First things first, the committee has a very important announcement to make. If you’ve been on the discord, you probably already saw this, but we’ve added a new member to the committee, long time community stalwart, JaySherman!
From Argentina, they’ve been hooked to Magic since 1997 after getting two sealed decks, Ice Age and 5th Edition, and falling in love with Scaled Wurm’s wall of text. Has always been preparing for cube by collecting singleton vintage playables whenever they saw one with potential, and they have been complaining/participating on the Discord for about 5 years now, playing our monthly drafts as much as possible.
Given the timing of our last updates in relation to set releases, this Quick Hits will be covering both Tarkir Dragonstorm and Final Fantasy. Several committee members had a great time with the latter as they’ve been fans for ages at this point.
Tarkir - Dragonstorm
WHITE
Omniczech: I think this one being slightly easier to discount than Search Party Captain and having a more appealing body than some of the Rager style white cards is solid upside and the occasional 1 mana 4/3 cantripper is just great upside.
Usman: There’ve been cards like Search Party Captain which have rewarded players for going wide and this was one of the stronger pulls in TDM’s limited format to synergize with Mobilize. There aren’t a ton of cards with mobilize that I care about for us, but having 2 other creatures is when the rate starts to get good, as it’s a 4-mana 4/3 that draws a card and that’s fine. Nice with blink too. Nice.
JaySherman: I really like it as a payoff for going wide that diversifies stats and helps you avoid going all-in in against any sweeper, while still adding to the board and keeping up pressure. As mentioned above, I think it wins in the comparison with Search Party Captain (I’m not sure I would play both): double the size and you can reduce its cost with creatures that entered the same turn, making it cheaper in a way. It’s a big difference.
Neveron: The dream is, of course, to put this down turn 3 after spending your first two turns making tokens or dropping one-drops. While that’s obviously not guaranteed, it feels like it’s something you’ll see more often than you’d expect. Note also that any spell that makes one creature for one mana (or two for two) is “free” with this.
Solset: Like the others have said, Search Party Captain has been awkward to cast at times, and I think this wins out in both casting versatility and size. A pretty easy upgrade.
Phizzled: We have a pretty reasonable target for the upgrade. Four power is a pretty strong clock, even though the toughness technically is fragile. Easy in, easy out, as they say.
Omniczech: Either individual mode here is not great but I think this is a classic “better than the sum of its parts” type of card. Flicker it to go-wider or just let this try and slow your opponent with the irritating 2/3 body, either way I think this one’s solid.
Usman: It feels weird how 2 mana for a 2/3 is something seen at a 1X cost instead of Elvish Warrior (at GG.) Generally, it felt like the 2/3 mode was the primary mode but I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being more of a split in our format, since we’ve got some nice go-wide payoffs with mass pump, etc. Should make a nice addition.
JaySherman: This one’s just the perfect glue for anything white wants to do on our cube: it can play defensively, go-wide, has +1/+1 counters… a great role player.
Neveron: Fun fact: as far as I can tell, this is the only common white two-drop creature that gives you a creature on entering with no extra conditions. The closest we’ve gotten is Countless Gears Renegade, but that’s tricky to turn on in our cube.
Solset: 2/3s for 2 do a lot of work in aggressive decks so I expect this to play well there. Really though, this is the glue that Sandsteppe Outcast was meant to support both go-wide and +1/+1 counters. An auto include to me.
Phizzled: As noted by my esteemed colleagues, we have a two mana glue card that either enables a go-wide strategy or soaks up a reasonable amount of damage as a speed bump against our opponent’s aggro deck. The body isn’t exciting, but the function has been playable (technically) in the past at one more mana.
Omniczech: The way I've had to force myself to parse this one easily is as a prototype creature, early on it's a small thing, later on, a big one. I'm not sure this is quite the slam dunk some think it is but I think the two modes are both interesting and I'd be down to try this one out.
Usman: I recall early on in preview season, people were underrating cards with Omen because they were thinking of the cards as bad adventure cards and noted in my review of the set that it’s going to take some mental re-wiring to think of the cards as split cards instead of adventure cards, despite their appearance. This is a good example of it: either it’s a 2 mana 2/2 or a big ol’ dragon. I’m not super excited about what the package offers, in terms of what decks want this (beatdown midrange?) but I’m not feeling super strong either way.
Neveron: I’ve been comparing this to the (old but rare) Kavu Titan, which famously had Mark Rosewater go from getting 4-0 in playtesting Invasion to 2-2 when he was told that the Grizzly Bears in his deck were actually a proxy for the Kavu. The inherent problem with expensive creatures is that until you can cast them, they’re a dead card in your hand. Kicker cards (and this dragon) get around that by letting you actually use the card early if you need to, but it’s important to remember that curving out is more important than doing nothing as you wait to be able to cast your cool dragon.
Solset: I know these dragons are good in their own environment that cares more about their type, but I am pretty lukewarm on these for our environment. I wouldn’t stand in the way of them getting in, but I’m not pushing for it either. I will say that if this gets included, I think it would be taking a larger spot in the white curve as white has so many better things to do on turn 2.
JaySherman: I’m surprised with this one being the highest polling of the cycle, it is the least interesting to me, and not only because it is the only one of the five dragons that doesn’t help you get to it sooner by casting the omen. Modality is great though, and as mentioned above, I wouldn’t be against including it for a test run.
Phizzled: The omen is extremely fair, which is probably not where you want to be in a broken limited format. Costing a draw step is a real cost, but technically the 2/2 does not cost a card. I’m disappointed a little with the dragon itself, but only because it is expensive compared to some past 4-drop combat buffers. There is probably a point where the cube can’t support more, but the swap might be a reasonable one.
Usman: I’ll be honest, I’m not feeling this one at all. Rate seems super middling as a Phantom Monster and the mobilize is pretty questionable for how useful it is on turn 4.
Neveron: I prefer Oltec Cloud Guard or Basilica Shepherd to this, I think - this might have a third toughness, but the token being a temporary attack trigger hurts it. Maybe if we ran Black/White Aristocrats (Cartel Aristocrat _did_ get downshifted), but we don’t.
Omniczech: This one just genuinely feels half baked to me, I’m a little baffled to see this polling as high as it is.
Solset: This is worse for blink, but likely better for go-wide. However, as we have whittled down the ETB tokens in white, I think I lean towards options that don’t require the attack to get a token.
JaySherman: As intended (since Mobilize is the Mardu mechanic), it plays great with black and red cards like Falkenrath Noble, Gixian Infiltrator, Witty Roastmaster, etc. We don’t have many repeatable token generation to use in this space, and I like to have some seeds for decks not officially supported. At least it looks more interesting to me than the 5th 2x1 ETB creature.
BLUE
Usman: Pretty similar to the white dragon, I’m mainly looking at this as a big dragon with a way to cycle it away. My concern is that most of our big-mana blue finishers have better utility outside of being purely retail big beaters. Maybe the 1U mode is enough to get there?
Neveron: The most direct comparison is, of course, Striped Riverwinder or perhaps Windcaller Aven. This not putting itself in the yard to be cheated out later hurts slightly, but the body itself is perhaps better. A 4/4 flyer is surprisingly big in our cube.
Omniczech: This one just cycling is a pretty solid alt mode, but yeah, the body is pretty lackluster in the great scheme of things outside of just being a big old dummy.
Solset: Sneaking an extra cantrip into a blue deck sounds pretty nice to me. Also giving blue some bigger bodies to play with continues to help the UG identity. I am still middling about this cycle, but this inclusion is worth more consideration.
JaySherman: Not much to add to what is already covered. I think it could play fine and I would probably play it in any defensive blue deck but I prefer to cube with cards that enable other synergies, like graveyard (reanimating Riverwinder, delve, etc).
RED
Usman: Generally, this card worked best in board states where the board could be controlled well, so that you could have this emulate OG Kari Zev. I can totally see this getting in 3+ damage even in non-durdle games, with enough board control.
Neveron: Three toughness and menace makes it just hard enough to kill that it becomes a reliable token generation in a color that loves to either go-wide or sacrifice things for value. You need three blockers to prevent all the damage. It’s got synergies all over the place.
Omniczech: Usman’s comparison to Kari Zev is kinda where I was approaching this card from. It’s a pain to block so it probably just gets in for more damage than it looks like it would and also offers a decent defensive body if necessary.
Solset: Menace is great in a color that already pushes towards go-wide and the endless tokens with their own sacrifice outlet should feed our RB aristocrats well. I think this is fantastic for us, but we just need to find a darling to cut.
JaySherman: Nothing to add, this is just great in most of our red decks.
Usman: I want to say that this is one of the better multi-pump effects, since it has a pretty decent fail state mode if you’re wanting to draw into something that would make a board state. Wouldn’t be surprised to be this cast at EOT in some grindy games in game 1!
