This is my 30th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last few articles, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely!) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.
M20 is a relatively disappointing cube set. It focussed a lot on tribal interactions and devotion strategies—two themes that have not historically translated well to cubes. There’s a lot of fun and interesting designs in the set though, and a few gems that cube managers might be able to run with and enjoy.
What I Like: Returning two permanents directly to the battlefield for two mana at instant speed is a really high-ceiling play. If you can maneuver your way into a proactive position that can capitalize on the effect, or luckily find yourself in a scenario where you can get full value from the effect reactively, it can be pretty backbreaking. I expect the card to play well in constructed where the caster can take full advantage of the effect more often by building around the effect in ways that maximize its consistency.
What I Don't Like: Historically these kinds of effects have been hard to break because they require work to set up and can be difficult to orchestrate the perfect windows for them to function. Particularly with this spell, the double-white casting cost will force the caster to hold up very specific mana when waiting for the perfect window. With adequate sacrifice outlets, self-destroying permanents and maybe a little luck from a favorable combat step the card can be great. Those situations are harder to set up for white decks though, and I expect the card to struggle finding an ideal deck/window to maximize the effect.
Verdict: This strikes me as the kind of card that can generate very polarizing results. It won’t be consistent, but it’ll be powerful when it works. If you play a particularly combat-heavy cube or play a lot of self-sacrificing permanents and effects in your heavy white decks, I could see finding room to give this card extensive testing. Without those things being the case, I think it’s a miss even for the largest of cubes.
What I Like: I don’t think that most cubes currently have the ideal infrastructure in place to maximize the effect that you can get from this Raptor, but that doesn’t mean it can’t inspire drafters to construct unique shells for it to play in. The blanket creature discount is a powerful effect on an above-average body for the cost. In a deck loaded with 3+ toughness creature threats and some Pyroclasm effects, I think it can be a really solid performer. This kind of shell isn’t currently supported in most cubes, but it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine a deck that the Raptor could be legitimately great in.
What I Don't Like: In the future, this kind of creature could find a home in a deck that comes together a bit more naturally, but at the moment, cube managers and deck builders would have to work pretty hard to maximize its benefits. I just don’t think this has much of a natural home to slot into in red at the moment.
Verdict: This can be a spicy and powerful build-around card for a unique shell, but it doesn’t have a natural home. It might be playable in larger cubes though, if the cube manager wants to give a handful of support cards to a 3+ toughness creature theme for R/X.
What I Like: 1-drops that can attack for 4 are pretty rare, even when they require an additional mana sink to do so. Between the pump, the high toughness and the deathtouch, this can attack into congested boards and even the threat of activation can dissuade blocks. Plus, the creature can grow in size, making it a more significant threat in the later stages of the game.
What I Don't Like: Three mana is a lot of mana to invest in a pump trigger, even if it results in an attack for four and a +1/+1 counter. I expect this to chip in for one damage far too often to offset the number of times I can freely pump mana into it for bonus damage. It might ultimately end-up playing like a slightly worse evasive 1-power creature.
Verdict: In decks that can find themselves in easy positions to chip in for 4+ damage with other threats and don’t play a ton of cards that require additional mana investments, this might be a serviceable 1cc threat. I might test it out at 720+, but I think this will ultimately be worse than an evasive threat or a 1cc creature that can reliably attack for two.
What I Like: A colorless land that can be cashed in for a card is a decent baseline. A colorless true Horizon land would’ve been a pretty intriguing card, especially for cubes that support a colorless-matters theme. If you can set up ways to chain this in and out of play in the late game, it can make up part of a powerful card advantage engine.
What I Don't Like: In decks that don’t need colorless exclusive mana, I think the “five or more lands” clause is going to be a deal breaker. Decks that want this kind of effect typically like to operate on fewer lands, so that can actually hurt its value.
Verdict: If you support a colorless-matters theme, and you can use this card as effectively a Horizon land that can cast Reality Smashers, it’s probably worth a closer look. Especially if you also support Loam/Crucible effects. But unless all of those boxes are checked, I think it’s ultimately a miss.
What I Like: This is one of the better Midnight Haunting cards we’ve seen get printed for cubes. Decks that want utility removal creatures, can take advantage of enters the battlefield effects and/or can benefit from token production can get good value from the Executioner. If you have a deck that is poised to benefit from more than one of those effects, I think this card will be quite good.
What I Don't Like: While Executioner does several different things, it’s not particularly great at any of them. Two spirits isn’t the highest ceiling for token shells. An extra 1/1 flying creature isn’t a very powerful ETB trigger to abuse, and as a utility creature, the removal ability is both expensive and requires the creature to exile itself—preventing some of the nastier ways it could be abused.
Verdict: The white 3cc creature section is pretty competitive for smaller cubes, and larger cubes would need to be on the lookout for a card that checks all the boxes Executioner hits in order to look to include it. Ultimately I think it might be fringe testable at 720, but I wouldn’t expect it to stick around forever.
What I Like: This is a big creature that can have a tremendous impact on the game once it hits the battlefield. An 8/8 flier is no joke, and it kills creatures and draws cards once it’s in play. It’s particularly spicy with Reanimate specifically (and Life//Death if you play it) since you’ll immediately draw 8 cards when it hits play. That interaction might be enough to allow it to see some constructed play in addition to the Grizzfather.
What I Don't Like: Black only has so much room for big monsters that are only ever reanimated into play. Griselbrand this is not, and it might not be better than Sheoldred in reanimator either. But it might be worth testing this card over the latter in really big cubes, since it can be such an impactful creature if you can untap with it.
Verdict: I think this will be able to compete for the third best reanimation-exclusive target in black. Not sure what that means for it in terms of how many cubes can play it, but I would expect some large cubes to give it a spin and see how it does. Especially if the cube supports reanimation decks with multiple versions of the “pay X life” reanimation effects. Perhaps 720 for testing? Not too sure.
What I Like: Flying and flash are two abilities that blue tempo decks like to see be paired together, and this is a hell of a Flying Men variant. It becomes particularly useful if the cube plays a few Ninjitsu creatures. Unlike most other 1-drops, Sailor is a good late-game topdeck since it can function as both a mana sink and a card advantage engine.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, this is still a 1/1 flier. It has more uses because it has flash, and it can generate card advantage when the game goes long, but it just fails to apply meaningful pressure because the body is so small.
Verdict: I think this has potential in larger cubes that support a very deep tempo strategy. The flash, evasion and cheaper base cost make it more appealing than a card like Azure Mage in some decks, especially if there are multiple ways to boost its power. I would probably test this at 720 if I was particularly deep on non-spell centric tempo decks, but I don’t think this can hack it in most cube lists.
What I Like: This Chandra has a lot of loyalty, can’t be countered and provides an uninterruptible clock against control that will ultimately kill the opponent. Her sweeper effect deals with go-wide strategies and most aggro bodies, and her {-X} effect can kill off 5+ toughness threats; something that red struggles to do. The most obvious comparison is a head-to-head with the current 6cc Chandra, Chandra, Flamecaller. In comparison to Flamecaller, Awakened Inferno is uncounterable, has more loyalty and can deal with singular higher-toughness threats. Used exclusively as a midrange curve-topper to bust down control’s door, this is the superior 6cc Chandra.
