This is my 24th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last few articles, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
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.
I’ll be honest with you, Rivals of Ixalan is not a good set in terms of what it produces for cubes. It has some fun and flavorful cards, and some good cards for tribal themes and linear decks, but neither of those translate to the cube very well. I found a handful of cards that were worthy of discussion for cubes, but the list wasn’t very long. The latter half of the list requires a bit of extra optimism, so come into the article with an open mind. I tried my hardest.
Without further ado, I can start the countdown!
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
A midrange Rakdos value ‘walker.
What I Like: The {+1} ability provides disruption and reach. The {-3} ability is a cool spin on a Threaten effect, since it gives you the sacrifice clause tacked on for free. And by the time in the game where the ultimate is available, it’ll probably just kill the opponent on the spot.
What I Don't Like: Rakdos is pretty deep now, and the guild is pretty aggressive. Angrath is best suited for midrange decks, and even there it’s only mediocre. The {+1} ability would be quite good on a ‘walker that would play well in aggro, but unfortunately, the mana cost on this card is pretty prohibitive to use it in that way.
Verdict: Cubes that are large enough to have a free Rakdos slot available (after the top shelf of cards are included) …that also happen to be in the market for a generic midrange value ‘walker in that color combination… might be able to find some use for Angrath. Most other cubes will happily elect to pass.
Riverwise Augur
An okay blue value creature.
What I Like: The 4cc creature slot in blue drops off pretty hard after the first 3-4 creatures. After that, you can customize the section to include effects you want in there. Tempo decks might want a Dungeon Geists. Devotion decks might want Master of Waves. Spells shells might want Talrand. But if you’re looking tor a creature with a decent enters the battlefield effect, there aren’t many. Augur is only okay at face value. A 2/2 body and a Brainstorm trigger isn’t the worst place to be, especially given the splashable casting cost. Blink and bounce kinds of decks that are trying to break value creatures with ETB triggers might be quite happy with chaining Brainstorm triggers every other turn or so, especially if they can accompany it with some shuffling effects.
What I Don't Like: It’s only going to become cubeworthy in very specific shells. My card pool would have to be pretty poor before this would slide into a generic goodstuff deck as a 22nd or 23rd playable. It’s closest competition is a card like Tower Geists, and that card is better in decks that can’t chain the ETB triggers.
Verdict: Large cubes looking for a 4cc blue value creature with a decent ETB trigger might want to test this. If you don’t need one of the other fringe-playable 4cc creatures because you don’t support their respective decktypes, the 4cc blue creature suite can be pretty shallow. This might be able to crack some lists based on that fact alone.
Storm the Vault // Vault of Catlacan
An artifact support card with a high upside.
What I Like: In decks that can reliably flip this quickly, it’s a powerful effect. The treasure generation helps get to the backside of the card, which is a really strong land. Decks filled with cheap mana and utility artifacts that have a high top-end of big artifacts to cast might very well benefit from a card that can both help them ramp, help their artifact count, and can produce a land that taps for 5+ mana!
What I Don't Like: The competition in Izzet is far steeper than it used to be, and Vault needs to go into a very specific deck to have a shot of making the cut. And Vault doesn’t contribute much on its own. It’s either ready (or close to ready) to flip, or it might not do much of anything for you. It’ll be a card that has quite a lot of variance. Sometimes it’ll feel like the card was easy to transform and the effect was really valuable, and other times it might feel impossible to transform or the effect is just flooding you out on mana.
Verdict: Large cubes that are deep on the artifact.dec plan might be able to shoehorn this card into their Izzet sections for testing. But for most cubes, this card will be too narrow and the competition for guild slots is just too competitive.
Bishop of Binding
Banisher Priest’s big brother.
What I Like: The 4cc creature section in white isn’t particularly deep, and Bishop can provide a Fiend Hunter effect that’s not an anemic attacker. If Bishop can provide you an answer to even a beast-sized body, having a 4-mana creature that Journey to Nowhere’s a creature, that can attack for 4, that still maintains all the positive interactions of having a small creature body (Recruiters, ‘Lark, etc), that also has a splashable casting cost …there might be some folks that will have good success with it.
