First off I am new to posting, so I am an absolute stranger. I need to give a little background so you guys can understand where I am coming from. I like the cube reviews that wtwlf123 does and I figured I can throw my two cents in. Cube is a flexible format that is all determined by the creator, meaning everyone is going to evaluate cards differently. I, myself, do not have a powered cube, so my evaluation, ranking, and impressions of cards are going to be different from other cube creators. No one is necessarily right or wrong because each cube has a different context, meaning each card is going to be valued differently. The cube that I run is a "fair" cube, it does not have the flashy strategies. To me flashy strategies like Tinker, Reanimator, Sneak Attack, etc. are cool, I personally think they create extremely swingy and polarizing games of magic that are fun for one side of the board but definitely not the other. I have nothing against those cubes, I draft those cubes all the time and enjoy playing them. Another controversial decision I have made in my cube is limiting the number of planeswalkers. Planeswalkers are great and they should exist in cube, but especially with the change the planeswalker rule I think too many is unhealthy for limited environments. I have drafted many cubes oversaturated with planeswalkers and I personally do not find those games or the drafting particularly fun. Again all of this is just a simple background with my cube philosophy, I have nothing against other cubes. The beauty of cube is being able to make any play experience you want. I am not going to impose my ideas on anyone else and I expect the same respect from everyone else. In my reviews, I am going to try my best to rate cards in the order that I expect them to be added to cubes, NOT just the ones that will go into my personal cube. Also please excuse my poor writing, it is not my strong point but I am trying to improve it little by little. Onto the review!
Now I choose 10 cards for a couple reasons. The first being, this is a small set and I feel like the power level/significance of cards really start dropping off after a certain point. The second being, wtwlf started this whole set review of cards and I don't want to seem like an extremely poor knock off to all the hard work he does to write his reviews. I may have different opinions about cards but I pay my respect to him but making my reviews just a little different to not try and undermine all he has given the cube community.
Initial impressions of the set: Ascend, I do not know how often this realistically be activate, this makes evaluating cards with Ascend fairly difficult so I will try my best to hopefully get the best ones. The next thing noted this set’s strong tribal theme makes a lot of the cards focus on synergy as oppose to being innately powerful, meaning I do not think this set is going to offer a lot for cube.
#10
Skymarcher Aspirant
Good: The biggest issue with weenie decks is the lack of reach, especially the non-red decks. If the board stalls out this will be relevant in the late game.
Bad: I am not sure how reliable Ascend will be in this sort of deck. There are two scenarios that derail aggro; the first being the board stalls out because they play mid to late game creatures that block very well, and in this scenario, I can see getting this and nine other permanents fairly plausible. The second scenario is they destroy/remove a lot of your board, making this just another Savannah Lions on turn five.
Result: If Elite Vanguard or Savannah Lions is in your cube than this is an easy upgrade. I think it is worth trying out, I can see it doing well if you have the aggro deck with Spectral Procession, Lingering Souls, and Cloudgoat Ranger. I personally will not be adding it into my cube but I can see it being included in a decent number of cubes.
#9
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
Good: It has a lot of relevant abilities that all make it a good target to cheat into play. It can finish the game, defend, and is difficult to remove all in one creature. It seems like a good Reanimate, Tooth and Nail, and maybe even Show and Tell target. I wouldn’t be unhappy having it in a big mana deck, whether it be green or colorless ramp. In playing those sort of decks I’ve noticed that my ‘pay off’ cards tend to either play defense or offense really well but not necessarily both. I think this card does both well and is a little more consistent than some of the other finishers.
Bad: It just seems so interchangeable with the other big finishers/payoff cards that people normally run. Also I do not know if white is realistically going to play this outside of the unfair decks. It just seems like it could be a very boring creature.
Result: I personally like this as a “cheat into play target” because it is good at almost all stages of the game it can: break board stalls, great early, and stabilize the board if you are losing. This mostly suffers from its color and simply so much competition. This card inhabits a similar space that Akroma, Angel of Wrath did, and it is no longer played. I would expect most people to pass on this, I could maybe see this larger or perhaps budget cubes.
#8
Tomb Robber
Good: This has a home in a couple decks, mostly aggro and reanimator. Explore is an interesting mechanic that in a way acts like a scry, but has a chance to affect the board. Obviously in the aggro deck because you prevent yourself from drawing that land and in the reanimator deck it prevents you from drawing your target while also putting it in the graveyard. It is a fairly decent mana sink and when this creature starts to grow it also has a form of evasion. It gives the reanimator deck decent creature while also being an engine.
