MTG Salvation

Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely!) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.

Conclave Naturalists

A strictly better Indrik Stomphowler.

What I Like: Stomphowler was a card that has been cut from medium-large sized cubes over recent cube updates, but a strictly better one may be worth reconsidering. One of the best upsides that Acidic Slime has is that it always finds a target. There were a few occasions where Stomphowler would get stranded in my hand when lacking targets, particularly when it had to blow up one of my own in order to get it into play. In most cases, a prime target will be present, and it’ll play exactly like Stomphowler would. But in instances where you really need the 4/4 body, but can’t justify blowing up your own artifact or enchantment just for a Durkwood Boars, Naturalists will be better (since the trigger is a “may”). That important distinction may make this card a consideration even if Stomphowler has already been cut.

What I Don't Like: The green 5cc creature section is pretty stacked with exciting options, and a Stomphowler variant isn’t flashy. While it will be a solid card, it’s not going to be a bomb, and it’s getting harder and harder to include utility creatures in higher parts of the curve because of the expected impact that more powerful 5cc options can bring.

Verdict: Cubes still running Stomphowler will replace it with this card. Cubes that have recently pruned out Stomphowler might reconsider re-including the effect, now that it can’t backfire on you and/or rot in your hand. I could see 720 card cubes playing this creature, and perhaps even dipping into some 630 sized lists depending on the rest of the suite of effects you choose to include.

Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh

A red flip-walker focussed on direct damage.

What I Like: There are two primary ways to flip Chandra reliably. The first, is to use instant-speed burn in the combat step. You declare her as an attacker, burn the opponent’s blocker and untap her, she’ll connect for two, you can tap her for one more, and flip her. The second way is to cast two red spells in the same turn, and simply activate her 3 times. The first way requires a lot of instant-speed burn in the deck to be consistent, and the second way requires the deck to me mono-red (or at least very heavy red) to work. In decks that meet one of the above requirements, she can be very good. The flip form deals direct damage to both players and creatures, functioning as a pseudo-Vortex variant and a repeatable source of removal.

What I Don't Like: My cube prioritizes the more powerful burn spells rather than the faster ones, so my burn suite has a lot of sorcery-speed options (which don’t help flip her like instant-speed ones do). Additionally, we don’t play a ton of mono-red. In fact, we rarely play mono-red decks. We play a ton of red aggro, but it’s usually of the 2-color variety. Those two factors really hurt her validity, and she just doesn’t carry enough oomph to be played at face value if you’re not exploiting one of the common ways to transform her.

Verdict: If your cube has a higher-than-average concentration of instant-speed burn, or if most of your red decks are mono-red decks, Chandra is likely a card you should test, regardless of size! But if you play mostly 2-color red decks and run a lot of sorcery-speed burn, she probably won’t be playable in small- to medium-sized cubes. Very likely not worth playing until the 630-720+ range if you don’t easily meet her flip requirements.

Woodland Bellower

A second reasonable green 6-drop.

What I Like: Green’s list of good 6cc creatures that function as true 6-drops begins and ends with Primeval Titan. This card will have average value that I would expect from a 6-drop in the cube, which puts it ahead of the other second-tier options that green has available. If it goes in and gets a utility creature like Reclamation Sage, you get 8 power, 2 threats and a naturalize trigger for your 6-mana investment. Which is quite solid. And even if it goes in and gets a 4/5 Tarmogoyf or something, it’s still 10 power and 2 threats, doing (an albeit poor) job of imitating a mono-green Armada Wurm of sorts.

What I Don't Like: It can lack for targets, and find lackluster cards to pair to it. It can’t get any of the sweet legendary monsters I want to pair to it, so pairing it with utility creatures will be the norm. All this card is missing is the absurd ceiling that you get from other 6cc cube investments. It will always be solid, but I feel that it lacks the “wow factor” that I want my 6cc threats to be accompanied by.

Verdict: You can only ignore fleshing out the 6cc slot in green for so long. For me, I don’t think I could make my cube any bigger without finding myself wanting another playable 6cc creature in green, and this guy’s the best option. So I would probably be playing this card at cards 630 in size or bigger.

Abbot of Keral Keep

A smaller, cheaper Ire Shaman variant.

What I Like: 2-power 2cc creatures that can generate card advantage always need to be examined closely, because it represents a lot of potential value for a small mana investment. If you can drop this creature with some leftover mana available, it will very often flip a card you can play, and generate great value for you. In a typical red aggro deck, the curve will be pretty low, and I think you could have a reasonable (75+%) chance of generating card advantage with this guy on turn 4. Turn 5 for sure. It can also be played in a pinch as a 2-drop to fill the curve if you have to. But in cases where this is played on T4-5 and immediately generates card advantage by revealing a card you can use, it’s going to be a great creature.

What I Don't Like: Even if the curves are low, there are still going to be 3, 4 and occasionally 5cc targets floating around that won’t be available to use Abbot to generate value from until you have between 5-7 mana available. Ire Shaman just seems like a better card to me. On turn 2, the Shaman being 2-power with evasion compared to 2-power with prowess is a big advantage for the Shaman. And when played later in the game, the Shaman has a permanent 3rd power, evasion, and only costs 1-mana to use the exile ability; making it more likely to generate card advantage than the Abbot.

Verdict: I can’t justify playing this card in my cube when Shaman is currently riding the bench. I would very likely add both cards in if my cube size increased to 630.

Sword of the Animist

A colorless, ramping, fixing, card advantage engine.

What I Like: This piece of equipment provides a grindy source of card advantage, mana fixing, ramp, and a P/T combat boost. It plays less like the traditional cube Swords, and more like a card advantage engine like Coercive Portal or Phyrexian Arena. It can provide mana ramp and mana fixing card advantage through lands in decks that otherwise wouldn’t have access to those kinds of effects. It can trigger landfall, shuffle the deck, thin the deck of lackluster draws, and still provide a small combat advantage that allows your board parity to attack without having to throw away attackers. But it will be used as a way to generate +1 card advantage per turn, rather than the roles that equipment pieces usually play.

What I Don't Like: As a piece of equipment, it doesn’t speed up the clock like other pieces do. As a ramp spell, it falls short in comparison to green’s options. As a card advantage engine, it has contingencies that other ones don’t (mainly needing an attacking creature to trigger). But it’s the combination of being all three of those things that keeps it as an interesting prospect.

Verdict: I don’t think this card is amazing, but it does do some things that no other cards can do, in decks that can’t get the effect from anywhere else. I’m interested in testing it at 540, but there’s a good chance it turns out to be relegated to 630+ sized cubes ultimately.

Despoiler of Souls

A black aggro creature that recurs itself.

What I Like: A 3-power creature for 2 mana that can recur itself once or maybe twice a game as the graveyard fills up with secondary casualties. I guess it’ll play like a more aggressive Call of the Herd variant in black, which is nice for both black aggro decks and for black decks that are trying to get creatures to come back from the ‘yard after dropping them to Braids, Cabal Minion and Skullclamp and stuff.

What I Don't Like: It can have a rough time against tokens, which are becoming more and more relevant as the cube ages. I can see situations where this card will cost me BBBB and exile 2 other creatures to trade with 2/3s of a Spectral Procession. And the BB cost may prove problematic for some aggro decks.

Verdict: Not the most bonkers 2-drop we’ve seen, but it’s still a solid power/cost ratio for a beater, and it does come with card advantage potential that will arise from naturally occurring creature deaths. I plan to test it at 540, and I expect it to do well and stay for a while.

Molten Vortex

A 1-mana Seismic Assault variant.