What I Don't Like: Even though the creature section isn’t deep, it’s still hard to find room. I think Palace Jailer is the superior version of this effect, and most medium-sized cubes can’t even find room for that card.
Verdict: Large cubes that value both the O-Ring kind of creature removal, the splashable cost and the body size that can be interacted with easily might be able to squeeze this in for some limited testing.
Journey to Eternity // Atzal, Cave of Eternity
A Golgari sacrifice/value support effect.
What I Like: If you have a shell that can reliably transform Journey, the card will be very good. Not only does it immediately replace itself by giving you the creature back, but the land it transforms into is both immediately useful and can provide long-term card advantage and board impact.
What I Don't Like: Most decks that aren’t loaded to the gills with sacrifice effects will have a hard time reliably transforming this card. Plus, it runs the risk of either being a do-nothing card or running into exile-based removal or instant-speed removal and resulting in card disadvantage and no value. Which is why it’s so imperative that you have creatures with sacrifice effects at the ready to be in control of the transformation.
Verdict: Golgari sections in smaller cubes are much too tight. So this card is going to be relegated to larger cubes off the get-go. Additionally, it requires a specific type of shell to be good. Not just a typical Braids/Smokestack kind of support, but really being all-in on an Aristocrats/Pox kind of archetype in your cube before this will be reliable enough to be consistently good. For most folks, this’ll prove to be too narrow. But it can be quite good for the decks it’s geared to shine in.
Orazca Relic
A slower Mind Stone variant.
What I Like: Ascend is a hard mechanic to judge, because it will vary greatly from one deck to another, and from one matchup to the next. You might have some decks that can reliably hit the Ascend trigger in most of their games, and others that might not hit 10 permanents all draft. That makes it hard to rely on having the City’s Blessing when you need it. But when it’s active, you can use Relic to provide some mid-game ramp, that can provide you with both some card draw and tempo recovery after you’ve moved into the late stages of the game. Not having to pay any additional mana for the draw is nice, because as soon as your curve can afford the sacrifice, it’ll be available. And there are matchups where the life gain will be relevant.
What I Don't Like: The era of 3cc mana rocks that can’t tap for 2+ mana came to an end a while ago. Especially true of rocks that don’t fix your mana either. If Ascend is as inconsistent long-term as it was for me in observation/testing, Relic will just prove to be a 3cc rock that taps for 1 colorless mana way too often.
Verdict: Cube managers running lists that are a bit slower (or that support drawn-out multiplayer games) will have more success with Ascend than typical 1v1 cube managers will. And if you can reliably hit Ascend, Relic isn’t a terrible card. If Ascend is testing reliably for your playgroup and you’re in the market for another fringe-playable mana rock, give this new Relic a try.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
A fun, giant, white dinosaur!
What I Like: This reminds me of a combination of Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Avacyn, Angel of Hope. And for cube, I think I actually like this one more. Unlike Akroma, Zetalpa can be reanimated by the black enchantments. And the indestructibility is a bit more versatile defensively than the protections. Avacyn is better defensively, but Zetalpa has trample, which is key for pushing damage through small blockers. Not to mention the double strike, which can combo with any power-boosting effect to have a big impact on how much damage Zetalpa can apply.
What I Don't Like: Where’s my haste? I just don’t have a need for more than one or two giant white creatures, and I don’t think this stacks up in comparison to cards like Elesh Norn or even Angel of Serenity.
Verdict: If you have a slot you want to dedicate to an 8CMC+ superfatty in white and you’re not all that interested in the other options, I think Zetalpa will win some games for you if you can get it onto the table. Big cubes that love big creatures might want to give Zetalpa a trial run.
Nezahal, Primal Tide
A blue control mirror breaker.
What I Like: This creature is a strong one to have against creature-light control decks. First off, it’s uncounterable. Which is important for the role you’re tasking Nezahal to perform for you. Second, the draw engine is really good in that matchup. Some decks are loaded to the brim with non-creature spells, and ol’ Nezzy can draw you a lot of cards in some windows. The cost on the protection ability is steep, but it’s partially mitigated by the draw it provides. Most importantly, the way that Nezzy protects itself plays really well with the black reanimation enchantments. Since it exiles itself and returns, bringing it back with Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead or Necromancy is safer than with most other targets.