What I Don't Like: I don’t think there’s room in the cube for two 6cc Chandras in red, and Flamecaller has some important aspects to it that help to sell using it over this one. First, Flamecaller has a much faster clock. Attacking for 6 per activation really puts the opponent on their heels. Flamecaller’s sweeper effect is scaleable too; there’s a number of occasions where you might only want/need to hit everything on the board for 1 or 2, and Awakened Inferno forces a 3-damage {-3} in order to accomplish what Flamecaller can do for 1 or 2 loyalty. Lastly, Flamecaller can dig. She has a loyalty-neutral ability that does a mass-rummage effect that generates card advantage through raw card draw. Most importantly, Flamecaller can be a curve-topper for several different archetypes, and in those decks she can drum up extra value through synergy—synergy that Awakened Inferno can’t contribute to at all. Flamecaller makes tokens and they can benefit from Anthem effects and Purphoros triggers and the like. Sacrifice decks are happy to get two 1-toughness bodies per turn to ‘Clamp away to sac to Yawgmoth. Discard-outlet decks even, might be happy to have an outlet for a mass exchange of cards in hand, even if it comes down late in the game. Awakened Inferno is the better Chandra for generic midrange and control decks, especially in the midrange vs control matchup …but she doesn’t contribute to any of the specific decks and archetypes that Flamecaller does.
Verdict: If you never use Flamecaller for anything other than a 6cc goodstuff card for big red midrange and control decks, I think Awakened Inferno might just be a better inclusion. But for me, they’re both great cards in those decks, and Flamecaller can also contribute to the success of a few specific shells, and that (in addition to the card draw, faster clock and scaleable sweeper effect) gives her the edge in my mind. Awakened Inferno will have a huge range of cubes she’s playable in because of this. There might be some small cubes that want to run her over Flamecaller. There might be some larger cubes that play both. Ultimately she’ll probably land somewhere in the middle.
What I Like: In decks that can maximize both the value of the activated ability and the potential for it to be an early 3/3, Reclaimer can be a pretty potent 1cc investment. Cubes supporting a full Loam archetype with Titanias, Gitrog Monsters and Knight of the Reliquaries, Reclaimer will probabbly have an immediate home. In cubes that only support Loam/Crucible effects for the card advantage value, I think Reclaimer will be harder to shoehorn in.
What I Don't Like: For most decks, the activated ability is a bit expensive and slow. And it won’t be able to reliably become a 3/3 until the mid-game at the earliest outside of very specific decks or lucky draws. Unless I’m deep on the Loam package, I don’t think this will make the cut in most decks unless you really need the Crop Rotation effect for a Strip lock.
Verdict: If you play a deep Loam package, Reclaimer should probably be cubed. I would expect this to start to manifest around the 720 cube size, maybe smaller for some cube managers. It can be a powerful utility monster for the right cube deck. But as a generic creature for other cubes? I think it’s a pass.
What I Like: 2cc repeatable token engines are pretty rare. When played early and uncontested, it can build up an army of attacking creatures and put the opponent on the back foot quickly. At the very least, it’s still a 2cc beater that bashes for 2 (with partial evasion) even if the opponent can keep the token production at bay. It can spiral out of control quickly though if left unimpeded.
What I Don't Like: The competition in Boros is steep now, and I think it’s ultimately going to be too hard for this Vanguard to crack into the upper echelon of R/W cards.
Verdict: If you support a relatively deep token deck in Boros or find yourself wanting a decent playable 2cc beater, larger Boros sections might be able to find room to test out the Vanguard.
What I Like: Flashing back two spells from your graveyard for 3 mana is a decent baseline effect. Of course, you still have to pay for the spells, so that aspect of this card is good, but not broken. Particularly since they’re going to get flashed back on delay. In between recasting cheap spells, this Chandra can make a couple of attacking tokens or just pad your ‘walker loyalty. Her first {0} effect might randomly be great with another red ‘walker on the board, but it’s usually just something to do when neither of the other abilities do anything. If you can increase the strength of the tokens (with Anthems, sacrifice outlets, Skulklclamp or what have you) her middle ability can be quite strong. Otherwise, it’s just a divided attack for two.
What I Don't Like: This Chandra can’t defend herself, and unless you have some way to maximize her abilities, she’s pretty mediocre. The spells matters deck can use her {-2} to good effect, but doesn’t really care about either of the other abilities. A dedicated token or sacrifice deck might be able to use the middle ability, but doesn’t want the other {0} or the flashback very much. It’s going to be hard to find a deck that can maximize the value of more than one of her activated abilities.
Verdict: I can’t completely write-off a 3cc ‘walker that can flash back multiple spells. Powered cubes might be a bit more interested in this Chandra because of the ceiling of flashing back some of the Vintage spells. Ultimately I think this card will play better than it looks, but need to fall into a list that supports spells matters decks and token shells relatively deeply before taking a really close look at her. I would play her at 720 if I supported all the decks she can contribute to.
What I Like: 3cc planeswalkers historically play better than they look. The first ability shrinks down the opponent’s board to both protect Mu and yourself. Her middle ability is unique, because it’s not available right away, but can drop Air Elemental tokens as early as T4. I think the play pattern of {+2} -> {-3} will be a common one, and from there, you can either make a second Air Elemental or continue to {+2} Mu towards a very powerful ultimate. BlackWaltz3 drew an apt comparison between Mu and the new Serra. Serra makes angels first but can set up a play pattern where you can get 2 of ‘em for 4 mana pretty quickly. Mu does the same thing but with an inverted play pattern, you don’t get an immediate flier, but Mu’s also a mana cheaper. Ultimately getting 2 4/4 flying creatures for 3 mana is a really good deal.
What I Don't Like: I think the blue 3cc spell section is pretty tight, and I like both Jace Beleren and Narset more. Which makes it hard for smaller cubes to find room for Mu.
Verdict: A 3cc planeswalker that protects itself, makes bodies and has a powerful ultimate …Mu has the recipe for a solid cube performer. I think cubes in the 630-720 range should give Mu a close look and slot her in for testing if they can find a cut they like.
What I Like: The effect you get from Dig Through Time/Ancestral Memories is certainly a powerful one. 4cc sorcery speed card advantage spells in blue have a lot of heavy competition, but Drawn from Dreams is one of the better options. During the developmental stages of the game, taking two of your best seven can be an important way to set yourself up for success on future turns.
What I Don't Like: While the effect is certainly powerful, this is no Dig Through Time. Being a sorcery hurts a lot, and it’s nowhere near as cost effective. Drawn from Dreams is to Dig Through Time what Plea for Power is to Treasure Cruise. Which is to say, a lot worse. As steve_man pointed out, Dreams competes more against sorcery-speed draw than it does against actual Dig, so it has to stack up against things like Deep Analysis and Careful Consideration/Foresee. I like it more than the latter, but not more than the former.
Verdict: This is a powerful effect, but I think 4cc sorcery-speed blue spells are all pretty busted. I would test this out at 720, but not sure if it would stick. I’m not quite optimistic about this enough to give it a spot in my 630-card cube, but I could certainly be wrong. The effect is obviously very powerful.
What I Like: Drawing cards and getting 2-power evasive creatures are obviously both good things. There’s a long and storied history of card draw being strapped to creature bodies, and they’re typically done in one of three ways: On defensive creatures like Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Omens, on utility bodies like Elvish Visionary and Fblthp, and on 3cc 2-power monsters like Phyrexian Rager. The defensive bodies have historically proved to be the most valuable, since an 0/4 body is generally more useful to the deck that wants to play it than the 1/1 versions are to their respective decks, and it’s combined with a cheaper cost than the 3cc variants. Phyrexiann Rager has been a fine card, but always felt just out of the range of cubeability. Cloudkin Seer is the best Phyrexian Rager variant we’ve ever seen; it has flying and doesn’t cost you a life. Tempo decks will enjoy the evasion, and the card advantage is useful no matter where it’s played. A 2-power body is generally worth a card, so I consider Seer to be card advantage in that sense.
