Channeler > Tidebinder > Seedshark > Mage
You're getting very different results because the cards function very differently from one another. It depends entirely on what kinds of decks you're trying to support.
- kingneb
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Member for 14 years, 8 months, and 5 days
Last active Thu, Mar, 28 2024 22:19:42
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wtwlf123 posted a message on This or That discussion.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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steve_man posted a message on This or That discussion.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype DiscussionQuote from kingneb »Fateful Absence vs Get Lost and why?
Get Lost > Fateful Absence since it hits more things and your opponent can't crack the maps on your turn and require a creature. -
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Mergatroid_Jones posted a message on [ORI][Cube] Pia and Kiran NalaarI think it's still a decent and solid playable, but there are enough other options at four mana that you certainly don't need it.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
I do love a card that has stood the test of time while never sailing over 1$ in value. -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on [[SCD]] City of TraitorsI prefer Ancient Tomb if you only have room for one of the two effects, but it's still a powerful land if you're looking for more ways to drop early 4-drops. In the era of powerful 3-5mv initiative and monarch cards, I think there's more justification for City now than there has been in the past.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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Goodking posted a message on [C21] [CUBE] Laelia, the Blade ReforgedA short PSA, this card will get a foil in MH3Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Figure this card is widely played and popular, so worth pointing out. This printing will also have the errata mentioned in the posts above (back in 2021 already), so it's worth replacing the original version in any case (unless you picked up the random errata'd printing from BG commander decks). -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on This or That discussion.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype DiscussionQuote from kingneb »Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Bonecrusher Giant
Death-Greeter's Champion
Plundering Barbarian
Broadside Bombardiers
Squee, Dubious Monarch
Gut, True Soul Zealot
Goblin Rabblemaster
Legion Warboss
- Bonecrusher Giant
- Laelia, the Blade Reforged
- Goblin Rabblemaster
- Gut, True Soul Zealot
- Broadside Bombadiers
- Death-Greeter's Champion
- Squee, Dubious Monarch
- Legion Warboss
- Plundering Barbarian
I assume Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is already in in some other capacity? Otherwise it would be pretty high on this list...
Quote from kingneb »Edit Bonus: Tidehollow Sculler vs Gerrard's Verdict
Tidehollow Sculler if you have specific combos to break up, otherwise Gerrard's Verdict for value. - Bonecrusher Giant
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steve_man posted a message on This or That discussion.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype DiscussionQuote from kingneb »Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Bonecrusher Giant
Death-Greeter's Champion
Plundering Barbarian
Broadside Bombardiers
Squee, Dubious Monarch
Gut, True Soul Zealot
Goblin Rabblemaster
Legion Warboss
Could argue on a card being up / down a slot, but they're roughly where they should be. As effective as Goblin Rabblemaster still is, I do believe that it's at best the fifth best Rabblemaster right now. Laelia / Bombardiers / Gut / Squee all have a certain x-factor to them that the other other Rabblemasters lack, IMO.
- Bonecrusher Giant
- Laelia, the Blade Reforged
- Broadside Bombardiers
- Gut, True Soul Zealot
- Squee, Dubious Monarch
- Goblin Rabblemaster
- Death-Greeter's Champion
- Legion Warboss
- Plundering Barbarian
Tidehollow Sculler vs Gerrard's Verdict
Tidehollow Sculler > Gerrard's Verdict
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wtwlf123 posted a message on Set (P)review - My top 20 Wilds of Eldraine (WOE) cards for the cube!Hello again fellow cube enthusiasts!Posted in: Articles, Podcasts, and Guides
This is my 47th installment of the "top 20" set (P)review 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 the great 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.
Wilds of Eldraine is a cool set for the cube, and it revisits great cube mechanics like Adventure, revisits Food as a subtheme, and introduces Roles, which are essentially aura tokens you can place on creatures for various effects. The set reintroduces a cycle of enemy manlands, which are always welcome, and also visits noncreature Adventures and multicolor Adventures! There’s a lot of solid playables from this set, so if a card failed to land in my top 20, don’t fret …there are loads of good cards to explore here.
Without further ado, here’s the countdown!
Bitter Chill
Good blue …removal?
What I Like: This is the best version of this kind of effect that we’ve ever seen. It’s the only perma-tap removal aura that costs less than 3 mana without conditions or drawbacks, and on top of that, it comes with a very relevant upside attached! All the other cheap versions of this effect are conditional in nature or come with an inherent drawback, but not Bitter Chill. This card reminds me of a blue Journey to Nowhere, but by comparison, I think this card is far better. Journey prevents non-tapping activated abilities and static abilities, but it also concedes an additional ETB trigger if the enchantment is dealt with and the creature comes back. Creatures returning from underneath Chill will also stay tapped, so there’s no surprise blockers or hastey attackers that can be created when the aura is removed. And lastly, the triggered ability that scries and draws a card allows Chill to be card advantage against Disenchants if the opponent destroys the aura, or replace itself if the creature dies to incidental mass removal.
What I Don't Like: Two mana removal that only hits creatures has fallen by the wayside in my cube group, and despite this being one of the better options, it feels like it might be too little too late for this kind of effect to shine. Additionally, having to pay for the draw limits this card’s effectiveness in tapout midrange and control decks that are spending all their mana every turn.
Verdict: If you are in the market for a blue creature removal spell, this is one of the most cost-effective options that has been printed. I don’t have room for this card in my 540 with its current construction, but don’t sleep on this card if you see it elsewhere. It’s a good piece of creature removal to be sure. With an enchantment theme or a need for blue removal spells, this is a go-to option for your cube.
Tough Cookie
A green artifact beater.
What I Like: If your cube supports a metalcraft-style artifact-centric beatdown strategy, this card will play really well there. The ability to activate the ability on T3, animate the food and bash for 6 applies a lot of pressure in the early stages of the game. It also puts two artifacts to the board for 2 mana to boost your constructs and generally support artifact-centered themes. In a race situation, the food can help gain life if you’re behind, and you can also activate other noncreature artifacts in the late game to swing for lots of damage.
What I Don't Like: For being “tough”, this creature is about as fragile as it gets. It dies to creature removal, artifact removal, and trades in combat with every lion, piker and bear in the cube. If the body is dealt with, the Food token doesn’t feel like much compensation in most situations, so keeping it around to be able to use the activated ability is paramount. I really wish the ability could target artifact creatures so it could threaten to pump itself in combat to chip in for damage even when you have other things to spend your mana on in the post-combat main phase.
Verdict: If you support an artifact aggro plan with Toolcraft Exemplars, Galvanic Blasts, and Nerd Apes and the like, this card might be a slam dunk for your cube. But without that depth, I think it’s lacking in one or two small ways that could have pushed the card over the top.
Virtue of Loyalty
A flexible anthem variant.
What I Like: A 2/2 vigilance flash for two mana isn’t the most embarrassing floor, and the 5-mana anthem effect can snowball out of control if the game goes longer than expected. It’s a decent way to shoehorn additional anthem effects into the cube without dedicating a full slot to a noncreature effect.
