I fear that it wont be picked often for the same reason cube owners are ignoring it. ITs additive distraction.
I've literally never heard of anybody else dismiss Yuffie about additive distraction on several different platforms (MTGS / multiple cube Discord servers / Reddit / etc). Universes Beyond, sure, but the equipment clause being additive distraction seems extremely silly to me. I don't even see how the equipment line is problematic. This claim is so out of left field to the point where it sounds made up.
Aesthetics aside, Yuffie is very Thieving Skydiver-ish where most unpowered cubes would probably just ignore it. Personally I'd only want to play it in a powered cube, and a lot of people's cubes here skew on the unpowered side of things.
Gau fell through the cracks for me because it got spoiled alongside six or so other cards that I was excited for. I initially hesitated on him because he's so much worse than Luminarch Aspirant when played after turn 2, at least from a combat perspective. However, the burn ability shores that up in a big way. I'll likely test him in the near future.
As for testing results, Kujata is every bit as powerful as predicted. Not once has anyone survived it hitting chapter II. Sin has disappointed, not because of the randomness, but because the main body is unimpressive. Surely they could've spared it(?) an extra keyword or two if they gave Atraxa four, but alas it's not to be. I kinda ignored Hildibrand's anthem effect in my initial appraisal of him and have since learned that it is in fact very relevant. Highly recommend if your WB decks have an aristocrats/token theme.
The most surprising thing to me this spoiler season is how hard people are sleeping on Gau, Feral Youth. Card's insane. An aggressive red Luminarch Aspirant variant that scales into the late game as an attacker and randomly Lava Spike/Lava Axe the opponent every time you meddle with your 'yard is crazy good. Every color has plenty of ways to interact with your 'yard, and Gau has been INSANELY strong and very consistent in testing.
Gau fell through the cracks for me because it got spoiled alongside six or so other cards that I was excited for.
I think Gau requires a lot of context to really unleash its full potential. Specifically a bunch of Gravecrawler / Bloodghast variants or a lot of Unearth variants. Without that context I think Gau is a bit borderline.
I originally thought so too, but there are so many ways to have cards leave your 'yard in all colors and decks that the ability has proven to be very consistent. It usually doesn't need to ping more than one extra time (if that) to make it worth playing; it's already good on its own.
What I'm currently on in my cube, but going to add some more. Ofc I don't think all of these are going to last long-term but I usually tend to try a bunch of things and then cut what doesn't work/shove it into the maybe pile.
Buster Sword If you're not trying it, I think people will come back to this card and add it later when they see it popping off in cube.
Curious on this - I didn't end up trying this out because these kinds of cards tend to play worse than they look (those that rely on getting through, damage wise) and the rates on equipping + initial cost don't seem great.
Do you usually find that the creatures are able to get in the trigger?
The most surprising thing to me this spoiler season is how hard people are sleeping on Gau, Feral Youth.
I actually missed that card until I saw it in your update. I already have a "leave the yard" archetype in my cube and this will fit perfectly there. Really excited about the damage effect.
I strongly dislike the direction Magic has taken and this set is the epitome of that.
Good thing about cube - everyone can choose themselves what cards to play.
My regular red drafter is excited about Gau. I do have any real them for it but even flashback cards, seasoned pyromancer etc gives a nice little upside to a beater.
The problem with Green ramp is that the rate for 1 CMC acceleration is very good, but its clear they won't print anything significantly better than Kodama's Reach for 3-4 CMC range, which makes it difficult if your goal is to ramp into your finishers like Primeval Titan / Inferno Titan etc.
I think the fail safe of returning two permanents is also very strong in the mid to late game against more grindy decks.
Havent played with any of the new cards yet, but it seems pretty great to me.
In decks that can leverage it (baubles/cantrips/moxen/card draw), it can go off really hard.
Making mana to cast the spells that the card draw spells draw.
Many UR combo/artifact decks both have ways to dig through their deck and have plenty to do with the extra mana.
Any card that can recover the mana spent to cast it on the turn it was cast, always plays out better than it looks.
Havent played with any of the new cards yet, but it seems pretty great to me.
In decks that can leverage it (baubles/cantrips/moxen/card draw), it can go off really hard.
Making mana to cast the spells that the card draw spells draw.
Many UR combo/artifact decks both have ways to dig through their deck and have plenty to do with the extra mana.
Any card that can recover the mana spent to cast it on the turn it was cast, always plays out better than it looks.
Oh I don’t doubt it but it’s just UR cuts are the hardest to find so folks kinda just ignore UR cards altogether
As somebody who puts a lot of time and effort in cheaty face, I don't think Yuna's Decision will be a sleeper and is probably decent at best. It's best suited for Natural Order shells, but being unplayable in Oath of Druids shells means it probably won't be any better than things like Smuggler's Surprise / Monster Manual.