What I Like: I like hard to disrupt forms of permanent reach. Extending all the way back to cards like Stormbind and Words of War, just the inevitability of being able to turn your topdecks into burn has proven worthwhile. But those cards were expensive and potentially costed you cards you needed to win with. Molten Vortex seems to erase those drawbacks. Seismic Assault would be a good card for the cube, but the RRR cost is so prohibitive. And Stormbind and Words were ultimately too expensive, and potentially cost you gas spells. Vortex only pitches lands, so it allows you to choose what cards you’re losing and still gives you the benefit of reach and removal. It has great combo cards in the cube like Land Tax, Life from the Loam, and Crucible of worlds, in addition to having good synergy with draw-7 spells. But it also has good face value as an insurance policy against flooding out. Once this is in play, every drawn land beyond the last one you actually want becomes a burn spell that you can aim at their creatures, planeswalkers or their face.

What I Don't Like: Well, when your draws are good, and your curve is operating, this can be a dead card. Sometimes you simply don’t have extra lands to spare, and this card won’t do much for you when that’s the case.

Verdict: I have cooled off on this card a bit since it was originally spoiled, partially because I’ve seen it be a dead card more than once in a very limited sample size. But I do think the card has a lot of potential value as a combo engine and as a face-value effect. I’m not sure if this will wind up being more of a cube staple for smaller cubes or if it’ll be pushed out of cubes entirely, but for right now, I’m going to test it out at 540.

Evolutionary Leap

A green sacrifice outlet that keeps you in threats.

What I Like: Playable sacrifice outlets can be a prized commodity, and there aren’t a lot in the cube. Especially short in green. This card gives you the ability to turn any board creature that is about to die anyways into a replacement threat in your hand. So all of your opponent’s targeted removal, control magic effects, sweepers, or any time you’re going to chump block something, or simply lose in combat ...you can pay 1 mana to convert that lost resource into a live card. After the first couple activations, the value starts to snowball, and Leap can secure a lot of value for you that would’ve otherwise been lost each game. It can also be used proactively with recursive creatures and token engines to create raw card advantage, and it can even be used late in the game to upgrade your mana dorks into random legitimate threats.

What I Don't Like: It takes a few activations before this investment is truly worth a card, considering it could just be a creature itself. And it can sometimes strangle your curve a bit, because you don’t want to pass without green mana up and let the “shields down” ...because even a single wrath resolution once you’ve invested in this card that gets around this effect will probably cost you the game.

Verdict: This is another card that I’ve cooled on a little. I still think it’s great, but I honestly don’t know where it should be ranked. There are going to be cases where this feels like a 360 staple, and there are going to be games where this is just a bad Culling Dais. I’m conservatively placing this at the 540 size for now, but after extended testing, it might be good enough for cubes smaller than that.

Relic Seeker

A white 2-drop that represents scary value.

What I Like: Any 2-drop that can be as valuable as this needs to be paid attention to. And your opponent will. When this connects, it permanently becomes a 3/3 and it tutors up one of the best cards in your deck. That’s ridiculous value for 2 mana. Your opponent has no choice but to fear and respect the value this represents, which means trying to stop it from happening at all costs. They may have to trade unfavorably to stop it, or spend a removal spell to kill it. And if that’s the fate of my Relic Seeker, that’s well worth the 1W. But when it does connect? Oh man. A 3/3 and tutoring up my Jitte/Sword for 2-mana is just gross value.

What I Don't Like: It has to go into a deck with at least 1 equipment target for it, and there will be times where it’s just a 2/2 for 2. It will certainly spend a fair amount of time feeling less than cubeworthy when you’ve already drawn your only piece of equipment, or it has to sit out of the final 40 for lack of targets.

Verdict: I’ve gone back and forth on my love for this creature, and I’ve settled on it being a solid inclusion for my 540 cube. I don’t know if it has a shot of being hyper-competitive in really small cubes, but it’s been testing fairly well for me here.

Harbinger of the Tides

A combination 2cc Æther Adept variant and pseudo-Venser, Shaper Savant imitator.

