Trying to decide how River Herald Scout compares to something like Omenspeaker, it's an innocuous card but I could see it being generically good in a number of decks.
Swashbuckler's Whip is interesting, it seems like it can play the role of a Pacification Array in big mana decks until they hit late game and want to start spinning the wheel for threats. I imagine it plays a lot worse though, since needing to be equipped is a pretty big downside and spending 8 mana to potentially hit a mana dork seems dreadful.
Reaperclaw Raptor seems like an ok aggro card, although the ability is likely more of an annoyance than anything, since only counterspells need to be cast on the opponent's turn. Additionally, depending on the cube I could see it being equally as annoying for the person playing it as it is for the opponent.
That's a good point about Tinker. Tinker is powerful but it's not *all* that different than Reanimate and the like, which I've run without issue.
Tinker has gotten some pretty solid targets in the last couple years (Sphinx of the Guildpact, Walking Skyscraper, etc.) the main issue with including the card is you need an above average size artifact section to support it (I run 25 colourless artifacts and have a small blue artifact subtheme), however if there are enough of these modal artifact creatures that are playable then they could end up acting as the enablers AND the targets, which would be pretty interesting.
The comparison to Kor Skyfisher doesn't make much sense though as 2/1 is very different from 2/3, especially for a flyer.
I guess the main reason for the comparison is I want these cards for 2 reasons: enabling bounce and being a 2 mana 2 power flyer. Zephyr does both well, but Skyfisher often can't reasonably be played aggressively as it usually loses you too much tempo; so in my eyes Zephyr is more useful to my cube as Skyfisher is more of a midrange option (which is fine, but not what I want). At this point I've already filled Skyfisher's slot with Fearless Fledgling anyways...
I agree Third Path Iconoclast seems solid, but my biggest issue is that while the effect is powerful it's also just another Young Pyromancer which is not especially interesting.
This set feels like when someone tries to replicate a different videogame inside of LittleBigPlanet; all of the excess resources and card types feel like a board game that just happens to be built using MTG as a base set of rules. Which means most of the cards are un-cubeable (excuse the pun) to me because unlike something like Hurloon Wrangler, a majority of them require implementing a bunch of additional game mechanics that I don't want in my cube.
However there are a couple interesting more "traditional" cards in this set:
Feels like blasphemy but there is also the option of replacing Serra Angel with Angelic quartermaster Serra Angel is good stuff but doesn't have a lot of synergy with anything. But then I think I shoehorn too much of white into a single archetype. Hmm. I'll have a think about it.
I think the main appeal of Serra Angel at this point is that its generically good in literally any white deck. I think every colour needs some strong cards to help fill out a deck that aren't directly tied to a certain archetype.
I'm really liking Araumi of the Dead Tide; dimir has always been the dominant colours for reanimator in my cube, but their gold cards are seriously lacking in that department. Both blue and black have plenty of creatures with ETB/dies triggers so she shouldn't be to difficult to get value from. She kinda reminds me a bit of Sedris, the Traitor King.
Honestly this whole cycle of uncommon gold legendries has been my favourite part of the set so far, I'm considering trying out at least half of them.
Prava of the Steel Legion2W
Legendary Creature - Cat Soldier
During your turn, creature tokens you control get +1/+4 3W: Create a 1/1 White soldier token.
Partner
1/4
Seems absolutely insane in any cube that supports white tokens; the anthem makes tokens practically unkillable and the activated ability seems comparable to that of Jade Mage (which is a card I really like playing with).
Pridemalkin isn't super exciting, but I'm glad we finally have a version of this effect that doesn't feel like you're jumping through a bunch of hoops to make it work. The fact that this places a counter wherever on etb to enable it's own effect leads me to believe it would be playable in a wider range of decks than something like Tuskguard Captain or Bramblewood Paragon.
Archdemon’s Vessel feels like a trap; big fatties can at least function in decks outside of reanimator, but this card seems like it would only be worth running in a focused reanimator deck, and even then the payoff isn't really anything special. It's cute with Unearth, but a lot of the time it's just gonna end up being useless.
Swashbuckler's Whip is interesting, it seems like it can play the role of a Pacification Array in big mana decks until they hit late game and want to start spinning the wheel for threats. I imagine it plays a lot worse though, since needing to be equipped is a pretty big downside and spending 8 mana to potentially hit a mana dork seems dreadful.
