Glad you decided to contribute! Let us know how your group likes Nissa.
Nissa is a powerhouse and fits in her guild so well. Her interactions with Sylvan Library and Oracle of Mul Daya are very oppressive in card advantage almost to Jace, the Mind Sculptor levels. I think it may be even better than Edric. But that may just be my "cult of the new" mentality.
A good article: thoughtful and accurate as always. I'm always interested to see what makes it in the most competitive cubes.
Reading this prompted my to write up my own top 20, since they are so different from yours. Since mine is a casual cube, highlights are not the most powerful cards, but the cards with the most deck versatility, and potential synergy.
#20: Bone Picker. I want to like this card, but I think it's mostly just a bird. In the first few turns, it's not that likely to get played, and after that, it isn't as relevant. This reminds me of surge more than anything else. I have high hopes for this, but I'm not sure it will prove itself.
#19: Cut // Ribbons This card is just gross. It's a decent removal spell that threatens to kill them later. Make no mistake, this card will be taken in the first three or four picks. It's a shame that the mana cost doesn't line up to be playable in Channel decks, but this is good enough without that. In terms of power level, this card is through the roof, but it's kind of just goodstuff. It has graveyard synergy, and doubling as a finisher is a nice upside, so there's some interesting stuff going on.
#18: Oketra's Monument: Nothing does exactly this but this, and it's clearly a powerful ability. I don't know how this will play, but I'm betting it's a beating in any aggressive deck that's heavily white. This is the only monument that looks like an adequate payoff for the effect, but I'm optimistic. Shrine of Loyal Legions is a pretty good card, and this has a few things going for it that that didn't.
#17: Greater Sandwurm: This guy loves being reanimated, and the colorless cycling cost lets you splash this as a random fatty if you need to. Desert Cerodon is also pretty great, and I won't be embarrassed to run both of them. Sure, they get chumped, but cycling does a lot for an expensive card.
#16: Champion of Rhonas: There are not a lot of cards with this ability, and I'll take what I can get. Attacking with a 3/3 on turn five is super dangerous in my cube, and the instant speed creature drop is pretty important on Elvish Piper, but this has the decent body that the piper never did. My cube loves cards like this.
#15: Vizier of Tumbling Sands: This is an innocuous card, but one that does a lot of things. A blue mana dork is a big deal, even at three mana. Puppeteer and Seeker of Skybreak have shown me how good untapping creatures can be, and there's a pretty fun deck in my cube that revolves around cards like these alongside creatures that tap for value. Adding cycling is great, and the little cycling upside even makes this a combat trick. This might secretly be the best card in Amonkhet for my cube.
#14: Aven Wind Guide: I haven't seen anybody talking about this guy (mostly because nobody but me has room in their guild slots). This isn't Intangible Virtue, but unlike virtue, it has legs (and wings,) and is decent in a blue/white deck regardless of synergies, and that makes it playable in cubes that aren't just archetype focused. Blue/white is not the best color combination for a token deck, but bant is. This guy is a decent lord for a specific archetype, as well as being decent on his own, and playable from the graveyard. That's enough check marks to give him a pass in my book. Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun is very similar, but I like the bird a little better.
#13: Sweltering Suns: Cycling is a really good upside on this kind of card, and this one is quite good. However, the ability is one that has been printed in loads of different ways, so this card has a lot of competition. Pyroclasm is likely the best version, and this one definitely feels lower, but it's still a strong contender, and a great card.
#12: Vizier of Deferment: Flickerwisp is better, but Vizier is pretty great, and she does loads of things that Flickerwisp can't. I'm a fan of combat tricks, and she gets pretty tricksy, all while also enabling blink strategies. She's goodstuff for most white decks, and she's a sweet enabler for a popular strategy. Not bad for an uncommon.
#11: Bloodrage Brawler: I'm a fan of red graveyard love, and I'm a fan of cards that slide into multiple archetypes, and this card does it. It's good in aggro, and great if you want to discard. I'm actually a fan of Miasmic Mummy as well, but it's a bit too weak for my cube.
#10: Stir the Sands. It's a Striped Bear that doubles as a finisher. What's not to love? I like this better than Liliana's Mastery because of the versatility, but Mastery is a good card by itself with a tribal upside, and I like cards like that a lot. I do prefer Stir the Sands because of the flexibility, and because an uncommon is easier to acquire than a rare.
#9: Oketra's Attendant: This is an innocuous little card, and I don't think it's all that incredibly powerful, but it adds a great deal of depth to white. Historically these kinds of cards usually play better than they read, and this bird lady does a lot of little things well. Along with Trueheart Duelist, this card helps white out tremendously with white's lack of graveyard synergy.
#8: Soul-Scar Mage: This guy is good in several different decks, which is what a card needs to get my approval. It's basically a second Monastery Swiftspear, since it's good in most of the same decks, but the burn synergy makes it feel a little more interesting to draft with.
