You pay 1 extra mana for your Glorious Anthem to get some protection against counterspells and instant speed removal, and the opportunity to pay 5 mana to get another strong effect for ending the game. Another benefit is that you can divide the white mana requirement over two turns, and that you can play it in Lurrus decks. Of course, it sucks if your opponent kills it after you level it to max level, before you get to attack, but they do have to pay 1 more mana to do it.
In aggressive decks, this is really good against control, because it makes counterspells much much worse, and lets you spend more mana without overextending to a wrath. Like other anthems it is good in aggro mirrors, as it makes your creatures larger than theirs, while midrange decks will struggle to deal with massive double striking creatures in the late game. With this on max level, attacking with, say, a Flickerwisp and two random tokens deals 12 damage in the air!
It is also good in dedicated token decks, as they like anthems in general and are more likely to be able to pay the initial 1-mana cost without disturbing their curve. They also regularly hit 5 lands, and the 5-cost effect is very scary in a token deck!
I was waiting for somebody to make this thread because I’m too lazy.
Card seems quite good to me, probably 2nd best anthem after honor. The core part here is level 2 of course, but level 1 is also a solid addition at 1 mana and level 3 can kill people real fast combined with evasion.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
I'm not a fan of this one. I abandoned standalone anthem effects a long time ago since they're too narrow and power creep of creatures / token generators made them superfluous. Adding a tax effect and an expensive attack trigger isn't enough for me to re-consider a Glorious Anthem type effect.
Think it’s a decent card but a level too weak for cube.
A lot of mana needs to be sunk into this card to get its anthem, and that slows down your development.
Anthems are best as curve toppers after an aggressive start, or in a dedicated go-super-wide tokens strategy.
The second isn’t viable in a powered cube and the first gets hurt a lot by costing 4 mana.
Maybe I’m underestimating the instant speed tax, or the additional level 3 upside, but I doubt it.
The way I see this card is like a cheap tax enchant, then it plays an uncounterable anthem at 0 cards cost, then it plays a Rafiq effect at 0 cards cost. A bit weak, but still decent for Cube.
White is at its strongest when it curves at 1-2 CMC threats that are fast but also taxing.
Dragging the game out this long is a bad proposition.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
You pay 1 extra mana for your Glorious Anthem to get some protection against counterspells and instant speed removal, and the opportunity to pay 5 mana to get another strong effect for ending the game. Another benefit is that you can divide the white mana requirement over two turns, and that you can play it in Lurrus decks. Of course, it sucks if your opponent kills it after you level it to max level, before you get to attack, but they do have to pay 1 more mana to do it.
In aggressive decks, this is really good against control, because it makes counterspells much much worse, and lets you spend more mana without overextending to a wrath. Like other anthems it is good in aggro mirrors, as it makes your creatures larger than theirs, while midrange decks will struggle to deal with massive double striking creatures in the late game. With this on max level, attacking with, say, a Flickerwisp and two random tokens deals 12 damage in the air!
It is also good in dedicated token decks, as they like anthems in general and are more likely to be able to pay the initial 1-mana cost without disturbing their curve. They also regularly hit 5 lands, and the 5-cost effect is very scary in a token deck!
Overall I like this more than Glorious Anthem, but it's been a long time since I cut that card. I do run Force of Virtue and Dictate of Heliod, and I think I'll test this over Dictate.
Card seems quite good to me, probably 2nd best anthem after honor. The core part here is level 2 of course, but level 1 is also a solid addition at 1 mana and level 3 can kill people real fast combined with evasion.
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A lot of mana needs to be sunk into this card to get its anthem, and that slows down your development.
Anthems are best as curve toppers after an aggressive start, or in a dedicated go-super-wide tokens strategy.
The second isn’t viable in a powered cube and the first gets hurt a lot by costing 4 mana.
Maybe I’m underestimating the instant speed tax, or the additional level 3 upside, but I doubt it.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Dragging the game out this long is a bad proposition.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i