What I Don't Like: As good as Nezahal is in breaking open a control mirror, it’s equally as bad in creature-based matchups. The lack of evasion is very troublesome here, since it’s an expensive card, has matchups where the draw engine will be inconsistent, and it can’t close games out against decks that can produce even a few anemic ground blockers. Trample or menace would’ve been ideal, but even something like Islandwalk would’ve been both awesome and flavorful. I think the lack of evasion will be ultimately what kills this creature’s potential for the cube format.
Verdict: If you want a control creature that’s good in the control matchup, I’d give Nezzy a spin. It has spots where it’ll be terrible, but it’s certainly good at that one thing. Big cubes in the market for this kind of effect should give it a trial period to prove itself.
Flood of Recollection
A blue Regrowth variant.
What I Like: In a lot of cases, my best Regrowth targets are powerful instants and sorceries. Which is sometimes awkward for regrowth, since those effects aren’t usually green. In decks inundated with great targets that can’t afford to branch out to green for that kind of effect, Flood is one of the few ways to do it. In the SCD, Salmo pointed out that Storm decks are often in the market for Regrowth effects, but can’t always play the green. So Grixis storm might be a deck that really wants a card like Flood.
What I Don't Like: I’ve played Regrowth enough to know that a card that’s strictly worse in two different ways and then colorshifted into one of the most competitive slots in the cube isn’t going to be great. And the mana cost on Regrowth can be a little misleading. Often, splashing for Regrowth might actually be better for the effect than using an in-color effect would be. Part of the appeal of Regrowth is that the mana used to cast the spell doesn’t prohibit me from immediately re-casting my favorite targets. The fact that flood costs double-blue will actually prevent me from being able to use it with my powerful blue instants/sorceries in the same turn that I recur them; something that really helps Regrowth to be a good card. Well that, and its ability to get back lands, creatures, planeswalkers, artifacts and enchantments…
Verdict: Larger cubes supporting Storm might be able to find room for Flood. But as a face-value effect, I don’t think it has the mettle.
Zacama, Primal Calamity
A giant legendary dinosaur.
What I Like: In decks engineered to hardcast big fatties, this may be one of the absolute best targets. If you can cast Zacama to get the untap trigger, and you get to do so cleanly, it should result in a minimum of 4-for-1 card advantage. And if your opponent can’t kill it right away, it will win you the game in short order. You get to untap all the mana you used to cast it, and then blast your opponent’s artifacts, enchantments and creatures off the board.
What I Don't Like: It’s a 9cc, 3-color creature that needs to be hardcast to reach its full potential. That’s just about as narrow of a card as I can imagine.
Verdict: If you have a larger cube that supports super-ramp with all the mana doubling effects, and you have either a gold Naya slot or rainbow gold slot available, you should probably at least test Zacama out and see how it does for you. If this isn’t what you’re trying to do with Naya super-ramp as an archetype, I’m not sure what to say.
Champion of Dusk
A serviceable black 5-drop.
What I Like: I’m a little surprised by the lack of discussion with this card. Why? Because black’s 5cc creatures are terrible. We have Shriekmaw, which is great. And we have Custodi Lich, which is solid. And after that, we’ve got garbo. So, can Champion float to the top of that pool of crappy creatures? I think so. As a bare floor, you can get a 4/4 creature and draw a card for your 5 mana, and that’s not too bad. It’s a better floor than most of the other black 5-drops, which run the risk of being cast, dying and giving you nothing for the investment. But the surprising part about Champion is that there’s a reasonable number of playable vampires in black now. It’s certainly not inconceivable that you could get 2 or even 3 drawn cards off of Champion. If you can get a Phyrexian Gargantua at a discount, it’ll be good. If you can get an Ancient Craving trigger, this creature will be amazing.
What I Don't Like: The only reason it’s even worth mentioning is because black’s 5cc creature slot is abysmal. Where’s my black Siege-Gang Commander?
Verdict: If you manage a big cube, the curve is a little light around the black 5cc creature slot. I think this is worth testing if you have a few vampires in black and need a 3rd 5-drop to flesh out the curve. I’d be pondering this for inclusion at 720+.
Rekindling Phoenix
A resilient red 4-drop.