Bad: It is a three mana 1/1 that does not do anything until you have at least four mana. The cost for the body is hilariously bad, the argument of “it dies to removal” is invalid to me, but this literally gets killed by ANYTHING. There are better discard outlets that are mana free. Reanimating a large creature is better earlier and this card is just not that fast. Outside of the aggro and reanimator I can’t really see it going in any other decks.
Result: I like this card a solid middle ground, it helps round out certain decks but its cost of its body and effect might be too slow for most cube environments. Larger cubes might be a good home for this guy, but that’s probably it.
#7
Admiral's Order
Good: This card offers the aggro/tempo decks a unique form of permission. Attack then your next spell is almost guaranteed to resolve is exactly what a tempo deck wants. This also stops them from flashing in blockers or anything cute at the end of your turn. Essentially it is Cancel with upside.
Bad: It does not go in every deck, the more grindy blue decks have much better options than this. The timing is a little funny, you need to be very clear and not go directly to attacks. I also see this as one trick pony, after they see it once they are going to cast their spells before combat.
Result: I want to experiment with this card and see what it can do. The tempo decks with blue could definitely use a cheap hard counter. If Chart a Course is in the cube this would definitely be in the same kind of deck.
#6
Warkite Marauder
Good: This inhabits a deck similar to Admiral's Order, it gives the blue aggressive/tempo deck a good tool. The main issue blue has with being aggressive is their creatures get hilariously outclassed. This helps the other creatures or itself get in for more damage, the evasion almost ensures that. Turning their best blockers into a 0/1 seems good. Post combat the creature is still a 0/1 so it is extremely vulnerable to burn spells or -X/-X.
Bad: It still has the same weakness of the tempo/aggro in these colors simply not being supported. Additionally, there are cards like Bitterblossom that will completely hose this.
Result: If the archtype is supported I can see this being tested, especially if Chart A Course is in the cube. Its not very popular so I can see this being an easy exclusion for most people.
#5
Twilight Profit
Good: For this I am focused mostly on the Ascend, once it is active I find this pretty hard to beat. Reverse Bob is good, but reverse Bob that also gains you life is going to be really rough on your opponent. The body is good against aggro, four toughness will survive most early creatures while the two power is enough to trade with them. Once the Ascend becomes active the life deficit is going to be hard to come back from for most aggressive decks. I believe this really has a home in the midrange decks, but can also be used in the reanimator decks because flipping a fatty off this might be enough to seal the game.
Bad: Without Ascend this is four mana 2/4 flyer in black. Yea that sounds pretty bad. Even with the Ascend it is still completely random. Dark Confidant is great if you always hit lands and not spells; this card is the opposite, hitting lands make this a very vanilla creature.
Result: I really want to try this card out and I really want it to work. It gives reach with survivability in one creature. The big determining factor is if Ascend can be activated consistently. I can easily see it going into medium and large cubes.
#4
Reckless Rage
Good: One mana deal 4 as an instant is pretty hard to ignore. In a board stall the aggro deck gets to remove a fairly sizable creature from the opponent’s side and gives a use to the one mana 2/1’s that can no longer get it. You can also deal the damage to one of your creatures that is already targeted by a removal spell. It has a pretty cute interaction with Boros Reckoner which is most likely going to be in the same deck. The midrange deck gets a nice piece of interaction, usually these kinds of decks are going to have early creatures mostly for survival, so most of them are going to take the two damage and live to tell the tail. It is also another option to reset your Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap.
Bad: You need to have a creature on the board. I can see this being a 2 for 1 in your opponents favor fairly often. Control/combo decks are going to have a tough time using this. I even question if the red aggressive decks want this, they might not even use this card and opt for a burn spell that can go to a creature or player.
Result: This is a fairly tough one for me to give an exact answer on. I can see this playing very well but I can also see it playing very poorly. Flame Slash obviously sucks if they don’t have a creature, but this is just worse if they have a creature and you don’t have one. I can see it possibly making a larger cube list just to put some more options out there but I don’t think it will make a more refined list. I can also see it making the cubes that have included a lot of the Enrage cards, but so few of those are worth running.
#3
Ghalta, Primal Hunger
Good: I think this card is going to be very good in the green midrange/ramp decks. All of your mana dorks are essentially Sol Ring. Casting this guy for two mana is not going to happen very often but I could easily see this easily costing 4-5 mana on average. The turn that you double spell with this guy is going to be insane. 12/12 trample is going bust a lot of board states wide open in your favor.