Neveron: Having to pay three mana for the impulsive draw hurts a bit, but given that it’s also stapled to blasting a player for four damage (or saving your creatures, or killing their creatures) I’m fine with it. Compare… I don’t know, Pursue Glory?
Omniczech: I think this is the second one in this mold of “pump 2 things or other red effect” and I really dig this idea for a genre of card. I’m not sure if this is the one but “Quick Study or combat trick” feels like a pretty solid option.
Solset: This is much worse than the true anthems in a dedicated go-wide deck, but we currently run duplicates of Wrenn's Resolve and Reckless Impulse. This being both an instant and having an alternative mode that wins games, makes me want to try it there.
JaySherman: I really like this one! Not that much different to Wrenn’s Resolve if you cast it at the end of turn, which by itself makes it defendable. The other mode, while not having as high a ceiling as a full team pump, is still decent as a combat trick (+toughness is rare in red and it plays well with a recent addition in Tenth District Legionnaire, and any future “heroic” effects we might get to include).
Usman: I think I like how this is a fine “discard, draw 2” effect, but I just get mid vibes from it. Might be from the dragon side being an underwhelming dragon.
Neveron: A 3/3 flyer is, surprisingly, on the larger end for red commons. This guy’s direct competition is Thriving Skyclaw, Young Red Dragon, and Furnace Whelp, so I think having the alternative mode be a Tormenting Voice makes it perfectly fine - that’s long been a playable card!
Omniczech: I think this is firmly in the camp of “modality doesn’t always make up for missing on power level” for me. The omen half is a card we’ve had multiple version improving on and the creature is likewise not cutting edge or remotely close.
Solset: This one doesn’t break the mold for me of being decent, but iffy in terms of power. I will say that if one of these is looking to get in, I will warm up on the rest of the cycle. Both from a “symmetry makes brain go brrr,” but also from a play experience one. Having Omen on a single card when there is lots of adventure is likely to cause more memory issues than it is worth.
JaySherman: Very underwhelming, and even in the set with dragon synergies it wasn’t played much. A flying creature with haste is nice, but the rate on this is pretty low. As mentioned, Tormenting Voice is playable but nothing to write home about.
GREEN
Omniczech: A functional reprint of a card already in the cube, I’m not sure if I’m of the opinion we need two of this exact same effect and I’m not seeing any appeal to swapping for swapping’s sake.
JaySherman: We don’t need both but it wins over Voracious Varmint if you want to remove a cowboy hat from the cube though.
Usman: I’m… whelmed by this functional reprint. Don’t think it’s powerful enough/glue enough to be worth another.
Neveron: This is one of those “choose this alternate card if you’re a cat person” situations, like with Wary Thespian/Wary Watchdog.
Solset: Wow have we come a long way from Viridian Zealot being good rare. I think having two of these are fine in terms of power levels, but we do tend to prioritize variety over functional reprints when possible.
Usman: Honestly, I kinda dig this - it has decent power stats with trample and does a thing from the graveyard, which isn’t bad all things considered. I think this gets there.
Neveron: This is a card where the two toughness makes it into a bit of an edict, but maybe you’re alright with this ending up in the yard anyhow? I like this as an honorary cousin of Dragon Fangs and Talons of Wildwood.
Solset: As much as I like graveyard synergies, I just don’t know if a 4/2 is where I want to be in Green. Without some mechanic that cares about 4 power, this just feels bad when it will trade down on mana most of the time.
Omniczech: I don’t know if I’m as big on this one as some others, but I also don’t hate it enough to try and argue against it.
JaySherman: A 3 mana, 4 power creature with trample is exactly what some green decks want. Sure, it will trade sometimes, if you don’t have some way of buffing it, but it will be while pushing damage. And making another one of your creatures bigger and deadlier (since the counter gives trample) is not just random graveyard value, it’s right on plan for aggressive decks. Finally, I think it’s great to diversify what kind of cards we give to each color so that not all cards are something every single deck of that color would play.
Usman: Functional duplicate of Blanchwood Prowler and almost one of Town Greeter. This could be used to reinforce some themes of self-mill. Filler-tier otherwise.
Neveron: Yet another “if you’re a dog person, use this alternative card” card. Another alternative is Circle of the Land Druid, which digs one deeper but can eventually return a land you didn’t mill this way.
Solset: I have been wanting to see Blanchwood Prowler get in for a while, and this is absolutely the case where I am ok with a functional reprint. I am hopeful we can find room for at least one of these graveyard-counter-big mana glueguys.