It's not too surprising for me since 3 mana is a lot for a spells matters type card. A lot of cubes don't run Monastery Mentor anymore for this reason. It has a niche with storm / Wildfire / Upheaval decks. There's also a ton of competition in UR where plenty of 3 mana Izzet build arounds are left on the wayside.
As somebody who puts a lot of time and effort in cheaty face, I don't think Yuna's Decision will be a sleeper and is probably decent at best. It's best suited for Natural Order shells, but being unplayable in Oath of Druids shells means it probably won't be any better than things like Smuggler's Surprise / Monster Manual.
That kinda highlights the problem. Smuggler's Surprise, Monster Manual and Selvala's Stampede are very inefficient.
As somebody who puts a lot of time and effort in cheaty face, I don't think Yuna's Decision will be a sleeper and is probably decent at best. It's best suited for Natural Order shells, but being unplayable in Oath of Druids shells means it probably won't be any better than things like Smuggler's Surprise / Monster Manual.
I will definitely be running this and I expect it to be quite powerful. My cube is very different from mainstream cubes though so I'm not surprised not many people are running it. Probably not good in a good stuff cube. My cube has lots of spells matter stuff.
In the future, WW Cloud, Midgar Mercenary if there is a card that makes his second ability relevant. I don't want to include a straight up worse Stoneforge Mystic even if it is still good enough.
The double-trigger clause has been pretty sweet in testing so far. Especially with Skullclamp.
Dont forget the Sword Cycles, Sword of animist, etc.
Rules question on the trigger portion of the card, does Lifelink count as a triggered ability, and if so, can it equate to double lifelink?
Rules question on the trigger portion of the card, does Lifelink count as a triggered ability, and if so, can it equate to double lifelink?
Lifelink is a static ability, not a triggered ability. Things like Exalted AngelArmadillo Cloak still have the old wording where they are triggered and haven't been errata'd. Loxodon Warhammer originally had the old wording, but was eventually errata'd to lifelink.
I've decided to test out Kefka, Court Mage as well... I support both a discard-matters deck and the wildfire deck, and I picture it playing well in both.
Buster Sword If you're not trying it, I think people will come back to this card and add it later when they see it popping off in cube.
Curious on this - I didn't end up trying this out because these kinds of cards tend to play worse than they look (those that rely on getting through, damage wise) and the rates on equipping + initial cost don't seem great.
Do you usually find that the creatures are able to get in the trigger?
Every time we cube, I see a sword attached to a creature in someone's game just blowing out the opponent, and I think to myself, "Swords are too slow for modern cube." I am part of the equipment lovers' revolution.
Yes, it's true we have an unpowered cube, but we are basically now power 9 away from complete power max, in my opinion, and swords definitely still impact the game. Swords are not first pick, but are a mid-draft pickup for aggro decks, or 1st pickable in a deck running Cloud/Stoneforge. Cloud in a lot of decks I look over that are running equipment end up better than Stoneforge Mystic, especially with the addition of Glimmer Lens and Astrologian's Planisphere, and Cori-Steel Cutter.
Buster Sword If you're not trying it, I think people will come back to this card and add it later when they see it popping off in cube.
Vivi Ornitier Seems cracked for storm decks if you're running storm in your cube.
After testing and reviewing other thoughts about cards in this set, we made a few changes to this list.
We were drunk when we thought Lightning, Army of One was ever going to cut other RW cards. Not having haste kills this card for us. We were adding in the cards into our cube, and Lightning didn't even make it into the sleeve before we started to realize this haha.
We added Astrologian's Planisphere. This felt so strong in limited that we wanted to try it out. Feels like it would work in a UW equipment deck, a U based control deck, an artifact deck, or a RU spells matter deck.
Cecil has looked great every time I have seen it now!
I missed Town Greeter until I saw @steve_man 's article as another Satyr Wayfinder for the dredge-ish style decks we are recently trying out and supporting.
I strongly dislike the direction Magic has taken and this set is the epitome of that.
Good thing about cube - everyone can choose themselves what cards to play.
I've literally never heard of anybody else dismiss Yuffie about additive distraction on several different platforms (MTGS / multiple cube Discord servers / Reddit / etc). Universes Beyond, sure, but the equipment clause being additive distraction seems extremely silly to me. I don't even see how the equipment line is problematic. This claim is so out of left field to the point where it sounds made up.
Aesthetics aside, Yuffie is very Thieving Skydiver-ish where most unpowered cubes would probably just ignore it. Personally I'd only want to play it in a powered cube, and a lot of people's cubes here skew on the unpowered side of things.
