We've sure come a long way since Goblin Chariot. This compares well to Hanweir Garrison / Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin since it has haste, grows, and "draws" you cards. The "draw" trigger saying "play" instead of "cast" means you can play lands off this, which is really nice. I don't think this is better than Phoenix of Ash, but I can see this being better than Hanweir Garrison / Krenko since it swings immediately as a 3/3.
Personally, I’m not too big on this card. With Garrison or Krenko, I feel good casting the card on curve. If I cast this card on curve, meanwhile, I have likely already played my land for the turn and probably won’t be able to cast any nonland cards... meaning that I just played a 3/3 haste that ate the top card of my library. This card feels much better played on turn 4+ (So you can play a land post-combat if needed) but at that point, I’d personally be treating this card as more of a 4-drop than a 3-drop.
Immediately swinging as a 3/3 and the inevitability of it becoming a 4/4 makes it very hard to deal with on the battlefield. Putting this much pressure on the ground while also providing card advantage is a very unique set of skills and I'm going to find space for it.
Scales as the game progresses, generates repeatable card advantage, and can swing for 3 with haste on T3. Card seems pretty good, and I'll likely be testing this out.
So, this works with Grim Lavamancer, Earthshaker Khenra, and Chandra Torch of Defiance, which is nice. To confirm, it doesn't work with Flashback on Faithless Looting and Firebolt, right? Since those would be going to exile from the stack, not the graveyard?
Oh boy, another strong aggressive 3-drop. What is a MadRobot to do
A scaling creature with haste which can generate card advantage if it untaps (sometimes even without untapping) is definitely cubeable, but I prefer all the Rabblemaster variants because they're so much more abusable than this. Maybe if I really wanted to push for warriors...
I wish the card worked with madness or flashback or force of will cards etc. but those are nitpicks. Card is really interesting, different, powerful and will likely have some neat interactions for cubers to discover. Obviously scavenging ooze is a clear combo. It works with both seasoned pyromancer and najella but those are 3 drops an compete for this space. Other cards I am playing like Chandra, Phoenix of Ash, Grom Lavamancer, and Bomat Courier play well. As I am really moving more to a graveyard red theme this is one I am excited to try.
This card is wonderful!
It's a 3/3 with haste that grows and generates card advantage!
What more could you want in your low curve aggro deck?
Red has a sneaky amount of card advantage at this point.
I'll definitely be testing this, it looks real strong.
Responding to OP's Goblin Chariot quip: To be fair to the olden days of Magic, we have had Suq'Ata Lancer since 1996, which was strictly better than Goblin Chariot well before the the chariot existed.
Card is Gas. For those complaining you can't cast the card on turn 3, that's fine, it'll be a 4/4 next turn if it lives and you can probably play a card then which is good enough for most Red 3s. maybe not really tight360 cubes though. Flo or is a little lower compared to the rabblemaster variants if it's removed, but the ceiling is a lot higher. Connecting 2x (once for 3 and once for 4 + a draw) should make it pretty easy to close out games and anything on top of that should be game over 99% of the time.
This card really helps the warrior package out as well
Mardu-Woe Reaper is already a warrior for Najeela, but when you cast this you can exile a card to trigger Laelia
Few other cards it combo's well with that havn't been mentioned
Remorseful cleric
All the Escape Creatures (woe Strider, etc)
Earthshaker Khenra
Karn, Scion of urza
I think it also works with Mimic Vat as well? - Sometimes I hate that card, weird rules always seem to pop up with it.
A card-drawing 3/3 haste for 3 that randomly grows huge with Dig Through Time? Super good addition.
It's important to note that exiling cards with Delve will only result in a single +1/+1 counter. Something like Scavenging Ooze is what you want for this.
Did some playtesting last night with a few cards including Laelia. Opponent attacked with it and a Robber of the Rich so he was drawing cards as the red deck which was pretty awesome. It just hits so hard and quickly grows to be huge.
Laelia seems like it may competing to be the best red 3 drop in the Cube. Bold statement I know but I think it is definitely in the conversation.
Anything with haste in Red grabs my attention as they accelerate the clock for aggressive decks. This one is definitely lives up to that hype and gives potential card advantage!
Definitely slotting this in for Hanweir Garrison in my cube.
Anything with haste in Red grabs my attention as they accelerate the clock for aggressive decks. This one is definitely lives up to that hype and gives potential card advantage!
Definitely slotting this in for Hanweir Garrison in my cube.
This card is the real deal and likely will be the top Cube card in this set. I also swapped it for the Garrison and I'm thrilled so far.
We've sure come a long way since Goblin Chariot. This compares well to Hanweir Garrison / Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin since it has haste, grows, and "draws" you cards. The "draw" trigger saying "play" instead of "cast" means you can play lands off this, which is really nice. I don't think this is better than Phoenix of Ash, but I can see this being better than Hanweir Garrison / Krenko since it swings immediately as a 3/3.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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[180 classic cube]
Replacing Hanweir Garrison in my 540. I love cards that give you immediate value in a red deck.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
[180 classic cube]
A scaling creature with haste which can generate card advantage if it untaps (sometimes even without untapping) is definitely cubeable, but I prefer all the Rabblemaster variants because they're so much more abusable than this. Maybe if I really wanted to push for warriors...
540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza
Will be looking at cutting Krenko for this.
It's a 3/3 with haste that grows and generates card advantage!
What more could you want in your low curve aggro deck?
Red has a sneaky amount of card advantage at this point.
I'll definitely be testing this, it looks real strong.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
Juju Alters - Altered MTG Cards
This card really helps the warrior package out as well
Mardu-Woe Reaper is already a warrior for Najeela, but when you cast this you can exile a card to trigger Laelia
Few other cards it combo's well with that havn't been mentioned
Remorseful cleric
All the Escape Creatures (woe Strider, etc)
Earthshaker Khenra
Karn, Scion of urza
I think it also works with Mimic Vat as well? - Sometimes I hate that card, weird rules always seem to pop up with it.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
It's important to note that exiling cards with Delve will only result in a single +1/+1 counter. Something like Scavenging Ooze is what you want for this.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Laelia seems like it may competing to be the best red 3 drop in the Cube. Bold statement I know but I think it is definitely in the conversation.
I was really impressed.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
Definitely slotting this in for Hanweir Garrison in my cube.
360 Uncommons only Cube!
This card is the real deal and likely will be the top Cube card in this set. I also swapped it for the Garrison and I'm thrilled so far.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
I also like that Laelia hates on your opponent's effects that exile your library or graveyard, such as
Ashiok(s),Robber of the Rich, Thief of Sanity, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh. Edit: The exile clause cares about who is doing the exiling, so most of those don’t trigger Laelia.