Also, Magecraft could be good, as a lot of us run spellslinger and prowess, but Eager First-Year and Lorehold Apprentice don't cut it for me. Prismari Apprentice is better, but it's got tough competition for a guild slot. Storm-Kiln Artist has an amazing effect, but it feels too expensive at 4.
I am hopeful for some good copy effects at uncommon.
Oh - and apparently the Ward mechanic is evergreen, so we'll be seeing it in other sets to come.
One person in my playgroup has come up with the idea of using them as spell tokens, sort of. Using all of the colourless ones and then have it be sort of like the 'discover' mechanic in Hearthstone. I'm not sure if I like the idea, and thus far I think the Lessons are not good enough, but the ability to rummage is ok. It will all greatly depend on the strength of the cards with 'Learn' and on the Lessons.
As for Magecraft, can be good I think, but thus far nothing of interest, as you said. Silverquill Apprentice or Witherbloom Apprentice both feel close, but probably not good enough for me to warrant cutting a guild card.
Storm-Kiln Artist is close too, but I feel the body is too small for the cost.
Professor of Symbology
{1}{W}
Creature — Kor Cleric
When Professor of Symbology enters the battlefield, learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.)
And, if Abundant Harvest is common or uncommon in MH2 (probably yes), we have a really good cantrip for green.
Abundant Harvest
{G}
Sorcery
Choose land or nonland. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a card of the chosen kind. Put that card into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
I don't like weird mechanics like that so I will not consider learn cards. But how good lessons are depends on how you implement them. I don't think it's possible to simply put lessons into the regular draft pool since as standalone cards they're (probably) all unplayable and will never make it into a deck on their own.
But if you have a house rule that people who draft a card with the learn mechanic can choose, say, three lessons from a bunch of lesson cards from outside the cube before the game starts then I could very well imagine that the cards become playable.
And yes, Abundant Harvest will go into my cube for sure if it's c or u.
Playing a mediocre card to get a mediocre card is not really a mechanic I'm interested in going out of my way for. But if there's something more unique that happens to use Learn then I'll consider adding it and stuff like Professor of Symbology.
Rummaging as an alternate mode is nice. First Day of Class -> ReanimateTrostani's Summoner is a respectable ceiling and some decent Lessons might give Learn a respectable floor. Not worth going out of your way for alone, but still interesting.
Glad to see the mechanics we will be working with in Strixhaven. A few broad thoughts on these and then some individual card thoughts:
Magecraft- I initially guessed that I would only really care about this for color pairs with blue and/or red included. But then I reviewed my cube and counted the actual hits in each color and each school. White (14), Blue (29), Black (24), Red (26), Green (16), Silverquill (40), Prismari (57), Witherbloom (43), Lorehold (43), and Quandrix (45). I was surprised how decent black was for Magecraft and mildly surprised how not-that-low green was.
Lesson/Learn- Honestly speaking, this is what Conspiracies are for in my CUbe. The average Conspiracy is a 3rd pick that turns your 10th pick into a 1st pick. Also, Conspiracies work with any creature spell (Muzzio's Preparations), any instant/sorcery spell (Iterative Analysis), or any spell at all (Brago's Favor). I am doubtful we will get more than one or two standalone cards playable without the Lesson/Learn synergy.
Witherbloom Apprentice- Possibly the best actual Magecraft trigger of the Apprentices, with the 3rd most available hits. Some of those hits are kinda cute, like Raven's Crime or Worm Harvest.
Abundant Harvest- I like this more than Adventurous Impulse, as that card could whiff on powerful non-creature spells. Still, even a one-mana spell that should always get you a situationally better-than-average card from your deck is not always cubable. There's a reason why we have a big drop-off from cubing Preordain/Ponder to cubing Serum Visions and Opt. One-mana is still a cost and green has no sorcery payoffs and a ton of mana elves at one mana. Probably will be a pass for me.
Abundant Harvest- I like this more than Adventurous Impulse, as that card could whiff on powerful non-creature spells. Still, even a one-mana spell that should always get you a situationally better-than-average card from your deck is not always cubable. There's a reason why we have a big drop-off from cubing Preordain/Ponder to cubing Serum Visions and Opt. One-mana is still a cost and green has no sorcery payoffs and a ton of mana elves at one mana. Probably will be a pass for me.
I don't think it's fair to compare this with blue cantrips. There is a reason why Harmonize is a card I'd never cut while Concentrate is a card I'd never play. Green ramp decks benefit a lot more from card advantage and cantrips than any other color.
I'm reasonably happy with Adventurous Impulse, but it's not playable in decks with too many non-creature spells. This problem is solved by Abundant Harvest, which is good in any green midrange/ramp deck. And one mana is one mana, but in a green ramp deck it's not worth nearly as much as in a red aggro deck.
