Introduction
Welcome to the Gatecrash cube update where depression meets high fashion! Gatecrash is a little less exciting overall for cube than its predecessor, Return to Ravnica. However, that doesn't mean that we don't get any new and interesting goodies to play with. One of the things I wanted to accomplish with this set was to upgrade a few of the weaker guilds that were not in Return to Ravnica and therefore are lagging behind in playable cards. I feel this was accomplished even though the total number of cube-able cards may be a little bit less. Just like with last time, I will discuss the cards that are getting replaced as well as the exciting new additions. I will also cover any cards that missed the cut but I feel warrant discussion. Note that I will discuss a lot of cards I didn't end up adding. The reason for this is twofold. First, writing it out helps me make sure I made the correct decision. Secondly, this serves as my review of the set for cube as well as my cube update and that means talking about any card that even warrants discussion. As always your feedback is much appreciated so if you feel I got something wrong or you just want to rave about how awesome I, or my cube, are just let me know. And without further adieu...
White
In Out
I was unsure about the quality of the two Knights from Magic 2013 when they were originally released. I tested
Knight of Infamy because black was a little weak in aggressive two-drops and it has been quite impressive every time it has been played. The protection is a minor bonus but the exalted has been more relevant than I thought it would be at first. Also...the casting cost is so sweet! Knowing these things, Knight of Glory seemed like an obvious addition to support my white aggro plan.
Archon of Justice was clearly the weakest of the curve toppers in white as it doesn't really support aggro or control really well and wasn't a high pick in draft. White has plenty of way to deal with permanents and it doesn't need a conditional one that doesn't support any particular archetype otherwise. I am totally okay trimming the curve a little bit and adding another quality two-drop that doesn't have WW as its cost.
In Out
Blade Splicer was a card I have wanted to include for a couple of sets now and just haven't. At first I wasn't sure how good it would be because it is partially reliant on a 1/1 that doesn't attack or block. Now, with the inclusion of a couple of more blink cards, I believe it is definitely good enough. The 3/3 body you leave behind in the event that they kill your useless 1/1 (let's be honest if they have to waste a removal spell on that it's a win/win) is not bad at all especially for only 3 mana.
Fiend Hunter was a card I was excited about because it was an early drop that both aggro and control decks would like but in reality, aggressive decks don't want to attack with it and defensive decks don't want to block with it. As a 1/3 that you never want to trade off it doesn't do either terribly well. I've never been a big fan of the
Faceless Butcher mechanic in cube anyway since removal is so plentiful.
In Out
Flickerwisp has a lot of utility because of all of the CITP effects that are in cube. For a long time I was just scared away by the casting cost and the fact that I didn't think the ability was worth that amount of mana. Then, at some point, I realized I was paying 1WW for a 3/1 flier and a really decent ability which, in an aggro deck, allows your attackers to get in past would be blockers. It also has utility late whether it be resetting an enchanted creature, untapping a permanent or resetting something with counters on it...you know, like planeswalkers (which will reset the loyalty counters, not kill it).
Whitemane Lion serves a similar function but at instant speed, allowing you to respond to enemy spells. I really like this creature a lot but it is less aggressive than Flickerwisp and it never gets drafted by anyone other than myself. Even then, it's usually worse than the other cards in my deck and it gets left in the sideboard.
Didn't Make the Cut
Neither of these creatures are good enough for cube without their respective abilities. This means that in order for them to be cube-worthy they will need to have their abilities function on nearly every turn in which it would be in play.
The earliest one could reliably expect Boros Elite to trigger Battalion is on turn four. When this happens you are getting a vanilla 3/3 attacker at the steep cost of playing a creature that cannot attack or block well until that point. Even then it is only if you attack with three or more creatures in a single turn. There are many scenarios where you may not want to or cannot do this without trading or losing creatures in the process. Even in the best case scenario (attacking turn three with a creature with haste) this is well below the curve. In order for Battalion to be profitable it must be on a creature that is already reasonable or it must have a very significant effect. This card is neither.
Syndic of Tithes, as a vanilla grizzly bear, is not very impressive. Even adding extort does not improve him much. Extort is good in two situations. The first is late in a grindy game as a source of repeatable advantage or as a tacked on cost to your existing spells. One mana is very significant in most cases, especially in an aggro deck. If you are using the extort you aren't casting a creature on curve, or are casting a sub-par one. Neither situation is ideal. Extort on a control card is much more impressive but this is not that card. It's a grizzly bear.
Didn't Make the Cut
I cut
Blade of the Sixth Pride from the cube a while ago and I haven't really missed it. Attacking for three on turn three was nice but with no form of evasion it didn't end up actually doing a whole lot of damage. Daring Skyjek is the same card but gains flying off of Battalion. I don't trust Battalion to trigger enough to make that ability relevant and I don't really want to re-add another
Blade of the Sixth Pride.
Frontline Medic is interesting since its Battalion trigger is very powerful. Making all your creatures indestructible is a big game but if you can't get that going it doesn't have much left. The sacrifice ability will come in handy against some red and black mass removal but that's really only a couple cards. Like I said, I don't trust Battalion enough to believe that this will work out as planned.