#7: Vizier of the Menagerie: This guy is fabulous, and seems pretty fun with Oracle of Mul Daya. He's basically the king of midrange. BUT he's a four drop green creature; a slot filled with kings and queens of midrange. He's also mythic who is likely to maintain some value, so I probably won't go out of my way to acquire him. He's good, but I don't know if he's meaningfully better than his competition.
#6: Kefnet the Mindful: I bet this guy plays a lot better than he reads. What I love about Kefnet is that he does so many different things. The land bounce is a really interesting sidebar that I'm happy to try, since cards with moonfolk type abilities and Living Tsunami were never really able to get there for me. Azure Mage was always decent, but boring. This guy is anything but boring, and he is so skill intensive to play that I'd love to see what he can do.
#5: Quarry Hauler: Shenanigans! I'm happy to put the common camel in over the mythic green snake-man. There was never enough proliferate to satiate my cube, and I adore these kinds of effects. This slots right on top of Maulfist Revolutionary, and the added bonus of sniping the last counter from their Jace Beleren sounds pretty fun. I think this is decidedly my favorite card in the camel tribe.
#4: Commit // Memory. This does so much, but is never broken (unless you've really set Memory up, in which case you deserve it). This card is fabulous. Griptide is not a bad card, and this does so much more, while not being overly oppressive, since it's mostly just an answer.
#3: Merciless Javelineer. Spellshapers play very well in my cube, but unfortunately, there weren't that many good spellshapers printed. This does loads of things I want it to do. It's basically a budget alternative to Hazoret the Fervent, and there will be many times where it's better. I'd gladly run both of them. Costing colorless mana, and not requiring a tap are both big game. This is my top card for Amonkhet draft, and I expect it to be great in my cube. My guild slots are big enough that a cut shouldn't be too hard.
#2: Cycling Lands. These are probably my favorite dual lands for my cube after the man lands. The fact is that good lands are more or less interchangeable in my cube, but these ones are just delightful. I'll try pretty hard to acquire some of them, and I'll be pretty disappointed if they don't finish the cycle in Hour of Devastation.
#1: Hazoret the Fervent. She's a great early pick, but not every deck wants her. She pretty much creates a deck archetype to draft around, and she plays very well with all kinds of graveyard decks. I also have a thing for red graveyard support, and this exactly what that needed, plus it can even be played as an aggro card. Not only that, she requires enough support that she is unlikely to be overpowered in my cube. I'll try to get a copy.
I'm pretty surprised by how hard it was to whittle this to just 20. Some of my favorite cards were left out, such as Drake Haven, which I'd really like to test.
Haven't Cubed in 6 months and decided to dive in and update for last couple sets. Completely missed Forsake the Worldly until I read this! Thanks for taking the time to do this, very helpful.
Nissa is a powerhouse and fits in her guild so well. Her interactions with Sylvan Library and Oracle of Mul Daya are very oppressive in card advantage almost to Jace, the Mind Sculptor levels. I think it may be even better than Edric. But that may just be my "cult of the new" mentality.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/414
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Reading this prompted my to write up my own top 20, since they are so different from yours. Since mine is a casual cube, highlights are not the most powerful cards, but the cards with the most deck versatility, and potential synergy.
#20: Bone Picker. I want to like this card, but I think it's mostly just a bird. In the first few turns, it's not that likely to get played, and after that, it isn't as relevant. This reminds me of surge more than anything else. I have high hopes for this, but I'm not sure it will prove itself.
#19: Cut // Ribbons This card is just gross. It's a decent removal spell that threatens to kill them later. Make no mistake, this card will be taken in the first three or four picks. It's a shame that the mana cost doesn't line up to be playable in Channel decks, but this is good enough without that. In terms of power level, this card is through the roof, but it's kind of just goodstuff. It has graveyard synergy, and doubling as a finisher is a nice upside, so there's some interesting stuff going on.
#18: Oketra's Monument: Nothing does exactly this but this, and it's clearly a powerful ability. I don't know how this will play, but I'm betting it's a beating in any aggressive deck that's heavily white. This is the only monument that looks like an adequate payoff for the effect, but I'm optimistic. Shrine of Loyal Legions is a pretty good card, and this has a few things going for it that that didn't.
#17: Greater Sandwurm: This guy loves being reanimated, and the colorless cycling cost lets you splash this as a random fatty if you need to. Desert Cerodon is also pretty great, and I won't be embarrassed to run both of them. Sure, they get chumped, but cycling does a lot for an expensive card.
#16: Champion of Rhonas: There are not a lot of cards with this ability, and I'll take what I can get. Attacking with a 3/3 on turn five is super dangerous in my cube, and the instant speed creature drop is pretty important on Elvish Piper, but this has the decent body that the piper never did. My cube loves cards like this.
#15: Vizier of Tumbling Sands: This is an innocuous card, but one that does a lot of things. A blue mana dork is a big deal, even at three mana. Puppeteer and Seeker of Skybreak have shown me how good untapping creatures can be, and there's a pretty fun deck in my cube that revolves around cards like these alongside creatures that tap for value. Adding cycling is great, and the little cycling upside even makes this a combat trick. This might secretly be the best card in Amonkhet for my cube.