What I Like: There are going to be a lot of occasions where this creature is just a total blowout. Sometimes it’ll be a 2cc Adept. Sometimes it’ll flash in against opponent’s attackers, bounce one and kill off another. The fact that it has the built-in flexibility to be both is a really nice upside. It can be played effectively when racing, and reactively when losing. It’s also a nice additional piece for the blue devotion tempo package if you support that theme.

What I Don't Like: Only being able to bounce tapped creatures turned out to be a bigger deal than I expected. I knew the drawback was a serious one, but I didn’t know how severe. As you playtest this card more, there will just be time after time where the target that you really need to get rid of is an untapped creature, and this card has the chance of really being lackluster.

Verdict: I cooled WAY down on this card after testing it more. But it’s still a good card. When you include it in your cube/deck, do so because there are going to be windows where it will be fantastic, not because it’s going to be amazing all the time. It’ll keep the hype in check and allow you to enjoy the creature more when you realize this isn’t going to be a broken UU Man-o'-War or anything. I will be testing this extensively at 540, and that’s probably about the right size cube to be playing the card long-term.

Exquisite Firecraft

A castable 3cc 4-damage burn spell with no drawback.

What I Like: There aren’t 3cc burn spells that can deal 4 damage to any target every time without being uncastable outside of mono red (Flame Javelin) or come with a drawback attached (Char). It’s just a solid burn spell that can be played in every red deck that will consistently bring the pain for an affordable cost. Additionally, the spell mastery making the spell uncounterable will be live often, and relevant in a good portion of your matches. Being able to blast a Meloku the Clouded Mirror or something for 3 mana and having it be uncounterable is a nice thing for red to have.

What I Don't Like: I wish it was an instant, or I wish it had a 2R cost. But beggars can’t be choosers, and if I want 4 damage for 3 mana with no drawbacks and no contingencies, this is what I’m gonna get.

Verdict: A very solid burn spell, I’m going to be happy to play this at 540. Might be good enough for 450 as well, only time will tell.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer

A Civic Wayfinder variant with a high ceiling.

What I Like: The WCS and the ACS on this card are the same. You pay 3 mana for a 2/2 and a Forest, every time. But in the games that go long, the BCS is off the charts. Games that go super long generally aren’t good for green midrange decks. You’re likely playing against a dedicated control deck, and that’s not where midrange wants to be. When the rest of your deck is at its worst, Nissa is at her best. Once she flips, she keeps you in a recurring 4/4 threat, and has a {+} ability that generates card advantage every turn. This does wonders against control, and that’s exactly where you need the ability to shine.

What I Don't Like: Being strictly worse than two green commons that aren’t commonly cubed is a tough pill to swallow for games where she doesn’t transform. I wish she was a 2/3, or got any forest, or got any basic land, or put the basic forest into play. But she doesn’t. 7 lands can be hard to reach, and outside of your slower matchups, she won’t transform often.

Verdict: Whether you think she’s bad or you think she’s good, she’s better than you think she is. I’m conservatively placing her at 540, but I think she’s good enough to potentially compete at 450 or even smaller. One of the sleeper cards of the set, this will likely prove to be better than everybody thinks it is (myself included).

Whirler Rogue

A blue army-in-a-can.

What I Like: 4 power, 3 threats (2 of which have evasion) an ability that grants unblockability (that can be used immediately) is good value for 4 mana. It can be used in token decks with Opposition, it can be used in blink/bounce decks and played to success in the artifact.dec. It also has good face value in tempo decks where it grants evasion and puts 3 threats to the board, generic midrange/goodstuff decks where it can be abused, and even in control, this card can trade away with 3 aggressive attackers for 4 mana.

What I Don't Like: The top of the 4cc creature slot is ultra competitive in blue, and it’s hard to crack into a smaller cube because of that.

Verdict: It’s an off-color effect for blue, and a pretty good one. I’ll be playing this at 540 for sure, and it’s very likely good enough for 450 cubes.

Liliana, Heretical Healer

A black 3cc value engine.