What I Don't Like: I really dislike the lack of synergy in the design between the front half and the back half. The vigilance is redundant with the untapping effect, and it only produces one body. Additionally, the lack of immediate impact on the 5cc mode is a tough pill to swallow. I would’ve killed to see first strike instead of vigilance on the token (or turn the front half into a Raise the Alarm or Spectral Procession variant) to increase the synergy between the two halves. That, or change the 5cc mode to add the counters at the beginning of your combat step so you can get some immediate pressure for your 5-mana investment. Perhaps the card needed both changes for me to really feel great about it.
Verdict: Solid floor in the 2-mana mode, and a free big anthem effect makes for a decent include. I can’t find room in my current 540, but I think if my cube was bigger, I’d have the room to test this effect out and see how it plays in practice. For what it’s worth, I think this card is a banger in both retail limited and slower more casual cube environments.
Tangled Colony
A dirty rat of an aggro beater!
What I Like: If this card plays out like you want it to, it will be a 3-power 2-drop that dies in combat or eats a burn spell, creating a minimum of 5 attacking power for 2 mana over the course of the average game, which is obviously strong. All it really does well is attack, but in that role, it’s a hell of a beatdown creature. It either needs to eat a premium removal spell or be swept away by a Wrath, because otherwise it’s going to represent a lot of power for very little mana investment.
What I Don't Like: I would’ve loved for this to produce a fixed number of tokens (perhaps based on power or toughness or something) upon death so that it could contribute to decks that weren’t simply all-in on the beatdown plan. So many of the decks that want this kind of effect would love to be able to sacrifice it to Rankle or Braids or something, and have it burst into multiple more rats to sacrifice later. Unfortunately this card can’t play that role, and it can’t block either, so it goes into the all-in black aggro deck that turns creatures sideways or it doesn’t see play at all.
Verdict: If your black aggro shells are more all-in on the beatdown plan and less centered around Stax-style value grinding effects, this is a beater worth exploring. I think I would have room for it in the 630-720 range, and perhaps in smaller cubes if they support an all-in black aggro plan.
Restless Fortress
The new Orzhov manland!
What I Like: Any land that takes up a land slot during deckbuilding, fixes your mana, and increases your threat density is going to be a good card. And for cubes that are big enough to run lots of lands in each guild, just play all of them! But for other cubes, you may only have room for one manland in each guild, so we have to draw comparisons between these new designs and the existing designs. In comparison to Shambling Vent, Fortress can attack into 3-power blockers, and gets the drain life trigger even when it’s blocked, which are both valuable upsides when they matter.
What I Don't Like: Unlike Vent, Fortress can’t kill bears in combat, applies less pressure to planeswalkers, only gains life on offense, and costs more mana to activate.
Verdict: Overall, I prefer Vent to Fortress, so I think this card will be relegated to larger cubes that have enough room to play both manlands in their section. Which isn’t a bad plan, it just requires the real estate. This is a good card thats only real weakness is the lack of room and the competition.
Lord Skitter, Sewer King
A black rat engine!
What I Like: This card draws comparisons to several different playable cube cards, which bodes well for its powerlevel. It can be a 4-power 3-drop with an upside, reminiscent of something like Blade Splicer. It can be a token-generating snowballing attacker that resembles a Rabblemaster variant. It can also provide sacrifice fodder every turn to sacrifice effects, much like an Ophiomancer variant. It can exile cards from the opponent’s graveyard during the process too, so there will be matchups where that upside is relevant.
What I Don't Like: In comparison to all the cube staples this design is adjacent to, it’s lacking in some significant way. In comparison to Blade Splicer, there is no ETB abuse that can generate extra value with synergy, and the lack of first strike makes it worse on defense. Because the tokens don’t enter tapped and attacking, this represents less damage than all the red Rabblemaster variants by comparison, and would make it the slowest Rabblemaster clock in the cube. And unlike Ophiomancer, this card lacks the defensive prowess to dominate a board with an endless supply of deathtouching headaches. This card just fails to excel at any one particular axis, and because of that, I think it’ll miss the cut for me, at least initially.
Verdict: Despite not being an ultra-competitive option in any one comparable role, the design is consistent with the recipe shared by lots of successful cube creatures, and because of that, it may be worth exploring. I think I would have room for this at 630+ for sure, and it’s likely worth testing in smaller cubes if you’ve had success with the other creatures it’s similar to.
Regal Bunnicorn
A white ‘Goyf variant?
What I Like: There will be certain situations where this card will be a giant monster for a very cheap cost. In aggressive decks that also go wide with token generation and the like, this can be a very big threat in the early- to mid-game. The ceiling on this critter is off the charts, since there’s no upper limit on its size.
What I Don't Like: Beatdown decks have evolved to have threats that are so efficient that your board doesn’t have to be congested with permanents to pressure the opponent effectively anymore. Back in the era of Spectral Processions being a primary gameplan for aggro, Bunnicorn would’ve been a house. In the era of 1-2 threats and one piece of equipment taking it down, this creature won’t be bigger than a 3/3 in a lot of situations. And a mono-colored Watchwolf isn’t where I want to be in 2023. With the depth of options for 3-power 2-drops in the modern era, this would need to be a 4/4 or bigger on average in order to make it for me, and I just don’t see that happening in beatdown decks often enough to be super optimistic. Unlike Tarmogoyf, this plays poorly post-wrath, and its P/T will be less reliable than that of other cheap threats. Most token/anthem builds have evolved to be more midrangey in nature nowadays, and I don’t see this creature being fantastic in those deck designs.
Verdict: A bit late in the game for this design to shine in the era of powerful individual threats, but there could certainly be a home in an aggressive token package where this could shine. It’s a near miss for me at 540, but if your cube is arranged in a way to be able to take advantage of the design, it’s worth experimenting with, regardless of size.
Virtue of Persistence
A removal spell and end game value engine.
What I Like: The 2cc -3/-3 spell that gains life is a solid removal spell for black midrange and control decks, and the 7cc Debtors’ Knell mode can grind out some big value in the ultra-late game. In decks looking to go big, having early interaction is important. Additionally, if you’re running an enchantment-matters theme or an Academy Rector package, this is a good target and a solid option there.
What I Don't Like: I read this card like 10 times before I saw that the removal spell was a Sorcery, and I was really high on this card when I thought it was an Instant. As a sorcery, the removal spell isn’t good enough on its own to justify a slot, so the card has to get at least some of its evaluative value from the 7cc enchantment, and therein lies the problem. It’s just so slow. Not triggering until your own next upkeep is so problematic, since it’s not only slow, but now vulnerable too. Tapping 7 mana for a card that gives you nothing and having to pass is just so rough. Either you get overrun on the next turn, you get behind in the race, or they deal with the enchantment and you walk away with very little compensation for your total mana investment. A pre-combat trigger or an end step trigger at the very least would’ve gone a long way towards making this card great. But mediocre removal and a massively overcosted spell don’t equate to much for me given the length and tempo of my average cube games.
Verdict: With a Rector package, enchantments-matter theme, or a big enough card pool, I could see this card becoming attractive to the right audience. If long, grindy games are the norm for your group, having early interaction and a late-game bomb is a nice package rolled up together. It’s a miss for me, and would’ve been a lot more attractive with 1-2 small changes, but ultimately I think this design lends itself to shine in very specific cube lists.