Omniczech: I’m also a fan of including a bit more self mill and this or Prowler seem pretty reasonable.
JaySherman: I agree with all of the above. As I said recently about Prowler in one of Solset’s Favorites Friday threads: self mill and counters and a bear and fixing. I would like to have one of the two added.
Usman: Although I’ve been meh on a lot of the Omen dragons, I think the Lay of the Land omen does some heavy lifting as a fail state for when you don’t need an Angel of Mercy. Main concern is that it may not be beefy enough, but I like its play spread enough to think this can work.
Neveron: This essentially has Basic Landcycling G, which basically just makes this an MDFC and thus gets to be a sneaky 24th card in your deck. It’s a bit of a shame that it can’t be reanimated, but maybe you’ll draw it again later. Also, green flying!
Omniczech: I guess this one might be the one that pulls me kicking and screaming out of the “lay of the land isn't a good alt mode”. This being akin to the land cyclers in LTR and eventually getting the big mana mode again anyways is actually maybe just good enough I can't deny it any longer.
Solset: I am big fan of cards that are almost dual faced lands and this fits the bill. This omen on any of the other bodies we have seen so far would get me excited. So I am still iffy on the cycle, but this is the one that crack the door for the others.
JaySherman: To me, this one is the best of the cycle, for all the reasons detailed above, and because it fills a role we don’t have much of in green: the midgame stabilizing play. Yes, we have cards like Bramble Wurm, Generous Ent or Annoyed Altisaur, but sometimes you just need a bit of life against aggro or a creature that blocks small flyers profitably to reach the endgame. Additionally, it just makes sense making green excel at fixing, thus I would rather play this than another forestcycler.
Omniczech: This one is just BARELY above water in polling, but it’s getting very close to a fully playable naturalize. I’m not sure the exile cantripping is enough to get there for me, but it’s closer than I would have thought.
Usman: This is the closest we’ll likely see for a playable Naturalize effect for our world. My gut thought is that there aren’t enough targets to make me want to play it, but the virtual cycling is something. But, in a way, it’s mostly emulating Wilt which ain’t that great.
Neveron: It’s Return to Nature but with a secret cycling mode that notably _doesn’t_ require a card in the yard (it’s “up to one”). Is that good enough to be a mainboardable sideboard card? Eh.
Solset: Give me the Undergrowth Leopard over this any day…except when I was beat by a Retrofitted Transmogrant that came back like 4 times. That day, Heritage Reclamation might win. Still, I think this is just too reactive for our green.
JaySherman: As we add more and more cards like that infamous Transmogrant, a single-card exile effect can become playable, but for now I rather have graveyard hate that hits more cards (if possible), and regarding Naturalizes I prefer them on-a-stick. It’s not embarrassing but I don’t think it’s enough.
Final Fantasy
WHITE
Usman: When I saw this summon, I was a big fan. I’ve been trying out a bunch of Final Fantasy cards in my own cube, and found that, as Chord_O_Calls had said, there’s a big difference between the 3-chapter Saga Creatures and the 4-chapter ones, since you get another attack out of it. The way that I found that the Saga Creatures play out was that they were mostly immediate spell effect, and secondary creature - and it feels like, at least before the set gets played en masse - that they’re being viewed as primarily temporary creatures, even if the common ones are less powerful (ofc) than their rare counterparts.
That said, I really like this one. Has a decent immediate effect, represents a lot of damage for go-wide decks and punches decently well on its own.
Neveron: I think this getting the +1/+0 immediately, rather than having to wait to swing with it, gives it an edge over your average Perimeter Sergeant effect. That this summon just evaporates on turn 6 is a bit of a shame, but I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that if it didn’t it would be a turn 4 removal magnet.
Solset: This card looks fantastic to me. While this isn’t quite a static anthem. Most games, I think you swing with the 3/3 into 2/2s as many opponents will be reluctant to trade for a card that is going to die soon anyways. That is a great play pattern for a deck looking to swarm the ground.
Omniczech: This just seems like a card that’s huge headache to be on the other side from as you’re either dying quicker or trading down a bit, which end of day I think means it’s worth playing.
JaySherman: This is so perfect for go-wide decks that I’m going to ignore that awful looking (#subjective) layout. I think it would be playable even if it had only 3 chapters, so having the possibility of a second attack/forcing a trade (to deny you another team buff) pushes it over the top. Most likely it won’t be a turn 3 play but if it is pumping 3 creatures I’m happy.