What I Like: A 2/3 lifelinking body for 3 mana is a good deal in the cube because of the quantity of 2/1 and 2/2 bodies floating around, and is particularly useful for black because of the amount of self-damaging effects the color has. When she transforms, she replaces herself with another 2-power body, and can immediately {-} herself to return another threat. So you go from having 2 threats on the board to having ...2 threats and a planeswalker body on the board. Which is a nice way to mitigate whatever card answered your other body initially, so it functions almost like +2 card advantage as soon as she flips.

What I Don't Like: A 2/3 isn’t the hardest thing to deal with, and for a 1BB cost, I expect the opponent to be able to answer Liliana relatively often before she has a chance to transform.

Verdict: A very solid 3cc investment. I would play this at 450 for sure. Don’t know if she has the raw power to crack lists any smaller than that, but I think she’s a very good creature.

Goblin Glory Chaser

Another tier-3 red aggro 1-drop to throw into the mix.

What I Like: After the 2 really good 2-power 1-drops that red has and the 2 consistent 2-power 1-drops red has, there’s a bunch of next-level guys that are all pretty close to one another in terms of power. Goblin Guide and Zurgo Bellstriker make up the tier-1 guys, and I think Firedrinker Satyr and Jackal Pup are tier-2 beaters. The tier-3 guys are all the creatures that try to be true 2-power 1-drops, but have contingencies. These are creatures like Stromkirk Noble, Reckless Waif and Monastery Swiftspear. It’s that class of critter than the Goblin goes into as well. Menace is a great aggressive ability, and in testing so far that form of evasion has represented more damage than the extra counters do on Noble. And it spends more time as a 2-power beater with evasion than Waif does as a 3-power creature, or than Swiftspear spends as a 2/3. After seeing this card in action, I think it rises to the top of the tier-3 2-power 1-drops in red, and I currently have it seated as the 5th best overall 2-power 1-drop in that color.

What I Don't Like: Just like all the other tier-3 red aggro 1-drops, this has the chance of being a 1/1 for R, which isn’t where anyone wants to be.

Verdict: After testing this creature, it’s the 5th best 2-power 1-drop in red in my estimation. Which would solidly put it into the 360 range. Conservatively, it’s a 450 card for sure for those folks that are in love with their existing tier-3 creature suite. This card isn't getting a lot of attention in the cube community, and it should be. Menace is a hell of an ability, and having it available on a 2/2 body for a 1-mana investment is no joke.

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy

A Merfolk Looter variant that flips into a value ‘walker.

What I Like: This has an opportunity to be the best looting variant we have for the cube. After looting a few times, it transforms into a high loyalty planeswalker that can cripple an opponent’s creature (to protect both himself and you) or {-} itself to give your spells flashback. You can also block and transform him at instant speed to fog an attacker and preserve extra loyalty, which is neat. One of the nicest things about this looter variant is that after he transforms, he’s no longer a casualty to your own sweeper effects, so you can Wrath away without losing your early game investment. And the looting effect has synergy with his flashback-granting ability! Jace isn't great because it's broken, it's great because it's an incredible deal for the mana investment. For 2 mana, this thing is a bargain and a half.

What I Don't Like: He’s pretty fragile in his creature mode, so if you’re really looking to be able to flashback spells in the late game, and Jace drops in the early game, he may have to stick around in 0/2 form longer than you’d like before transforming.

Verdict: Testing has shown this guy to be just as good as I expected. It’s in competition with the best looters in the cube, so depending on how many you want/need, and what your preferences are, this will be a 450 card for sure, with the potential to see play in smaller cubes too.

Priest of the Blood Rite

A good 5cc black creature?