What I Don't Like: While it’s true that this is the best Phyrexian Rager variant we’ve ever seen, what does that really mean? I don’t cube Rager, and I’m not sure if swapping a point of toughness flying and 1 life suddenly makes the card a great inclusion in the most powerful color in the cube.
Verdict: This is a good card. It’s splashable 2-for-1 card advantage and it comes with an evasive body. While the card won’t ever feel broken, it will quietly provide value as a 23rd playable card in most blue cube decks, where it will rarely ever be bad. I couldn’t quite find a cut I like in my 630 card cube, but it’s one of the next 3cc blue creatures on-deck if I’m ready to swap one out. Cubes that don’t need the discard from Champion of Wits or the artifact support from Trinket Mage can find a perfectly playable and ever-reliable creature in Cloudkin Seer. I’d play it at 720 for sure, and honestly it’ll be fine in a cube of any size if you have a cut from your 3cc blue creature section that isn’t critical for one of your archetypes.
What I Like: Cheap utility artifacts that provide both card selection and card advantage are few and far-between. The activation costs on Bag of Holding aren’t cheap, but if you’re playing a reactive deck that can find opportunities to activate this on the opponent’s end step, the opportunity cost is pretty low. But being able to loot in the mid-game and cash it in for card advantage in the late game is quite powerful. You will always have something meaningful to do with your mana while Bag of Holding is in play, and that’s a powerful position to be in.
What I Don't Like: That first line of text is just a bummer for so many decks. It makes all of your other looting effects and discard outlets so much worse when your deck cares about utilizing its graveyard as a resource. Some decks won’t care, but the durdly decks that might be interested in Bag of Holding are often going to have other Looting effects and cards that care about your graveyard that randomly get hosed by the Bag.
Verdict: If the first line of text didn’t exist, and you just got to Exile-loot with the Bag without having to worry about potentially disrupting your other graveyard synergies, I’d probably be cubing it. But it may very well still be good enough. I would definitely test this card at 720, and it might ultimately prove to be good enough for smaller cubes too. This might sneak up on some folks the way that Treasure Map did (another card I was cautiously optimistic about when it was originally spoiled) and ultimately prove to be quite good. If you’re playing a midrange or control deck that doesn’t utilize its graveyard as a resource at all, it’s hard not to include Bag of Holding in your final 40.
What I Like: Kykar isn’t necessarily the most powerful support card for a spells matters shell, but it serves an important role as a signpost card for the Jeskai spells matters deck. When a player sits down to draft a cube and they see Kykar in a pack, it informs them that not only does Jeskai support a spells matters theme, but that a deck where Kykar is a good fit is available to draft. Jeskai does a handful of things in the cube; when it’s not a base for a spells matters deck, it is often used as a token shell or sometimes a Moat/Earthquake fliers package. Kykar plays decently into all of those decks. The most comparable cards to Kykar are probably Talrand and Murmuring Mystic, but Kykar has a few advantages. First and foremost, it triggers off of all noncreature spells, not just instants and sorceries. This can be a big deal, since it can allow it to succeed in shells where the other comparable options might fail. Additionally, the base body being a 3-power flier makes it a more threatening card even when it doesn’t go crazy with token generation. It will also randomly ramp, since it can sacrifice its tokens (and other spirits, FWIW) to generate red mana. I’ve heard it get compared to Emeria Angel within the cube community, which would be apt except for one major difference. Angels ceiling and its consistency are based around lands and land interactions. An aspect of the game that white is not centered around. Kykar on the other hand is based around noncreature spells, which is perfectly in line with what Jeskai is naturally doing. Basically, Emeria Angel is rarely in decks that are engineered to maximize landfall, and Kykar will naturally be in decks engineered to maximize its triggers.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, it’s still an expensive engine creature that’s 3-colors and has 3 toughness. Historically, 2-3cc cards have been the focal point for these kinds of effects since you want to resolve them underneath the stream of spells. I don’t think Kykar is going to be broken in the cube, but I think there will be several different Jeskai shells it will be able to contribute to.
Verdict: If your cube is of a size where it ha a dedicated Jeskai slot, and you’re unhappy with your current option or are looking for a card that better suites the WUR decks that are supported in the cube, Kykar is probably worth trying out. I’ll be giving it a chance to prove itself in my 630 card cube, but I’m unsure if it would make it into many lists that are smaller than that.
What I Like: A 4/4 flash for 4 mana is a good baseline for a creature that can generate value in other ways as well. If you can …ambush… a creature in combat with it, you’ll be operating off pure upside after that. This Wolf can do a lot of cool things in a lot of common situations, and cranking out 3/3 wolves every turn is no joke. Ideally, its value can be maximized in a number of different ways. First, cast instants and other cards with flash; if you can play spells on your opponent’s turns, you can get a free 3/3 with this guy every time you do so. Look for mana sinks! Activating manlands, leveling-up creatures, paying equip costs and paying for any other activated abilities you can find will give you effective ways to spend your mana on non-spell cards. It’s not that hard to find ways to spend your mana if you actively search them out. If you can get even one free 3/3 from this good boi during a game, you’ll get 7 power and multiple bodies for 4 mana, at instant speed. Pretty good.
What I Don't Like: If you can’t profitably use your mana on your opponent’s turns, a 4/4 flash for 4 isn’t all that impressive anymore. Some decks will have a ton of ways to spend mana and Ambusher will be great. But decks with no instants and few activated abilities will simply not be able to maximize the value.
Verdict: Green’s 4cc creatures aren’t spectacular, so I have room to test this card out extensively at 630. I would expect it to play well there, and it might be good enough for testing in some 540 lists if you’re looking for fresh blood in the 4cc green creature slot at that size too.
What I Like: A 5/5 flying for 5 is a good place to start. A Brainstorm is a powerful enters the battlefield trigger, especially when it’s paired with its own way to manipulate the top of your library. If they kill the Cavalier, you get a built-in shuffle and scry effect to build the perfect Brainstorm. If they don’t kill it …you get to bash them for 5 in the air. Win win. Additionally, blue might be the only color that can really maximize the reshuffling clause on its monsters. If the opponent kills this creature, it gets reshuffled into your deck (and you get to Scry 2 as well). This is particularly valuable for blue-heavy control decks, which run the legitimate risk of running out of win conditions sometimes.
What I Don't Like: The triple-blue in the casting cost is going to be a problem for some decks. Blue does have more draw/selection to help find sources of blue to cast your spells, but even so, there will be some shells that just can’t reliably play the Cavalier. Its cost will limit it to a lot of heavy-blue 2-color decks, and limit its playability in 3-color shells pretty dramatically. Not enough to offset its upside, but certainly something to keep an eye on.
Verdict: Blue’s 5cc creature suite isn’t particularly deep after Mulldrifter and Meloku, unless you’re playing some of the more casual draft-matters cards and Un- cards which give blue a couple of bomb 5’s. Most of the good options are more utility cards, and almost none of them are reliable big monsters that can close out games quickly. I expect the Cavalier to find a home in a lot of 540+ sized cubes, since the demand at the 5cc blue creature slot is hard to fill there.
What I Like: A 7/6 creature for 3 mana is obviously a steal. Most of the oversized card-disadvantage beaters have clauses that either concede card advantage to the opponent or they require you to sacrifice themselves if you can’t satisfy the drawback. Not ol’ Rotty. Discarding a card is infinitely better than giving cards to the opponent, especially since it can be used as an advantage. If you can discard cards that either generate value from the ‘yard or that can bring themselves back, you’re getting a massive body for cheap …with what effectively plays out as an upside. It’s important to note that the discard occurs during your upkeep, which is important for 2 reasons. First, if the opponent needs to kill it with sorcery-speed removal, you don’t suffer any card disadvantage. Second, you don’t draw your card for the turn until after you discard. If you get yourself hellbent, Regisaur has no drawback. It’s just a 7/6 body with a relevant creature type for 3 mana.
