I currently run Ash Barrens, City of Brass, Evolving Wilds, Grand Coliseum, Mana Confluence, and Terramorphic Expanse. I’m in for another at 495. Retrofitter Foundry May not ultimately be the right choice, but I assess artifacts and non-color-specific lands as a whole when figuring out what goes.
I'm not sold on including Krenko (he seems strong, but there are so many Rabblemaster variants), but am excited about options 2-12 enough that I'm trying to figure out how many I can find room for.
EDIT: Not to say that he's a bad variant - I'm just less excited to swap one out for another than to add a card that's more distinct from other things out there.
Gideon will be affected when he's a creature anyways. The other walkers this interacts with of mine in cube are Chandra TOD as noted above, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Garruk Relentless, Ajani Vengeant, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Chandra, Flamecaller (whose -X seems GREAT with Sorin). I'm still not convinced that this would be anywhere near good enough, since it takes up a guild slot, but there are at least a reasonable number of other walkers this interacts with.
I love having arts from various promotional sets whenever possible, so am trying to figure out if I can add any of the new Signature Spellbook: Gideon to the cube.
It's a solid uncommon, but it being a sorcery as opposed to a creature doesn't really play into black's strengths.
I'd be interested if it was an Infest variant (at which point it would probably be too strong for a Standard set), but as a Disfigure variant, it leaves a lot to be desired for cube.
Includes:
White: Finale of Glory over Mirror Entity. Mirror Entity's kinda outlived its time in the cube, but never actually got cut. I'd initially identified this as a cut for Gideon Blackblade, and then maybe for Oketra, but ultimately, I think that Finale is the best white card to add from the set.
Blue: God-Eternal Kefnet over Thirst for Knowledge. Somewhat similar position to Mirror Entity, Thirst for Knowledge doesn't really get drafted highly these days.
Black: Liliana's Triumph over Chainer's Edict. Switching an expensive flashback out for instant-speed. This would otherwise have been Diabolic Edict.
Red: Ilharg, the Raze-Boar over Goblin Dark-Dwellers. I really wanted to add Ilharg, but the only viable cut was another 5-drop, since there are so many of them in my cube right now. GDD doesn't perform nearly as well as the rest, so it gets the axe.
Green: Vivien's Arkbow over Berserk. Berserk is fairly terrible in cube drafts, but has survived largely due to nostalgia and wanting for green to have some instants. Vivien's Arkbow isn't a card that I'm convinced will stick around, and there may be a better card to fill this gap, but it gets first dibs since it's new. Finale of Devastation over Collected Company. Collected Company is fine, but I'm more excited to have another Zenith effect with upside in a massive ramp strategy.
Colorless: Blast Zone over Fleetwheel Cruiser. Finding space for another utility land was tougher than expected. Fleetwheel Cruiser is fine, but I didn't want to axe another land or colorless creature.
Testing/Maybe: God-Eternal Oketra. I like this card in theory but don't have a cut identified for her. Liliana, Dreadhorde General over Liliana, Death's Majesty. I've cooled on this Liliana since PAX, but will take her for a spin if I open her. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds over Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. I'm only really comfortable replacing this Nissa as opposed to another slot in green, but am not convinced that Vivien will perform at this level. She can't protect herself nearly as well, but like the options she theoretically provides.
This card is okay, but I like Steel Wall better. I also play Steel wall and have no intention of cutting it. But it's great contribution is that literally every deck can cast it with great ease. Scry 1 is fine, but it's not anything to write home about, and it's not going to make Kraken Hatchling suddenly great.
Also, in defense of Kraken Hatchling, you can slap equipment on it in a pinch and swing in. This doesn't have that option.
So your telling me that Gideon does not die and Nicol Bolas does not spend an eternity in the meditation realm? Cause that’s on the cards applied today. And it would be real strange if the book didn’t kill Gideon and imprison Nicol Bolas.
I just don’t understand what the difference is, or the issue.
Why can’t there be a clearly labeled book spoiler thread?
The difference is the potential level of nuance in book spoilers as opposed to the relatively high-level spoilers on a card. While a lot of work is put into developing a new set and fleshing out the story, it's expected that the story-related information is spoiled relatively quickly as a set comes out, especially a story-driven set like this. It's diving deep into the plot of the book that's the issue - while the overarching plot will be the same, the amount of work and details of plot put into fleshing out a novel isn't going to be the same as that of putting main story points onto the cards.