What I Like: This creature is a pain in the butt to deal with. The opponent has to exile it, aim two pieces of removal at it back-to-back, or it will eventually kill them. The competition at the 4cc creature slot in red is tight for small to medium-sized cubes, but after the first five or so creatures, the competition softens up. If you’re in the market for a long-game threat that provides some inevitability, Phoenix is a solid option.
What I Don't Like: Haste in its cast mode would’ve made this a premium competitor for aggro shells. But its overall speed and weakness against exile-based removal makes this weaker than most of the commonly-run competition.
Verdict: 720+ card cubes that are looking for a resilient win condition in red might want to give the Phoenix a try. I think there are some decks that will just have fits with trying to deal with it, and if they can’t exile it right away, it will eventually get there.
The Immortal Sun
A unique 6cc value engine.
What I Like: Immortal Sun can be a tricky card to evaluate and use correctly. The planeswalker disruption is symmetrical, so you have to break the symmetry of the effect by not running any planeswalkers. That can be a steep drawback, but if it enters play and shots off a ‘walker or two belonging to your opponent …that’s pretty fantastic value considering the other effects that Immortal Sun has stapled to it. Drawing an extra card per turn is obviously great. The spell discount usually wouldn’t matter on a 6cc card, but it works quite well once you’re drawing 2 cards a turn. And the Anthem effect isn’t something that I’m usually in the market for on a 6cc utility card, but considering how the deck will be be playing less ‘walkers, if you replace those threats with creatures, the Anthem effect will be more beneficial. In instances where it shuts off at least one ‘walker, it’s going to be a really powerful card.
What I Don't Like: I’d wager that the majority of the time, your deck is better off with a couple planeswalkers in it than it is with Immortal Sun and your 23rd playable. As powerful as Sun can be when it’s “built around” …it needs to be worth building around. In the instances where it’s shutting off an opponent’s ‘walker, it’ll be great. But in all the other instances, you’re just better off playing your own. Kinda narrow and swingy for a 6cc card.
Verdict: Somewhat counterintuitively, the more ‘walkers you run, the better Immortal Sun will be for you. In a large, planeswalker-heavy cube that plays lots of superfriends decks, Sun will make for a great early pickup and build-around that’ll be wildly disruptive.
Thrashing Brontodon
A big Viridian Zealot.
What I Like: In environments that aren’t saturated with must-answer artifact and enchantment targets, there’s value in these hybrid-style effects that can be either creatures or Naturalize effects. When a card like Viridian Shaman might rot in your hand, a creature like Brontodon might be putting in some work for you.
What I Don't Like: Smaller cubes pack too many bomb targets in a really small space. Which means that Brontodon will wind up playing the role of 4cc Naturalize more often than not. Answer cards in those formats either need to be really cheap, or they need to be generating card advantage. It’s pretty hard to find room for a card that’s neither.
Verdict: The bigger the cube, the more spread out the saturation of must answer targets gets, and more valuable the flexibility found in a card like Brontodon becomes. At 720 (and maybe even 630 if I was unpowered) I’d be looking closely at Brontodon. In smaller cubes, it’s not even a remote consideration.
Jadelight Ranger
A random 3cc value creature.
What I Like: No matter what mode you get on Ranger when you cast it, it’s pretty cost-efficient. You either get a 3cc 4/3 with Scry 2, a 3cc 3/2 with scry 1 that draws a card, or a 3cc 2/1 that draws 2 cards. None of those cards are bad.
What I Don't Like: You have very little control over which one of the modes you’re going to get, and some decks want one mode more than the other. My green decks aren’t often in the market for an oversized 3-drop with double-green in the cost, and my value creature decks have options for creatures that are more consistent at providing those advantages.
Verdict: I might be able to find room to test this card at 540, but even then I don’t think it would make the cut. Perhaps the 3cc creature slot runs a little thinner at 630+, and this could sneak in under the radar.
Warkite Marauder
A decent 2cc tempo creature.
What I Like: A 2/1 flying for 2 with an upside is a great starting point for a tempo/beatdown creature. When that upside is casting a free Ovinize on each one of your turns, that’s pretty sweet. Because it allows your Lions and Pikers to attack with impunity, allows the Marauder itself to attack through flying blockers, and pairs incredibly well with toughness-based removal effects. In Izzet tempo, this is probably the best 2/1 flying tempo creature blue has to offer.
What I Don't Like: There are some situations and matchups where the effect won’t be all that impactful and this creature will just be in Welkin Tern mode. More importantly, a lot of tempo shells center around instant-speed play, and the 2/1 flying options with Flash might be better in those kinds of decks. Blue is really tight, and even cards like Dimensional Infiltrator have an impossible time competing. If half the tempo decks out there would actually prefer a creature that was cut long ago for underperforming, it’s a bit foreboding the for Marauder.
Verdict: This is one of the better tempo 2-drops available in blue, and if most of your blue tempo decks feature red, I think I’d try and find room to test the Marauder at 540+. If most of your tempo decks are white/blue, Marauder might not make the cut until 630 or 720, since the Ovinize trigger is far less meaningful there than the Flash is on cards like Infiltrator and friends.
Grasping Scoundrel
A fringe-playable black 2-power 1-drop.
What I Like: Black’s list of playable 2-power 1-drops with no downsides is pretty short. Basically, black’s 2-power 1-drops are broken down into 3 tiers. Tier 1 creatures are the ones with recursion effects. The tier 2 creatures are the ones with the Zombie creature type, since they help enable the tier 1 guys. Tier 3 aggro beaters are all the ones that aren’t in those two categories. Scoundrel falls into that category alongside Gnarled Scarhide, Tormented Hero and Vampire Lacerator. And it may very well float to the top. In comparison to Scarhide, Scoundrel can block and it can’t be Disenchanted. In comparison to Hero, Scoundrel enters play untapped, making it a better topdeck in instances where you’re chumping or you have to crew a vehicle. And in comparison to Lacerator, it doesn’t deal any damage to you. It always attacks for 2, and can always be available as a blocker. And doesn’t have any life-loss drawbacks. That puts it ahead of most other tier-3 black 2-power 1-drop variants.
What I Don't Like: It’s boring. It doesn’t enable Gravecrawler, it can’t recur itself, it doesn’t help to enable any specific archetypes …it’s just a fringe-playable aggro duder that happens to float near the top of a pool of mediocre options. Of the creatures in the tier-3 classification, this is probably 2nd best behind Scarhide, unless the humans-matter creature type is a thing for you.
Verdict: I think at 540, I’d play this creature over Hero/Lacerator. But I don’t think this cracks cubes any smaller than that, and it certainly won’t displace any of the creatures that fall into the tier-1 or tier-2 category outlined above.
Skymarcher Aspirant
A fringe-playable white 2-power 1-drop.
What I Like: White’s aggro 1-drops are pretty good. Aspirant spells the end for Savannah Lions in medium sized cubes, and can even replace some of the “lions with upsides” that make the cut in some smaller cubes. Ascend isn’t going to be a consistent thing in aggro; not even for go-wide aggro. It may only come up once in every 20+ games. But in comparison to something like Dragon Hunter’s dragon-blocking effect, which might matter like 1% or the time (or less) …it’s still an upgrade.
What I Don't Like: All this does is push out your worst 2-power 1-drop in white, if you’re still playing Lions and don’t need an extra body for saturation. Even in comparison to something like Dragon Hunter or Elite Vanguard, if you support a humans-matters theme, the upside of being a human might be more meaningful than the Ascend.
Verdict: Somewhere in the 450-540 range, Aspirant might be able to push out one of the aforementioned creatures. In other cases, this might be relegated to 630+ if you’re supporting a humans-matters theme and are just adding this in for density. Either way, this guy will make the cut in a lot of cubes, at least until we get the next “better than a basic lion” aggro beater.
Dire Fleet Daredevil
A red 2-drop with a high ceiling.
What I Like: This is going to be a fun, exciting and interesting creature. It ranges from a barely serviceable Youthful Knight all the way to a situationally better Snapcaster Mage. This creature basically has 5 “tiers” that it can be when it resolves:
•Tier 5 = A red Youthful Knight.
•Tier 4 = A Youthful Knight that exiles an instant/sorcery out of the opponent’s graveyard. Maybe you didn’t have the mana to cast it yourself, but at least the opponent won’t ever have access to it again. Maybe you exile one of their flashback spells or something.