What I Don't Like: In decks that can’t turn the discard around for value, a few cheap token makers can grind out some real card advantage against you. There could be spots where he babckfires by getting stonewalled by a token engine for multiple turns, forcing you to discard your hand and ultimately eating some removal once it’s profitable for the opponent.
Verdict: This is a scary threat for cheap, and there are a lot of ways to mitigate its “drawback” in the cube. I expect it to play quite well. I’d find a way to play this at 540-sized cubes and bigger, and it might very well be good enough for smaller cubes too if you play enough decks that both want a 3cc beater and can either utilize or circumvent the discard.
What I Like: Even more than most scaleable cards, this hydra offers a lot of flexibility. It can be a lot of different cards for you throughout the game, and starting at 4 mana, it starts to be a pretty good deal. If you can get a 2/3 and kill an opponent’s creature for 2GG, I think that’s a good deal. Especially for a color that lacks in good removal options. It can also be a 4/5 trample for that same cost, if you want to prepare for a Wildfire or just need to apply pressure. And that’s the baseline for the Hydra. Every extra mana beyond that just makes it a more efficient fighter or adds +2/+2 to your trampling beater. No matter what the board calls for, the hydra should be able to do something impactful or threatening. Plus, it can be targeted by both Recruiters and plays very well on-curve after doing so. It can even be played in emergency 3-mana mode to kill off a random super-important tiny creature or get a 2/3 blocker if you’re desperate.
What I Don't Like: There’s not much not to like… an X1G cost would’ve been nice, but I just don’t see that happening with this kind of flexibility.
Verdict: This can be a huge number of different options throughout a given game. It can be a cheap green Skinrender variant or a 6-mana 8/9 trampler. I would’ve easily found room for this at 540 and tested it at 450, and there’s a chance it’s playable into smaller cubes as well. There’s a lot of flexibility rolled up into a creature that can be two completely different types of card in every spot on the curve.
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment below or on any other platform where I discuss our favorite format. Cheers, and happy cubing!
Small nitpick about bag of holding.. I'd argue the first line of text is overall an advantage not a drawback.
When you sacrifice the bag of holding you get back all the cards looted with the bag AND from any other source while the bag was in play.
If opponent thoughtseizes you , you faithless looting/dack fayden/wheel of fortune etc, all those card go into exile for the bag to recoup later.
Maybe overall in cube it's a disadvantage because bag of holding is bad in reanimator decks, where looting effects are otherwise at their best.... But from your overall description I got the sense you missed you got the other cards back (I missed it the first time I read the card).
Thanks for commenting dood, and thanks for advocating for the new Chandra.
Yes, I know the Bag's exile clause has synergy with itself, but I can't use my graveyard to reanimate, Welder, Daretti, Feldon, 'Lark, Alesha, Snapcaster, Gearhulk, Nightmare, Delve, etc, etc or any other graveyard-based shenanigans my looting effects are often enabling. And if it gets disenchanted, those tools never become available.
Basically, I wish the exile was limited to its own activation because it limits the number of decks that can partake in the Bag's other advantages.
Edit: I see where some of the language was misleading, so I corrected it a bit to make it clearer that I was talking about its negative impact on your own graveyard-centric strategies, and not a drawback of the Bag itself. Thanks for pointing that out.
im also interested in bag of holding. hard card to evaluate. in the right deck i think it can be a monster card but depends on if reanimator decks will pull looters away from this card being any good.
Thanks as always for this - it was a delight to read!
Sorry if you addressed this in another thread, but now that it sounds like Mtgsalvation is sticking around (even if under new management), will you continue to post these here?
im also interested in bag of holding. hard card to evaluate. in the right deck i think it can be a monster card but depends on if reanimator decks will pull looters away from this card being any good.
It's like a Looter lord of sorts ...that might not want to be played in decks that typically look for Looting effects. It's a bizarre one, for sure.
Thanks as always for this - it was a delight to read!
Sorry if you addressed this in another thread, but now that it sounds like Mtgsalvation is sticking around (even if under new management), will you continue to post these here?
As long as this site works, I'll be creating my articles here for the foreseeable future. If the entire community ends up migrating somewhere else, I'd likely follow.
My assesment for M20 is that there a lot of near misses, like Knight of the Ebon Legion nedding to be 2/1
Instead of 1/2 , or a lesser activation cost, or an easier slith condition. Mu Yanling has a bad floor, Elvish Reclaimer’s threshold too big or ability too slow. They are good cards, but much too fair for cube.
I was even more surprised that your assesments are lower that I expected.
I am skipppng any M20 updates, but watching Hydra. For some reason I am more elated than disappointed. Modern horizons really threw off my cube update budget. This is a welcome break
Hey wtwlf, another great article. Thanks for continuing to give us your thoughts on the best cards out there; I don't even know how many times I've revisited your top20s when re-evaluating my own cube. It's been a tremendous help!
I'm glad you appreciate Voracious Hydra. I actually really like this card from the perspective of someone trying to make UG +1/+1 counters an archetype; that deck can have explosive growth when it comes together, usually relying on stuff like Hydroid Krasis or Biogenic Ooze to really get the ball rolling, and then using proliferate keyword cards to go over the top. But, a major weakness of the deck is often that it's tapping out to move its plan forward, which I find leaves it with very few ways to interact with the opponent. This guy seems right at home in that deck, either keeping you alive or providing a humongous threat, and likely benefiting from proliferation if he survives.
Have you ever considered trying to include a +1/+1 counters theme? Do you think there is anything in particular it still needs in order to become a legit archetype in non-pauper cubes?
I think what the deck needs is something that it just started getting recently; maindeckable sources of proliferate. Rather than forcing a +1/+1 counters theme, I've been able to organically assemble some powerful interactions with the new Sword and Yawgmoth that both proliferate, without having to play any cards that don't make the cut otherwise.
But Scales is a powerful archetype if you force the support for it. The only issue is that it's relatively parasitic, because there aren't enough of the counters matters cards that are playable outside of that one deck ...yet. But we're slowly getting there.
Thanks for commenting, and I'm glad you enjoyed the article!
Thanks so much for the write-up again here! At 720, I'm still only looking at a handful of cards, but I'm happy for a pair of new 3-mana walkers and am thrilled for Marauding Raptor and Rotting Regisaur for their interesting effects.
Hey thanks again for the great review! M20 may be lack luster from cube but my wallet still hurts from MH1 so I’m okay with it lol.
What would you recommend cutting for The hydra? I think I’m cutting master of the Wild Hunt as I think he does his job better and scales.
As for regisaur im going to cut hippie as i still can’t bekieve I have him in after being out for so long.
I hope these written reviews keep happening on another forum once salvation goes down as I’m always looking forward to your opinion on all things cube!
It is yet to be seen if the Hydra is actually a better card than MotWH, but I might try to keep Master in just because green's 4cc creatures are so lackluster that I want to keep the better options in if I can.
Regisaur is probably better than the Specter, but I still like the old guy. He puts in work still, even after all these years.
I think Salvation is staying alive, so as long as it's here, I'll be writing articles here.
You can always hit me up on Twitter (handle in sig) if you want to keep in touch post-Salvation (if it closes).
Okay sounds good, I always look forward to these reviews so it’s cool to hear your still going to be doing written articles. I already follow you on twitter and have picked your brain from time to time so see you i the future!
This is my 30th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last few articles, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely!) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.
