At 630, I'm looking at the following changes. I'm removing a slot from each guild to add the 5 triomes, which is also allowing me to sneak in a few cards that I'd like to test instead of immediately adding back in recent cuts - the Izzet/Boros/Simic cuts will be adding old cards back:
I'm a bit disappointed by the middling selection of tricolor cards in this set.
Absolutely agree. I have three slots per shard, and I would be happy to see a shakeup in that section, but there's not a single clear upgrade to be made. There are swaps I could make, but Toluz, Clever Conductor is about as exciting as it gets.
Will replace the Pathways with the set of Triomes (Capenna + Ikoria).
Other than that I won't add anything from Capenna at first, but I will keep an eye on Titan of Industry, Workshop Warchief and Tenacious Underdog.
For the Capenna Commander cards, still a bunch left to be revealed but so far I'm adding Lethal Scheme and watching Caldaia Guardian.
Scheming Fence for (likely) Soulherder: Too much utility to ignore. This is great in powered cube.
All-Seeing Arbiter for Consecrated Sphinx: I was looking to cut Sphinx for a while. Arbiter is far from an S-tier card but it's more interactive than Sphinx, a faster clock, and better on defense. This is a change just to switch things up until we get a more bomby 6-drop in blue.
Titan of Industry for Tovolar's Huntmaster: Fills out my curve at 7 with a really versatile fatty. Brings a lot more power and versatility than Hornet Queen ever did, with the drawback of being maybe slightly less good on defense.
I like Tenacious Underling a lot but I don't think I can find a space, and I already have Wight on the sideline looking in.
The 3 colour cards were largely disappointing - agree with MadRobot.
Some great cards coming in the Commander set, though, so I'm looking forward to full spoilers for that supplemental set.
A friend opened a booster box and let me take what I pleased except for the chase rares in exchange for a few old cards. So I've got everything from this set I really have any interest in except for the rare lands. And with the common fetches, those are unnecessary.
Naturally I got all these cards the last time I cubed, so none of them were tested...
- Caldaia Guardian has been a huge hit and is probably one of the best cards released this year, IMO. Its tempo boost of the blitz mode is so huge, it's essentially a Mulldrifter that exchanges 1 card draw for 4 damage and two 1/1s.
- Scheming Fence has been fine, but I admittedly haven't played it in a powered cube yet, where it would shine most. I've definitely seen it shut down some things, but I don't think I've really seen it actually use the stolen ability yet.
- I've been really liking Titan of Industry as a super fattie, it works well in any Natural Order / Cheaty Face shell. As a 7 drop it's seen a lot more play than Hornet Queen since it's more versatile and works much better with Oath of Druids.
- I've been liking Tenacious Underdog more than Skyclave Shade as a straight ahead aggro beater, but I can see arguments for Skyclave Shade if you're applying it more to aristocrats. Having the extra toughness and ability to block really helps in racing scenarios, and 4 mana is more achievable than 5 mana, especially in an aggro deck. I'm also not a fan of Skyclave Shade's recursion relying on landfall, especially in an aggro deck where you're probably playing less lands overall. Can't go wrong with either Underdog or Shade though.
- Ob Nixilis, the Adversary is pretty obnoxious if you can cast it with casualty on turn 2 or 3. It applies so much pressure to your opponent so fast, and dealing with both of them can be difficult if you're not playing early aggressive creatures or just Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus or something. Every turn you don't deal with them, the harder it becomes to kill them.
- I've been testing All-Seeing Arbiter over Consecrated Sphinx. Lower ceiling, but higher floor is nice, I also like the extra synergy it brings to the table with other discard outlets. I'll probably bring back Sphinx in the long term though since it's still more liked by other players in general.
- Sanctuary Warden performs well for a 6 drop, it's pretty serviceable for control shells. The drawing cards and making a 1/1 gives it a great floor, and being able to remove counters off other things like planeswalkers can make it quite the value engine.
- I tested Jaxis, the Troublemaker as a fair Kiki-Twin variant alongside Fable of the Mirror Breaker. Jaxis is probably the better Kiki-Twin impersonator, but Fable of the Mirror Breaker is a better overall card. I didn't get too much testing with Jaxis since I replaced it fairly soon for Caves of Chaos Adventurer, but a part of me kind of wants to give it another chance. This is cool as a value Kiki-Twin, but is especially bad with the other combo pieces since you discarding a card is part of the activation cost.
- I briefly tested Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second, but felt like I really didn't need it since tokens are pretty strong on their own already.