#14: Aven Wind Guide: I haven't seen anybody talking about this guy (mostly because nobody but me has room in their guild slots). This isn't Intangible Virtue, but unlike virtue, it has legs (and wings,) and is decent in a blue/white deck regardless of synergies, and that makes it playable in cubes that aren't just archetype focused. Blue/white is not the best color combination for a token deck, but bant is. This guy is a decent lord for a specific archetype, as well as being decent on his own, and playable from the graveyard. That's enough check marks to give him a pass in my book. Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun is very similar, but I like the bird a little better.
#13: Sweltering Suns: Cycling is a really good upside on this kind of card, and this one is quite good. However, the ability is one that has been printed in loads of different ways, so this card has a lot of competition. Pyroclasm is likely the best version, and this one definitely feels lower, but it's still a strong contender, and a great card.
#12: Vizier of Deferment: Flickerwisp is better, but Vizier is pretty great, and she does loads of things that Flickerwisp can't. I'm a fan of combat tricks, and she gets pretty tricksy, all while also enabling blink strategies. She's goodstuff for most white decks, and she's a sweet enabler for a popular strategy. Not bad for an uncommon.
#11: Bloodrage Brawler: I'm a fan of red graveyard love, and I'm a fan of cards that slide into multiple archetypes, and this card does it. It's good in aggro, and great if you want to discard. I'm actually a fan of Miasmic Mummy as well, but it's a bit too weak for my cube.
#10: Stir the Sands. It's a Striped Bear that doubles as a finisher. What's not to love? I like this better than Liliana's Mastery because of the versatility, but Mastery is a good card by itself with a tribal upside, and I like cards like that a lot. I do prefer Stir the Sands because of the flexibility, and because an uncommon is easier to acquire than a rare.
#9: Oketra's Attendant: This is an innocuous little card, and I don't think it's all that incredibly powerful, but it adds a great deal of depth to white. Historically these kinds of cards usually play better than they read, and this bird lady does a lot of little things well. Along with Trueheart Duelist, this card helps white out tremendously with white's lack of graveyard synergy.
#8: Soul-Scar Mage: This guy is good in several different decks, which is what a card needs to get my approval. It's basically a second Monastery Swiftspear, since it's good in most of the same decks, but the burn synergy makes it feel a little more interesting to draft with.
#7: Vizier of the Menagerie: This guy is fabulous, and seems pretty fun with Oracle of Mul Daya. He's basically the king of midrange. BUT he's a four drop green creature; a slot filled with kings and queens of midrange. He's also mythic who is likely to maintain some value, so I probably won't go out of my way to acquire him. He's good, but I don't know if he's meaningfully better than his competition.
#6: Kefnet the Mindful: I bet this guy plays a lot better than he reads. What I love about Kefnet is that he does so many different things. The land bounce is a really interesting sidebar that I'm happy to try, since cards with moonfolk type abilities and Living Tsunami were never really able to get there for me. Azure Mage was always decent, but boring. This guy is anything but boring, and he is so skill intensive to play that I'd love to see what he can do.
#5: Quarry Hauler: Shenanigans! I'm happy to put the common camel in over the mythic green snake-man. There was never enough proliferate to satiate my cube, and I adore these kinds of effects. This slots right on top of Maulfist Revolutionary, and the added bonus of sniping the last counter from their Jace Beleren sounds pretty fun. I think this is decidedly my favorite card in the camel tribe.
#4: Commit // Memory. This does so much, but is never broken (unless you've really set Memory up, in which case you deserve it). This card is fabulous. Griptide is not a bad card, and this does so much more, while not being overly oppressive, since it's mostly just an answer.
#3: Merciless Javelineer. Spellshapers play very well in my cube, but unfortunately, there weren't that many good spellshapers printed. This does loads of things I want it to do. It's basically a budget alternative to Hazoret the Fervent, and there will be many times where it's better. I'd gladly run both of them. Costing colorless mana, and not requiring a tap are both big game. This is my top card for Amonkhet draft, and I expect it to be great in my cube. My guild slots are big enough that a cut shouldn't be too hard.
#2: Cycling Lands. These are probably my favorite dual lands for my cube after the man lands. The fact is that good lands are more or less interchangeable in my cube, but these ones are just delightful. I'll try pretty hard to acquire some of them, and I'll be pretty disappointed if they don't finish the cycle in Hour of Devastation.
#1: Hazoret the Fervent. She's a great early pick, but not every deck wants her. She pretty much creates a deck archetype to draft around, and she plays very well with all kinds of graveyard decks. I also have a thing for red graveyard support, and this exactly what that needed, plus it can even be played as an aggro card. Not only that, she requires enough support that she is unlikely to be overpowered in my cube. I'll try to get a copy.
I'm pretty surprised by how hard it was to whittle this to just 20. Some of my favorite cards were left out, such as Drake Haven, which I'd really like to test.
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My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!