Also, I don't see why this card would be worse just because there are mana dorks? It's not a card that needs to be played on turn 1 at all, plus even then there are only 5 elves.
So far the only card I'm interested in is Quandrix Apprentice, as its in a weak guild and has very close to "Magecraft — Draw a land" which is fantastic on a bear. Plus huge synergy with Retrace if you're running any of those.
I haven't seen anybody mention it but First Day of Class is another Persist combo enabler (though only for 1 turn). Not a huge deal but figured it was worth noting.
Choose one:
- Rip Apart deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
- Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Abrade at sorcery speed with more options.
Being instant would make the card really strong and staple in many formats, but this as sorcery is nice too. Maindeckeable creature/planeswalker removal with a Disenchant effect is more than playable for me even being slow.
I think this will replace [[Wear / Tear]] in my Cubes as a more versatile option, specially because it can go maindeck, not only a side card.
What do we think about Reconstruct History? It seems good but it doesn't scream 'Boros' to me.
On Thunderous Orator: I like it, it is okay if you curve it with something like Eldrazi Skyspawner or Splatter Thug or whatever, gets better if you manage to get more keywords on it. But maybe it's too cute.
I haven't seen anybody mention it but First Day of Class is another Persist combo enabler (though only for 1 turn). Not a huge deal but figured it was worth noting.
First Day of Class being a persist enabler does put the combo entirely in one colour. No redundancy, but still potentially worthwhile.
Thunderous Orator is decent. Flying or Lifelink aren't too hard to achieve, but you probably want to be able to get some others to make it worth the consistency.
Reconstruct History isn't bad, but it's hard to make a RW deck that can actually hit 3+ things remotely consistently. If there's some more support for it there could be a RW attrition deck, but I'm not excited by any of the RW cards spoiled with it.
Re: Abundant Harvest- What I meant to communicate is that one-mana card selections spells are not only about power level, but also about fit. I think blue is a better fit than green for these effects for a couple of reasons.
1) Blue has more effects that care about the casting of a sorcery than green. I have 7 spells in blue between prowess, delve, and triggering various "spells matter" abilities, whereas I have 2 in green (Become Immense and Sylvan Library).
2) Blue has a lot fewer other cards than need to be cast at one mana, whereas green does have those mana elves. I agree you do not need to cast Abundant Harvest on turn 1, but when it is most often cast later in the game, it becomes more likely to possibly impede the casting of the spell it finds. At which point, I start wondering if it is worth playing my 23rd spell over the average spell in my deck with a one-mana tax.
All in all, this is definitely a good card, and green has a lot of big spells that can help make up any tempo loss you may incur, just not sure I want to cube it as of now.
Re: Thunderous Orator- Flying is easy to obtain for me, but nothing else really is, especially the high-value keywords like Indestructible and Double Strike. Orator depending on other creatures for its power is unappealing compared to the good white 2-drops we have gotten.
Re: Rip Apart- An absolute stand-out card for Boros Lorehold. I want to call it the Peasant version of Abrupt Decay, as it deals with about 65% of the spells in my cube, compared to about 68% for Abrupt Decay in the CubeTutor average 360.
Thunderous Orator with Vampirr Nighthawk or Aerial Responder seems decent. But I think this is a borderline card. Fun to build around, but not an awesome card.
Solve the Equation is a decent toolbox card, but I don't know if there's any spell that's worth paying 3 mana to draw instead of just playing more cantrips.
Stonebinder's Familiar can get pretty large with the amount of mechanics that trigger it, but a 1 drop not being easily played in aggro is a bit questionable.
Stonebinder's Familiar can get pretty large with the amount of mechanics that trigger it, but a 1 drop not being easily played in aggro is a bit questionable.
Yeah, I think it just fits in too weird a place. It gets massive when playing the blink archetype, but it's a card you never want to blink. It goes along with a +1/+1 counter archetype, but it isn't a payout or enabler for that archetype. It's a 1-drop that can potentially hit for a lot of damage, but not early aggro, and it takes a fair amount of setup to see that growth. I think it dips its toes into too many different playstyle pools but isn't actually good at any of them.
For the record, I really like Thunderous Orator because it is exactly my type of fun, and I think that the floor is high enough for inclusion.
Opinions on Emergent Sequence which NumotTheNummy just spoiled? It's a Rampant Growth that turns the land into a Simic 0/0 that has a +1/+1 counter for each land that entered play under your control this turn.
Overall, I definitely like this set for the fun level of complexity in it. Lots of interactions. I'd also say that there is enough of a floor on the power level to keep me interested even if I feel like maybe not that many cards will make it because of the nature of the set's mechanics.
Emergent Sequence is interesting, though I'm not certain I like it as much as Rampant Growth. I'm rarely a fan of making my land vulnerable to creature removal, but in a dedicated +/1/+1 counter archetype, it could grow to be quite a threat.