Collector’s Vault
A colorless looting engine and treasure generator!
What I Like: I haven’t heard anybody in the cube community talking about this card, and I think it’s being slept on. There’s discussion in the cEDH groups about it, but that’s all I’ve seen. This is an artifact with a pair of unprecedented abilities. This is the cheapest recurring colorless looting engine since the treasure generation effectively reduces the activation cost to 1 mana, and it’s also the cheapest repeatable treasure generation artifact engine …rolled up into one card! Currency Converter is great because it’s cheap and it loots for cheap. The costs for the initial activation are flipped here, making it worse for the first activation, the cheaper net activation cost actually makes this better the more times it’s activated. After looting twice, you’ve only spent a net 4 mana instead of 5, which is the next cheapest colorless option. Not to mention the value that generating treasures every turn can be. If you don’t spend the mana right away, you can sandbag the additional treasures and save them up for a bigger spell later on. Decks that want to be looting to generate value from the ‘yard, like Reanimator, Loam, Stax, and the artifact.dec will all be happy to play this card because they can use all aspects of its design. Immediately recouping the activation cost by generating the treasure still allows for T3 reanimation even wit a 2cc reanimation spell, which is important. It will often feel like drawing two and pitching one, except one of the drawn cards is a Lotus Petal. It only costs one net mana to loot, and you have to option to save that treasure for later for valuable ramp and fixing later on.
What I Don't Like: In generic goodstuff midrange and control decks, this is likely to be a 22nd or 23rd playable at best, since it’s a relatively unexciting standalone effect. It really needs to be placed in a shell that can utilize the ‘yard to reach its full potential.
Verdict: I like this card more than the other medium-costed value/selection-over-time artifacts like Treasure Map or Scroll Rack because it can feed the ‘yard, fix mana, and ramp in addition to providing the card selection. I don’t think this will make the cut in ultra-tight small cubes, but if you play a medium- to large-sized cube that features multiple archetypes that utilize the ‘yard, I’d give this a spin if you can find the room. I’ve been testing this in my 540, and it’s been a very solid contributor to multiple decks so far.
Gruff Triplets
A lot of power for your 6 mana investment.
What I Like: Unless your opponent has the right types of answers for this card, they’re in for a world of problems. For the initial 6-mana investment, you get 9 power worth of trampling bodies. If they kill off one creature, you wind up with two 6/6 tramplers on the board. Once they kill the second threat, your third body becomes a 12/12 trample. They have to use multiple exile-based removal spells or one giant sweeper to deal with the threats or they will dominate the game. It’s particularly powerful with effects that can cheat the body onto the battlefield early, or flip the main creature in and out of play repeatedly. With Flash, you can get two 6/6 trampling creatures for 2 mana. Sneak Attack and Through the Breach swing for 3 and leave two 6/6 tramplers behind, or can be done during your opponent’s end step to untap and swing for 12 with consistency. And with Recurring Nightmare? …you can create an ABSURD amount of power and toughness. So gross. It’s also just a solid card in token-centric ramp decks, where other anthem effects and +1/+1 counter effects can add even more power to the impact the Triplets will unleash on the game. You can also shuffle Grafted Wargear around between the first two bodies and swing for lethal in one shot.
What I Don't Like: If the opponent can deal with the threats in ways that don’t cause the bodies to “die”, it can feel like a lackluster 6-mana investment. Exile, bounce, and wrath effects can all be clean answers to at least one of the threats and make the rest of the card significantly more manageable.
Verdict: This has a bit of a Grave Titan feel to it in that it adds a lot of power and toughness to the board, and requires both a swift and specific answer or it will dominate the game. Because I support a Flash package, this was an easy include for me at 540 (or perhaps smaller if you play all the cards that have powerful synergies with it). Otherwise it might be relegated to slightly bigger cubes simply due to the other competition at the top of green’s curve.
Restless Cottage
The new Golgari manland!
What I Like: In comparison to Hissing Quagmire, this attacks as a 4/4 instead of a 2/2 for only one more mana, which applies a lot more pressure to the opponent or their ‘walkers. It also doesn’t trade down with every lion, piker, and bear in the cube, which feels bad with a manland. It also attacks the opponent’s ‘yard, and generates Food tokens to grind out additional value in lengthy midrange mirrors and control matchups.
What I Don't Like: Quagmire activates for less and can threaten finishing monsters with its deathtouch, which is nice, especially with Loam effects to bring it back when it trades.
Verdict: Overall I like this card more than Quagmire, and I’ll be playing it in its spot. I’d play both in a cube with a large enough land section to accommodate more than one manland.
Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender
A new colorless 2-drop beater!
What I Like: 3-power for 2 colorless mana has only shown up a couple of times. Scrapheap Scrounger fits this bill, but doesn’t play like a true colorless card because it needs access to black mana to have a relevant upside. Zenith Chronicler joined these ranks very recently, but it has a double-edged symmetrical effect. We’ve never seen a truly colorless 3-power 2-drop with a pure upside before …and Syr Ginger has 3! It’s a boss against ‘walkers, where both the haste and the hexproof are relevant abilities, and the trample can help clear them off the board even through blockers. The middle ability triggers off of a surprising number of artifacts in the cube, and between Baubles, Stars/Spheres, Treasures, Clues, & Food, you can find ways to get the +1/+1 counters and the scrying effect with some regularity. It’s especially cool with Retrofitter Foundry where the activation actually sacrifices the artifact token so you get even more P/T out of your upgrades and it can happen every turn. Lastly, it’s a food itself, so if the body ever becomes useless, you can sacrifice it for life. But it can’t be bounced by Jace, Stolen by Dack, tucked by Teferi, or blasted by Chandra because it has hexproof while planeswalkers are around.
What I Don't Like: I wish the anti-planeswalker abilities included first strike, since the 1-toughness is a liability before you can get some counters on it. Or perhaps vigilance so you can attack, chump block and sacrifice it as a food in the same round of turns.
Verdict: I think this is a solid 3-power beater that can easily slide into most aggressive decks without too many problems. It really shines if you can pair it with self-binning artifacts, and with enough of them around in the cube, it’s worth exploring his synergies. I found room to test at 540, and I’m pretty optimistic he’ll be able to stick around for a while at this size.
Restless Spire
The new Izzet manland!
What I Like: I like the cheap activation cost on Spire, the free scry, and the ability to kill 2-toughness creatures in combat in comparison to Wandering Fumarole. The first strike when attacking allows it to swing into most smaller creatures in the cube with impunity, and the cheap activation cost allows me to keep up mana for interactive spells at the same time. And don’t sleep on the scry trigger. Once you hit 5-ish mana in an Izzet tempo deck, and you can activate Spire and chip in, leaving your other couple mana free for burn spells, flash creatures and tempo counters, you don’t want to be drawing more lands. The repeatable scry can bottom lands and help keep you in gas, which is a valuable thing to be doing in those decks.
What I Don't Like: I wish this had first strike all the time so it could be a better defensive manland. Flying would’ve been sweet too as long as I’m wishing for stuff.
Verdict: I like this more than Fumarole and I’ll be cubing this in its place. I would play both in a large cube, but with room for only one, Spire lends itself to shine in the tempo kinds of shells I love to play since the massive reduction in its activation cost makes it far more flexible.
Cheeky House-Mouse
An adorable new 2-power 1-drop variant!
What I Like: Unlike most other 2-power 1-drops, the Mouse offers some additional impact if it’s drawn later on in the game. You can use it as a small pump spell that provides evasion first, and then resolve it to the board as a threat. If it triggers your Swiftspears and Pyromancers in the process, all the better. One of the things I like about it is that the evasion it provides is relevant against the vast majority of the creatures in the cube that bring initiative and monarch along with them. MTGS forum member jamis pointed out that interaction, and how a lot of those creatures have power too high to block a creature targeted by Squeak By, so you can more reliably take the initiative, and then resolve a chump-blocker to protect it. In comparison to the other 2-power 1-drops with marginal upsides, the ability to play this as an evasive pump spell is one of the better ones. Additionally, asmallcat pointed out that if the opponent stabilizes with a lone substantial threat (like a Batterskull or Wurmcoil or something) that the evasion can be critical; perhaps even game-ending if they were relying on the block to get back in the game.
What I Don't Like: It’s as plain as it gets if you resolve this on T1, and the pump spell being a sorcery prevents this from doubling as a combat trick.
Verdict: I think this squeaks in as the new bottom-tier 2-power 1-drop option for most medium- to large-sized cubes that have the room for a full suite of beaters. I’ve been playing and enjoying the critter at 540, and it could fit in quite easily there. Plus, it’s super adorable! So it’s got that going for it, which is nice.
Restless Bivouac
The new Boros manland!
What I Like: This is like a cheaper and more flexible Boros version of Raging Ravine. While it attacks for less on its first swing, it’s both cheaper to activate, and it can distribute the counter to another creature! This is actually quite important, because traditionally the +1/+1 counter that goes onto the land will only provide value on future turns where you can activate the manland. But in the case of the Bivouac, the ability to put it on another creature means you can get future benefits from that activation even if you don’t reactivate the land later on. You can place the counter onto an evasive creature, a double-strike threat, or a card like Hangarback or Ballista for extra synergy. Overall, I like this more than Ravine, which is a land I already liked a lot more than Needle Spires, so this is a big upgrade in Boros for me.
What I Don't Like: There were some situations where the double strike on the Spires allowed it to get in for huge chunks of damage, but overall, I think the Bivouac will outperform it.
Verdict: This replaces Needle Spires for me, and in fact, it’s so much better that even if you weren’t considering playing a Boros manland before, this deserves a close look. It’s cheap to activate, can start to snowball early on, and it can distribute counters to other threats. Easy upgrade over Spires, and by a large enough margin to be worth exploring in cubes that might’ve been “too small” for Spires before.
The Goose Mother
Legendary bird hydras? In my cube? It’s more likely than you’d think.
What I Like: The low-hanging fruit comparison is to size this up next to Hydroid Krasis and discuss pros and cons. But that’s a bad idea, because the two cards are completely different. They play differently, they shine in different decks, and they should be placed in the cube and picked from packs for different reasons. I like the Goose because it is a flexible threat in the earlier stages of the curve. For me, the main uses will be a 3/3 flyer for 3 that draws a card on the next turn, or a 5/5 flyer for 5 that will draw 2 cards over the next two turns. But I’ve already seen in testing that this can be played on T2 after an Experiment One as a Gaea’s Skyfolk that pumps my E1 and fleshes out the curve nicely. It’s also been played as a 7-mana 7/7 that makes three food tokens and goes ham. Unlike Krasis, this card is engineered to shine on the lower stages of the curve, where this costs 5 mana or less to resolve. And the flexibility of fitting anywhere in the middle of the curve is very nice. Krasis is a wildly ineffective low-mana creature, whereas the Goose is specifically included to shine in those spots. Decent evasive stats with the ability to generate card advantage after an attack or two. That’s all you should be asking of the Goose to do, and it’s good at that. Especially if your deck has other incidental ways to produce food tokens. Not necessary, just extra upside at that point.
What I Don't Like: As a big mana card, this pales in comparison to Krasis. Not only does this not guarantee the draws, but it also takes multiple turns to get full value, meaning that it has to survive to generate any form of card advantage. It’s also missing trample, so it can be chump-blocked all day by cheap flying tokens. If you’re looking to play a card that shines in Simic super-ramp decks as a sick 6-, 8-, or 10-mana bomb, Krasis is still your boy. If that’s the role you’ve been tasking Krasis to do for you, its job isn’t being threatened by the Goose.
Verdict: I’m playing this alongside Krasis in my cube as one of my 4 Simic cards, and I think it fits well to complement the rest of the package. I would test this in the top 4 of Simic slots which is likely the 450-540 range.
Restless Vinestalk
The new Simic manland!
What I Like: For only one more mana to activate in comparison to Lumbering Falls, this attacks for at least 2 more damage, and with trample! Not only that, but it has a fantastic triggered ability that can change the base P/T value of any other creature (on either side of the table) to 3/3, to either add up to 3 more power to your attack, or to shrink down an opponent’s big blocker to force bad blocks or chip in for more damage. The size of this manland is huge, and it’ll be really good at pressuring opponent’s ‘walkers, even through token blockers. The base P/T 3/3 resetting trigger works really well with small creatures that gain their size through counters (like Hangarback, Ballista, etc.) or (or as MTGS user Kryptnyt illustrated) lands that have been animated with counters through cards like Nissa. In some instances, you can get up to 8 additional attacking power out of Vinestalk, and it’s one fantastic target to secure with Primeval Titan.
What I Don't Like: There were times where the hexproof on Falls was meaningful, and it can save your big manland from getting blasted by a premium removal spell in some cases.
Verdict: I think this is not only head-and-shoulders ahead of Lumbering Falls, but Vinestalk might compete as one of the best manlands in the cube overall. This is another one that should replace Falls for an easy swap, or perhaps even replace another land in the Simic suite to find room for even if you weren’t currently running the manland. It’s that good. An easy include in the 450-540 range, for sure.
Charming Scoundrel
A new charming creature in red!
What I Like: This card does a lot for two mana. At its absolute floor, it can be a 2/2 haste that pings the opponent when it dies for two mana (by putting the +1/+1 wicked role token on it), which is a reasonable play in a red aggro deck. You can also elect to rummage if that’s what your hand construction calls for, since it can be used to try to fix mana screw or mana flood if needed. More importantly, the rummaging effect can be used in graveyard decks to feed reanimator targets into the ‘yard, discard lands to be recouped by Loam/Crucible effects (for net free card draw), pitching a Bloodghast or the like and playing it from the ‘yard to get a full card’s worth of value, or pitching a giant robot so it can be brought back to the board by Welders and Darettis. Plus, you can use the Scoundrel to make a treasure token, and in the modern era of hugely impactful initiative and monarch enablers, resolving your Caves of Chaos Adventurer a turn early in your mono red deck is just a powerful beating ahead of the curve. A splashable Wily Goblin with haste is a fine floor too. Last but certainly not least, you can place the wicked role token on another threat, to add power to an evasive threat or to allow your 2/2 to become a 3/3 and attack into that 2-power first striker or that 2/3 creature that’s otherwise stonewalling your attack. It can also play multiple roles in the same game with ETB support cards. Play Scoundrel on T2, place a role on your 1-drop and swing for more damage, target Scoundrel with a Flickerwisp on T3 and then put the new role on the ‘wisp to make it a 4-power flyer for the next turn …there’s a lot of cool things you can do with this card.
What I Don't Like: I don’t have much to complain about with the Scoundrel. At first I thought it was missing something to put it over the top, but after seeing it in action, it’s been quite impressive.
Verdict: I would certainly test this card at 450 where I would expect it to find a home pretty comfortably. It may even be worth testing at 360 if there’s a 2-drop that you’ve been considering benching. The Scoundrel does a lot of stuff for several different red archetypes.
Mosswood Dreadknight
A Golgari value-generating beater!
What I Like: When I first evaluated this card, I was significantly colder on it than I am today, and it’s because I was looking at it through the same lens as all the other Adventure creatures. The traditional recipe is adventure first, then cast creature from exile so you don’t miss out on the extra value. And to be fair, that soured my initial evaluation on this card because I don’t want to be playing a bad 2-mana cantrip on my turn 2 in a beatdown deck. So… don’t! Just play this as a 3-power trampler for 2 mana where the adventure is only there to facilitate the post-death value, and the card is so much better. It’s essentially a 3-power 2-drop with trample that can generate 2 cards worth of value every time it dies. And through that lens, it’s obviously a lot better. I also initially drew comparisons to Tenacious Underdog, another card that I was less than impressed with, which sullied the good name of Mosswood Dreadknight. Unlike the Underdog, I can pay the Dreadknight’s mana in multiple installments from the ‘yard, so it doesn’t have to eat my entire turn every time I use it, and more importantly, the threat stays on the battlefield! I can sacrifice the body to my own cards if I want to pay costs or generate a card draw loop, and I don’t have to pay the cost every turn, because it won’t die every turn (unlike the Underdog). You always have the ability to play adventure+body once you have 4+ mana available and it's not preventing you from applying additional pressure, but as a 2-mana card, the creature side first really helps to push the pressure, and you can use it as a value creature later on.
What I Don't Like: I wish it didn’t have to timing restriction built into playing it as an adventure from the ‘yard, but I understand why it has to be there. It would be nice to freely cast it from my graveyard whenever I wanted to instead of being priced into doing it before the end of my next turn, but that’s asking a lot for a 3-power trampling threat for 2 mana that draws 2 cards every time it dies.
Verdict: Golgari has a lot of good options, and that’s one reason why this card might see less cube play than it perhaps deserves. That, and the fact that it shines in decks with early attacking green cards, and not every cube uses green to support those kinds of shells. But if you do, I think this can easily be a top 3-4 card in B/G, behind Grist and your favorite removal spell of choice. It’s likely worth testing at 360 and an easy include at 450+.
Embereth Veteran
A 2-power 1-drop with upside in red!
What I Like: This is a great 2-power 1-drop. Not only is it unencumbered by drawbacks, but it has a very relevant upside attached to it that launches it ahead of most of its competition. As soon as you’re facing a situation where your Goblin Guide or Zergo can’t attack into your opponent’s 2-power first striking blocker or their 2/3 creature that’s simply cutting off your ability to attack, you can sacrifice the Veteran to place its Role on your beater so you can attack into that blocker and keep the pressure on. So instead of having two creatures that can’t attack at all and having to stop applying pressure, you can have one bigger threat that can bash into that problematic blocker and you can keep the pressure up. Not to mention that the creature will get an additional +1/+1 counter on the following turn, allowing the Veteran to upgrade any bear to a 4/4 (recouping all the Veteran’s power in short order) or placing up to 3 +1/+1 counters on an evasive 1-toughness threat to get a total of 3 power from your Veteran as the game progresses. It’s super cool with Walking Ballista (so you can remove counters to ping and then attack to replace them) and Hangarback Walker (so you can attack with the creature and get the counter in the same turn) too, as well as several other small interactions floating around. I think this is probably the 4th best pure 2-power 1-drop behind Ragavan, Goblin Guide and maybe Zurgo, which makes it an easy include in pretty much any cube of any size. Not to mention that the art is gorgeous. Importantly, this upside matters in so many more situations than most of the ones in its competition have, it’s not even close. I’ve already utilized the Young Hero Role in more situations in testing than I’ve cast vampires with madness over the years by a lot. This is a line of text on a red 2-power 1-drop that actually matters. Even something simple as guaranteeing some value against cheap removal is great. Plan on Fatal Pushing my Veteran? Sacrifice it in response to put the role on my other critter. Done.
What I Don't Like: Human Warrior instead of Human Knight for one more tribal interaction in the cube? IDK. Card’s great and I have no complaints.
Verdict: The vast majority of cubes are going to dedicate a certain minimum number of slots to the red 1cc section for aggro beaters. And that number is usually somewhere around seven or so. Plus the other incidental creatures that are playable but not exclusive to aggro, like Swiftspear, Channeler and Lavamancer. Even with those cards included, Veteran is in the top 7 and should see play at 360. If you play 7 dedicated 2-power 1-drops, there’s room for Veteran and 3 more creatures behind it before it fails to make the cut. I think this is an easy include in even the smallest of cubes.
Thanks for taking the time to read through the article! Feel free to post your comments here for discussion and share your feedback.
Cheers, and happy cubing!
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15
wtwlf123 posted a message on Set (P)review - My top 20 Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI) cards for the cube!Hello again fellow cube enthusiasts!Posted in: Articles, Podcasts, and Guides
This is my 48th installment of the "top 20" set (P)review 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 the great 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.
Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a great cube set! It revisits existing themes and keywords, as well as introducing a couple more that both have value in the cube. Map tokens are new consumable artifact tokens like Food, Clues and Treasures, but Map tokens allow you to sacrifice them for explore triggers! Additionally, they introduced a keyword called “Discover” that is essentially a fixed Cascade trigger, that allows you to play or draw the revealed nonland card (so countermagic and X spells are no longer blank hits).
Without further ado, here’s the countdown!
Confounding Riddle
An updated Supreme Will!
What I Like: Supreme Will is a solid filler spell, and Riddle has been upgraded in two ways! First, it changes the counterspell to have a 4-mana counter clause, and it changes the Impulse effect into a beefed-up Strategic Planning that fills the graveyard with the unselected cards.
What I Don't Like: Three mana is a lot for a replacement-level effect by today’s cube standards, and it can be hard to find room for spells that cost 3+ mana and are just “solid”.
Verdict: If your cube is of a size or constructed in such a way that you have room for a 3-mana generic goodstuff spell, this is a very solid one, and is worthy of consideration. Cubes that are 720+ in size or those that utilize a lot of delve effects that want spells that can feed the ‘yard should give Riddle some careful consideration.
Stalactite Stalker
A growing black threat!