M20 is a relatively disappointing cube set. It focussed a lot on tribal interactions and devotion strategies—two themes that have not historically translated well to cubes. There’s a lot of fun and interesting designs in the set though, and a few gems that cube managers might be able to run with and enjoy.
Without further ado, I can start the countdown!
Brought Back
A spicy recursion spell.
What I Like: Returning two permanents directly to the battlefield for two mana at instant speed is a really high-ceiling play. If you can maneuver your way into a proactive position that can capitalize on the effect, or luckily find yourself in a scenario where you can get full value from the effect reactively, it can be pretty backbreaking. I expect the card to play well in constructed where the caster can take full advantage of the effect more often by building around the effect in ways that maximize its consistency.
What I Don't Like: Historically these kinds of effects have been hard to break because they require work to set up and can be difficult to orchestrate the perfect windows for them to function. Particularly with this spell, the double-white casting cost will force the caster to hold up very specific mana when waiting for the perfect window. With adequate sacrifice outlets, self-destroying permanents and maybe a little luck from a favorable combat step the card can be great. Those situations are harder to set up for white decks though, and I expect the card to struggle finding an ideal deck/window to maximize the effect.
Verdict: This strikes me as the kind of card that can generate very polarizing results. It won’t be consistent, but it’ll be powerful when it works. If you play a particularly combat-heavy cube or play a lot of self-sacrificing permanents and effects in your heavy white decks, I could see finding room to give this card extensive testing. Without those things being the case, I think it’s a miss even for the largest of cubes.
Marauding Raptor
A spicy build-around creature.
What I Like: I don’t think that most cubes currently have the ideal infrastructure in place to maximize the effect that you can get from this Raptor, but that doesn’t mean it can’t inspire drafters to construct unique shells for it to play in. The blanket creature discount is a powerful effect on an above-average body for the cost. In a deck loaded with 3+ toughness creature threats and some Pyroclasm effects, I think it can be a really solid performer. This kind of shell isn’t currently supported in most cubes, but it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine a deck that the Raptor could be legitimately great in.
What I Don't Like: In the future, this kind of creature could find a home in a deck that comes together a bit more naturally, but at the moment, cube managers and deck builders would have to work pretty hard to maximize its benefits. I just don’t think this has much of a natural home to slot into in red at the moment.
Verdict: This can be a spicy and powerful build-around card for a unique shell, but it doesn’t have a natural home. It might be playable in larger cubes though, if the cube manager wants to give a handful of support cards to a 3+ toughness creature theme for R/X.
Knight of the Ebon Legion
A relatively powerful 1cc creature.
What I Like: 1-drops that can attack for 4 are pretty rare, even when they require an additional mana sink to do so. Between the pump, the high toughness and the deathtouch, this can attack into congested boards and even the threat of activation can dissuade blocks. Plus, the creature can grow in size, making it a more significant threat in the later stages of the game.
What I Don't Like: Three mana is a lot of mana to invest in a pump trigger, even if it results in an attack for four and a +1/+1 counter. I expect this to chip in for one damage far too often to offset the number of times I can freely pump mana into it for bonus damage. It might ultimately end-up playing like a slightly worse evasive 1-power creature.
Verdict: In decks that can find themselves in easy positions to chip in for 4+ damage with other threats and don’t play a ton of cards that require additional mana investments, this might be a serviceable 1cc threat. I might test it out at 720+, but I think this will ultimately be worse than an evasive threat or a 1cc creature that can reliably attack for two.
Cryptic Caves
A decent colorless utility land.
What I Like: A colorless land that can be cashed in for a card is a decent baseline. A colorless true Horizon land would’ve been a pretty intriguing card, especially for cubes that support a colorless-matters theme. If you can set up ways to chain this in and out of play in the late game, it can make up part of a powerful card advantage engine.
What I Don't Like: In decks that don’t need colorless exclusive mana, I think the “five or more lands” clause is going to be a deal breaker. Decks that want this kind of effect typically like to operate on fewer lands, so that can actually hurt its value.
Verdict: If you support a colorless-matters theme, and you can use this card as effectively a Horizon land that can cast Reality Smashers, it’s probably worth a closer look. Especially if you also support Loam/Crucible effects. But unless all of those boxes are checked, I think it’s ultimately a miss.
Hanged Executioner
A utility/token hybrid creature.
What I Like: This is one of the better Midnight Haunting cards we’ve seen get printed for cubes. Decks that want utility removal creatures, can take advantage of enters the battlefield effects and/or can benefit from token production can get good value from the Executioner. If you have a deck that is poised to benefit from more than one of those effects, I think this card will be quite good.
What I Don't Like: While Executioner does several different things, it’s not particularly great at any of them. Two spirits isn’t the highest ceiling for token shells. An extra 1/1 flying creature isn’t a very powerful ETB trigger to abuse, and as a utility creature, the removal ability is both expensive and requires the creature to exile itself—preventing some of the nastier ways it could be abused.
Verdict: The white 3cc creature section is pretty competitive for smaller cubes, and larger cubes would need to be on the lookout for a card that checks all the boxes Executioner hits in order to look to include it. Ultimately I think it might be fringe testable at 720, but I wouldn’t expect it to stick around forever.
Vilis, Broker of Blood
A decent reanimation target.
What I Like: This is a big creature that can have a tremendous impact on the game once it hits the battlefield. An 8/8 flier is no joke, and it kills creatures and draws cards once it’s in play. It’s particularly spicy with Reanimate specifically (and Life//Death if you play it) since you’ll immediately draw 8 cards when it hits play. That interaction might be enough to allow it to see some constructed play in addition to the Grizzfather.
What I Don't Like: Black only has so much room for big monsters that are only ever reanimated into play. Griselbrand this is not, and it might not be better than Sheoldred in reanimator either. But it might be worth testing this card over the latter in really big cubes, since it can be such an impactful creature if you can untap with it.
Verdict: I think this will be able to compete for the third best reanimation-exclusive target in black. Not sure what that means for it in terms of how many cubes can play it, but I would expect some large cubes to give it a spin and see how it does. Especially if the cube supports reanimation decks with multiple versions of the “pay X life” reanimation effects. Perhaps 720 for testing? Not too sure.
Spectral Sailor
An interesting tempo creature.
What I Like: Flying and flash are two abilities that blue tempo decks like to see be paired together, and this is a hell of a Flying Men variant. It becomes particularly useful if the cube plays a few Ninjitsu creatures. Unlike most other 1-drops, Sailor is a good late-game topdeck since it can function as both a mana sink and a card advantage engine.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, this is still a 1/1 flier. It has more uses because it has flash, and it can generate card advantage when the game goes long, but it just fails to apply meaningful pressure because the body is so small.
Verdict: I think this has potential in larger cubes that support a very deep tempo strategy. The flash, evasion and cheaper base cost make it more appealing than a card like Azure Mage in some decks, especially if there are multiple ways to boost its power. I would probably test this at 720 if I was particularly deep on non-spell centric tempo decks, but I don’t think this can hack it in most cube lists.
Chandra, Awakened Inferno
A good midrange threat against control.
What I Like: This Chandra has a lot of loyalty, can’t be countered and provides an uninterruptible clock against control that will ultimately kill the opponent. Her sweeper effect deals with go-wide strategies and most aggro bodies, and her {-X} effect can kill off 5+ toughness threats; something that red struggles to do. The most obvious comparison is a head-to-head with the current 6cc Chandra, Chandra, Flamecaller. In comparison to Flamecaller, Awakened Inferno is uncounterable, has more loyalty and can deal with singular higher-toughness threats. Used exclusively as a midrange curve-topper to bust down control’s door, this is the superior 6cc Chandra.