Early game, it's likely to be a 2/2 (play a land, then play this). Late game, it may just be a 1/1 (when you don't have a land drop). On rare ocassion, you may get it to a 3/3 (with two open mana, play an Evolving Wilds, crack it, and play this).
The only question is whether it hurts you or your opponent more if they use removal against your land creature.
Emergent Sequence makes a land into a creature, but that land is extra, so the spell's like a mana dork in itself. Early game you most likely will make your land drop so it's kind of a 2/2 Quirion Elves, which is better, but late game just a worse version of that, losing the ability to also tap for green (EDIT: And can't block on the first turn). I don't think any laboriously increased land triggers benefit the card in a meaningful way, but might +1/+1 counter synergies like a fixing dork that brings a counter with itself?
I wish all archetypes could be equally hated. Or loved, but the former better reflects the mindset of the vocal portion of the player base. My 540ish Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
Emergent Sequence makes a land into a creature, but that land is extra, so the spell's like a mana dork in itself. Early game you most likely will make your land drop so it's kind of a 2/2 Quirion Elves, which is better, but late game just a worse version of that, losing the ability to also tap for green (EDIT: And can't block on the first turn). I don't think any laboriously increased land triggers benefit the card in a meaningful way, but might +1/+1 counter synergies like a fixing dork that brings a counter with itself?
I'm personally not a big fan of telling my opponent what color I need by tutoring for it, and putting it on a shock-able body. You're just asking to get screwed.
Ahah ahah ahah...
Neverending spoilers...
Well, here's yet another set with new cards and new mechanics.
None of the intial cards really interest me, but I'd like to get everyone's opinion on the Learn mechanic.
Professor of Symbology
Pop Quiz
First Day of Class
Does anyone have any interest in pulling cards from outside the deck? I think that just adds unnecessary complexity - if it isn't good enough to mainboard, is it really worth mid-game sideboarding? I suppose it depends on the Lessons, which so far include:
Pest Summoning
Expanded Anatomy
Introduction to Prophecy
Introduction to Annihilation
Also, Magecraft could be good, as a lot of us run spellslinger and prowess, but Eager First-Year and Lorehold Apprentice don't cut it for me. Prismari Apprentice is better, but it's got tough competition for a guild slot. Storm-Kiln Artist has an amazing effect, but it feels too expensive at 4.
I am hopeful for some good copy effects at uncommon.
Oh - and apparently the Ward mechanic is evergreen, so we'll be seeing it in other sets to come.
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As for Magecraft, can be good I think, but thus far nothing of interest, as you said. Silverquill Apprentice or Witherbloom Apprentice both feel close, but probably not good enough for me to warrant cutting a guild card.
Storm-Kiln Artist is close too, but I feel the body is too small for the cost.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
And, if Abundant Harvest is common or uncommon in MH2 (probably yes), we have a really good cantrip for green.
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
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But if you have a house rule that people who draft a card with the learn mechanic can choose, say, three lessons from a bunch of lesson cards from outside the cube before the game starts then I could very well imagine that the cards become playable.
And yes, Abundant Harvest will go into my cube for sure if it's c or u.
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Rummaging as an alternate mode is nice. First Day of Class -> Reanimate Trostani's Summoner is a respectable ceiling and some decent Lessons might give Learn a respectable floor. Not worth going out of your way for alone, but still interesting.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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Magecraft- I initially guessed that I would only really care about this for color pairs with blue and/or red included. But then I reviewed my cube and counted the actual hits in each color and each school. White (14), Blue (29), Black (24), Red (26), Green (16), Silverquill (40), Prismari (57), Witherbloom (43), Lorehold (43), and Quandrix (45). I was surprised how decent black was for Magecraft and mildly surprised how not-that-low green was.
Lesson/Learn- Honestly speaking, this is what Conspiracies are for in my CUbe. The average Conspiracy is a 3rd pick that turns your 10th pick into a 1st pick. Also, Conspiracies work with any creature spell (Muzzio's Preparations), any instant/sorcery spell (Iterative Analysis), or any spell at all (Brago's Favor). I am doubtful we will get more than one or two standalone cards playable without the Lesson/Learn synergy.
Witherbloom Apprentice- Possibly the best actual Magecraft trigger of the Apprentices, with the 3rd most available hits. Some of those hits are kinda cute, like Raven's Crime or Worm Harvest.
Quandrix Apprentice- This is my favorite trigger off the Apprentices, since a 17-land deck should be about 82% to hit a land here. A lot of ramp and card draw spells work great with this. Think Search for Tomorrow or Compulsive Research. I also think this compares well with some other two-mana Simic engines, like River Hoopoe and Ongoing Investigation, though I would have it behind Parcelbeast.