I didn't even know that code was there until this set started previews lol
Tinker has gotten some pretty solid targets in the last couple years (Sphinx of the Guildpact, Walking Skyscraper, etc.) the main issue with including the card is you need an above average size artifact section to support it (I run 25 colourless artifacts and have a small blue artifact subtheme), however if there are enough of these modal artifact creatures that are playable then they could end up acting as the enablers AND the targets, which would be pretty interesting.
I guess the main reason for the comparison is I want these cards for 2 reasons: enabling bounce and being a 2 mana 2 power flyer. Zephyr does both well, but Skyfisher often can't reasonably be played aggressively as it usually loses you too much tempo; so in my eyes Zephyr is more useful to my cube as Skyfisher is more of a midrange option (which is fine, but not what I want). At this point I've already filled Skyfisher's slot with Fearless Fledgling anyways...
Obstinate Baloth at uncommon; time to figure out if I want to cut Arborback Stomper or Blossom Prancer for it (I don't think I will).
I agree Third Path Iconoclast seems solid, but my biggest issue is that while the effect is powerful it's also just another Young Pyromancer which is not especially interesting.
I just cut Leafcrown Dryad this week.
However there are a couple interesting more "traditional" cards in this set:
Park Map - Functionally a cheaper Expedition Map.
Embiggen - Often a Giant Growth but sometimes better and occasionally worse.
Rat in the Hat - This hits a surprising number of things as long as you count helmets, hoods, and masks as hats lol.
Now You See Me . . . - Strictly better Cloudshift with incidental +1/+1 counter support.
Impounding Lot-Bot - A Fairgrounds Warden effect for artifacts and enchantments on a surprisingly beefy body.
Icing Manipulator - This could actually be very interesting in a counters deck. Turns all you creatures into a Spike Feeder imitation.
*monkey's paw curls*
Noise Marine
Honestly I don't even mind that they're 40k themed, but the pointless keywords are going to give me a stroke.
Swap:
Cult Conscript > Gnarled Scarhide I can finally get rid of this card for something much more exciting
Phoenix Chick > Blazing Rootwalla Idk how often the ability will be relevant but haste on an evasive body is good for a number of my themes
Knight of Dawn's Light > Sunhome Stalwart Mostly because mentor with tokens is annoying
Tail Swipe > Savage Swipe Less conditional + instant
Garna, Bloodfist of Keld > Kardur, Doomscourge An upgrade + better synergy with aristocrats
Lagomos, Hand of Hatred > Fireblade Artist A bitterblossom style effect for RB aristocrats
Balmor, Battlemage Captain > Izzet Charm This seems extremely good
Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim > Corpse Knight Upgrade
Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator > Araumi of the Dead Tide Not as good in pure reanimator, but it's useful in more traditional control shells too
Not sure:
Electrostatic Infantry > Heartfire Immolator I'm willing to test this, but I don't know which will stay
Queen Allenal of Ruadach > Maja, Bretagard Protector Not sure about this one but I'll give it a try, I really need to figure out wtf I'm doing with selesnya (wizards give enchantress support pls)
Uurg, Spawn of Turg > Grisly Salvage Not sure about this one either, but Uurg seems so much more interesting
Baird, Argivian Recruiter > Boros Charm Idk if there are enough ways to make this trigger but it could be insane
Tori D'Avenant, Fury Rider idk maybe this instead, many words good
I think the main appeal of Serra Angel at this point is that its generically good in literally any white deck. I think every colour needs some strong cards to help fill out a deck that aren't directly tied to a certain archetype.
Apparently I'm already running Compulsive Research, so cutting it for Thirst for Discovery is the easiest choice of my life.
On Scattered Thoughts I have the same opinion as above; it seems ok, except that Fact or Fiction already exists and I don't have room for both.
Honestly this whole cycle of uncommon gold legendries has been my favourite part of the set so far, I'm considering trying out at least half of them.
Legendary Creature - Cat Soldier
During your turn, creature tokens you control get +1/+4
3W: Create a 1/1 White soldier token.
Partner
1/4
Seems absolutely insane in any cube that supports white tokens; the anthem makes tokens practically unkillable and the activated ability seems comparable to that of Jade Mage (which is a card I really like playing with).
Archdemon’s Vessel feels like a trap; big fatties can at least function in decks outside of reanimator, but this card seems like it would only be worth running in a focused reanimator deck, and even then the payoff isn't really anything special. It's cute with Unearth, but a lot of the time it's just gonna end up being useless.
I wonder if Llanowar Visionary will finally be the card to replace Civic Wayfinder?