What I Don't Like: I don’t think there’s room in the cube for two 6cc Chandras in red, and Flamecaller has some important aspects to it that help to sell using it over this one. First, Flamecaller has a much faster clock. Attacking for 6 per activation really puts the opponent on their heels. Flamecaller’s sweeper effect is scaleable too; there’s a number of occasions where you might only want/need to hit everything on the board for 1 or 2, and Awakened Inferno forces a 3-damage {-3} in order to accomplish what Flamecaller can do for 1 or 2 loyalty. Lastly, Flamecaller can dig. She has a loyalty-neutral ability that does a mass-rummage effect that generates card advantage through raw card draw. Most importantly, Flamecaller can be a curve-topper for several different archetypes, and in those decks she can drum up extra value through synergy—synergy that Awakened Inferno can’t contribute to at all. Flamecaller makes tokens and they can benefit from Anthem effects and Purphoros triggers and the like. Sacrifice decks are happy to get two 1-toughness bodies per turn to ‘Clamp away to sac to Yawgmoth. Discard-outlet decks even, might be happy to have an outlet for a mass exchange of cards in hand, even if it comes down late in the game. Awakened Inferno is the better Chandra for generic midrange and control decks, especially in the midrange vs control matchup …but she doesn’t contribute to any of the specific decks and archetypes that Flamecaller does.
Verdict: If you never use Flamecaller for anything other than a 6cc goodstuff card for big red midrange and control decks, I think Awakened Inferno might just be a better inclusion. But for me, they’re both great cards in those decks, and Flamecaller can also contribute to the success of a few specific shells, and that (in addition to the card draw, faster clock and scaleable sweeper effect) gives her the edge in my mind. Awakened Inferno will have a huge range of cubes she’s playable in because of this. There might be some small cubes that want to run her over Flamecaller. There might be some larger cubes that play both. Ultimately she’ll probably land somewhere in the middle.
Elvish Reclaimer
A Loam-archetype support 1-drop.
What I Like: In decks that can maximize both the value of the activated ability and the potential for it to be an early 3/3, Reclaimer can be a pretty potent 1cc investment. Cubes supporting a full Loam archetype with Titanias, Gitrog Monsters and Knight of the Reliquaries, Reclaimer will probabbly have an immediate home. In cubes that only support Loam/Crucible effects for the card advantage value, I think Reclaimer will be harder to shoehorn in.
What I Don't Like: For most decks, the activated ability is a bit expensive and slow. And it won’t be able to reliably become a 3/3 until the mid-game at the earliest outside of very specific decks or lucky draws. Unless I’m deep on the Loam package, I don’t think this will make the cut in most decks unless you really need the Crop Rotation effect for a Strip lock.
Verdict: If you play a deep Loam package, Reclaimer should probably be cubed. I would expect this to start to manifest around the 720 cube size, maybe smaller for some cube managers. It can be a powerful utility monster for the right cube deck. But as a generic creature for other cubes? I think it’s a pass.
Skyknight Vanguard
A decent Boros token creature.
What I Like: 2cc repeatable token engines are pretty rare. When played early and uncontested, it can build up an army of attacking creatures and put the opponent on the back foot quickly. At the very least, it’s still a 2cc beater that bashes for 2 (with partial evasion) even if the opponent can keep the token production at bay. It can spiral out of control quickly though if left unimpeded.
What I Don't Like: The competition in Boros is steep now, and I think it’s ultimately going to be too hard for this Vanguard to crack into the upper echelon of R/W cards.
Verdict: If you support a relatively deep token deck in Boros or find yourself wanting a decent playable 2cc beater, larger Boros sections might be able to find room to test out the Vanguard.
Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
An interesting token/spells support ‘walker.
What I Like: Flashing back two spells from your graveyard for 3 mana is a decent baseline effect. Of course, you still have to pay for the spells, so that aspect of this card is good, but not broken. Particularly since they’re going to get flashed back on delay. In between recasting cheap spells, this Chandra can make a couple of attacking tokens or just pad your ‘walker loyalty. Her first {0} effect might randomly be great with another red ‘walker on the board, but it’s usually just something to do when neither of the other abilities do anything. If you can increase the strength of the tokens (with Anthems, sacrifice outlets, Skulklclamp or what have you) her middle ability can be quite strong. Otherwise, it’s just a divided attack for two.
What I Don't Like: This Chandra can’t defend herself, and unless you have some way to maximize her abilities, she’s pretty mediocre. The spells matters deck can use her {-2} to good effect, but doesn’t really care about either of the other abilities. A dedicated token or sacrifice deck might be able to use the middle ability, but doesn’t want the other {0} or the flashback very much. It’s going to be hard to find a deck that can maximize the value of more than one of her activated abilities.
Verdict: I can’t completely write-off a 3cc ‘walker that can flash back multiple spells. Powered cubes might be a bit more interested in this Chandra because of the ceiling of flashing back some of the Vintage spells. Ultimately I think this card will play better than it looks, but need to fall into a list that supports spells matters decks and token shells relatively deeply before taking a really close look at her. I would play her at 720 if I supported all the decks she can contribute to.
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
A good 3cc board-control ‘walker.
What I Like: 3cc planeswalkers historically play better than they look. The first ability shrinks down the opponent’s board to both protect Mu and yourself. Her middle ability is unique, because it’s not available right away, but can drop Air Elemental tokens as early as T4. I think the play pattern of {+2} -> {-3} will be a common one, and from there, you can either make a second Air Elemental or continue to {+2} Mu towards a very powerful ultimate. BlackWaltz3 drew an apt comparison between Mu and the new Serra. Serra makes angels first but can set up a play pattern where you can get 2 of ‘em for 4 mana pretty quickly. Mu does the same thing but with an inverted play pattern, you don’t get an immediate flier, but Mu’s also a mana cheaper. Ultimately getting 2 4/4 flying creatures for 3 mana is a really good deal.
What I Don't Like: I think the blue 3cc spell section is pretty tight, and I like both Jace Beleren and Narset more. Which makes it hard for smaller cubes to find room for Mu.
Verdict: A 3cc planeswalker that protects itself, makes bodies and has a powerful ultimate …Mu has the recipe for a solid cube performer. I think cubes in the 630-720 range should give Mu a close look and slot her in for testing if they can find a cut they like.
Drawn from Dreams
A powerful 4cc draw spell.
What I Like: The effect you get from Dig Through Time/Ancestral Memories is certainly a powerful one. 4cc sorcery speed card advantage spells in blue have a lot of heavy competition, but Drawn from Dreams is one of the better options. During the developmental stages of the game, taking two of your best seven can be an important way to set yourself up for success on future turns.
What I Don't Like: While the effect is certainly powerful, this is no Dig Through Time. Being a sorcery hurts a lot, and it’s nowhere near as cost effective. Drawn from Dreams is to Dig Through Time what Plea for Power is to Treasure Cruise. Which is to say, a lot worse. As steve_man pointed out, Dreams competes more against sorcery-speed draw than it does against actual Dig, so it has to stack up against things like Deep Analysis and Careful Consideration/Foresee. I like it more than the latter, but not more than the former.
Verdict: This is a powerful effect, but I think 4cc sorcery-speed blue spells are all pretty busted. I would test this out at 720, but not sure if it would stick. I’m not quite optimistic about this enough to give it a spot in my 630-card cube, but I could certainly be wrong. The effect is obviously very powerful.
Cloudkin Seer
The best Wind Drake.