•Tier 3 = A Youthful Knight that finds a target you can cast that results in an extra card’s worth of value for you. You get to fire off and hit with a Duress or a Bolt or a Ponder or something. Results equate to a 2-for-1.
•Tier 2 = A Youthful Knight that hits a target you can cast that results in 2 cards worth of value for you. You hit a post-combat Chart a Course, Hymn to Tourach, Kolaghan’s Command or the like. Results equate to a 3-for 1.
•Tier 1 = A Youthful Knight that hits a target you can cast that results in 3+ cards worth of value for you. You hit an Ancestral Recall, or you’re flooded and you can afford to cast a hand-stripping Mind Twist, a Fact or Fiction or a Mystic Confluence. Or maybe you get to cast a Time Walk and you just win the game. Results equate to a 4-for-1 (or more) or it just wins you the game on the spot.
In any instance where you get to see this guy in tiers 3, 2 or 1 …it’s going to be a broken powerhouse of a card. But you have to take the good with the bad.
What I Don't Like: It’s random. It’s going to be matchup dependent, color dependent …it’s going to have windows where it does nothing. There will be curves where you’re priced into casting it as a Youthful Knight …and you don’t even get the Rebecca Guay artwork.
Verdict: I think that the ceiling on this card is so freaking high that we’ll just have to live with the floor on it. It’s an incredible topdeck, and we can’t say that about too many cheap red creatures. I would likely test this at 360, and I think it’s a clear include at 450+.
Ravenous Chupacabra
A Nekrataal variant with no targeting restriction.
What I Like: I’ve been cubing with Nekrataal for almost 11 years now (I blew up my first cube creature with his ETB trigger sometime in 2007). I know what to expect from this type of card, and I don’t think it’s going to surprise me. The first strike on Nekratall is relevant, but not as relevant as being able to kill any creature you want. Any time you need to kill a black creature or artifact creature, you’ll be glad you have the Chupacabra around instead. And any time you need to kill a big creature instead of a smaller one, you’ll be glad you’ve got this guy instead of Skinrender. I think the Chupacabra is the best 4cc removal-on-legs we have in black now, since the value of the removal is so much more important than the value of the body. A 2/1 first strike is better than a vanilla 2/2, but the Murder effect is a lot better than the Terror one. It’s all about consistency. And there’s nothing worse than staring down a critical-to-remove creature and having targeting restrictions on your removal spell that makes it invalid. That risk goes away with Chupacabra. It also keeps all the 2-power interactions that Nekrataal has with Recruiter(s) and Reveillark and stuff.
What I Don't Like: Whenever you kill a creature that would die to Terror, Nekrataal would be better. Whenever you kill a creature that Skinrender could kill, Skinrender would’ve been better. There will be times where the value that’s in the flexibility can’t be seen, and the vanilla 2/2 body will feel anemic.
Verdict: I think this is the best Nekrataal variant we’ve seen. So at whatever size you think that one of them is worth playing, Chupacabra is in. I think it’s an easy include even at 360. Boring, but efficient. Plus, it’s a Chupacabra! So it gets some points just for being cool.
Thanks for reading! Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @wtwlf123. Cheers, and happy cubing.
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Yeah, exactly what I was thinking when reading Metamind comment. Whit it, playing the 1-drop/2-drop creatures instead of paying the loot triggered ability is almost always the bad play.
About our personnal experiences with the Infiltrator, we also think it's pretty solid. It's been a more versatile variant of Merfolk Looter and has provide tons of value in different decks. Really good on the play card.
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01 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
02 Lingering Souls
03 Vindicate
04 Kaya, Ghost Assassin
05 Shambling Vent
06 Anguished Unmaking
07 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
08 Unburial Rites
09 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
10 Magister of Worth
GOLGARI
01 Pernicious Deed
02 Maelstrom Pulse
03 Lotleth Troll
04 Abrupt Decay
05 Hissing Quagmire
06 Life//Death
07 Garruk, Apex Predator
08 Deathrite Shaman
09 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
10 Putrefy
01 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
02 Kiora, the Crashing Waves
03 Trygon Predator
04 Lumbering Falls
05 Kiora, Master of the Depths
06 Shardless Agent
07 Mystic Snake
08 Kiora's Follower
09 Sagu Mauler
10 Simic Sky Swallower
IZZET
01 Dack Fayden
02 Ral Zarek
03 Izzet Charm
04 Wandering Fumarole
05 Saheeli Rai
06 Fire//Ice
07 Electrolyze
08 Dack's Duplicate
09 Keranos, God of Storms
10 Prophetic Bolt
01 Ajani Vengeant
02 Nahiri, the Harbinger
03 Figure of Destiny
04 Needle Spires
05 Lightning Helix
06 Boros Charm
07 Chained to the Rocks
08 Boros Reckoner
09 Weapons Trainer
10 Assemble the Legion
EDIT : Swap Desolation Angel for Angel of Worth. Was wrong on card's name.
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02 Strip Mine
03 Wasteland
04 FETCH LANDS
05 Mana Confluence
06 City of Brass
07 Ancient Tomb
08 Maze of Ith
09 Mishra's Factory
10 Mutavault
11 Rishadan Port
12 Horizon Canopy
13 ABU LANDS
14 Grand Coliseum
15 SHOCK LANDS
16 Gemstone Mine
17 Undiscovered Paradise
18 Terramorphic Expanse (Evolving Wilds)
19 City of Traitors
20 Reflecting Pool
1
02 Armageddon
03 Stoneforge Mystic
04 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
05 Gideon Jura
06 Moat
07 Wrath of God
08 Day of Judgment
09 Reveillark
10 Monastery Mentor
11 Swords to Plowshares
12 Path to Exile
13 Land Tax
14 Restoration Angel
15 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
16 Parallax Wave
17 Recruiter of the Guard
18 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
19 Cloudgoat Ranger
20 Mother of Runes
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7
Angel of Invention
This new 5-drop seems like a perfect fit for the cube. It fills just so many roles at the same time. Need an army-in-a-can? Check. Need an anthem? Check. Need a flying lifelink better? Check. Definitely looks super strong. Simply the best none-Chandra card in the set IMO. Versatility is the key. For those reasons, I think it have a serious shot at replacing either Baneslayer or Cloudgoat Ranger in the long run.
Fumigate
I think this wrath is the best one we had since RTR Supreme Verdict. In fact, the significant amount of life it can provide seems to be the perfect way to balance the card for the extra mana it cost. I can see easily see this become a staple in any cube larger to 540. For those who still run either Rout, Hallowed Burial, Akroma’s Vengeance or Martial Coup, I think it’s a card that you definitely had to test.
Torrential Gearhulk
This one is real close. The fact that it's a reasonable Tinker target may force us to test it at some point. For now, we are going to pass on it, but we think it has a good shot at surpassing Frost Titan, which is not in the cube at the moment, in the blue 6-drop slot. If we need another one some day, we'll look at it with no shame. About the card, I can imagine scenarios in which it would shine when paired with Daretti or Goblin Welder. Trade a mana rock with it to get it back to the field and recast a removal spell or CA spell sounds crazy. The flash keyword makes it also pretty good at trapping creatures in combat.
Scrapheap Scrounger
Black 2-drops seems to have fall from the sky a lot recently, but still, I think this one will prove that he deserves a spot, even in most tight list. This little robot offers reliable recursion for stax strategies and, at the same time, a reasonable bodies for aggro decks. Seriously makes Despoiler of Souls looks silly… And don’t make the mistake to run that card into the colorless section, Scrapheap Scrounger is a black creature.
Harsh Scrunity
We’ve been looking for good one mana discard spell for a while now. As a functional reprint of Ostracize, with the addition of scry, it looks pretty interesting. I think black aggro decks that like to plan their turns and actions according to their opponent’s resources would like it and would enjoy gain extra value from the library manipulation. At 600, it’s definitely a test for us.
Fretwork Colony
With the ridiculous amount of black 2-drops we add in the recent sets (didn't know I was going to say that one day), it seems like there's no space for those little insects. Although, a few years ago, I could have imagine myself run that pseudo Scute Mob. Really close call. Competition is just too hard for it even at 540-630. Maybe this could be test at 720 for those who still run Knight of Infamy.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
What to say about that card? It simply great. Great in all kind of red decks. From aggressive one to control one. The red Mind Sculptor will be a cube staple for a very long time. It can repeatedly provide card advantage. It can ramp you into your Wildifre-Upheaval stuff. It can kill creature, even the ones with big butt. It has a game ending ultimate that is realistically achievable. Nothing to say. That card is gold.
