The first batch Dominaria United spoilers already seems to have some possibly powerful cube includes! The first of which, is this Evolved Sleeper.
Another Figure of Destiny variant, but this time, it only takes 1, 2, then 3 mana to max level it. In exchange, it doesn't get as big... but in exchange again, you can repeat its last effect to keep growing it, and for card advantage. I like this card a lot seeing as it isn't that color intensive compared to the other two, and draws cards potentially.
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Looks good to me. Decently aggressive threat that generates card advantage in the mid to late game is a recipe for success, and this seems perfectly reasonable for aggro and midrange decks. Definitely getting tested.
Note that we can do the final ability more than once. Pretty nice while on a topdeck situation or when needing to find solution / growing the sleeper a bit more. Really interesting.
I have been generally unimpressed with Warden, but this feels much close to the figure of destiny side of the equation, especially since black has so many good agressive 1-drops now it's really easy to find lines where you level this up on turn 2 while also dropping another 2-power attacker.
I don't love the 3rd mode where you've invested 4 mana to have a 3/3(I think the 5 mana to get figure's 4/4 is much better given how it fits into a curve), but having the flood insurance mode is nice. I expect this to fall on the high side of the t2 agressive black creatures.
I think this card is a wonderful surprise. Seems great to drop early and level-up once you wear down the opponent with disruption/kill spells. It will be a very welcome addition to my cube.
I don't really like the Pouncing Jaguar mode on Figure and I don't particularly like it here either. But the last ability is very attainable compared to Figure and makes this a great mana sink and topdeck so I think it's well worth testing. One drop space is super tight in black though.
this is an excellent 1 drop for black. it scales, can provide card advantage, can trade up, is a human for when it matters (its @ least a relevant tribe). i'd put it up there w/ bloodsoaked champion, gravecrawler & the oft maligned here, knight of the ebon legion (this card does SO much work in black aggro, its not even funny!)
Black Aggro needs serious love so I'm happy to see this one. Being able to pump and draw for 1 life at instant speed is good -- also wish the middle mode was a little better, but can work with this.
It's just odd enough at every point on the mana curve that I doubt its effectiveness a bit, but it's certainly not a bad magic card
This. Swinging as a 2/2 on T2 and a 3/3 deathtouch on T3 is less than stellar for an aggro deck. Instead, I think Evolved Sleeper's going to be at its best in midrange and control decks which can leverage its defensive and mana sinking capabilities. I'm always looking for more solid 1-cost options for slower decks, so I'll be happily adding Mr. Sleeper to my cube.
This is a for sure include in my 360 unpowered list. dread wanderer and friends just aren't cutting it the way they used to and i'm happy to get this along side knight of the ebon legion to help give blaggro some different 1 drop threats.
The first batch Dominaria United spoilers already seems to have some possibly powerful cube includes! The first of which, is this Evolved Sleeper.
Another Figure of Destiny variant, but this time, it only takes 1, 2, then 3 mana to max level it. In exchange, it doesn't get as big... but in exchange again, you can repeat its last effect to keep growing it, and for card advantage. I like this card a lot seeing as it isn't that color intensive compared to the other two, and draws cards potentially.
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I don't love the 3rd mode where you've invested 4 mana to have a 3/3(I think the 5 mana to get figure's 4/4 is much better given how it fits into a curve), but having the flood insurance mode is nice. I expect this to fall on the high side of the t2 agressive black creatures.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
The Level 3 is a nice Phyrexian Arena throwback and a decent Mana Sink.
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Better in slower cubes obviously.
Reasonably comparible to figure, though I think figures ability to win the game by itself is a bit better than the ability to repeatedly draw.
Agro will get hard outclassed by the mid-late game, so drawing many cards is less good than swinging to win the game asap.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Shivan Devastator: "Fake!"
Llanowar Loamspeaker: "Weak!"
Evolved Sleeper: "That's not bad..."
Black Aggro needs serious love so I'm happy to see this one. Being able to pump and draw for 1 life at instant speed is good -- also wish the middle mode was a little better, but can work with this.
This. Swinging as a 2/2 on T2 and a 3/3 deathtouch on T3 is less than stellar for an aggro deck. Instead, I think Evolved Sleeper's going to be at its best in midrange and control decks which can leverage its defensive and mana sinking capabilities. I'm always looking for more solid 1-cost options for slower decks, so I'll be happily adding Mr. Sleeper to my cube.
540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza