Spawn > Valkyrie > Nightmare Shepherd, but none of these are so far ahead that you couldn't pick and choose to taste
History > Sigrid > Angel, unless you have a massive lifegain theme
Emberwilde Captain > Hazoret > Toralf? Unless you run a huge burn package, then Toralf probably gains some value.
EDIT: regarding another comment last page, Wilt is super good; Disenchant/Naturalize is a perfectly cubeable baseline, then adding cycling is a fantastic addition for this effect.
Valki is decent. Variant on the Mesmeric Fiend/Brain Maggot/Kitesail Freebooter template. Some of the old timers here will remember that we all used to cube Fiend. The 2 power is very welcome, the restriction to exiling a creature card less so. But then growing into that creature is quite strong, depending on the nature of the target. Hitting a Questing Beast or Uro is mean, but just growing to a random 3/3 for 3 is still going to be good. Sometimes you'll hit a 1/1 or 8 mana card and do nothing with it, it happens. Overall OK and I will test.
I think Tibalt is actually quite the bomb. -3 is a straight up Exile removal that also guarantees not just card advantage, but also gas (since you access whatever you removed, which was presumably a useful target). And also remains to be played if Tibalt gets removed. The +2 is a draw 2 with the same caveat. Pretty solid. The ultimate is quite quick to access and draws both graveyards, with a handful of mana to replay a removal spell or something. He reminds me a bit of Karn Liberated with the CMC and first two abilities.
The main issue is really that they are going in two different decks. Tibalt is more of a control finisher, Valki is more of an aggro dork, so this puts it in a weird place. I have drafted decks that would just run it for one face though, so I'm going to test it. Having options is always good for those times when the game doesn't go to plan.
It's rather sad if the Angel gets removed since you're unlikely to extract any other value from your four drop, but boy, that's some good value if she sticks around. The vigilance on the token makes the second ability a winner.
It's a fun card and I haven't meaningfully changed up my Orzhov section in years, plus I don't see adding a huge number of Kaldheim cards so far, so might give it a whirl for laughs.
How do folks rate this versus Serra the Benevolent? Serra was good for us, but we made the swap to CoG. We haven't had the change to cube much since the change.
This is a pretty neat design although sadly I don't think it's that good. OP's analysis seems mainly on the money. My instinct is it's a clear miss for a small UW section since it folds bad to a reasonable board position on the other side, and also has that awkward cost, but I like the idea if you have an enchantment theme.
I think the card looks pretty good. As Lucky Paper pointed out on Twitter, the equipment itself does a pretty decent job of impersonating Heirloom Blade; an effect that is quite powerful on equipment since it keeps you in gas. This one is especially potent with ETB triggers.
I would probably play the equipment side by itself if either the casting cost or the equip cost were reduced by 1. Am I willing to pay that "tax" to have access to the 4-mana 4/4 with upsides? Probably. I mean, if I have no threats to equip, this card is a threat. If I have threats to attach equipment to, this is an equipment card. Seems like the modality will have some value to it for sure. I might test this out and see how it does. Not to mention that you might run this out there when you have an enchanted/equipped creature and it could win the game almost instantly. Double strike is pretty strong. Funny, I think this works with Control Magic'd and Treachery'd creatures too.
It bugs me that I can't tutor for this with Stoneforge though. Bugs me a lot.
I think this looks pretty good too. I was down on it until I saw the equipment side. I was surprised how decent that looks on its own, especially with the cube's high volume of powerful ETB creatures. If you do already have equipment around, this guy is brutal.
Also want to say that I love this showcase border!
Scarhide is very good but not needed now at 400ish cards. Maybe the best 1 drop I'm not playing in black though, aside from Knight of the Ebon Legion which is sort of decent. I do like Bestow quite a bit, hoping for some other playables with that mechanic in the future.
I'm considering buying the Seb McKinnon Secret Lair pack, mainly because I just love that Damnation art - but will probably also play the Sower over my original non-foil.
The secret lair can be ordered in foil or Non-foil. I have zero experience with Secret Lair, but hear the foiling is abysmal. Anyone have any experience with them?
I have Secret Lair foils and the foiling is no better or worse than anything else, from my experience.
I will say I don't like the Etched Foils from the new Commander set, they are very dark.
Probably Rimrock Knight first for me. None are great but he's a combat trick, something that is kind of rare in cube, and hence he's often card advantage. The alternate frame/art is awesome. Then Stormblood Berserker, then Chaser last. Berserker is switched on more than off, but terrible in those games where you're on the draw and your 2/1 can't get through or gets removed somehow.
Basri's Lieutenant > Warleader >> Archon, unless you have some weird enchantment matters theme. Basri is generically pretty good for his mana, but more so if you have some Persist or +1/+1 synergies. Even in a stacked white four section, I like him quite a bit.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer > Saheeli, the Gifted > Sprite Dragon. Hybrid Saheeli is a super-versatile pick for artifacts matter deck, or spells matter deck, and fits into way more of these since it's a hybrid. It's also a win-con for counterburn.
I forgot all about Wrenn and Six! There's my answer! Excited to jam that back into my cube. Otherwise, I'd probably bring Sarkhan Vol back. I liked Vol more than Xenagos and in theory I like him better than Klothys.
Cheers,
rant
Wrenn and Six is kinda the perfect cube card - really strong, but not generally oppressive, and it supports some specific synergies like loam/aggroloam/crucible without being parasitic or narrow. It's also one of the stronger answers to ramp decks heavily invested into mana elf/bird starts, and a bunch of important 1 toughness targets like Mother of Runes, Dark Confidant... just a great card.
Instead of Cryptolith Rite, you could also try Song of Freyalise. I really like that card in a few EDH decks. Quite often I emptied my hand after the second saga phase.
History > Sigrid > Angel, unless you have a massive lifegain theme
Emberwilde Captain > Hazoret > Toralf? Unless you run a huge burn package, then Toralf probably gains some value.
EDIT: regarding another comment last page, Wilt is super good; Disenchant/Naturalize is a perfectly cubeable baseline, then adding cycling is a fantastic addition for this effect.
I think Tibalt is actually quite the bomb. -3 is a straight up Exile removal that also guarantees not just card advantage, but also gas (since you access whatever you removed, which was presumably a useful target). And also remains to be played if Tibalt gets removed. The +2 is a draw 2 with the same caveat. Pretty solid. The ultimate is quite quick to access and draws both graveyards, with a handful of mana to replay a removal spell or something. He reminds me a bit of Karn Liberated with the CMC and first two abilities.
The main issue is really that they are going in two different decks. Tibalt is more of a control finisher, Valki is more of an aggro dork, so this puts it in a weird place. I have drafted decks that would just run it for one face though, so I'm going to test it. Having options is always good for those times when the game doesn't go to plan.
It's a fun card and I haven't meaningfully changed up my Orzhov section in years, plus I don't see adding a huge number of Kaldheim cards so far, so might give it a whirl for laughs.
I think this looks pretty good too. I was down on it until I saw the equipment side. I was surprised how decent that looks on its own, especially with the cube's high volume of powerful ETB creatures. If you do already have equipment around, this guy is brutal.
Also want to say that I love this showcase border!
Ramunap > Life from the Loam > Mammoth > Nissa > Visionary. I really like the top three of these.
I have Secret Lair foils and the foiling is no better or worse than anything else, from my experience.
I will say I don't like the Etched Foils from the new Commander set, they are very dark.
Agree
Basri's Lieutenant > Warleader >> Archon, unless you have some weird enchantment matters theme. Basri is generically pretty good for his mana, but more so if you have some Persist or +1/+1 synergies. Even in a stacked white four section, I like him quite a bit.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer > Saheeli, the Gifted > Sprite Dragon. Hybrid Saheeli is a super-versatile pick for artifacts matter deck, or spells matter deck, and fits into way more of these since it's a hybrid. It's also a win-con for counterburn.
Wrenn and Six is kinda the perfect cube card - really strong, but not generally oppressive, and it supports some specific synergies like loam/aggroloam/crucible without being parasitic or narrow. It's also one of the stronger answers to ramp decks heavily invested into mana elf/bird starts, and a bunch of important 1 toughness targets like Mother of Runes, Dark Confidant... just a great card.