.
Component Pouch has only been in for 5 (I think?) drafts so far over Worn Powerstone, and has already blown away expectations. The card sees play in control and midrange decks all the time a-la pseudo-Coalition Relic, and the fixing has been invaluable. If you aren't comfortable with that swap, I'd at least recommend trying the Pouch in a different slot, as I am confidant that it has got to be better than something. Card deserves a fair shot, goofy die-rolling and counters aside.
And finally I know I've been mentioned her a million times before, but Arcane Artisan is amazing, and it amazes me that there are still cubes that support reanimator/show and tell/sneak attack/Oath of Druids (aka most cubes on here) that don't play it. It's a one-card combo enabler that gets around removal off the EOT activation, and can even loot for value in the late game.
And I think that's everything, whew now I need to go get dinner
To be fair, Peices of the Puzzle has seen legacy play. I’m not sure it’s Cubeable at small sizes, but it’s good to think of it as a mega-Compulsive Research, or even a double Impulse than as a simple card draw spell. Card is definitely good in constructed, not that I can give input on its limited playability as it never made my maindeck in SOI/EMN drafts.
I also decided to go back and check my cube for cards that I don't see around much. They aren't necessarily the best cards ever, but I'm curious as to why I don't see them more as they've been pretty excellent for us:
Orcish Lumberjack- It exchanges long term gain for short term burst, which we've found it necessary for midrange decks to survive. Dropping a thundermaw on t2 is insane, not to mention absolute degeneracies this early such as Sneak Attack and Plow under.
Shrine of Burning Rage- Many used to play this but have cut it, but it's still excellent over here. Shrine often gets 7 or 8 counters by turn 5, which is just insane. Just drop it on turn two and watch it tick up unbelievably quickly.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom- Has been surprisingly good for us. Worse than Rabblemaster and Garrison, but better than all the other red 3's. It's a super fast clock vs decks that fail to react fast enough like combo or control.
Arcane Artisan- It's been amazing for us, if you haven't tried it I'd give it a shot
Glare of Subdual- Worse Opposition has still been excellent, especially great in its colors or even the cheeky winter orb combo.
Tamiyo, Field Researcher- Has been great in aggressive and midrange decks as it can be a good card advantage engine and/or allow you to slow down games or even race if necessary.
Broodmate Dragon- Plays really well as one of the few cards that can clog boards vs aggro and kill quickly vs other decks. Plays around removal really well and seems a lot better to me than the new 7/7 Jund dragon.
Chained to the Rocks- Boros multicolored cards blow ass, but this has proved itself to be the best one for us.
Garruk, Primal Hunter- This guy is actually just nuts. Great top end in ramp, and clogs of boards/draws cards like nobodies business.
Lore Seeker- Not everybody gets to try these types of cards, but if you draft with paper this card is super fun and everybody is always excited when the Lore Seeker gets picked.
Nothing crazy, but certainly worth looking into if you haven't in the past! If you guys have any cards that preform really well but don't see others using don't be shy and please speak up, as I love to test new cards all the time, so any input is always greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Forgot to mention Painlands. If you play fastlands or filterlands, you should probably be playing painlands instead. They are much better cards in standard historically, and they are no different in a cube setting.
All I can add is that Thalia's Lieutenant and Champion of the Parish have been really good in my cube, and at this point with the density of powerful humans I'd recommend them to everybody. Nothing crazy by an means, and in no way a staple, but the human package is certainly incredibly powerful and I feel like more people should give it a shot, just to see if they like it. Its just such an easy inclusion and the payoff creatures are super good, Parish oftentimes getting up to a 4/4 or 5/5 for :symw:, and Lieutenant being similarly good early game but a much better topdeck.