What I Like: Drawing cards and getting 2-power evasive creatures are obviously both good things. There’s a long and storied history of card draw being strapped to creature bodies, and they’re typically done in one of three ways: On defensive creatures like Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Omens, on utility bodies like Elvish Visionary and Fblthp, and on 3cc 2-power monsters like Phyrexian Rager. The defensive bodies have historically proved to be the most valuable, since an 0/4 body is generally more useful to the deck that wants to play it than the 1/1 versions are to their respective decks, and it’s combined with a cheaper cost than the 3cc variants. Phyrexiann Rager has been a fine card, but always felt just out of the range of cubeability. Cloudkin Seer is the best Phyrexian Rager variant we’ve ever seen; it has flying and doesn’t cost you a life. Tempo decks will enjoy the evasion, and the card advantage is useful no matter where it’s played. A 2-power body is generally worth a card, so I consider Seer to be card advantage in that sense.
What I Don't Like: While it’s true that this is the best Phyrexian Rager variant we’ve ever seen, what does that really mean? I don’t cube Rager, and I’m not sure if swapping a point of toughness flying and 1 life suddenly makes the card a great inclusion in the most powerful color in the cube.
Verdict: This is a good card. It’s splashable 2-for-1 card advantage and it comes with an evasive body. While the card won’t ever feel broken, it will quietly provide value as a 23rd playable card in most blue cube decks, where it will rarely ever be bad. I couldn’t quite find a cut I like in my 630 card cube, but it’s one of the next 3cc blue creatures on-deck if I’m ready to swap one out. Cubes that don’t need the discard from Champion of Wits or the artifact support from Trinket Mage can find a perfectly playable and ever-reliable creature in Cloudkin Seer. I’d play it at 720 for sure, and honestly it’ll be fine in a cube of any size if you have a cut from your 3cc blue creature section that isn’t critical for one of your archetypes.
Bag of Holding
A cool and flavorful Magic/D&D crossover card!
What I Like: Cheap utility artifacts that provide both card selection and card advantage are few and far-between. The activation costs on Bag of Holding aren’t cheap, but if you’re playing a reactive deck that can find opportunities to activate this on the opponent’s end step, the opportunity cost is pretty low. But being able to loot in the mid-game and cash it in for card advantage in the late game is quite powerful. You will always have something meaningful to do with your mana while Bag of Holding is in play, and that’s a powerful position to be in.
What I Don't Like: That first line of text is just a bummer for so many decks. It makes all of your other looting effects and discard outlets so much worse when your deck cares about utilizing its graveyard as a resource. Some decks won’t care, but the durdly decks that might be interested in Bag of Holding are often going to have other Looting effects and cards that care about your graveyard that randomly get hosed by the Bag.
Verdict: If the first line of text didn’t exist, and you just got to Exile-loot with the Bag without having to worry about potentially disrupting your other graveyard synergies, I’d probably be cubing it. But it may very well still be good enough. I would definitely test this card at 720, and it might ultimately prove to be good enough for smaller cubes too. This might sneak up on some folks the way that Treasure Map did (another card I was cautiously optimistic about when it was originally spoiled) and ultimately prove to be quite good. If you’re playing a midrange or control deck that doesn’t utilize its graveyard as a resource at all, it’s hard not to include Bag of Holding in your final 40.
Kykar, Wind’s Fury
A Jeskai spells signpost card.
What I Like: Kykar isn’t necessarily the most powerful support card for a spells matters shell, but it serves an important role as a signpost card for the Jeskai spells matters deck. When a player sits down to draft a cube and they see Kykar in a pack, it informs them that not only does Jeskai support a spells matters theme, but that a deck where Kykar is a good fit is available to draft. Jeskai does a handful of things in the cube; when it’s not a base for a spells matters deck, it is often used as a token shell or sometimes a Moat/Earthquake fliers package. Kykar plays decently into all of those decks. The most comparable cards to Kykar are probably Talrand and Murmuring Mystic, but Kykar has a few advantages. First and foremost, it triggers off of all noncreature spells, not just instants and sorceries. This can be a big deal, since it can allow it to succeed in shells where the other comparable options might fail. Additionally, the base body being a 3-power flier makes it a more threatening card even when it doesn’t go crazy with token generation. It will also randomly ramp, since it can sacrifice its tokens (and other spirits, FWIW) to generate red mana. I’ve heard it get compared to Emeria Angel within the cube community, which would be apt except for one major difference. Angels ceiling and its consistency are based around lands and land interactions. An aspect of the game that white is not centered around. Kykar on the other hand is based around noncreature spells, which is perfectly in line with what Jeskai is naturally doing. Basically, Emeria Angel is rarely in decks that are engineered to maximize landfall, and Kykar will naturally be in decks engineered to maximize its triggers.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, it’s still an expensive engine creature that’s 3-colors and has 3 toughness. Historically, 2-3cc cards have been the focal point for these kinds of effects since you want to resolve them underneath the stream of spells. I don’t think Kykar is going to be broken in the cube, but I think there will be several different Jeskai shells it will be able to contribute to.
Verdict: If your cube is of a size where it ha a dedicated Jeskai slot, and you’re unhappy with your current option or are looking for a card that better suites the WUR decks that are supported in the cube, Kykar is probably worth trying out. I’ll be giving it a chance to prove itself in my 630 card cube, but I’m unsure if it would make it into many lists that are smaller than that.
Nightpack Ambusher
A decent 4cc green creature!
What I Like: A 4/4 flash for 4 mana is a good baseline for a creature that can generate value in other ways as well. If you can …ambush… a creature in combat with it, you’ll be operating off pure upside after that. This Wolf can do a lot of cool things in a lot of common situations, and cranking out 3/3 wolves every turn is no joke. Ideally, its value can be maximized in a number of different ways. First, cast instants and other cards with flash; if you can play spells on your opponent’s turns, you can get a free 3/3 with this guy every time you do so. Look for mana sinks! Activating manlands, leveling-up creatures, paying equip costs and paying for any other activated abilities you can find will give you effective ways to spend your mana on non-spell cards. It’s not that hard to find ways to spend your mana if you actively search them out. If you can get even one free 3/3 from this good boi during a game, you’ll get 7 power and multiple bodies for 4 mana, at instant speed. Pretty good.
What I Don't Like: If you can’t profitably use your mana on your opponent’s turns, a 4/4 flash for 4 isn’t all that impressive anymore. Some decks will have a ton of ways to spend mana and Ambusher will be great. But decks with no instants and few activated abilities will simply not be able to maximize the value.
Verdict: Green’s 4cc creatures aren’t spectacular, so I have room to test this card out extensively at 630. I would expect it to play well there, and it might be good enough for testing in some 540 lists if you’re looking for fresh blood in the 4cc green creature slot at that size too.
Cavalier of Gales
A big card-advantage monster!
What I Like: A 5/5 flying for 5 is a good place to start. A Brainstorm is a powerful enters the battlefield trigger, especially when it’s paired with its own way to manipulate the top of your library. If they kill the Cavalier, you get a built-in shuffle and scry effect to build the perfect Brainstorm. If they don’t kill it …you get to bash them for 5 in the air. Win win. Additionally, blue might be the only color that can really maximize the reshuffling clause on its monsters. If the opponent kills this creature, it gets reshuffled into your deck (and you get to Scry 2 as well). This is particularly valuable for blue-heavy control decks, which run the legitimate risk of running out of win conditions sometimes.
What I Don't Like: The triple-blue in the casting cost is going to be a problem for some decks. Blue does have more draw/selection to help find sources of blue to cast your spells, but even so, there will be some shells that just can’t reliably play the Cavalier. Its cost will limit it to a lot of heavy-blue 2-color decks, and limit its playability in 3-color shells pretty dramatically. Not enough to offset its upside, but certainly something to keep an eye on.
