Channel - , Discard Takenuma, Abandoned Mire: Mill three cards then return a creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand. This ability costs less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
An untapped black land that can dig and recur creatures or planeswalkers at instant speed. Grapple with the Past is valued at 2 mana and saw standard play, and while both cards are very different on paper, both are used to provide mana early or gas in the late game. Being able to grab planeswalkers is big game for both control and midrange decks, and while I doubt the uncountable nature of this card will be particularly relevant, the fact that it plays well with land synergies like Wrenn and Six and Life from the Loam can be very relevant in-game, in addition to being targetable with land-based dig like Once Upon a Time and Wrenn and Seven. I can't imagine the legendary mana-discount clause being particularly relevant with any sort of consistency, but it doesn't hurt that this may cost as little as on choice occasions.
In my mind, the most comparable card to Takenuma is Castle Locthwain. Both are black lands that have a good chance of entering the battlefield untapped and that increase your access to cards for 4 mana ( and tapping the castle is effectively 4 mana).
Takenuma will NEVER enter the battlefield tapped, can only be used once per game outside of specific land-based shells, occasionally costs 1 less to activate and is more splashable, and fails to provide actual card advantage. This card does have a bit more use in Reanimator shells that can use the self-mill while Locthwain does its heaviest living in control decks that need a constant stream of answers at instant sped... and aggro decks that need to keep accessing threats... and it isn't terrible in reanimator, either.
While the opportunity cost for this card is practically nill, I don't think that it's one of the best black lands available.
I like this a lot more than Agadeem's Awakening since it ETBs untapped for no penalty and it goes into more decks.
I think it serves a very different purpose than Agadeem's Awakening though, since Awakening can rebuild a lost board immediately and can instantly set up small creature combos/synergies in Persist or Aristocrats. However, I do agree that it is more to my liking than Agadeem, since that card played worse on paper than it did in my head.
This is basically a zendikar style spell land, only both halves are printed on the front side. ETB untapped makes this a pretty amazing utility land, but black already has some of the best utility lands. This promises to be an awesome cycle.
How does this card stand in a comparison to Volrath's Stronghold?
Theoretically, the latter can provide infinite value, but it requires your draw for the turn, only targets creatures, and does not provide colored mana.
Do you think a colored land with a stronger one-shot effect is better than theoretical infinite value?
I think the comparison should be strongly considered.
I still have strongold in, but it's on the chopping block. For every game it wins by letting you rebuy a great ETB creature over and over, there's 49 games where it's just a land that taps for colorless because you can't take the time off to spend 3 mana and skip a draw step to regrow a creature. I like this card a LOT more because it adds colored mana and you get the creature and a draw step. That being said, while this card will go in every black deck, it's gonna have a pretty minor effect most of the time, and for my cube philosophy I just don't know how much room there is for utility lands that go in every deck but are never exciting.
How does this card stand in a comparison to Volrath's Stronghold?
Theoretically, the latter can provide infinite value, but it requires your draw for the turn, only targets creatures, and does not provide colored mana.
Do you think a colored land with a stronger one-shot effect is better than theoretical infinite value?
I think the comparison should be strongly considered.
You'll hear more positive opinions on Volrath's Stronghold from cube curators that have Persist + other creature combos in their cube. The other thing is a tri land offers the same amount of fixing for tri color decks as two dual lands, so cubes with more 2nd tier tri color lands such as Gemstone Mines, Undiscovered Paradise will also rate Volrath's Stronghold a bit higher.
Flagstones is interesting as it has good synergy with the Elvish Reclaimer, Knight, Cataclysm, Smokestack, Braids, Armageddon x2, Wildfire x2, Balance.
My gut reaction is this is a bit too slow - but I'm willing to give it a spin.
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
For lands to be worth as slots in cube, they have to provide value over a basic land - otherwise they just take up cube space for nothing. Flagstones and Pendelhaven don't find homes for this reason.
The cycling mono lands improve upon this concept by possibly replacing themselves when you don't need lands... However the drawback is steep, since they enter tapped and only provide one color.
Other lands fix something of this drawback, and even add basic types in order to be fetched, like the Amonkhet duals and the tri-lands - and they are actually good enough to see cube play.
Finally the zendikar MDFC lands are the best iteration of this effect, since they staple on an actual card instead of paying mana to replace itself, and you can even play them untapped. Agadeem's Awakening is discussed for this reason.