Additionally, as noted in the announcement above, there IS a clearly labeled book spoiler thread. It's just stored in the Speculation subforum rather than the main Rumor Mill forum. This announcement is to tell people not to pepper other threads about the cards with book spoiler threads.
Please note that discussion of book spoilers is being treated different from discussion of card leaks. Any posts in any thread in the main Rumor Mill subforum or a thread other than the designated thread will be removed from the forums.
White:
Mirror Entity -> Gideon Blackblade
History of Benalia -> Finale of Glory
Blue:
Whirler Rogue -> God-Eternal Kefnet
Thirst for Knowledge -> Narset, Parter of Veils
Black:
Liliana, Death's Majesty -> Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Chainer's Edict -> Liliana's Triumph
Red:
Legion Warboss -> Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Goblin Dark-Dwellers -> Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
Green:
Berserk -> Vivien's Arkbow
Collected Company -> Finale of Devastation
Multicolor:
Dack's Duplicate -> Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Colorless:
Fleetwheel Cruiser -> Blast Zone
I'm not sold on including Krenko (he seems strong, but there are so many Rabblemaster variants), but am excited about options 2-12 enough that I'm trying to figure out how many I can find room for.
EDIT: Not to say that he's a bad variant - I'm just less excited to swap one out for another than to add a card that's more distinct from other things out there.
Cards not in the cube, and therefore not contenders:
-Martyr's Bond
-Rest in Peace
-Shielded by Faith
-True Conviction
-Worship
-Blackblade Reforged
Which just leaves 2 options:
-Gideon Jura (currently ROE foil)
-Path to Exile (currently WPN promo foil)
Would anyone here consider making either of these two swaps?
I'd be interested if it was an Infest variant (at which point it would probably be too strong for a Standard set), but as a Disfigure variant, it leaves a lot to be desired for cube.
White:
Finale of Glory over Mirror Entity. Mirror Entity's kinda outlived its time in the cube, but never actually got cut. I'd initially identified this as a cut for Gideon Blackblade, and then maybe for Oketra, but ultimately, I think that Finale is the best white card to add from the set.
Blue:
God-Eternal Kefnet over Thirst for Knowledge. Somewhat similar position to Mirror Entity, Thirst for Knowledge doesn't really get drafted highly these days.
Black:
Liliana's Triumph over Chainer's Edict. Switching an expensive flashback out for instant-speed. This would otherwise have been Diabolic Edict.
Red:
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar over Goblin Dark-Dwellers. I really wanted to add Ilharg, but the only viable cut was another 5-drop, since there are so many of them in my cube right now. GDD doesn't perform nearly as well as the rest, so it gets the axe.
Green:
Vivien's Arkbow over Berserk. Berserk is fairly terrible in cube drafts, but has survived largely due to nostalgia and wanting for green to have some instants. Vivien's Arkbow isn't a card that I'm convinced will stick around, and there may be a better card to fill this gap, but it gets first dibs since it's new.
Finale of Devastation over Collected Company. Collected Company is fine, but I'm more excited to have another Zenith effect with upside in a massive ramp strategy.
Multicolor:
Domri, Anarch of Bolas over Bloodbraid Elf(?). I'm really excited about Domri! I'm not sure that BBE is the best cut, but BBE also rarely feels like a Gruul card. I'm not ready to cut Sarkhan Vol.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer over Dack's Duplicate. As others have noted, this brings me to 3 Izzet walkers as well. I also want to fit Expansion//Explosion in, but for now, it would be replacing Izzet Charm.
Colorless:
Blast Zone over Fleetwheel Cruiser. Finding space for another utility land was tougher than expected. Fleetwheel Cruiser is fine, but I didn't want to axe another land or colorless creature.
Testing/Maybe:
God-Eternal Oketra. I like this card in theory but don't have a cut identified for her.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General over Liliana, Death's Majesty. I've cooled on this Liliana since PAX, but will take her for a spin if I open her.
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds over Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. I'm only really comfortable replacing this Nissa as opposed to another slot in green, but am not convinced that Vivien will perform at this level. She can't protect herself nearly as well, but like the options she theoretically provides.
Decklists: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-preview/war-spark-planeswalker-deck-lists-2019-04-18?
The 3 different Zombie Army tokens with different quantities of Eternals behind the one in front is a nice touch.
Additionally, as noted in the announcement above, there IS a clearly labeled book spoiler thread. It's just stored in the Speculation subforum rather than the main Rumor Mill forum. This announcement is to tell people not to pepper other threads about the cards with book spoiler threads.