@asmallcat: It is true that this card is better in a one or two color deck, and hard to run in decks that play more colors. Now whether or not this makes you want to include the card depends on the design goals, right? I, for one, enjoy cards that reward one and two color decks.
As far as I can count, it only takes 4 mana to activate for the spell copy. edit: ah, you counted the mana you lose because of ETBT. But it is still relevant that is "only" 4 to activate, because that is less than 5.
I agree with wtwlf123. Plus, as mentioned in the OP, this card has the potential for great Cube stories. It also adds interesting challenges for mana bases, though many a mana stone produces <> so midrange and control decks should be just fine activating this.
Hi Mark. If my memory serves, you used to have descriptions of why frequently-questioned Cube cards (like Life from the Loam) are good somewhere in this thread. I found myself wanting to refer to them on several occasions recently, but was unable to find them. Do they still exist?
Also, I very much approve of running Horizon Canopy as a hybrid spell. As long as we don't get a cycle of Canopy-lands (which seems unlikely imo) I think running it as a hybrid is the way to go.
What intrigues me most about this cards activated ability is that it can be activated for 0. I like to support a small amount of combo in the Cube. Gigantoplasm is a good card in its own right (because cloning Cube creatures can't be that bad), and it makes pulling off a Reveillark-combo that much easier. And even if you don't get to combo, whenever you have some amount of unspent mana greater than the clones current power/toughness, you can pump it. I'll try to find room for this!
At least for Cubes with 450 cards or fewer, not playing all the swords is worth considering imho. The swords cost 5 to play and equip, which is quite pricey for aggro decks, but they require a healthy creature count, which is something control decks often don't have. This, the raw power of the swords and their colorless nature makes it so that running all five swords in small or medium sized Cubes provides an over-proportional incentive to play midrange decks. Cutting one, two or even three of the five swords and replacing them with colorless aggro and control options may lead to a better balance of the Cube.
There will be occasional decks that this will be quite bad, reanimator for example.
I agree that it will be occasionally bad, but on the other hand that is true of most cards. And even then, reanimator for example often plays artifact threats and/or is played as a crossover deck with Tinker.
The fact that this card is good against decks that play creatures, artifacts and/or planeswalkers makes it really hard to find a deck where it has no good targets. I'm just theory-crafting, it is possible that the effect is not worth the 2RR investment in practice. But on paper, I like it a lot.
I don't run Chandra though, so my cut is likely to be either Manic Vandal or Smash the Smithereens. So sad that I have a altered MV... Maybe I'll opt for StS then.
I agree.
I think there are many possible cuts for Fiery Confluence. For mana curve considerations, cutting a four drop might be advisable. It may be difficult to figure out which four drop to cut, but it has to be possible to find a cut there because I think Fiery Confluence is more powerful than most of the commonly played four drops. If you can afford an additional four drop but still run the artifact destruction two drops (Torch Fiend and friends, which are a left-overs from days past when we had too few playable two drops in red, imho), they make for good cuts as well. And, at least in unpowered Cubes, I'd cut Manic Vandal or Keldon Vandals for Fiery Confluence as well.
Mediocore main deck card for control, but phenomenal as a sideboard option, mix of a way to hit planeswalkers, sweep creatures or kill artifacts is a very flexible powerful card against the right deck. Imagine a green deck with multiple equipment pieces, mana dorks and planeswalkers, should be AT LEAST 2 for 1 most of the time with occasional total blowouts.
I disagree with it being a mediocre main deck card for control, I think it is an amazing main deck card for control decks in Cube. Control decks in Cube are sometimes difficult to build because you have to be prepared to face a variety of decks. This card offers great value against so many decks that I will happily maindeck it!
With people new to Cube and also relatively new to Magic, playing the Cube will not be fast regardless of which option you choose. The cards and especially the interactions between cards are quite complex, and naturally people try to figure out what the cards do which is bound to take some time. For your situation, a Cube with reduced complexity may be worth considering (reduce the number of complex cards from sets your players don't know, at FNM that may be older cards, playing with your buddies from way back when that may be newer cards). The fewer cards players have to spend time on to figure out what they actually do, the earlier they can start thinking about which card they want to pick in a draft/add to their sealed deck.
I like to support both aggro and control in red, and this card looks like it could be a versatile addition to both types of deck. In aggro, it is reach at a reasonable price that can act as a reset button against creatures and/or artifacts if need be. In control, it deals with creatures, artifacts and planeswalkers and will quite likely net you card advantage. The four drop slot in red provides many good options these days, but Fiery Confluence may very well edge out a more narrow card.
In a traditional Cube, breaking the symmetry of this card is most likely not reliable enough. In a Cube that supports combos like storm, where you basically ignore your opponent anyway, this may be a good additional Regrowth effect.
Falkenrath Aristokrat has a great power to mana cost ratio for an evasive haste creature. In addition to that, the ability to sacrifice creatures at will is a powerful one, and you even get a powerful effect when you do it! I think it performs really well in many flavors of Rakdos decks. It is an absolutely top tier Rakdos card.
I like the green cards that interact with creatures, especially Survival of the Fittest and Birthing Pod. The recursion on Vengevine is more than flavor text in those decks. It also plays well with or against Upheaval, and Wraths are much easier to beat when you have Vengevine beating down for 4 a turn and 2 creatures in hand. It is a cutable card, for sure, but I think it has fun interactions.
Just from reading the card I'd at least try Hedron Archive over Thran Dynamo and Basalt Monolith. Worn Powerstone being one mana cheaper is a big deal, so I don't see it being cut for the Archive. Archive vs. Gilded Lotus depends on the design of the Cube, Gilded Lotus provides more and colored mana, which is good if many-colored decks with expensive spells is something you support. If most of your spells cap at 6 mana anyway and if your Cube design philosophy is to not encourage many-colored decks, I can see Archive being the choice.
I do like the option of turning ramp spells into cards. Ramp decks often get to the point where they have all the mana in the world but nothing to spend it on.
As far as I can count, it only takes 4 mana to activate for the spell copy. edit: ah, you counted the mana you lose because of ETBT. But it is still relevant that is "only" 4 to activate, because that is less than 5.
Also, I very much approve of running Horizon Canopy as a hybrid spell. As long as we don't get a cycle of Canopy-lands (which seems unlikely imo) I think running it as a hybrid is the way to go.
Also, it goes infinite with Reveillark. It still needs a third card in order to make a kill combo, but it is easier to assemble. Any Clone + Reveillark + Goblin Bombardment works, but this one can also be combined with Purphoros, God of the Forge or Mogg Fanatic without the need for a sac outlet.
At least for Cubes with 450 cards or fewer, not playing all the swords is worth considering imho. The swords cost 5 to play and equip, which is quite pricey for aggro decks, but they require a healthy creature count, which is something control decks often don't have. This, the raw power of the swords and their colorless nature makes it so that running all five swords in small or medium sized Cubes provides an over-proportional incentive to play midrange decks. Cutting one, two or even three of the five swords and replacing them with colorless aggro and control options may lead to a better balance of the Cube.
The fact that this card is good against decks that play creatures, artifacts and/or planeswalkers makes it really hard to find a deck where it has no good targets. I'm just theory-crafting, it is possible that the effect is not worth the 2RR investment in practice. But on paper, I like it a lot.
I think there are many possible cuts for Fiery Confluence. For mana curve considerations, cutting a four drop might be advisable. It may be difficult to figure out which four drop to cut, but it has to be possible to find a cut there because I think Fiery Confluence is more powerful than most of the commonly played four drops. If you can afford an additional four drop but still run the artifact destruction two drops (Torch Fiend and friends, which are a left-overs from days past when we had too few playable two drops in red, imho), they make for good cuts as well. And, at least in unpowered Cubes, I'd cut Manic Vandal or Keldon Vandals for Fiery Confluence as well.
I like the green cards that interact with creatures, especially Survival of the Fittest and Birthing Pod. The recursion on Vengevine is more than flavor text in those decks. It also plays well with or against Upheaval, and Wraths are much easier to beat when you have Vengevine beating down for 4 a turn and 2 creatures in hand. It is a cutable card, for sure, but I think it has fun interactions.
I do like the option of turning ramp spells into cards. Ramp decks often get to the point where they have all the mana in the world but nothing to spend it on.