Bad: This card is extremely dependent on other creatures. If your board gets destroyed this guy becomes almost uncastable. He is vulnerable to hard removal.
Result: I believe this guy will be castable very often by turn 4-5. I also believe the moments where you double spell with him are going to come up very often, and when they do it is going to be very difficult to lose. In the end he is just a big beater, but the fact that he can come out so early makes me believe he has strong potential to show up in cubes.
#2
Dire Fleet Daredevil
Good: Red Snapcaster Mage this is not; however, I do believe it brings a different aspect to red. This does not fill the curve in on the low end but is much more solid once you have 4-5 mana. The biggest upside I can see this one card lets you double spell while getting one of their cards. It lets you cast cards that are out of your color, playing this and getting a 1-2 mana draw spell or a removal spell seems a like a good turn to me. At worst it is a 1R 2/1 first strike that exiles and instant or sorcery. It is collateral graveyard hate that red usually does not have.
Bad: Of course is limited to what your opponent is playing, this obviously gets worse against the decks that do not play cheap instants/sorceries. I am going to assume that most, if not all, decks play low end instants/sorceries but the main issue is it might not be a spell that you want.
Result: To me this card is #1 because it is unique in what it gives red; however, I can easily see this being a complete whiff in testing. I am going to give it a shot and see what happens. In powered cubes it seems pretty nice to cast someone else's Time Walk or Recall, but that might be too out of the question.
#1
Ravenous Chupacabra
Good: Can't be upset with another Nekrataal. While it does not have first strike, it destroys a creature unconditionally. There is not really much to say about this card outside of the obvious.
Bad: The only way I can see this being bad is if the black 4 CMC slot is filled
Result: I can see this making more or less everyone's cube. If the 4 CMC slot is filled I can see this easily swapping in for Nekrataal, but at the same time I think it would be beneficial to have both. In my opinion, black is easily the worst color in cube but this card is a least a step in the right direction.
Well that’s the review! Let me know what you guys think about this, always open to constructive criticism and other people’s opinions. Also let me know if you want me to revisit older sets or possibly continue doing this in the future!
- Xinaar
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K0olmini posted a message on Top 10 Cube Cards from Rivals of IxalanPosted in: Articles, Podcasts, and Guides -
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BlazingRagnarok posted a message on Anointed Procession + Ezuri's PredationThe extras just won't fight, then.Posted in: Magic Rulings
From Gatherer:
11/4/2015
If Ezuri’s Predation creates more than one token for any given creature (due to an effect such as the one Doubling Season creates), the extra tokens won’t fight any creature. -
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Salmo posted a message on [CUBE][HOU]AbradeSomeone else mentioned that it might be a flashback mechanic similar to embalm, except it pretty much gives you the effect on an enchantment. Like, an eternalized cat would give all your creatures doublestrike. This is of course speculation, but it would be pretty cool to see that.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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MikePemulis posted a message on Card Æsthetics Evaluation ThreadI always use this page for basic land reference: https://sites.google.com/site/mtgbasics/Posted in: The Cube Forum
Mirrodin, Rob Alexander: http://magiccards.info/mi/en/296.html
Shards of Alara, Chippy: http://magiccards.info/ala/en/238.html
M11 (originally 7th ed), Larry Elmore: http://magiccards.info/m11/en/239.html
M10 (originally Onslaught), Dan Frazier: http://magiccards.info/m10/en/238.html
Archenemy (originally Portal, Second Age), Susan Van Camp: http://magiccards.info/arc/en/144.html
Chippy's from Alara is stunning, but rather unswamplike. The Mephidross swamp from Mirrodin is cool and iconic. The others are classic older art in the frame you're looking for. -
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bondafong posted a message on Card Æsthetics Evaluation Threadhttps://www.magiccardmarket.eu/Products/Singles/Mirrodin/Swamp (Version 1)Posted in: The Cube Forum
https://www.magiccardmarket.eu/Products/Singles/Time Spiral/Swamp (Version 1)
https://www.magiccardmarket.eu/Products/Singles/Time Spiral/Swamp (Version 2) -
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calibretto posted a message on Card Æsthetics Evaluation ThreadWhat about the Ice Age Swamps from the Coldsnap theme decks? I love Ice Age Swamps and those theme decks have them in the modern frame. For reference.Posted in: The Cube Forum - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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