What I Like: A 1-drop that can grow throughout the game, has evasion, and can be sacrificed for removal deserves close inspection. Descending triggers whenever a permanent card goes into your graveyard from anywhere, so discarded cards can activate it in the same way that fetchlands, baubles, spheres/stars, and petals can. In cubes loaded to the gills with those kinds of effects, it can be possible to start growing the Stalker right away. Once the body has outlived its usefulness, you can sacrifice it to kill a small priority target, which adds nice utility to the aggressive body.
What I Don't Like: If you can’t reliably activate the Stalker early, it can spend the first few turns as a 1/1, which is not what aggro decks want to be doing.
Verdict: If your cube is constructed in a way that maximizes the number of early enablers for descend, and you support aggressive black decks, Stalker is worthy of attention. Particularly in cubes that run duplicates and triplicates of fetchlands, this creature can be quite the menace when you can reliably start descending as early as T1.
Cenote Scout
A nice value 1-drop!
What I Like: No matter which way the explore breaks, you’re getting a decent card for your 1-mana investment. If you hit gas, you get an Isamaru and some card selection. If you hit a land, you get a 1-mana Elvish Visionary. In decks and situations where either outcome is desirable, it’s one of the more powerful 1-mana plays available.
What I Don't Like: The lack of control over the effect on T1 hurts the consistency. Not only do you need to find a deck that’s happy with both Isamarus and Visionaries, but you need to be okay with hitting either one when it’s played. Typically, decks trying to apply early pressure that want the Isamaru effect aren’t going to be happy playing an Elvish Visionary, and value decks looking for a 1-mana source of card draw don’t really want the 2/2 for 1 mana. Finding the situation where the deck is happy with either outcome is the real trick. Suffers a bit in the same way that Vexing Devil does; a card where both effects are above-the-curve in terms of rate and both effects fit the deck’s primary gameplan, but not getting the choice of which effect you get ultimately makes the card suffer in formats as volatile as the cube.
Verdict: In cubes where green decks will often be happy with the 2-power 1-drop OR the cheap value creature, I think Scout can shine. Worth a test in decks where that will be the case, though ultimately I think the consistency will hurt its long-term viability in the cube.
Sanguine Evangelist
A new Blade Splicer variant!
What I Like: Similar to Splicer, you get 4 total power for 3 mana (though the Evangelist’s is split between the ETB trigger and the death trigger). The bat tokens have flying, which is nice, and the battle cry trigger is nice when swinging on open boards in your go-wide aggro and/or token shells.
What I Don't Like: Unlike Splicer, flicker effects are far more lackluster on the Evangelist. Getting a 1/1 bat instead of a 3/3 golem when hit by a flicker effect is quite a bit weaker. I really wish the main body had flying. It would’ve made the battle cry a much more consistently valuable ability, which would’ve added so much more to its value as an overall package. Trading away in combat against everything in the cube kills the consistency of the trigger, which makes the card suffer overall.
Verdict: This is a solid 3-drop, but it’s in a super congested slot with a lot of powerful options. I couldn’t find room to squeeze this into my cube in addition to Splicer, but I feel that if my cube was bigger, it would be a much easier card to find room for. Worth a close look at cubes 630+ in size, those that are deep on the monarch/initiative subgame (where the flying on the bat token gains more value), or those that are big on the token/anthem plan.
Kitesail Larcenist
A great blue Fiend Hunter variant!
What I Like: This is likely the best Fiend Hunter variant we’ve seen for the cube. It’s a 2-power flier with 3 toughness, has Ward for a bit more reliability, and it can hit both creatures and artifacts! It also has the ability to target your own cards if you’re willing to cash in a cheap artifact or creature for a treasure token.
What I Don't Like: Blue’s 3cc creatures are pretty competitive, so finding room can be hard. The opponent may also occasionally be able to use the treasure token to fix mana or ramp into a bigger threat once they’ve abandoned the idea of getting their first target back. And while it can target artifacts, the fact that it turns the target into a treasure limits how effective the Larcenist can be against artifact mana.
Verdict: If you’re looking for a way for blue to disrupt the opponent’s creature development, Larcenist is worth a go. It’s very likely the best Fiend Hunter effect that the cube has seen, so if you’re in the market for this kind of effect and have the free slot in blue, it’s worth a test. I would be able to find room for this at 630+ for sure, and there’s a good chance it could be a solid creature at 540 as it is.
Sentinel of the Nameless City
A new big green value 3-drop!
What I Like: A 3/4 vigilant 3-drop is a decent-sized body, and generating a Map token on both ETB and every attack makes this a consistent source of card advantage, card selection, and +1/+1 counters. This is akin to Courser of Kruphix in that it’s a 3-drop with 4 toughness that can generate card advantage by drawing lands off the top of your library. This also has more power, can grow itself (and/or the team) over the course of the game, and creates artifact tokens for all the various synergies those can have.
What I Don't Like: Unlike Courser, this card can’t generate card advantage for free; you have to pay to crack the Maps. It also doesn’t gain you life. This card looks better on offense but worse on defense than a card like Courser.
Verdict: If you have the room for a value-generating 3-drop in green with an oversized body, I would suggest giving it a go. While I think it’s substantially worse than a card like Tireless Tracker, I think its about equal to a card like Courser. I’d be slamming this at 630+ for sure, and I’m still trying to find a good cut to give this a trial run in my 540.
Deep-Cavern Bat
A new Kitesail Freebooter variant!
What I Like: I think this is my favorite Mesmeric Fiend effect for the cube. In comparison to Freebooter, the Bat trades one extra toughness for both lifelink and the ability to hit any nonland card! Being able to pick the most important card from the opponent’s hand (even if it’s a creature) is such an important upside, I think it more than makes up for the missing toughness, and the lifelink is just gravy!
What I Don't Like: Similar to all the other creatures in this vein, it’s more about the disruption than the pressure. Being a 1-power threat will always feel pretty anemic as threat, so the power of the effect is tied into how critical the disruptive element is. One of these days we’ll see a mono-black version of this effect with more aggressive stats, and that will make it a better generically-playable aggro card instead of just a disruptive element.
Verdict: In cubes of any size that have a combo element to them, the disruption of these kinds of effects becomes valuable enough to overlook the lack of power they bring to the table. In cubes loaded to the gills with combos, I could see Bat being a great performer at any size. As a stand-alone goodstuff card, I think it’s an easy 630+ inclusion, and warrants testing at smaller sizes the more than initiative/monarch becomes a thing and the more combos are available for it to disrupt.
Restless Reef
The rest of the allied manlands!
What I Like: The way that these new restless lands were evaluated was a combination of evaluating them as stand-alone cards AND in the context of how they compare to the existing manland option. Reef is a solid land. A 4/4 deathtouch for 4 is no joke. Self-milling 4 cards in the midgame can fuel your ‘yard a lot, and after multiple late-game activations you can really start to threaten the opponent’s smaller library even when the shark can get repeatedly chump-blocked.
What I Don't Like: No matter how good Reef is, it’s simply not going to compete with Creeping Tar Pit. So it’s going to be relegated to cubes that are big enough to play both cycles of manlands, or cubes that want to use it as a placeholder while they wait for other cycles to be completed (cough, allied Horizon Lands, cough).
Verdict: Worse than Creeping Tar Pit. Likely relegated to large cubes big enough to run two full cycles of manlands, or cubes using the extra Restless land as a placeolder until the rest of the Horizon lands are printed.
Kellan, Daring Traveler
A cheap Selesnya card advantage engine!
What I Like: Selesnya is lacking for great options, so when a 2-mana 2/3 that can draw extra threats every time it attacks gets printed, it caught my attention. The adventure isn’t mandatory, but the extra Map tokens are nice, and as long as you can fit Journey On into your curve without sacrificing pressure, you might as well grab the free value. The real power is in the main body of the card. A splashable 2/3 for 2 that can draw cards and/or provide card selection with every attack is quite good. And the interaction with Kellan’s ability and the Map activations plays really nicely together depending on what you’re digging for.
What I Don't Like: I wish it could draw creatures of any mana value instead of just ones with mv<4. It would also be great if you could crack Map tokens at instant-speed to explore as a combat trick. That’s not really Kellan’s fault, but it makes a particularly noticeable difference with his design in particular.
Verdict: Medium- to large-sized cubes looking to experiment with something different in a relatively anemic Selesnya section should give Kellan a close look.
Restless Ridgeline
The new Gruul manland!
What I Like: In comparison to Raging Ravine, Ridgeline activates outside of Bolt range, and when attacking alongside at least one other creature, it represents 5-power with its first trip into the red zone, and untaps your other attacker when racing.
What I Don't Like: The triggered ability is a blank when attacking alone, which is something that manlands do often. They’re prefect for threatening an open post-Wrath board, and Ravine does a spectacular job of this, and Ridgeline simply falls short on that front. Also, after multiple activations and attacks, Ravine pulls ahead of Ridgeline in the damage race, even when attacking with other threats!
Verdict: Worse than Raging Ravine. Likely relegated to large cubes big enough to run two full cycles of manlands, or cubes using the extra Restless land as a placeolder until the rest of the Horizon lands are printed.
Trumpeting Carnosaur
A new “cascading” red fatty!
What I Like: A 7/6 trample for 6 is a solid baseline for a monster that gets to “cascade” into another nonland spell w/ mana value 5 or less. The ability is an ETB trigger, making it a halfway decent reanimation creature since you get both the free value card and the 7-power trampler. It has a big enough butt to play well in Wildfire decks, if that’s still a thing in your group. Most importantly, it has a self-binning “channel” ability where you can blast a creature or ‘walker for 3 damage for 3 mana, as an uncounterable instant-speed effect. As far as big monsters go that have mechanics that can get themselves into the ‘yard, the Carnosaur is one of the better effects.
What I Don't Like: I wish it had one other thing baked into the overall package. Haste, for example, would’ve been outstanding, even at the cost of an extra mana. My ideal version would’ve been a 7-mana version with haste and Discover 6. That way I can discover directly into my Wildfire, because I want to be greedy and try to live the dream like that. While I’m wishing for stuff, a discard ability at 2 mana instead of 3 would’ve been hot.
Verdict: Overall, it’s a solid package that’s good at several things but not great at any one thing. I’m testing this at 540, but I could certainly see it not making the cut forever.
Restless Prairie
The new Selesnya manland!
What I Like: In the later stages of the game, activating a manland that can contribute to a big alpha strike with an army of tokens or small creatures is valuable. Stirring Wildwood activates for 1 less mana, has one more toughness, and has reach …but it lacks any offensive firepower. I like the ability to shoehorn in additional anthem effects into the cube without having to dedicate a slot exclusively to that strategy, and Prairie lets me do that quite well. Plus, the art on the pack version of the Prairie is incredible! Llama Land!
What I Don't Like: This is a poor manland without additional creatures to pump, and a 4-mana activation for a land that always dies to Bolt is a steep ask.
Verdict: I really don’t like Stirring Wildwood very much, so I’m happy to take the opportunity to test out a manland that’s better for end game aggressive strikes and helps support go-wide token shells. I’m going to be testing this in my 540, and I’m relatively optimistic that it will perform solidly.
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
A new aggro/value 2-drop!
What I Like: There’s a lot to unpack with this creature. It’s a discard outlet that can put +1/+1 counters on your attacking bodies, it provides reach in the form of trample, and it converts your discarded cards into additional gas from the top of your library. It reminds me of an odd combination of Luminarch Aspirant and Containment Construct …with a repeatable rummager built in. If you can live off the top of your library, making land drops and casting gas from your exiled cards, Inti can spiral out of control and run away with the game. In decks that can utilize the discarded cards from the ‘yard, like aggro Loam decks and Bloodghast decks and stuff, you can mitigate the drawback, generate CA from the exile/play clause, and beat down hard with a growing, trampling threat. You can also activate the ability with a different creature, allowing you to get the +1/+1 counter, the trample, and access to the exiled card even if Inti doesn’t actually attack itself …including the turn it resolves. It’s important to note that the exile/play clause works with all your discard effects, so other looters can exile additional cards from the top which will occasionally lead to even more card advantage.
What I Don't Like: Luckily the first discard option is a “may”, because there will be times where you don’t want to discard cards to Inti’s ability. When you’re in a situation where pitching cards is bad (like sometimes on the first turn where you won’t be able to play the exiled card) Inti’s a pretty mundane creature. You really need to go all in on the discarding/exiling gameplan to be able to take advantage of all the value Inti brings, else you run the risk of it being a very mediocre threat.
Verdict: The ceiling on this card is absurdly high for a 2-drop. But it also has a very tame floor. I’m excited to test this out in my 540 and see how it does, because there’s a lot of promise.
Restless Anchorage
The new Azorius manland!
What I Like: This is such a great manland. Cheap activation, evasion, and value in the form of the Map token generation. Celestial Colonnade is an amazing manland, and despite that, there will be decks where the Anchorage is better. Tempo shells looking to take advantage of the cheaper activation cost, and decks with a lot of expected combat that can take advantage of the explore triggers will be stoked to have access to this new land.
What I Don't Like: The only strike against this land is the competition. Colonnade is better in WU midrange and control decks, where it activates outside of Bolt range and hits for a meaningful 4 damage. It’s hard to compete against Colonnade, and that’s the task that Anchorage has in front of it when comparing itself to of the best manlands of all time.
Verdict: For some cubes, this will be better than Celestial Colonnade, and for those cubes, it’s a clear slam dunk. In other cubes, it may be worse than Colonnade. There it will likely be relegated to large cubes big enough to run two full cycles of manlands, or cubes using the extra Restless land as a placeolder until the rest of the Horizon lands are printed.
Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
A new Boros Rabblemaster variant!
What I Like: This is a very aggressive take on Krenko. Since the tokens enter tapped and attacking, it represents more clocked damage than several of the slower Rabblemaster variants, including Krenko and Hanweir Garrison. Even when on the board entirely alone, it represents 19 damage by the end of combat on T6, which places it in the middle of the pack in terms of aggression. However, the attacking clause isn’t tied to Anim… it works with any attacking creature. So if you have another attacking body that gets value from this on T3 when its played, that representative damage jumps to 32 by the end of combat on T6, making it a faster clock than even Rabblemaster itself. And that’s an easy clause to satisfy that should happen relatively often. Unlike a card like Najeela that needs another attacking Warrior available to attack with every turn to outpace Rabblemaster, Anim can do it with any creature! It also has the upside of always having 3+ toughness if it’s entering the red zone, and the Gnomes it makes are artifacts in case that matters for Karnstructs and the like.