Usman: Usually these kinds of “if you control a boatload of creatures, do a thing” don’t work out and I’m honestly unsure if this gets there either, but maybe it’s just seeing big number when combined with an aspirational goal which isn’t that hard to hit. It’s nice with Mobilize too, even if there aren’t a ton of creatures with the mechanic which do much for me.
Neveron: Honestly, I’m just surprised that we got an actual Giant Growth With Set’s Mechanic at common. Or, well, a white For the Family. All the other one-mana Jump Scare cards never actually go beyond +2/+2.
Solset: I think a few more combat tricks would improve our play experience, and this will do a Fireblast impersonation a reasonable amount of the time in the Boros deck. I am tentatively positive on this for us.
Omniczech: I would much rather find an option that does things other than just “make very big” as far as combat tricks for white go personally.
JaySherman: I don’t think this is what we need as combat tricks in white, unless we make other swaps to support the style. I rather have a cheap protection spell or a more expensive combat trick that leaves behind something (a +1/+1 counter, Auspicious Arrival, etc).
BLACK
Omniczech: This is just better than Ransack the Lab, full stop. If we want only one of these effects, it should be this one.
Usman: Flashback! It costs a lot but the flashback is definitely real on this one. May push it over the top for inclusion in black value decks, even if it may not happen in all games.
Neveron: Flashback is obviously mostly just (literal) flavor text for this, but note that this cube once played Moan of the Unhallowed. Also, unlike most “this is just flavor text in our cube” mechanics, this one isn’t really additive distraction.
Solset: Straight upgrade to Ransack so it should make it in. On the plus side for any Final Fantasy haters, you can just pretend the art is Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
JaySherman: Strict upgrade over Ransack the Lab, sure, but hear me out: what if instead of playing a bad Malevolent Rumble (with or without flashback) we cut it for something that mills more, or gives you more cards or even something else entirely?
Omniczech: I know this doesn't fit with any black decks we generally try to support but it's a really neat card. This making every creature a “spells matter” payoff is really interesting to me and I think there's something worth giving a shot here.
Usman: Honestly, I like this as being “just a Firebrand Archer” that can do the living weapon thing and go onto something else if there’s nothing better to do. It even gives a small power boost, which I wouldn’t have expected, which isn’t too awful for 3 mana. Base rate of being a 2/1 makes this have good potential.
Neveron: I think this is a good card. I’m not sure that it’s got a home in our cube, although given that decks are typically multicolor and black runs a lot of noncreature removal it very well could just slot right in.
Solset: While we don’t go out of our way to support an archetype outside it’s color combination, it is great when a card that stands on its own merits can do that. I am not sure that Black Mage’s Rod is good enough here, but I love how it might interact with the cube.
JaySherman: I wouldn’t be interested if we hadn’t made the push for aggressive black decks last update, but I think it fits perfectly there, and as mentioned above, black has lots of noncreature spells anyway.
Usman: On the other hand, this just feels like way too much mana for an edict. Maybe this is more of a Fleshbag Marauder but Fleshbag seems so much better.
Neveron: We’ve come a long way since recommending Violet Pall as the budget alternative to Predatory Nightstalker, but “removal with a body” is still very unusual at common. Fleshbag et. al. are obviously better once you’ve got something to sacrifice to it, but I think cards like this are worth keeping in mind.
Omniczech: I really like reading this a bit more as an edict with either a bolt or a discard attached. Either they use removal to get the little pinger gone or it'll just sort of get incidental value off spells you're already playing. I think this is reasonable but the community isn't super high on it either.
Solset: I think this is much better than it looks as our black has the tools to control the board state from having too much clutter through the various black mini wraths. I won’t push hard for the inclusion since the community seems iffy, but I’d be happy to shuffle this up.
JaySherman: I think 3 mana for an edict is just too much, and it even costs double pips. It will be awkward to play, and while it is a removal with a body, it mostly qualifies on a technicality since an 0/1 is not much of a board presence.
Usman: I used to run a sacrifice package in my (now defunct) pauper cube but over time it felt like it just wasn’t doing enough to justify its inclusion - things like Nantuko Husk didn’t do much on their own and were subject to combat trick blowouts. In theory, I like this more because of its body being pretty good on rate and doesn’t necessarily require a sacrifice package, but gives decks a way to “cycle” away junk.
Neveron: This is a fun one. The body is legitimately pretty good even without the activated ability - this is competing with Midnight Assassin for its little niche of flying deathtouchers. The ability is something you only use when you’ve held up mana for something else you didn’t need, I think, or as a way to get some minor value out of a creature that’s going to die anyway.
Solset: Aristocrats has been quite successful in our cube. It usually works with an aggressive RB “Plan A” having lots of reach to close out games but with the ability to pivot to a “Plan B” of value. I think this body and ability are way too expensive for the aggressive “Plan A” so most decks are going to leave this one in the board. Pass
Omniczech: I think that the base rate of “this probably chips in for 2 every turn unimpeded” is something some decks already want to play and while it’s a bit below rate, it turning any outclassed body into an admittedly expensive card feels good to me.
JaySherman: I don’t think we want this. The sacrifice ability is just too expensive to be relevant in most games and as a flyer is understated/overcosted. It won’t attack freely since it will trade with basically any flyer in the cube, so deathtouch is also mostly flavor text, except on defense. And at that point we could have cheaper cards.
Neveron: I’m not sure that this one goes in the cube, or even is particularly good, but as a long-time fan of Feign Death effects I like when one gives you extra modality. In this case the change to power and toughness happens _before_ the creature dies and returns, not after, so you can do some sneaky Ninja of the New Moon-esque shenanigans by making an unblocked creature a 7/2. That’s a lot of damage!
Solset: I like this idea, but 2 mana is just so much more to ask for trinket modality when cards like Supernatural Stamina already play the role of “pump and scam” for half the price. Maybe this opens up a discussion about it over two of the existing ones that add a counter.
JaySherman: This is a hard pass for me. I also love Feign Death effects but their utility comes from the fact that keeping a single mana open is easy to do, and you get a bigger creature in return so you don’t need to save your best one, just invalidate the opponent’s removal or traded creature and win on mana. The potential for lots of damage is cute, but it also has the potential of making your already big creature into something smaller that won’t trade unless you spend even more mana.
RED
Usman: I’d seen some talk about this in the discord about it being a very solid card and do agree that it’s gonna be a good Kiln Fiend variant. My only gripe is that it equipping for 3 is a pretty big ask without having something to (initially) show for it, which I found to be annoying in my own cube, but I’m sure that’ll matter less here. Still, I love it, since it triggers off of all non-spells, which is awesome for the sneaky “non-creatures which are actually creatures” we see.
Neveron: I think it’s the three-mana equip should probably be thought of as casting a Crackling Cyclops or whatever - it’s a way to be able to keep your “kiln fiend” on the board even if all you’ve really got is a 1/1 goblin token. It’s definitely something that’s more likely to matter in grinder games, but being able to build-your-own-Wee Dragonauts has some appeal.
Omniczech: I’m a pretty big fan of the idea of “every creature can be a Kiln Fiend” as a way to keep pressure going and make sure that even boring tokens in the mid to late game merit some quantity of respect. This isn’t even remotely in the same realm of effectiveness as Colossal Dreadmask for “everything’s a threat” but it does help.
Solset: I think this is easily better than firebrand archer the majority of the time. First, people are not going to want to trade with the 1/1 token compared to archer, and second it is much more explosive. The extra equip lets the izzet deck turn all those random flyers into Wee Dragonaut when games are drawn out and is not too prohibitive at 3 mana. If the community was higher on this, I’d say it is a slam dunk. With its current polling, it will be a much bigger discussion.
JaySherman: I really like how this bridges the gap between “Izzet blitz” style decks that would run a Kiln Fiend and all of our spells that create tokens for go-wide decks, which usually you wouldn’t use much there since you had the fiend. But now you can make the tokens cosplay as it once the main body is dead! It won’t be a star but it is a good roleplayer.
Usman: Honestly, pound-for-pound, I like Plated Geopede more than this. Much harder to block, has first strike, has a higher ceiling. The only area where it falls below ol’ Geopede is its floor but I think it’s worth it. Compared to things like Firebrand Archer, I want to say it’s better in a generalist aggro deck but worse in decks that can maximize spellcasting. Not really feeling this over our current red aggro options.
Neveron: Notably this effect was previously only at four mana with Cosi's Ravager and Spitfire Lagac. I think it might be worth keeping in mind as we rapidly increase our fetchland density, especially given that this completely circumvents blockers. Also, of course, it’s really funny with Wildfire Elemental.
Solset: There are so many 3/x for two mana that I like better than this including as Usman points out, the Geopede. Easy pass for me.
Omniczech: I don’t see this one getting there, though I do generally like anything that lets red decks chip in for the last few points and this making lands not an automatic dead draw late game is appealing.
JaySherman: If you’re consistently hitting landdrops you’re probably not the red deck that cares about a single point of damage. It might be useful if we reconfigure the cube to run more cards like Wildfire Elemental (Spectacle, Bloodthirst, etc) but as it is I think it falls short.
Usman: Using the “spell first, creature second” view, it looks all right as a rummager. Gives me “Fable at home” vibes, in a good way, and although I don’t see the latter chapters’ mana mode mattering much, it’s free! Might be more for the bigger red decks, though (not a bad thing.)
Neveron: Honestly, I’m not sure that this survives to see the third chapter let alone get sacrificed by the fourth - but if it does, perhaps that ramps your red deck somewhere impressive.
Solset: Without something like madness or storm in your red, I’m not sure this summon packs enough heat to make your main deck most of the time. Hard pass.
Omniczech: I like the looting being just free and as an etb I just don’t love the 3 mana 3/2 body with upside as much as I once did.
JaySherman: Can we reconsider The Modern Age // Vector Glider instead? It also loots twice and doesn’t die by itself. Jokes aside, I’m really interested in adding cards for bigger red decks and not only for full burn/small go-wide aggro decks, but I don’t think this one has the right stuff.
Usman: I don’t see the last chapter being a commonly used thing but being a split of Shock/Lightning Blast a creature ain’t bad to represent multiple axes of interaction, even if it may be clunky. The base rate of a creature shock might just be good enough.
Neveron: The third tier is bombastic and basically reads “destroy target creature”, which is appropriate given its Scour from Existence-sized mana cost, but otherwise I think this is probably just fine? Compare Shivan Fire, which asks you to spend _five_ mana for four damage.
Solset: I think I would take almost any of the 3 damage for two mana options that also go the face over this. I’m not interested.
JaySherman: I don’t mind as much red burn that doesn’t go face if it’s interesting in other ways, like Abrade. For example, I liked the addition of Galvanic Discharge even though it doesn’t hit face, since it opened cube design space with energy, while also being so efficient. This is neither, it’s just a bad removal that you can kick up to a decent removal and an impossibly expensive good removal option. There’s a reason we’re not playing Shivan Fire 😛
GREEN
Usman: Out of all of the “6 mana, do a thing and get a big body”, I like this most of all of our options aside from Dreadmaw Mask, since it tramples, gains life, is big and has a way to get value out of it if need be. Forestcycling for 2 ain’t great but it’s something.
Neveron: While there’s a lot of obvious cards to compare this to, the most obvious are probably Slavering Branchsnapper and Timberland Ancient. Taking the basic Colossal Dreadmaw formula and adding Honey Mammoth and Wirewood Guardian to the stew makes it a bit more palatable, I think… although we also just got a Bramble Wurm downshift for This But More.
Omniczech: I think I’d be more inclined if we weren’t already running Generous Ent as a big goober that gains life and forestcycles.
JaySherman: I like this card, the full package, but consider 1) Sagu Wildling // Roost Seek covers much much better the “find a land” mode, ties in life gain and is better at defense, and 2) Migrating Ketradon is better at defense and life gain, and it has a strictly different cheap mode (which I think counts as a positive).
Solset: I am wanting one more forestcycler, but I think all of the options we are relatively sidegrades without a clear winner. Hopefully the Balamb gives us the chance to really weigh our options if we want one more.
Neveron: Puns aside, this is a significant cost deduction over the last time we saw this effect in Polliwallop or arguably Bite Down on Crime. Two mana for a bite has long been the standard, bar Modern Horizons 3’s Horrific Assault, so on a very basic level the unkicked version of this card is playable. What makes this interesting, however, is the synergies introduced by bouncing a land: Mystic Sanctuary comes to mind as does landfall, of course, but if you have no lands in hand and haven’t played a card then the kicker is secretly a one-mana refund.
Usman: I like this less than the 1-mana things and generally I’m mid on fight/bites that cost 2 since they’re just so bleh compared to other colors’ removal. Kicker helps though, to make it more guaranteed. I’d say it mainly depends on how much we _want_ another of this for green.
Solset: With the options we have, if a fight/bite spell costs 2 mana, I need it to reliably do something more. Proliferate, ramp, modality, something. There are scenarios where this kicker makes it matter like Neveron said, but if you are in green playing a fight spell and your creatures aren’t already bigger, you need to reconsider your life choices.
JaySherman: I think the dream of a soft lock with Mystic Sanctuary is great, but as everyone has said it lacks a little bit of punch.