Verdict: Blue’s 5cc creature suite isn’t particularly deep after Mulldrifter and Meloku, unless you’re playing some of the more casual draft-matters cards and Un- cards which give blue a couple of bomb 5’s. Most of the good options are more utility cards, and almost none of them are reliable big monsters that can close out games quickly. I expect the Cavalier to find a home in a lot of 540+ sized cubes, since the demand at the 5cc blue creature slot is hard to fill there.
Rotting Regisaur
Zombie Dinosaur?!? Sweet.
What I Like: A 7/6 creature for 3 mana is obviously a steal. Most of the oversized card-disadvantage beaters have clauses that either concede card advantage to the opponent or they require you to sacrifice themselves if you can’t satisfy the drawback. Not ol’ Rotty. Discarding a card is infinitely better than giving cards to the opponent, especially since it can be used as an advantage. If you can discard cards that either generate value from the ‘yard or that can bring themselves back, you’re getting a massive body for cheap …with what effectively plays out as an upside. It’s important to note that the discard occurs during your upkeep, which is important for 2 reasons. First, if the opponent needs to kill it with sorcery-speed removal, you don’t suffer any card disadvantage. Second, you don’t draw your card for the turn until after you discard. If you get yourself hellbent, Regisaur has no drawback. It’s just a 7/6 body with a relevant creature type for 3 mana.
What I Don't Like: In decks that can’t turn the discard around for value, a few cheap token makers can grind out some real card advantage against you. There could be spots where he babckfires by getting stonewalled by a token engine for multiple turns, forcing you to discard your hand and ultimately eating some removal once it’s profitable for the opponent.
Verdict: This is a scary threat for cheap, and there are a lot of ways to mitigate its “drawback” in the cube. I expect it to play quite well. I’d find a way to play this at 540-sized cubes and bigger, and it might very well be good enough for smaller cubes too if you play enough decks that both want a 3cc beater and can either utilize or circumvent the discard.
Voracious Hydra
A scaleable fighter/oversized beater.
What I Like: Even more than most scaleable cards, this hydra offers a lot of flexibility. It can be a lot of different cards for you throughout the game, and starting at 4 mana, it starts to be a pretty good deal. If you can get a 2/3 and kill an opponent’s creature for 2GG, I think that’s a good deal. Especially for a color that lacks in good removal options. It can also be a 4/5 trample for that same cost, if you want to prepare for a Wildfire or just need to apply pressure. And that’s the baseline for the Hydra. Every extra mana beyond that just makes it a more efficient fighter or adds +2/+2 to your trampling beater. No matter what the board calls for, the hydra should be able to do something impactful or threatening. Plus, it can be targeted by both Recruiters and plays very well on-curve after doing so. It can even be played in emergency 3-mana mode to kill off a random super-important tiny creature or get a 2/3 blocker if you’re desperate.
What I Don't Like: There’s not much not to like… an X1G cost would’ve been nice, but I just don’t see that happening with this kind of flexibility.
Verdict: This can be a huge number of different options throughout a given game. It can be a cheap green Skinrender variant or a 6-mana 8/9 trampler. I would’ve easily found room for this at 540 and tested it at 450, and there’s a chance it’s playable into smaller cubes as well. There’s a lot of flexibility rolled up into a creature that can be two completely different types of card in every spot on the curve.
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment below or on any other platform where I discuss our favorite format. Cheers, and happy cubing!
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Small nitpick about bag of holding.. I'd argue the first line of text is overall an advantage not a drawback.
When you sacrifice the bag of holding you get back all the cards looted with the bag AND from any other source while the bag was in play.
If opponent thoughtseizes you , you faithless looting/dack fayden/wheel of fortune etc, all those card go into exile for the bag to recoup later.
Maybe overall in cube it's a disadvantage because bag of holding is bad in reanimator decks, where looting effects are otherwise at their best.... But from your overall description I got the sense you missed you got the other cards back (I missed it the first time I read the card).
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Yes, I know the Bag's exile clause has synergy with itself, but I can't use my graveyard to reanimate, Welder, Daretti, Feldon, 'Lark, Alesha, Snapcaster, Gearhulk, Nightmare, Delve, etc, etc or any other graveyard-based shenanigans my looting effects are often enabling. And if it gets disenchanted, those tools never become available.
Basically, I wish the exile was limited to its own activation because it limits the number of decks that can partake in the Bag's other advantages.
Edit: I see where some of the language was misleading, so I corrected it a bit to make it clearer that I was talking about its negative impact on your own graveyard-centric strategies, and not a drawback of the Bag itself. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Sorry if you addressed this in another thread, but now that it sounds like Mtgsalvation is sticking around (even if under new management), will you continue to post these here?
Akrasia, a Custom 360 Cube
New To Cube?
Cubing with Two: A Guide to Two-Player Draft Formats
Thoughts on Cavalier of Flame?
Did I miss your Modern Horizons write-up? I don't see it anywhere.
It's like a Looter lord of sorts ...that might not want to be played in decks that typically look for Looting effects. It's a bizarre one, for sure.
As long as this site works, I'll be creating my articles here for the foreseeable future. If the entire community ends up migrating somewhere else, I'd likely follow.
Thanks for saying so!
Cavalier of Flame looks to do a few things, but not be great at any of them. I think red's 5cc creatures are FAR too deep for him.
I only write (P)review articles for the 4 major Standard releases each year. You did not miss an article.
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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Instead of 1/2 , or a lesser activation cost, or an easier slith condition. Mu Yanling has a bad floor, Elvish Reclaimer’s threshold too big or ability too slow. They are good cards, but much too fair for cube.
I was even more surprised that your assesments are lower that I expected.
I am skipppng any M20 updates, but watching Hydra. For some reason I am more elated than disappointed. Modern horizons really threw off my cube update budget. This is a welcome break
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Now I find myself wanting to find room for the Hydra. Cuts at 465 really suck though.
What do you think of Cavalier of Gales vs Mulldrifter?
Cheers,
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I think Mulldrifter is miles better than the Cavalier.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
I'm glad you appreciate Voracious Hydra. I actually really like this card from the perspective of someone trying to make UG +1/+1 counters an archetype; that deck can have explosive growth when it comes together, usually relying on stuff like Hydroid Krasis or Biogenic Ooze to really get the ball rolling, and then using proliferate keyword cards to go over the top. But, a major weakness of the deck is often that it's tapping out to move its plan forward, which I find leaves it with very few ways to interact with the opponent. This guy seems right at home in that deck, either keeping you alive or providing a humongous threat, and likely benefiting from proliferation if he survives.
Have you ever considered trying to include a +1/+1 counters theme? Do you think there is anything in particular it still needs in order to become a legit archetype in non-pauper cubes?
But Scales is a powerful archetype if you force the support for it. The only issue is that it's relatively parasitic, because there aren't enough of the counters matters cards that are playable outside of that one deck ...yet. But we're slowly getting there.
Thanks for commenting, and I'm glad you enjoyed the article!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
What would you recommend cutting for The hydra? I think I’m cutting master of the Wild Hunt as I think he does his job better and scales.
As for regisaur im going to cut hippie as i still can’t bekieve I have him in after being out for so long.
I hope these written reviews keep happening on another forum once salvation goes down as I’m always looking forward to your opinion on all things cube!
It is yet to be seen if the Hydra is actually a better card than MotWH, but I might try to keep Master in just because green's 4cc creatures are so lackluster that I want to keep the better options in if I can.
Regisaur is probably better than the Specter, but I still like the old guy. He puts in work still, even after all these years.
I think Salvation is staying alive, so as long as it's here, I'll be writing articles here.
You can always hit me up on Twitter (handle in sig) if you want to keep in touch post-Salvation (if it closes).
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Yup! "Magic Find" picked up MTGS, so unless they ruin it, we are good to go!
Cheers, and happy cubing.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!