Dovin Baan
I was definitely expecting more from this UW walker. Disappointed is the word. It’s certainly not bad as a card, but it just doesn’t seem to bring enough to the table for a guild card. In a pseudo way, it can protect himself from a board that is low on creature, but at the end, the only reward you can reliably get from it is a few extra cards. Overall, not enough impactful. Still interesting, but just not as strong as some monocolored comparable option, like Architect of Thought. If there was no RTR set in Magic, maybe this card could have a shot in some mid-large cube.
Saheeli Rai
I don’t really know what to think about this card. It seems playable and I assume it will make the cut for now, but at the same time, it seems to lack of versatility. Ping your opponent and scry 1 every turn could be decent. Unfortunately, only specific decks may want to use those effects. And copying stuff, while having the potential of being gamebreaking once in a while, can lack of consistancy in most average scenarios. The ultimate for its part seems like a nice ability to build around. The consensus is that it makes the cut. The question is for how much time.
Fast Lands
Enemy color fast lands. Please, yes. We’ve been looking for those since a long time. Orhzov, Golgari and Boros would enjoy receiving those. The Izzet one is also close, but URx control decks may be bother with them entering tapped after turn 4. Since we’ve just added an entire land to the cube, the first three would fit perfectly. At 450-450, I think they also, at some point, deserve a spot in cube that run all types of aggro deck and that don’t matter about colorless mana. Really satisfied with that printing. At first, I thought they was the Enemy battle lands, which would have been fine, but this is just even better!
Filigree Familiar
This little fox almost makes it. While having some part of Solemn Simulacrum and Kitchen Finks abilities is a nice start, I think it just doesn’t do enough to justify his inclusion in a cube under 720. Under that size, there’s enough artifact that are available to make the colorless section works just fine without it. Close call though. As a active cube manager, I’d keep an eye on it. Recurring Nightmare and Welder/Daretti interactions with it seems just so sweet.
Smuggler’s Copter
One of the few vehicles we add consensus to test. 2 mana looters are always good, and this one has flying and a monstrous P/T ratio. Plus, it can also loot from blocking in combat, which is awesome and unseen so far, while making as much efficient on defense than on offense. And it seems playable in a lot of different types of deck since the crew 1 looks very easy to activate. Really curious about this card.
Fleetwheel Cruiser
I think this is the best vehicle for cube by a significant marge. Being active on the turn you play it is what makes it great. And 5 trampling power looks appealing too. Though this should end up being an aggro card only, I think this is not that much of a deal. At 600, we do need more aggressive and efficient threat on the top of the curve. This also helps balance it out. Being colorless means it serves that role for any aggro decks, regardless of what color they play, and act as a aggro 4-drop addition for all colors at the same time. Our only concern has more to do with the vehicle's mechanic itself. Better, equal or worst than equipment? We’ll see. Our fear is that they end up dying to often in combat and been that way a huge tempo loss for their owners. At least this one will trade with anything that enter the field before it and the Copter has evasion to avoid that while it can also generate value during your blocking phase. Yeah, we'll see.
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I used to have Xenagos and Assemble the Legions in there when the cube was unpowered and they worked well in that deck too. But they ended up being cut for guild reduction purposes.
Devastation entered my cube when its size was at 720 and it held up the spot since then. I like that he helps red use Wildfire type of deck more often. It can also pair with it easily if you don't use creatures or very few ones.
Control the board with burns, spot removals and wrath. Then drop a walker and devastate the field. That's pretty much the game plan. Few valable blockers may also help protect walkers. Courser of Kruphix is one of them. Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Roots and Wall of Omens are also sweet in there.
Sarkhan Vol may also go in and help getting the trick done.
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That's also my concern. Isn't that thing going to die in combat pretty often? With 3 thoughness only, it seems really easy to kill. This is were the comparaison with Grafted Wargear bothers me. I do understand it when you're looking at an empty board, but I mean, that thing isn't indestructible.