What I Don't Like: Competition in the Boros section is stronger than ever, and there’s already great cards on the outside looking in. But despite the competition in the 3cc creature slots in Boros decks and the strength of the other RW cards it’s competing with, the ceiling on Anim is so high and should be hit so consistently that it’s worth finding room, IMO.
Verdict: Another super competitive Boros option. I could see this card making the top 3-5 Boros cards, meaning it could be worthwhile in cubes of all sorts of various sizes and configurations. But as long as you’re not replacing Forth Eorlingas! with Anim, it should be a sidegrade at worst even against the most competitive of cards. This is a powerful Rabblemaster variant friends. Don’t sleep on it.
Restless Vents
The new Rakdos manland!
What I Like: I love this land. It activates for cheap, has evasion, has a 3rd point of toughness for tangling with Lions, Pikers, & Bears, and it has a triggered rummaging ability that provides card selection and feeds the ‘yard for all those BR decks that care about that. Everything that I want in a manland package, and the competition against its predecessor is probably the largest gap in quality between two of the lands.
What I Don't Like: Lands entering tapped isn’t ideal for Rakdos. It’s still definitely worth it, but it’s one of the combinations that feels that drawback of the design the most.
Verdict: This is a great land, and I’d be happy running it in pretty much every Rakdos deck. If your cube has room for a manland in the Rakdos section, this one should be it.
Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel
A new blue tempo looter!
What I Like: This is my favorite tempo looter in the cube! In comparison to its predecessors like Looter il-Kor and Suspicious Stowaway, Malcolm always has 2 power, making it a much more impactful threat in tempo shells. And while the evasion isn’t quite as absolute, the flash makes the effect so much more reliable because I don’t have to cast my creature and pass the turn before using it. Being able to surprise flash this in at EOT, and untap and swing will make this a very consistent looting effect, and have it play better into the plan of the reactive tempo deck even better than its counterparts. Not to mention that this can build up counters and ultimately cast your discarded loot cards for free. Won’t happen often, but it’s certainly not impossible.
What I Don't Like: Attack trigger vs connect trigger would’ve gone even further to advance the consistency, but that’s a big ask.
Verdict: This is a great tempo creature, and the best of the aggressive looter variants. I’m going to happily play this card at 540, but I could see folks making room for this at 450 for sure.
Get Lost
A new white removal spell!
What I Like: I like instant-speed 2cc removal that can answer multiple types of permanents. The closest comparison is probably Fateful Absence, but by comparison, Get Lost hits a 3rd type of permanent, and gives up two Maps instead of one Clue. Overall, I’d rather give the opponent the Maps since they’re not always worth a card and sometimes they’ll be lacking for explore targets, so it’s a clear upgrade in my eyes. It’s important to note that you can always target your own card with this in case it’s ever worth getting the Maps for yourself.
What I Don't Like: Situations involving complex combat-heavy boards will be tilted in the opponent’s favor if they hit critical +1/+1 counters off their Maps. Luckily the Maps have to be cracked at sorcery-speed, but it’s still something to keep a watchful eye on.
Verdict: This is a solid removal spell with a great name for a staple removal effect of its kind. Happy to slam at 540, would test at 450, and I could see smaller cubes experimenting with this as an inclusion too. Very decent removal spell.
Molten Collapse
A new Rakdos Dreadbore variant!
What I Like: Strictly better Dreadbore wasn’t on my checklist, but I guess I’m happy to have it. Collapse is a modal spell with one of the two modes being a straight-up Dreadbore. The other option you can pick from destroys any noncreature, nonland permanent with mv≤1. For powered cubes, this option kills every Mox, Crypt, Vault, Sol Ring, etc. in the cube. Not to mention a handful of other powerful targets to get rid of like Skullclamp. In my cube list, this extra ability destroys ~30 targets, and in addition to the premium mana artifacts it removes, it can also remove the utility artifact tokens like Maps, Clues, and Food if needed. The nicest part of the spell is how easy the descend mechanic can trigger. Pop a fetchland and suddenly you can kill their Oko and their Mox Sapphire for 2 mana. I’m in for that.
What I Don't Like: I loved the alter on my Dreadbore, and now that card has been replaced.
Verdict: This is well above average Rakdos removal spell. Dreadbore is a solid Magic card, and adding on the ability to destroy fast mana and utility artifacts on top of the effect is great. Then give it a clause so you can have both? Sign me up. I think this is easily a top 3 Rakdos card for powered cubes, and is likely still a top 3-5 card for unpowered ones, so I could see this being a 360-450 cube card without question.
Bitter Triumph
A new black removal spell!
What I Like: This is a premium black removal spell. This is everything I ever wanted Infernal Grasp to be in the cube. It hits both creatures and planeswalkers for 2 mana at instant speed, and you have the option of either paying the life or discarding a card to pay for the drawback. This also allows Triumph to function as a 2cc instant-speed discard outlet when your opponent has a target so you can discard your robots in your Welder decks or your fatties in your reanimation deck.
What I Don't Like: In decks that can’t afford to discard cards to it, the 3 life can be a steep cost when you're on your back foot.
Verdict: This is a premium removal spell for cubes. I can’t imagine not cubing this at any size, even all the way down to a powered 360 card cube list.
Thanks for taking the time to read through the article! Feel free to post your comments here for discussion and share your feedback.
Cheers, and happy cubing!
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wtwlf123 posted a message on [LCI][LCC][CUBE] Lost Caverns of Ixalan Includes & Testing ResultsMy top 20 article for Lost Caverns of Ixalan is up!Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
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Appreciate your lists as always!
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I am going to test this card (and possibly the Backup Baneslayer) because I like the immediate value they both often will provide. Unsure if they will stick around long term but I really like how Backup can be unexpected. It's as close to a combat trick as we see in my environment.
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Separately, do I make it a black card or colorless? Feels like it needs to be black but this one is close (not trying to threadjack about this topic but one sentence replies on it would be welcome).
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As the games played out I thought about how it would have played in my deck and it still would have been very good with only its static ability.
I feel like this card will be excellent in my 360.
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My favorite turn was playing turn 2 Black Lotus with Teleportation Circle plus Thraben Inspector making two clues in the turn.
The next turn I played Charming Prince and blinked it for many turns of value.
It did other things but that was the best one. It has been a fun archetype to support in my Cube. We will see if it stays long term in a vintage powered environment.
I also added Thassa for redundancy.
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Last night I went turn 3 Hymn to Tourach into turn 5 kicked Tourach, Dread Cantor. It was as amazing as it sounds. This deck only had 9 black sources so even when the mana isn't great sometimes you can still get to 1BBB.
My opponent and I both remarked how happy we are with how well Tourach has played.
Worth testing this (and Dark Ritual if you're not running it) in 540 for sure and possibly smaller Cubes.