The 'Devotion is power' demigods seem quite passable indeed. Personally, I am also vaguely interested in Whirlwind Denial since it is mostly a single blue mana hard counter on spells and abilities. Countering storm and the like is hardly coming up in this format but I think we have not had too many counterspells that also target abilities before.
Anax, Hardened in the Forge reminds me of Pawn of Ulamog. I have tested pawn but found it was not good enough. Anax has better stats and can make two tokens when a large creature dies but the fact that the tokens can't block makes it hard to evaluate. I feel like the tokens/sac decks in my cube usually chump block (and sac before damage) a lot to stabilize but I never quantified this so I am not sure.
"Dryad of Life's Gift"W
Enchantment Creature - Nymph
Lifelink 1, Sacrifice "Dryad of Life's Gift": A creature or enchantment you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.
1/1
It's a one time Mother of Runes on a Nip Gwyllion body, plus it hits enchantments and is one. Threatening to counter their removal isn't nothing. It's no Mother of Runes, but few things are.
"Dryad of Life's Gift" seems on par with Benevolent Bodyguard but I am not sure I like it more than Cliffside Rescuer which has a more relevant body and protects all permanents.
I like the idea of Dreamshaper Shaman, but I'm not convinced that it isn't complete jank.
the card (since it's just in the leak):
Dreamshaper Shaman5R
Enchantment Creature- Minotaur Shaman
At the beginning of your end step, you may pay 2R and sacrifice a nonland permanent. If you do, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland permanent card. Put that card onto the battlefield, and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
5/4
It costs so much, and the ability is pretty hard to abuse. Most decks can't guarantee that all the other nonland permanents they're playing are gonna be swingy. Even spellslinger decks are going to end up bringing out less than massive Guttersnipes. It' not really a format where you can build a deck to Polymorph into Artisan of Kozilek reliably. Even so, you've paid almost as much mana as you would've to hard-cast the Artisan.
That said, this can be pretty cool in a deck with a lot of etbs. Red has plenty of Beetleback Chief and Ghirapur Gearcrafter type guys, which give you more sacrifice fodder. If you build a deck with a sort of Birthing Pod approach, this guy can be a sweet engine if he doesn't get removed.
It's a super cool effect, but the card is just too expensive to do something so risky. Throes of Chaos is a safer way to do something kinda similar. But then again, this is also a pretty big creature that can do it all while attacking if it needs to. I dunno. My heart tells me it's sweet, but my mind tells me it's bad.
renata and anax both look very solid imo. a grumgully even for one more mana but single coloured is pretty nice looking, even if the body might be a little below curve depending on the board. anax i think compares very favourably to pawn of ulamog, since the tokens actually have power, and the body itself is better.
eutropia looks pretty nice too, but i'm not sure constellation is a reliable enough trigger to be worth adding, especially in a nonwhite guild.
I really like Anax. It only takes 1 anthem or equipment to make most of the red 2-drops 4 power, and things like Bloodrage Brawler and Flametongue Kavu have 4 power to start with, so they leave 2 tokens.
Anax, Hardened in the Forge is ridiculous. It's not hard to see it being a 3 mana 4/3 that makes 3 tokens rather consistently.
Careless Celebrant is decent archetype support for red aristocrats, though not super exciting otherwise.
You might be able to make Dreamshaper Shaman work in reanimator? Other than that 6 mana with no immediate impact is just not good enough, not to mention the ability is inconsistent at best in most decks.
I can't imagine Weaver of Destiny being too much better than a 2 mana 2/3 without support. Uncounterability is nice, but useless most of the time, and outside of incredibly close games 4 to make a 1/1 or 2/2 for a single turn is basically flavour text. I'll admit with an enchantment theme where making 4/4s isn't unreasonable it's really good, but my green section is not set up for it atm. Notably it does curve directly into Nyx Herald, so adding in an enchantment theme for it is more reasonable than normal.
I think Weaver of Destiny is a solid card. I especially see it as a solid card in GWx, because that deck tends to run an above average number of enchantments (O-ring variants, usually)
I like Renata, Called to the Hunt. It's basically a mono green Good-Fortune Unicorn and that is a very good card. Yet another great support card for WG tokens/counters, it almost feels like this archetype could become too good now as it is already really strong in my cube. May have to add some more countermeasures, but I will most likely run Renata.
I'm not a fan of Weaver of Destiny. I think Jade Mage is a good comparison and without other enchantments this is just way worse. I don't run a lot of enchtantments and even in WG the lands will rarely become more than 2/2. The counterspell protection only helps against blue and even blue doesn't have that many counterspells in cube, so it will rarely have a meaningful impact. I doubt this card is good enough in cubes that don't have a dedicated enchantment theme, though it's certainly one of the few cards that may enable such an archetype in the future if more 'not completely terrible on their own' cards get printed.
2 and 1 life to not affect the board seems pretty steep to me.
The great thing about Thoughtseize is that you can run it out on turn 1 when it has 1. The most available targets, and 2. using your turn1 mana which routinly gets wated.
Playing this in place of a board-affecting card on turn 2 is not what I want to be doing. Playing this on turn 5 is going to give you 0-3 options. Yeah you might slot it in on turn 4 with another 2drop but I'd rather play 2 bears.
Honestly, for that exact kind of effect, I think I prefer Elspeth's Nightmare. For 3-mana, killing an early beater or an utility creature, delayed targeted discard, and incidental GY hate is a decent deal. It being a permanent also means there are means to abuse and bounce it before the mostly redundant final effect resolves. Mainly Vedalken Mastermind but I never mind more synergies with it.
Admittedly, the discard targeting non-creatures is more limited but those tend to be the cards you want off an opponent's hand through other means anyway. It might turn out to be too niche because both abilities are conditional but I am interested in others' opinions.
Speaking of graveyard decks, I think Relentless Pursuit could be the card I've been looking for as a way to support graveyard strats without being too narrow (on top of Satyr Wayfinder). Admittedly, I haven't tried Grapple with the Past or Winding Way or the like, but I've just been worried they are too weak outside of GY decks - this new card is at least potential card advantage and so might be able to slot into midrange green decks more easily.
Speaking of graveyard decks, I think Relentless Pursuit could be the card I've been looking for as a way to support graveyard strats without being too narrow (on top of Satyr Wayfinder). Admittedly, I haven't tried Grapple with the Past or Winding Way or the like, but I've just been worried they are too weak outside of GY decks - this new card is at least potential card advantage and so might be able to slot into midrange green decks more easily.
Grapple with the Past is better than it looks. Instant speed is good, and it picks up enormous amounts of value in the late game. It's definitely better than Relentless Pursuit.
Elspeth's Nightmare seems awesome, but don't like them getting a chance to screw you out of chapter II. In many situations, they'll be able to rig a whiff. I'm always a fan of incidental grave hate though (loads of it in this set).
Not a terribly interesting set. We don't have the best ways to make use of devotion, constellation, or heroic, and most of the generally good cards have an older card that fill their role. A lot of the cards with unique effects are expensive or require additional payments to work at all.
Expect to be good: Alirios, Entraptured - Great stat per mana ratio with some good synergy Mire Triton - Boring, but supports archetypes well Mogis's Favor - Versatile with a good floor and ceiling
Adding (to test, might be removed later): Mire Triton - What Purplemurasaki said. Alirios, Enraptured - Not sure about this one. I don't support blink and not sure which decks want this card but the stats are solid.
Buying to maybe test later: Blood Aspirant - Probably not good enough. Renata, Called to the Hunt - Might try her later and also adding some other +1/+1 counter cards as a package to test. Mindwrack Harpy - Not seen anyone talk about this one. Seems like a solid enabler with a semi-decent body. Pharika's Spawn - The escape version is good because it can be used multiple times but the normal version is crap. Underworld Charger - A 3/3 for 3 that comes back as a 5/5 for 5 and probably comes back again as a 5/5 for 5 might be good?
Adding Chainweb Aracnir and Irreverent Revelers . I think that's it for my peasant cube, though the set offers plenty for Commander and for the Tiny Leaders Cube I'm trying to build.
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.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
"Dryad of Life's Gift" W
Enchantment Creature - Nymph
Lifelink
1, Sacrifice "Dryad of Life's Gift": A creature or enchantment you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.
1/1
It's a one time Mother of Runes on a Nip Gwyllion body, plus it hits enchantments and is one. Threatening to counter their removal isn't nothing. It's no Mother of Runes, but few things are.
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.
Renata, Called to the Hunt seems too slow if used in a normal deck. However, as previously mentioned, with this, Grumgully, the Generous and Good-Fortune Unicorn I might just add them anyway to combo with Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap. I might even (re-)add Safehold Elite, Putrid Goblin, Evolution Sage, Grateful Apparition and/or Tezzeret's Gambit.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
the card (since it's just in the leak):
Dreamshaper Shaman 5R
Enchantment Creature- Minotaur Shaman
At the beginning of your end step, you may pay 2R and sacrifice a nonland permanent. If you do, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland permanent card. Put that card onto the battlefield, and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
5/4
It costs so much, and the ability is pretty hard to abuse. Most decks can't guarantee that all the other nonland permanents they're playing are gonna be swingy. Even spellslinger decks are going to end up bringing out less than massive Guttersnipes. It' not really a format where you can build a deck to Polymorph into Artisan of Kozilek reliably. Even so, you've paid almost as much mana as you would've to hard-cast the Artisan.