WHITE
- Sanctuary Warden
BLUE
- All-Seeing Arbiter
BLACK
- Tenacious Underdog
- Lethal Scheme
RED
- Jaxis, the Troublemaker
GREEN
- Titan of Industry
- Caladia Guardian
OTHER
- Scheming Fence
- Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
- Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Tenacious Underdog
Lethal Scheme
Strangle
Titan of Industry
Scheming Fence
5 Triomes
Ranked by the likelihood I think the card will stick in my cube for a year+
75%+
5 Triomes
Titan of Industry
50%+
Scheming Fence
10%-
Ob nixilis, the adversary
Elspeth Resplendent
Cards I'm watching (might test in future):
Jaxis, the troublemaker
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Jetmir's Garden cycle
Maestros Theater cycle
Commons/Uncommons to probably add:
Common/Uncommon maybes:
Rares/Mythics I'm interested in:
Rare/Mythic maybes (if I happen to have one):
Ultimately, it looks like a bunch of cards I wouldn't mind playing, and not many I actually want to play. I'll see how many of the lands I can get.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
Will test scheming fence, probably over Geist. May test Titan of Industry, probably over regal behemoth, maybe avenger.
Not much else for me.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Giada, Font of Hope over Blessed Alliance
Inspiring Overseer over Mirror Entity
Sanctuary Warden over Fiery Temper
Lethal Scheme over Never // Return
Tenacious Underdog over Feed the Swarm
Gala Greeters over Fastbond
Titan of Industry over Pelakka Wurm
Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second over Alela, Artful Provocateur
Scheming Fence over Niko Aris
Jetmir's Garden over Jungle Shrine
Raffine's Tower over Arcane Sanctum
Spara's Headquarters over Seaside Citadel
Xander's Lounge over Crumbling Necropolis
Ziatora's Proving Ground over Savage Lands
Edit:
Currency Converter over Sanctuary Warden
Lagrella, the Magpie over Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second
Lagrella is more than a 2/3 Banisher Priest. In the right situation, you may put one of your own creatures underneath as removal/wrath insurance or to support blink shenanigans. She also randomly interacts with +1/+1 counters matter cards. Despite the confusing syntax, I think there’s enough synergy here that I want to try Lagrella out in my currently empty Bant slot (also, I forgot I was already running Zacama! as the Naya card)
All-Seeing Arbiter for Consecrated Sphinx
Scheming Fence for Talisman of Progress
Workshop Warchief for Tovolar's Huntmaster
Lethal Scheme for Feed The Swarm
Scheming Fence is a card that excites me a lot. Can't wait to see it in action!
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
White:
Damn -> Sanctuary Warden
Blue:
N/A
Black:
Vraska, Golgari Queen -> Tenacious Underdog
Hagra Mauling -> Lethal Scheme
Red:
N/A
Green:
Tovolar's Huntmaster -> Titan of Industry
Multicolor:
Geist of Saint Traft -> Scheming Fence
Glenn, the Voice of Calm -> Spara's Headquarters
Tamiyo, Field Researcher -> Rigo, Streetwise Mentor
Kaito Shizuki -> Raffine's Tower
Dakkon, Shadow Slayer -> Toluz, Clever Conductor
Judith, the Scourge Diva -> Xander's Lounge
Bloodbraid Elf -> Ziatora's Proving Ground
Darigaaz Reincarnated -> Ognis, the Dragon's Lash
Voice of Resurgence -> Jetmir's Garden
Minsc, Beloved Ranger -> Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second
Colorless:
N/A
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Including:
The Triomes
U: Make Disappear
B: Tenacious Underdog, Lethal Scheme
G: Caldaia Guardian
Testing:
W: Extraction Specialist
B: Body Launderer
G: Titan of Industry, First Responder
Caldaia Guardian - green's Lingering Souls variant
Titan of Industry - another great cheat target
A heavy 3-coloured set where a lot of the rares and mythics are 3-coloured will have a harder time with cube, since I don't run any 3C+ cards.
Make Disappear
Scheming Fence
Shard Trilands
Testing:
All-Seeing Arbiter
Titan of Industry
Tainted Indulgence
Watching:
Tenacious Underdog
Workshop Warchief
I'm happy we got the rest of the triomes, but I'm a bit disappointed by the middling selection of tricolor cards in this set.
540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza
Absolutely agree. I have three slots per shard, and I would be happy to see a shakeup in that section, but there's not a single clear upgrade to be made. There are swaps I could make, but Toluz, Clever Conductor is about as exciting as it gets.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
W
Adanto Vanguard --> Citizen's Crowbar
Remorseful Cleric --> Giada, Font of Hope
Mirror Entity --> Inspiring Overseer
Starnheim Unleashed --> Sanctuary Warden
Shatter the Sky --> Depopulate
U
Frost Titan --> All-Seeing Arbiter
God-Eternal Kefnet --> Witness Protection
Negate --> Make Disappear
B
Dusk Legion Zealot --> Tenacious Underdog
The Abyss --> Lethal Scheme
R
Wildfire Devils --> Jaxis, the Troublemaker
Incendiary Flow --> Strangle
G
Timeless Witness --> Caldaia Guardian
Biogenic Ooze --> Workshop Warchief
Somberwald Beastmaster --> Titan of Industry
GOLD
Dream Trawler --> Scheming Fence
Judith, the Scourge Diva --> Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
Other than that I won't add anything from Capenna at first, but I will keep an eye on Titan of Industry, Workshop Warchief and Tenacious Underdog.
For the Capenna Commander cards, still a bunch left to be revealed but so far I'm adding Lethal Scheme and watching Caldaia Guardian.
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/articles-podcasts-and-guides/826334-set-p-review-my-top-20-streets-of-new-capenna-snc
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!
All-Seeing Arbiter for Consecrated Sphinx: I was looking to cut Sphinx for a while. Arbiter is far from an S-tier card but it's more interactive than Sphinx, a faster clock, and better on defense. This is a change just to switch things up until we get a more bomby 6-drop in blue.
Titan of Industry for Tovolar's Huntmaster: Fills out my curve at 7 with a really versatile fatty. Brings a lot more power and versatility than Hornet Queen ever did, with the drawback of being maybe slightly less good on defense.
I like Tenacious Underling a lot but I don't think I can find a space, and I already have Wight on the sideline looking in.
The 3 colour cards were largely disappointing - agree with MadRobot.
Some great cards coming in the Commander set, though, so I'm looking forward to full spoilers for that supplemental set.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Titan of Industry and Workshop Warchief are on my watch list but I don't see anything I want to cut to bring them on board.
Set was really lackluster for cube.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Totem-Guide Hartebeest > Inspiring Overseer
Portcullis Vine > Gala Greeters
Rabid Bite > Master's Rebuke
Attended Knight > Mage's Attendant
Shelter > Patch Up
Felidar Cub > Citizen's Crowbar
Mirran Crusader > Rumor Gatherer (double protection is unfun)
Emissary of Sunrise > Raffine's Informant
Manic Vandal > Plundering Barbarian
Inventor's Apprentice > Unlucky Witness
Jackal Pup > Goldhound
Aether Chaser > Riveteers Requisitioner
Redcap Melee > Strangle (I forgot I added that jank)
Meglonoth > Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer
Enigma Sphinx > Toluz, Clever Conductor
Liliana's Devotee > Night Clubber
Curse of Shallow Graves > Extract the Truth
Zephid's Embrace > A Little Chat
Narcolepsy > Sleep with the Fishes
Jilt > Witness Protection
+ Obscura Storefront
+ Maestros Theater
+ Cabaretti Courtyard
+ Riveteers Overlook
+ Brokers Hideout
+ Extraction Specialist
+ Mayhem Patrol
I also have a Raffine, Scheming Seer, but I prefer Toluz for the mana cost.
A friend opened a booster box and let me take what I pleased except for the chase rares in exchange for a few old cards. So I've got everything from this set I really have any interest in except for the rare lands. And with the common fetches, those are unnecessary.
Naturally I got all these cards the last time I cubed, so none of them were tested...
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
- Caldaia Guardian has been a huge hit and is probably one of the best cards released this year, IMO. Its tempo boost of the blitz mode is so huge, it's essentially a Mulldrifter that exchanges 1 card draw for 4 damage and two 1/1s.
- Scheming Fence has been fine, but I admittedly haven't played it in a powered cube yet, where it would shine most. I've definitely seen it shut down some things, but I don't think I've really seen it actually use the stolen ability yet.
- I've been really liking Titan of Industry as a super fattie, it works well in any Natural Order / Cheaty Face shell. As a 7 drop it's seen a lot more play than Hornet Queen since it's more versatile and works much better with Oath of Druids.
- I've been liking Tenacious Underdog more than Skyclave Shade as a straight ahead aggro beater, but I can see arguments for Skyclave Shade if you're applying it more to aristocrats. Having the extra toughness and ability to block really helps in racing scenarios, and 4 mana is more achievable than 5 mana, especially in an aggro deck. I'm also not a fan of Skyclave Shade's recursion relying on landfall, especially in an aggro deck where you're probably playing less lands overall. Can't go wrong with either Underdog or Shade though.
- Ob Nixilis, the Adversary is pretty obnoxious if you can cast it with casualty on turn 2 or 3. It applies so much pressure to your opponent so fast, and dealing with both of them can be difficult if you're not playing early aggressive creatures or just Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus or something. Every turn you don't deal with them, the harder it becomes to kill them.
- I've been testing All-Seeing Arbiter over Consecrated Sphinx. Lower ceiling, but higher floor is nice, I also like the extra synergy it brings to the table with other discard outlets. I'll probably bring back Sphinx in the long term though since it's still more liked by other players in general.
- Sanctuary Warden performs well for a 6 drop, it's pretty serviceable for control shells. The drawing cards and making a 1/1 gives it a great floor, and being able to remove counters off other things like planeswalkers can make it quite the value engine.
- I tested Jaxis, the Troublemaker as a fair Kiki-Twin variant alongside Fable of the Mirror Breaker. Jaxis is probably the better Kiki-Twin impersonator, but Fable of the Mirror Breaker is a better overall card. I didn't get too much testing with Jaxis since I replaced it fairly soon for Caves of Chaos Adventurer, but a part of me kind of wants to give it another chance. This is cool as a value Kiki-Twin, but is especially bad with the other combo pieces since you discarding a card is part of the activation cost.
- I briefly tested Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second, but felt like I really didn't need it since tokens are pretty strong on their own already.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra