Cryptic Caves reminds me a lot Blighted Cataract. Obviously it's cheaper and colourless but is that enough of an upside to bump out a low-tier artifact or one of the other utility lands?
Corpse Knight is pretty cool but I'm not sure I want to cut any of my Orzhov cards. Orzhov has lots of cool options.
People getting excited about Flame Sweep are dreaming.
Repulse -> Ghostly Flicker: Going to go deeper on flickering with a few of the cards in this set so I'm going to put this back in. Repulse is probably better on average but Flicker is more degenerate. More or Less -> Watcher for Tomorrow: Couldn't find a creature I wanted to swap this with, so I decided since to remove some cute jank instead. Weapon Surge -> Goblin Oriflamme: The blow-out potential on Weapon Surge is higher, but I think I prefer the consistency of the Oriflame. Darkthicket Wolf -> Saddled Rimestag: There's some fun "threat of activation" gameplay being lost here, but Rimestag is going to be more efficient as a beatstick in the early game. I could see myself going back on this if the activations aren't as consistent as I would like. The wolf is certainly better in a longer game. Harm's Way -> Valiant Changeling: Decided white has plenty of good removal that I can trim some of the less efficient stuff. I'm optimistic on this coming down by turn4 in most games, and hopefully turn3 with some consistency. Curse of Opulence -> Bogadan Dragonheart : Jank for spicier Jank. I don't think this guy has gotten enough love. Cloudshift -> Ephemerate: Yeah. Whisper, Blood Liturgist -> First-Sphere Gargantua: Whisper is too cute for her own good. Gargantua is a more practical and exciting card. Carrier Thrall -> Putrid Goblin: Nobody is talking about this guy but I think he's slightly better than the Thrall. The ramp is nice from Thrall but is is super significant? I'm really interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this one. Maybe I'm just late to the party cutting this guy and that's why nobody has mentioned it. Reflector Mage -> Soulherder: Soulherder is cute and fits in with all the blink cards I've just added. Reflector Mage is better in a vacuum but I want some spice in my gold cards! Vaporkin -> Faerie Seer: Alright I've been convinced that this is a reasonable 1drop, but I decided I still like having Omenspeaker around. Vaporkin has enough almost-strictly-better cards around these days that I'm comfortable cutting it. Skysnare Spider -> Mother Bear: Self-mill hasn't got a lot of love in my cube at the moment but the means are there and this is a good payoff in the deck that wants it while still being decent in the broader environment. I wasn't really sure what cut I wanted so I decided to trim one of the less exciting high-cmc creatures. This would have been Nessian Asp if we hadn't just gotten a bunch of "counters matter" cards recently.
Cards I decided not to add: Alpine Guide - I don't think the red deck that wants ramp on turn4 is going to be stoked about having to attack with this guy every turn. it's a nice bump in the curve but you really haven to spend the mana for it to be worth anything. Cunning Evasion - I couldn't find a cut I was happy with for this, and the comments that were posted earlier have cooled me a bit on this card. Interested to hear playtest results from the guys who've added it. Everdream - Too expensive. Nantuko Cultivator - If I were to go deep on green based +1/+1 counters or threshold(style) cards then I'd be more inclined to use this. For now I'll probably order one and maybe it'll find a niche down the line. Splicer's Skill - The pun is good so I'm disappointed it costs 1 too much to cube. Ravenous Giant - Big dumb red guy is not what I'm after these days. Vesperlark - I wanted to like this but I think it's too narrow. Martyr's Soul - I think it's too cute for its own good. Let me know if I'm wrong because I like the design a lot. Phantasmal Form - The floor isn't too bad on this, but 2U is steep for a trick and not something I'd want to hold up and not get value from. Winding Way - Another card that goes better with self-mill. Maybe one day.
VariSami and Funkdragon both mentioned Cunning Evasion, but I think it deserves more discussion. For two mana you never have to lose an attacking creature unless you want to. Your opponent has to weigh up the costs of taking a hit vs letting you recast your ETB value creature. You don't have to push a Blink archetype for this to be good, you just have to run strong ETB creatures. You can drop it on turn 2 if you have nothing to do, or just as likely drop it on turn 5 once you've developed your board and immediately get value.
It seems like one of those cards that makes optimizing combat a nightmare for your opponent in the same way that something like Maw of the Obzedat does.
The art is also cool and I suspect it'll make an awesome foil for those who care about these things
I think it's a sleeper candidate for best card in the set.
Am I taking crazy pills or does anybody else think Faerie Seer is kind of crap?
Unlike Cloudfin Raptor or Pteramander which both are likely to achieve reasonable bodies, all the Farerie will ammount to is Flying Men. Omen Speaker might cost more, and a 1/3 isn't anything to write home about but it does a decent enough job holding the ground.
This dies in literally all combat scenarios, and often won't even trade. As far as average floors for cards go, "U: Scry 2, then fog a creature" is not where I want to be at.
Reddit and Discord are both *****ty replacements for a real forum. I hope that whatever the mods are cooking is a real forum because otherwise we'll probably be losing an irreplaceable resource.
You can't have a 14.6k post thread on reddit with continuous conversation, and discord isn't really any better.
For anybody selling Prophet over Alchemist, I'm not convinced that Burning Prophet is any better than Sigiled Starfish and is anybody still cubing that? Colours may be different but the power level isn't.
Here's my definitive ranking of the important cards from this set:
A tier (staple for the foreseeable future): Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Did you know I like these sort of effects? I could imagine games where you play her and then don't even activate the loyalty ability in an effort to keep her around longer. When you do activate it though, it's not hard to imagine it being a huge swing. Saheeli is the best card in this set for us. Eternal Taskmaster - Ignoring the activated ability, a 2 mana 2/3 etb:tapped creature is no slouch in the stats department. He eats all the 1drops and bears-with-upside in the format starting on turn 3. He doesn't have to connect to return your best dead guy and if I only do that once a game then I'm happy with the deal. Band Together - As far as green removal goes, this is premium. Nahiri, Storm of Stone - This card is great fight me. The equipment ability is irrelevant, but attacking with first strike is huge, the loyalty is high, the -X ability is strong and will heavily affect how your opponent plays. Finding the right attacks/blocks to turn Nahiri off/keep her online will be great fun. Angrath, Captain of Chaos - I was down on the bull to start with, but the more I think about it the more I like it. Coming down on turn 4, protecting himself and making combat hard for your opponent seems like a reasonable average case. Obviously if you're behind on board it's not as good but it's still making a 2/2 hopefully twice before it dies at a minimum. Being hybrid makes him much easier to include.
B tier (strong): Pollenbright Druid - This is an amazing 2drop for a +1/+1 counters deck if that's something you push. Aven Eternal - How often is your Eldrazi Skyspawner trading with an 1/x spirit token? If the answer is "pretty often" then this may be a good swap. Evolution Sage - 3/2 for 3 with a strong triggered ability. This would be A tier but I think its power depends on the decks you're pushing and how many counter-producers you actually cube with. If this gets at least one important trigger every game, then I'd rank it as A-tier. Bleeding Edge - CC1 isn't the most comfortable cost (and I'm probably cubing too many of them already), but when you're getting a 2/2 that kills an x/2 for 3 mana you can't complain. Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - good value and another toy for the prison deck. She doesn't impact the board the way Nahiri or Angrath do though so I've put her in B tier. With that said, I'm still going to definitely try and make room for this one. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator - This is on the low end of B-tier, but it's not hard to picture the decks and matchups where this shines. I think the static ability should be treated mostly as flavor text, so I'm evaluating him purely on the back of the ~two devils you get. There's potential for (multiple) 2-for-1's here, and at the least he trades with an x/2 (and invalidates attacking with multiple x/1's). The price is reasonable too. The more I think about him the more I like it, but I keep coming back to the static ability and I can't get too excited.
C tier (janky/situationaly great): Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted - How much am I willing to pay to use Skullclamp twice? He plays into the Aristocrats deck, and can remove threats in a pinch. The triggered ability isn't nothing either and in some matchups I could see it being very relevant. I'm not sure if the price is right though and I'm on the fence about cubing him. Dreadmalkin - I like this a lot better than the rank I'm giving it indicates, but I'm trying to be objective here. If I cube this, it's probably in the place of some 2/1 1drop. Black's 1drops aren't the deepest and this has room to grow and strong archetype support, so I'm optimistic that its average-case is around the same floor as a Carnophage or Glarned Scarhide. However a 1/1 Menace for 1 is not what I'm after so its quality really does depend on how often I use its sac ability and how much value it can generate for me. Paradise Druid - Are we treating this as Rampant Growth with legs? It's interesting but I think its power-level is heavily dependent on how many Llanowar Elves variants you play. The 2drop dorks I play are generally the kind that can make 2 mana a turn-cycle so I'm not that excited. Trusted Pegasus - Or Pegasus Courser? I suppose it depends on your environment, kind of like Eldrazi Skyspawner and Aven Eternal. Elite Guardmage - If you're already playing Mulldrifter, cut Cloudblazer and run this instead. Building a cube is like making love to a woman - you have to spread the love up and down the curve(s). Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - The -1 ability is decent ramp and the loyalty/cmc is certainly there, but I've come to the conclusion that any "creature with power/toughness > 4" ability is usually flavor text so I'm wary of including her.
D tier (archetype specific/bad but cool) Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - If and when I come back to the +1/+1 counters deck, I'll at least give this guy a look in. For now though, I don't think 3 mana is worth 2 +1/+1 counters over 2 turns at sorcery speed (probably average case). The ramp is nice, and it would be cool to untap with him on turn4 and play a 6drop, that's too close to Christmas for my liking. Rescuer Sphinx - Depending on what themes you do or don't want in your cube, I could see this subbing in for Mist Raven or Murder of Crows. I think in a vacuum, Mist Raven is better and Murder of Crows probably is too, but it's probably closer. Lazotep Reaver - I'm making a mental note in case I decide I want more "multiple bodies" cards in Black. The rate is fine here. Ral's Outburst - I think Prophetic Bolt is better, but it's not strictly better. Ugin's Conjurant - This card is textbook "filler". We can do better.
Corpse Knight is pretty cool but I'm not sure I want to cut any of my Orzhov cards. Orzhov has lots of cool options.
People getting excited about Flame Sweep are dreaming.
Repulse -> Ghostly Flicker: Going to go deeper on flickering with a few of the cards in this set so I'm going to put this back in. Repulse is probably better on average but Flicker is more degenerate.
More or Less -> Watcher for Tomorrow: Couldn't find a creature I wanted to swap this with, so I decided since to remove some cute jank instead.
Weapon Surge -> Goblin Oriflamme: The blow-out potential on Weapon Surge is higher, but I think I prefer the consistency of the Oriflame.
Darkthicket Wolf -> Saddled Rimestag: There's some fun "threat of activation" gameplay being lost here, but Rimestag is going to be more efficient as a beatstick in the early game. I could see myself going back on this if the activations aren't as consistent as I would like. The wolf is certainly better in a longer game.
Harm's Way -> Valiant Changeling: Decided white has plenty of good removal that I can trim some of the less efficient stuff. I'm optimistic on this coming down by turn4 in most games, and hopefully turn3 with some consistency.
Curse of Opulence -> Bogadan Dragonheart : Jank for spicier Jank. I don't think this guy has gotten enough love.
Cloudshift -> Ephemerate: Yeah.
Whisper, Blood Liturgist -> First-Sphere Gargantua: Whisper is too cute for her own good. Gargantua is a more practical and exciting card.
Carrier Thrall -> Putrid Goblin: Nobody is talking about this guy but I think he's slightly better than the Thrall. The ramp is nice from Thrall but is is super significant? I'm really interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this one. Maybe I'm just late to the party cutting this guy and that's why nobody has mentioned it.
Reflector Mage -> Soulherder: Soulherder is cute and fits in with all the blink cards I've just added. Reflector Mage is better in a vacuum but I want some spice in my gold cards!
Vaporkin -> Faerie Seer: Alright I've been convinced that this is a reasonable 1drop, but I decided I still like having Omenspeaker around. Vaporkin has enough almost-strictly-better cards around these days that I'm comfortable cutting it.
Skysnare Spider -> Mother Bear: Self-mill hasn't got a lot of love in my cube at the moment but the means are there and this is a good payoff in the deck that wants it while still being decent in the broader environment. I wasn't really sure what cut I wanted so I decided to trim one of the less exciting high-cmc creatures. This would have been Nessian Asp if we hadn't just gotten a bunch of "counters matter" cards recently.
Cards I decided not to add:
Alpine Guide - I don't think the red deck that wants ramp on turn4 is going to be stoked about having to attack with this guy every turn. it's a nice bump in the curve but you really haven to spend the mana for it to be worth anything.
Cunning Evasion - I couldn't find a cut I was happy with for this, and the comments that were posted earlier have cooled me a bit on this card. Interested to hear playtest results from the guys who've added it.
Everdream - Too expensive.
Nantuko Cultivator - If I were to go deep on green based +1/+1 counters or threshold(style) cards then I'd be more inclined to use this. For now I'll probably order one and maybe it'll find a niche down the line.
Splicer's Skill - The pun is good so I'm disappointed it costs 1 too much to cube.
Ravenous Giant - Big dumb red guy is not what I'm after these days.
Vesperlark - I wanted to like this but I think it's too narrow.
Martyr's Soul - I think it's too cute for its own good. Let me know if I'm wrong because I like the design a lot.
Phantasmal Form - The floor isn't too bad on this, but 2U is steep for a trick and not something I'd want to hold up and not get value from.
Winding Way - Another card that goes better with self-mill. Maybe one day.
But the mods are still going forward with their spinoff website MTGNexus.
Way to split the communities!
And even then I don't want this card.
It seems like one of those cards that makes optimizing combat a nightmare for your opponent in the same way that something like Maw of the Obzedat does.
The art is also cool and I suspect it'll make an awesome foil for those who care about these things
I think it's a sleeper candidate for best card in the set.
Unlike Cloudfin Raptor or Pteramander which both are likely to achieve reasonable bodies, all the Farerie will ammount to is Flying Men. Omen Speaker might cost more, and a 1/3 isn't anything to write home about but it does a decent enough job holding the ground.
This dies in literally all combat scenarios, and often won't even trade. As far as average floors for cards go, "U: Scry 2, then fog a creature" is not where I want to be at.
You can't have a 14.6k post thread on reddit with continuous conversation, and discord isn't really any better.
Not when I could play Deep Analysis instead.
A tier (staple for the foreseeable future):
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Did you know I like these sort of effects? I could imagine games where you play her and then don't even activate the loyalty ability in an effort to keep her around longer. When you do activate it though, it's not hard to imagine it being a huge swing. Saheeli is the best card in this set for us.
Eternal Taskmaster - Ignoring the activated ability, a 2 mana 2/3 etb:tapped creature is no slouch in the stats department. He eats all the 1drops and bears-with-upside in the format starting on turn 3. He doesn't have to connect to return your best dead guy and if I only do that once a game then I'm happy with the deal.
Band Together - As far as green removal goes, this is premium.
Nahiri, Storm of Stone - This card is great fight me. The equipment ability is irrelevant, but attacking with first strike is huge, the loyalty is high, the -X ability is strong and will heavily affect how your opponent plays. Finding the right attacks/blocks to turn Nahiri off/keep her online will be great fun.
Angrath, Captain of Chaos - I was down on the bull to start with, but the more I think about it the more I like it. Coming down on turn 4, protecting himself and making combat hard for your opponent seems like a reasonable average case. Obviously if you're behind on board it's not as good but it's still making a 2/2 hopefully twice before it dies at a minimum. Being hybrid makes him much easier to include.
B tier (strong):
Pollenbright Druid - This is an amazing 2drop for a +1/+1 counters deck if that's something you push.
Aven Eternal - How often is your Eldrazi Skyspawner trading with an 1/x spirit token? If the answer is "pretty often" then this may be a good swap.
Evolution Sage - 3/2 for 3 with a strong triggered ability. This would be A tier but I think its power depends on the decks you're pushing and how many counter-producers you actually cube with. If this gets at least one important trigger every game, then I'd rank it as A-tier.
Bleeding Edge - CC1 isn't the most comfortable cost (and I'm probably cubing too many of them already), but when you're getting a 2/2 that kills an x/2 for 3 mana you can't complain.
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - good value and another toy for the prison deck. She doesn't impact the board the way Nahiri or Angrath do though so I've put her in B tier. With that said, I'm still going to definitely try and make room for this one.
Tibalt, Rakish Instigator - This is on the low end of B-tier, but it's not hard to picture the decks and matchups where this shines. I think the static ability should be treated mostly as flavor text, so I'm evaluating him purely on the back of the ~two devils you get. There's potential for (multiple) 2-for-1's here, and at the least he trades with an x/2 (and invalidates attacking with multiple x/1's). The price is reasonable too. The more I think about him the more I like it, but I keep coming back to the static ability and I can't get too excited.
C tier (janky/situationaly great):
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted - How much am I willing to pay to use Skullclamp twice? He plays into the Aristocrats deck, and can remove threats in a pinch. The triggered ability isn't nothing either and in some matchups I could see it being very relevant. I'm not sure if the price is right though and I'm on the fence about cubing him.
Dreadmalkin - I like this a lot better than the rank I'm giving it indicates, but I'm trying to be objective here. If I cube this, it's probably in the place of some 2/1 1drop. Black's 1drops aren't the deepest and this has room to grow and strong archetype support, so I'm optimistic that its average-case is around the same floor as a Carnophage or Glarned Scarhide. However a 1/1 Menace for 1 is not what I'm after so its quality really does depend on how often I use its sac ability and how much value it can generate for me.
Paradise Druid - Are we treating this as Rampant Growth with legs? It's interesting but I think its power-level is heavily dependent on how many Llanowar Elves variants you play. The 2drop dorks I play are generally the kind that can make 2 mana a turn-cycle so I'm not that excited.
Trusted Pegasus - Or Pegasus Courser? I suppose it depends on your environment, kind of like Eldrazi Skyspawner and Aven Eternal.
Elite Guardmage - If you're already playing Mulldrifter, cut Cloudblazer and run this instead. Building a cube is like making love to a woman - you have to spread the love up and down the curve(s).
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - The -1 ability is decent ramp and the loyalty/cmc is certainly there, but I've come to the conclusion that any "creature with power/toughness > 4" ability is usually flavor text so I'm wary of including her.
D tier (archetype specific/bad but cool)
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - If and when I come back to the +1/+1 counters deck, I'll at least give this guy a look in. For now though, I don't think 3 mana is worth 2 +1/+1 counters over 2 turns at sorcery speed (probably average case). The ramp is nice, and it would be cool to untap with him on turn4 and play a 6drop, that's too close to Christmas for my liking.
Rescuer Sphinx - Depending on what themes you do or don't want in your cube, I could see this subbing in for Mist Raven or Murder of Crows. I think in a vacuum, Mist Raven is better and Murder of Crows probably is too, but it's probably closer.
Lazotep Reaver - I'm making a mental note in case I decide I want more "multiple bodies" cards in Black. The rate is fine here.
Ral's Outburst - I think Prophetic Bolt is better, but it's not strictly better.
Ugin's Conjurant - This card is textbook "filler". We can do better.
Saheeli is an important step towards the mythical "Artifacts Matter" archetype, and I think she's good enough on her own too.
Evolution Druid looks like a strong contender too.