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As for testing results, Kujata is every bit as powerful as predicted. Not once has anyone survived it hitting chapter II. Sin has disappointed, not because of the randomness, but because the main body is unimpressive. Surely they could've spared it(?) an extra keyword or two if they gave Atraxa four, but alas it's not to be. I kinda ignored Hildibrand's anthem effect in my initial appraisal of him and have since learned that it is in fact very relevant. Highly recommend if your WB decks have an aristocrats/token theme.
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I think Gau requires a lot of context to really unleash its full potential. Specifically a bunch of Gravecrawler / Bloodghast variants or a lot of Unearth variants. Without that context I think Gau is a bit borderline.
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Curious on this - I didn't end up trying this out because these kinds of cards tend to play worse than they look (those that rely on getting through, damage wise) and the rates on equipping + initial cost don't seem great.
Do you usually find that the creatures are able to get in the trigger?
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I actually missed that card until I saw it in your update. I already have a "leave the yard" archetype in my cube and this will fit perfectly there. Really excited about the damage effect.
I strongly dislike the direction Magic has taken and this set is the epitome of that.
Good thing about cube - everyone can choose themselves what cards to play.
The problem with Green ramp is that the rate for 1 CMC acceleration is very good, but its clear they won't print anything significantly better than Kodama's Reach for 3-4 CMC range, which makes it difficult if your goal is to ramp into your finishers like Primeval Titan / Inferno Titan etc.
I think the fail safe of returning two permanents is also very strong in the mid to late game against more grindy decks.
Vivi Ornitier
Havent played with any of the new cards yet, but it seems pretty great to me.
In decks that can leverage it (baubles/cantrips/moxen/card draw), it can go off really hard.
Making mana to cast the spells that the card draw spells draw.
Many UR combo/artifact decks both have ways to dig through their deck and have plenty to do with the extra mana.
Any card that can recover the mana spent to cast it on the turn it was cast, always plays out better than it looks.
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Oh I don’t doubt it but it’s just UR cuts are the hardest to find so folks kinda just ignore UR cards altogether
As somebody who puts a lot of time and effort in cheaty face, I don't think Yuna's Decision will be a sleeper and is probably decent at best. It's best suited for Natural Order shells, but being unplayable in Oath of Druids shells means it probably won't be any better than things like Smuggler's Surprise / Monster Manual.
It's not too surprising for me since 3 mana is a lot for a spells matters type card. A lot of cubes don't run Monastery Mentor anymore for this reason. It has a niche with storm / Wildfire / Upheaval decks. There's also a ton of competition in UR where plenty of 3 mana Izzet build arounds are left on the wayside.
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That kinda highlights the problem. Smuggler's Surprise, Monster Manual and Selvala's Stampede are very inefficient.
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I will definitely be running this and I expect it to be quite powerful. My cube is very different from mainstream cubes though so I'm not surprised not many people are running it. Probably not good in a good stuff cube. My cube has lots of spells matter stuff.
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Dont forget the Sword Cycles, Sword of animist, etc.
Rules question on the trigger portion of the card, does Lifelink count as a triggered ability, and if so, can it equate to double lifelink?
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Lifelink is a static ability, not a triggered ability. Things like Exalted Angel Armadillo Cloak still have the old wording where they are triggered and haven't been errata'd. Loxodon Warhammer originally had the old wording, but was eventually errata'd to lifelink.
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Every time we cube, I see a sword attached to a creature in someone's game just blowing out the opponent, and I think to myself, "Swords are too slow for modern cube." I am part of the equipment lovers' revolution.
Yes, it's true we have an unpowered cube, but we are basically now power 9 away from complete power max, in my opinion, and swords definitely still impact the game. Swords are not first pick, but are a mid-draft pickup for aggro decks, or 1st pickable in a deck running Cloud/Stoneforge. Cloud in a lot of decks I look over that are running equipment end up better than Stoneforge Mystic, especially with the addition of Glimmer Lens and Astrologian's Planisphere, and Cori-Steel Cutter.
After testing and reviewing other thoughts about cards in this set, we made a few changes to this list.
We were drunk when we thought Lightning, Army of One was ever going to cut other RW cards. Not having haste kills this card for us. We were adding in the cards into our cube, and Lightning didn't even make it into the sleeve before we started to realize this haha.
We added Astrologian's Planisphere. This felt so strong in limited that we wanted to try it out. Feels like it would work in a UW equipment deck, a U based control deck, an artifact deck, or a RU spells matter deck.
Cecil has looked great every time I have seen it now!
I missed Town Greeter until I saw @steve_man 's article as another Satyr Wayfinder for the dredge-ish style decks we are recently trying out and supporting.
Insightful.