That said, this can be pretty cool in a deck with a lot of etbs. Red has plenty of Beetleback Chief and Ghirapur Gearcrafter type guys, which give you more sacrifice fodder. If you build a deck with a sort of Birthing Pod approach, this guy can be a sweet engine if he doesn't get removed.
It's a super cool effect, but the card is just too expensive to do something so risky. Throes of Chaos is a safer way to do something kinda similar. But then again, this is also a pretty big creature that can do it all while attacking if it needs to. I dunno. My heart tells me it's sweet, but my mind tells me it's bad.
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.
eutropia looks pretty nice too, but i'm not sure constellation is a reliable enough trigger to be worth adding, especially in a nonwhite guild.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
2/3 for two mana with a nice passive ability and a good mana sink which can end games. Awesome!!
Even not having an enchantment theme this card is solid.
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
My Commander Cube
My Pai Gow Cube
My Two-Headed Giant Cube
Careless Celebrant is decent archetype support for red aristocrats, though not super exciting otherwise.
You might be able to make Dreamshaper Shaman work in reanimator? Other than that 6 mana with no immediate impact is just not good enough, not to mention the ability is inconsistent at best in most decks.
I can't imagine Weaver of Destiny being too much better than a 2 mana 2/3 without support. Uncounterability is nice, but useless most of the time, and outside of incredibly close games 4 to make a 1/1 or 2/2 for a single turn is basically flavour text. I'll admit with an enchantment theme where making 4/4s isn't unreasonable it's really good, but my green section is not set up for it atm. Notably it does curve directly into Nyx Herald, so adding in an enchantment theme for it is more reasonable than normal.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
I'm not a fan of Weaver of Destiny. I think Jade Mage is a good comparison and without other enchantments this is just way worse. I don't run a lot of enchtantments and even in WG the lands will rarely become more than 2/2. The counterspell protection only helps against blue and even blue doesn't have that many counterspells in cube, so it will rarely have a meaningful impact. I doubt this card is good enough in cubes that don't have a dedicated enchantment theme, though it's certainly one of the few cards that may enable such an archetype in the future if more 'not completely terrible on their own' cards get printed.
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
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.
The great thing about Thoughtseize is that you can run it out on turn 1 when it has 1. The most available targets, and 2. using your turn1 mana which routinly gets wated.
Playing this in place of a board-affecting card on turn 2 is not what I want to be doing. Playing this on turn 5 is going to give you 0-3 options. Yeah you might slot it in on turn 4 with another 2drop but I'd rather play 2 bears.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Admittedly, the discard targeting non-creatures is more limited but those tend to be the cards you want off an opponent's hand through other means anyway. It might turn out to be too niche because both abilities are conditional but I am interested in others' opinions.
Grapple with the Past is better than it looks. Instant speed is good, and it picks up enormous amounts of value in the late game. It's definitely better than Relentless Pursuit.
Acolyte of Affliction seems pretty decent next to Golgari Findbroker. Mindwrack Harpy is pretty impressive for a planeswalker deck card.
Elspeth's Nightmare seems awesome, but don't like them getting a chance to screw you out of chapter II. In many situations, they'll be able to rig a whiff. I'm always a fan of incidental grave hate though (loads of it in this set).
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.
In
Reverent Hoplite
Anax, Hardened in the Forge
Chainweb Aracnir
Renata, Called to the Hunt
These are all great, I haven't decided what to cut for the reverent hoplite yet though maybe one of my token making spells.
Maybe
Oread of Mountain's Blaze
I like this card but I think Its too defensive for red in my cube.
I think I will put Goblin Wardriver back in to facilitate Anax
Phalanx Tactics this trick looks nasty for white tokens decks
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Expect to be great:
Anax, Hardened in the Forge - Ridiculously overloaded with abilities
Chainweb Aracnir - Not a hard hoop to jump through
Expect to be good:
Alirios, Entraptured - Great stat per mana ratio with some good synergy
Mire Triton - Boring, but supports archetypes well
Mogis's Favor - Versatile with a good floor and ceiling
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
Chainweb Aracnir - Enough said about this card.
Anax, Hardened in the Forge - nough said about this card as well.
Adding (to test, might be removed later):
Mire Triton - What Purplemurasaki said.
Alirios, Enraptured - Not sure about this one. I don't support blink and not sure which decks want this card but the stats are solid.
Buying to maybe test later:
Blood Aspirant - Probably not good enough.
Renata, Called to the Hunt - Might try her later and also adding some other +1/+1 counter cards as a package to test.
Mindwrack Harpy - Not seen anyone talk about this one. Seems like a solid enabler with a semi-decent body.
Pharika's Spawn - The escape version is good because it can be used multiple times but the normal version is crap.
Underworld Charger - A 3/3 for 3 that comes back as a 5/5 for 5 and probably comes back again as a 5/5 for 5 might be good?
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
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