Usman: A meat and potatoes green Ponder-style effect in green, similar to Oath of Nissa in cubes with rares. Green cards like this usually don’t get artifacts but hitting creatures and having the fail safe of land has made it a solid role-filler - a quiet performer but one that helps decks tick. Meme potential aside, a solid card.
Neveron: There’s definitely going to be cases where this misses due to the top three cards all being instants, sorceries, or enchantments, but in a green deck I feel like this probably ends up just being “choose the best 1 of 3” most of the time. It’s not Preordain, but it’s a distant cousin and I prefer it to e.g. Elven Farsight.
Solset: Yeah, with Elven Farsight not hitting lands, it was an easy pass. Since Commune with Beavers should help you make land drops it should be much more consistent. Still Cantrips take precious space in a cube, and unless the color cares about cantrips or the cantrip itself triggers something else, I think it will be hard to cut business cards for this in Green.
JaySherman: This looks good enough and I wouldn’t complain, but I think I prefer something like Seed of Hope even though it sees one less card.
Usman: Normally, I heavily dislike 3-mana green ramp because it’s slow and doesn’t impact the board, playing into weaknesses against blue decks that can stymie development and requires taking off a turn to play these. Being an instant and having some actual board presence via a +1/+1, making it a combat trick, gives this some potential, in my book.
Neveron: The “or Town card” flavor text is going to trip some people up, but otherwise this is a cheaper (and smaller) version of Fertilid's Favor and I’m curious to see if the counter synergies and combat trick make it worth being three mana.
Solset: Between this and Champion of Dusan, Usman seems to have a thing for 3 drops that support counter synergies. I do not. In a set that cares about landfall where this can trigger things on your opponent's turn, I think this will be fine. I think for us, by the time you have the mana to make use of the “trick” side of this card, you likely don’t need lands, and if you play it early when you need lands, you are barely affecting the board on turn 3. At least Dance of the Tumbleweeds gets any of our deserts and makes a huge creature late game.
JaySherman: 3 mana ramp spells are useful mainly for decks that really want to do the ramp thing, and usually those decks won’t have a good use for the counter anyway. Proactive decks, with or without counters synergies, will surely prefer any other more efficient spell. Currently we run 18 green ramp cards (counting Hickory Woodlot and things that create Eldrazi or treasures) plus 10 more between colorless and multicolor, I’m not looking to add more. And I don’t think this one’s better than anything we’re currently running (or even cards we’re not running like the aforementioned Dance of the Tumbleweeds).
OTHER
Usman: Although this looks like trash compared to Smuggler’s Copter, I still think that this isn’t that bad as a colorless card (I like this much more than the giant) that acts as glue for beatdown decks - a buff of +1 power and flying isn’t too bad either.
Neveron: It’s no Looter Scooter, that’s for sure, but nothing below Rare would be. Also, note that the difference between Crew 1 and Crew 2 is _massive_.
Solset: Evasion and looting seems like a strong compliment to a go-wide deck looking to close out games. I want to see how this does in the go-wide decks of its own limited format, but I think it might be good enough here.
Omniczech: Echoing others, bad copter is still a copter, I think this is one worth trying, if that crew 2 just proves to be too much, then it’s not something that’ll be missed.
JaySherman: I think 3 mana and crew 2 is too much for too little here, but evasion is interesting and I can see it being playable, I would be up for testing it.
Usman: It’s big, it… punches? It… costs 7? I think this falls under the artifact glue thing where I don’t know if many decks actively want this, but may just play it if it comes down to it. I’m not going to go to bat for it, though.
Neveron: It’s definitely one of the scariest colorless things you can do with lots of mana - the interaction between vigilance, reach and trample is pretty great. The current contenders for the Big Colorless Creature slot it would want are Ulamog's Crusher and Shardless Outlander, with notable non-cube candidates being cards like Maelstrom Colossus, Rust Goliath, and Thundersteel Colossus. Out of the current batch I think the Outlander has enough reanimation synergy to stick around, so it’s mostly just down to whether the must-attack annihilator 2 beats the one mana cheaper swiss army knife that is the Iron Giant.
Solset: I think big ramp targets need to have at least one of 3 things for us: (1) early alternative modes, (2) resiliency to spot removal, or (3) a “fun” factor. I don’t think the giant ticks any of those boxes enough, and I hate it having the noun Giant in its name but not creature type. .
JaySherman: I don’t think this is better than our current options.
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