What I Like: 7 power, 2 threats (one of which is a 5/5 flying) for 5 mana is a solid deal, even with the drawback. But this is the most powerful ETB effect in the cube, and it’s strapped to a body that’s just begging to be abused. It can be targeted by Reveillark, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and Imperial Recruiter because it’s a 2-power body. It can be copied and chained with Mimic Vat and Feldon of the Third Path. It’s bonkers with Recurring Nightmare, and can be brought back for extra value with every black reanimation spell. It plays great with Wildfire effects. It’s an insane card to be cloned, blinked or bounced. It's a great card to sacrifice to the new Evolutionary Leap or classics like Greater Gargadon or Flesh Carver. This card is just ripe for abuse, and it will be the centerpiece of many a cube story that involve armies of 5/5 flying demon tokens obtained with relative ease.

What I Don't Like: If your opponent can deal with the flying body with a bounce effect and mitigate the 2/2 with a Wall or something, this can be the most miserable Gray Ogre you’ve ever had in play.

Verdict: Black is starving for good 5cc creatures. And this is a great one. Solid atand-alone stats and infinitely abusable. I would immediately put this into every 450 cube, and there’s a very good chance this needs to go into 360-sized cubes as well. It’s a very strong creature that will do crazy powerful things in cube decks without having to stretch much at all.

Pia and Kiran Nalaar

A wealth of value at the 4-mana slot.

What I Like: 4 power, 3 bodies (2 with evasion) and an activated ability that can burn any target you want. It plays well with red’s 2-power creature theme, the token subtheme, Feldon/Vat shenanigans and the artifact.dec, in addition to just being a fantastic creature on its own for pretty much every theater. This card reminds me a lot of Siege-Gang Commander at face-value, except it's only 4 mana despite having the same power/cost ratio, and it's much easier to find additional artifacts to fling than additional goblins (though SGC brings 4 of its own). And, its tokens have evasion. Very powerful.

What I Don't Like: The main body can be dealt with early before the activated abilities can be abused because they cost 3 mana to activate. And that just leaves you with a couple thopter bodies behind. Still a solid trade for 4 mana, but it can feel lackluster if you can’t abuse the body and it gets mitigated quickly by the opponent.

Verdict: Red isn’t exactly in need of a great 4cc creature, but it got one nonetheless. Even if this means cutting a staple aggro 4-drop or one of the other traditionally used value trigger 4-drops, I’d replace one of them with this creature, even in a 360 card cube. It’s been stellar in testing.

Languish

One of the best black sweepers ever.

What I Like: We didn’t exactly need this effect, but too bad, we got it anyways. This competes with Damnation and Toxic Deluge as one of the top sweepers in black, and it can often times be better than either of those two cards. Deluge is better still, but I’m not convinced that Damnation will be better than Languish in the average deck. It kills the vast majority of cube creatures, but it keeps bigger ones alive, which will more often than not allow you to keep one of your control monsters alive and kill everything else. It will be an immediate contributor to black control decks of every kind, and it will also work wonders in the Wildfire deck if you support it (which I recommend). Plus, small cubes don’t have a deep suite of 4cc cards in black (especially not on the spell side) so the curve will welcome this effect.

What I Don’t Like: Sometimes you’ll just run into a random X/5 beater that can own you. You gotta take the good with the bad.

Verdict: We didn’t know we wanted another black sweeper, but even in the smallest of cubes, this card is simply too good not to run. Aggro’s getting better in this update from several great cards ...control can improve too. I’d play this even at 360.

Kytheon, Hero of Akros

Well, this creature is good.

What I Like: Even if we wanted to pretend this couldn’t transform into a planeswalker, it would still be the best 2-power 1-drop in white. The ability to make it indestructible is better than any of the abilities the other “better than Savannah Lions” creatures have in that color by a huge margin. Oh, and this guy can transform into a ‘walker that can force bad attacks, make your other dudes vigilant and indestructible, and turn into a 4/4 unkillable attacking monster. Did I mention it costs 1 mana?

What I Don’t Like: I suppose having him blasted by a Burst Lightning in response to paying the 2W for the indestructible trigger is kinda a blowout.

Verdict: What do you want me to say? This card is absurd, and belongs in every cube size.