Takenuma is very comparable, since it has a land side that enters untapped, and has a spell side. However while this spell might not be as powerful as recurring creatures to play, Grapple With the Past is still a fair spell, especially if it could get PWs, and playing it is actually much more reliable for as little as B, than looking to stack BBB AND have enough creatures with matching costs in the yard...
I think that for this reason, if it comes down to Agadeem vs Takenuma, I think Takenuma is usually a better pick for a cube slot. However I argue that having a black Noxious Revival on a colorless land is worse than both, even if it can be used multiple times.
I feel the 4 CMC activation cost might be a bit too steep. This to me feels like the black Pendelhaven / Flagstones.
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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
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Legendary Land
: Add .
Channel - , Discard Takenuma, Abandoned Mire: Mill three cards then return a creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand. This ability costs less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
An untapped black land that can dig and recur creatures or planeswalkers at instant speed. Grapple with the Past is valued at 2 mana and saw standard play, and while both cards are very different on paper, both are used to provide mana early or gas in the late game. Being able to grab planeswalkers is big game for both control and midrange decks, and while I doubt the uncountable nature of this card will be particularly relevant, the fact that it plays well with land synergies like Wrenn and Six and Life from the Loam can be very relevant in-game, in addition to being targetable with land-based dig like Once Upon a Time and Wrenn and Seven. I can't imagine the legendary mana-discount clause being particularly relevant with any sort of consistency, but it doesn't hurt that this may cost as little as on choice occasions.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Takenuma will NEVER enter the battlefield tapped, can only be used once per game outside of specific land-based shells, occasionally costs 1 less to activate and is more splashable, and fails to provide actual card advantage. This card does have a bit more use in Reanimator shells that can use the self-mill while Locthwain does its heaviest living in control decks that need a constant stream of answers at instant sped... and aggro decks that need to keep accessing threats... and it isn't terrible in reanimator, either.
While the opportunity cost for this card is practically nill, I don't think that it's one of the best black lands available.
I think it serves a very different purpose than Agadeem's Awakening though, since Awakening can rebuild a lost board immediately and can instantly set up small creature combos/synergies in Persist or Aristocrats. However, I do agree that it is more to my liking than Agadeem, since that card played worse on paper than it did in my head.
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.
Im holding off buying the Zendikar lands for this cycle. (I’m so glad I update post rotation now!). Can’t wait for this cycle.
Theoretically, the latter can provide infinite value, but it requires your draw for the turn, only targets creatures, and does not provide colored mana.
Do you think a colored land with a stronger one-shot effect is better than theoretical infinite value?
I think the comparison should be strongly considered.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Cube Tutor: Here
Utility Lands: Here
You'll hear more positive opinions on Volrath's Stronghold from cube curators that have Persist + other creature combos in their cube. The other thing is a tri land offers the same amount of fixing for tri color decks as two dual lands, so cubes with more 2nd tier tri color lands such as Gemstone Mines, Undiscovered Paradise will also rate Volrath's Stronghold a bit higher.
The other thing to consider is Flagstones of Trokair, Pendelhaven and arguably Great Furnace, Tranquil Thicket, Cavern of Souls, and Mystic Sanctuary are all lands that are often strict upgrades to their basic equivalence in cube but aren't played because their upside isn't as worth it.
Flagstones is interesting as it has good synergy with the Elvish Reclaimer, Knight, Cataclysm, Smokestack, Braids, Armageddon x2, Wildfire x2, Balance.
My gut reaction is this is a bit too slow - but I'm willing to give it a spin.
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
The cycling mono lands improve upon this concept by possibly replacing themselves when you don't need lands... However the drawback is steep, since they enter tapped and only provide one color.
Other lands fix something of this drawback, and even add basic types in order to be fetched, like the Amonkhet duals and the tri-lands - and they are actually good enough to see cube play.
Finally the zendikar MDFC lands are the best iteration of this effect, since they staple on an actual card instead of paying mana to replace itself, and you can even play them untapped. Agadeem's Awakening is discussed for this reason.
Takenuma is very comparable, since it has a land side that enters untapped, and has a spell side. However while this spell might not be as powerful as recurring creatures to play, Grapple With the Past is still a fair spell, especially if it could get PWs, and playing it is actually much more reliable for as little as B, than looking to stack BBB AND have enough creatures with matching costs in the yard...
I think that for this reason, if it comes down to Agadeem vs Takenuma, I think Takenuma is usually a better pick for a cube slot. However I argue that having a black Noxious Revival on a colorless land is worse than both, even if it can be used multiple times.
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