Abundant Harvest- I like this more than Adventurous Impulse, as that card could whiff on powerful non-creature spells. Still, even a one-mana spell that should always get you a situationally better-than-average card from your deck is not always cubable. There's a reason why we have a big drop-off from cubing Preordain/Ponder to cubing Serum Visions and Opt. One-mana is still a cost and green has no sorcery payoffs and a ton of mana elves at one mana. Probably will be a pass for me.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
I don't think it's fair to compare this with blue cantrips. There is a reason why Harmonize is a card I'd never cut while Concentrate is a card I'd never play. Green ramp decks benefit a lot more from card advantage and cantrips than any other color.
I'm reasonably happy with Adventurous Impulse, but it's not playable in decks with too many non-creature spells. This problem is solved by Abundant Harvest, which is good in any green midrange/ramp deck. And one mana is one mana, but in a green ramp deck it's not worth nearly as much as in a red aggro deck.
Also, I don't see why this card would be worse just because there are mana dorks? It's not a card that needs to be played on turn 1 at all, plus even then there are only 5 elves.
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
I haven't seen anybody mention it but First Day of Class is another Persist combo enabler (though only for 1 turn). Not a huge deal but figured it was worth noting.
Abrade at sorcery speed with more options.
Being instant would make the card really strong and staple in many formats, but this as sorcery is nice too. Maindeckeable creature/planeswalker removal with a Disenchant effect is more than playable for me even being slow.
I think this will replace [[Wear / Tear]] in my Cubes as a more versatile option, specially because it can go maindeck, not only a side card.
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Cute effect for peasant, but I don't think I want it.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
On Thunderous Orator: I like it, it is okay if you curve it with something like Eldrazi Skyspawner or Splatter Thug or whatever, gets better if you manage to get more keywords on it. But maybe it's too cute.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
Thunderous Orator is decent. Flying or Lifelink aren't too hard to achieve, but you probably want to be able to get some others to make it worth the consistency.
Reconstruct History isn't bad, but it's hard to make a RW deck that can actually hit 3+ things remotely consistently. If there's some more support for it there could be a RW attrition deck, but I'm not excited by any of the RW cards spoiled with it.
Abundant Harvest hasn't been printed at uncommon yet, right? So not up for consideration in peasant?
CubeTutor Link
1) Blue has more effects that care about the casting of a sorcery than green. I have 7 spells in blue between prowess, delve, and triggering various "spells matter" abilities, whereas I have 2 in green (Become Immense and Sylvan Library).
2) Blue has a lot fewer other cards than need to be cast at one mana, whereas green does have those mana elves. I agree you do not need to cast Abundant Harvest on turn 1, but when it is most often cast later in the game, it becomes more likely to possibly impede the casting of the spell it finds. At which point, I start wondering if it is worth playing my 23rd spell over the average spell in my deck with a one-mana tax.
All in all, this is definitely a good card, and green has a lot of big spells that can help make up any tempo loss you may incur, just not sure I want to cube it as of now.
Re: Thunderous Orator- Flying is easy to obtain for me, but nothing else really is, especially the high-value keywords like Indestructible and Double Strike. Orator depending on other creatures for its power is unappealing compared to the good white 2-drops we have gotten.
Re: Rip Apart- An absolute stand-out card for
BorosLorehold. I want to call it the Peasant version of Abrupt Decay, as it deals with about 65% of the spells in my cube, compared to about 68% for Abrupt Decay in the CubeTutor average 360.https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
My Commander Cube
My Pai Gow Cube
My Two-Headed Giant Cube
Stonebinder's Familiar can get pretty large with the amount of mechanics that trigger it, but a 1 drop not being easily played in aggro is a bit questionable.
Rootha, Mercurial Artist is neat but UR is stacked enough that neat probably doesn't cut it.
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First card I'm excited to try in cube. I like that this opens up a slightly bigger side of red
Good for archetypes like Flyers, Blink, Tempo and Wizards.
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
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2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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Opinions on Emergent Sequence which NumotTheNummy just spoiled? It's a Rampant Growth that turns the land into a Simic 0/0 that has a +1/+1 counter for each land that entered play under your control this turn.
Overall, I definitely like this set for the fun level of complexity in it. Lots of interactions. I'd also say that there is enough of a floor on the power level to keep me interested even if I feel like maybe not that many cards will make it because of the nature of the set's mechanics.
Early game, it's likely to be a 2/2 (play a land, then play this). Late game, it may just be a 1/1 (when you don't have a land drop). On rare ocassion, you may get it to a 3/3 (with two open mana, play an Evolving Wilds, crack it, and play this).
The only question is whether it hurts you or your opponent more if they use removal against your land creature.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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My 540ish Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
I'm personally not a big fan of telling my opponent what color I need by tutoring for it, and putting it on a shock-able body. You're just asking to get screwed.