Didn't Make the Cut
Angelic Skirmisher is a prime example between the difference between regular draft/sealed and cube. In Gatecrash limited this thing is a legitimate bomb but at six mana in cube, you need to give some sort of card advantage or actually threaten to win the game. Yes, she can give your creatures first strike, vigiliance or lifelink but I would feel much better about her if she gave your creatures flying. At that point in the game what you need is a way to kill a player, not irritate them in combat.
Blind Obedience provides a lot of value for only two mana. It allows your army to ignore incoming blockers while simultaneously hosing red decks that rely on haste. That said, I don't know when any aggro deck would want to spend a turn casting this. If you are casting this, then you aren't casting a creature or committing to the board. The extort is mostly gravy but doesn't really provide that much to the card since a lot of games are won through large swingy turns rather than incremental pings over time.
Didn't Make the Cut
Gideon, Champion of Justice falls victim to the planeswalker limit I have enforced, just like those that came before him.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant and
Gideon Jura excel in both the aggro and control decks that white pumps out while
Ajani Goldmane is also very efficient in the aggro and token decks. New Gideon will really only function as a creature as his ultimate will never actually fire off and his +1 might as well not even be there. He just isn't fun or interesting and I don't feel the need to look at that horrible art either.
Blue
Didn't Make the Cut
The next two mechanics are Cipher and Evolve and each has their own set of issues. Cipher requires a creature to survive long enough to get repeated hits in while evolve requires you to curve out favorably enough for continued counter triggers.
Hands of Binding has a powerful effect at a very inexpensive cost but is only good in an aggro deck as you need a creature to encode on. If your control creature hits your opponent several times it should be enough to win. This would be great on any evasive creature but the sheer narrowness of its applications is a little disappointing. Also, it would take several triggers for this to feel really worth while and whatever gets encoded is going to be a removal magnet.
Cloudfin Raptor is so close to being awesome. The problem is that while this is awesome on turn one when followed by consecutive creatures, it is awful when played literally any other turn in the game. In a singleton format it just isn't realistic to expect this on turn one consistently enough, especially when it is also bad on turn one if you fail to follow it up with more creatures!
Didn't Make the Cut
I have long been hoping I would see another cube-able two mana counter spell. Unfortunately, the condition for Spell Rupture to work isn't what it needed to be. This could potentially be a potent counterspell as most of blue's creatures will have two power and that would make this Miscalculation. At three mana it becomes Mana Leak. Anything above that is unrealistic and unnecessary. The problem comes because this is almost completely unplayable in non-tempo blue decks. Any sort of control build will not play this and that cuts off most of what blue does. Here's hoping the next one hits a broader base.
Black
In Out
Disciple of Bolas is another sweet little card that I glossed over during my Magic 2013 update. I was pretty convinced that having to sacrifice a creature was too detrimental to be used in combination with such a small body. In actuality, with black's ability to recur lost creatures or take control of opposing creatures (albeit that option is expensive) it really isn't that much of an obstacle when you look at what you are gaining. If you are able to draw two cards with this then it is worth it. Anything above that is just insane. Card advantage in cube is king and this supplies quite a bit, especially when you think about combining this with green. Gaining life is not irrelevant either as it is very good in black (with all the spells requiring life as payment) or against any number of aggro decks with are popular in my cube. Lastly, it is now the only card that costs a single B to cast at the 4 spot. Value!
Faceless butcher is nice but I am trying to move away from this effect in cube. Usually it's a little awkward as you don't want to attack or block with something when you are hiding a monster beneath it. Magical christmas land scenarios aside this is usually a decent drop but very rarely any more than average on the power scale.
In Out
Griselbrand does so much it's insane. At worst he draws you seven cards upon his arrival in response to a removal spell. If he can deal damage to anything it is usually game over because of the lifelink fueled card draw. Because I am boosting reanimator a little bit I wanted to add something that is amazing in reanimator while also being playable in a ramp deck. Griselbrand fits the bill.
Avatar of Woe is the most expensive card in black unless you use its alternate cost (which nobody is ever able to do). It's also totally inferior in most ways to Griselbrand and if I am ramping into something it had better draw me cards and kill someone. While it is totally sweet and I love this new graveborn art it just costs too much mana for something that has to untap to have a lasting effect. There are enough finishers in cube that are faster and more efficient, especially since this both wants to attack and sit back and destroy creatures simultaneously.
In Out
Okay, so when I said the ONLY creature, it was ONLY because I hadn't yet gotten to this one. Crypt Ghast is one that I am not sure about yet but I am cautiously optimistic. You aren't casting this guy for his body, that's for sure. However, doubling your mana is just so damn powerful that I have to try it out. You don't really need that many swamps for this to get out of hand and the extort is perfectly reasonable when you think of all the extra mana you will have. This is a cheap creature that demands immediate responses as it threatens so much if left unchecked.
Bane of the Living is a really sweet card but nobody ever played it. Black isn't exactly begging for this effect anymore and having to cast him face down was brutal. With so few morph cards it was obvious what you had pretty quickly which made it easy to play around. The element of surprise was what made morph powerful to begin with, take that away and you don't have much left.
In Out
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth will go a long way towards alleviating some of black's problems. So many of black's cards require multiple black mana to cast that it has become pretty difficult to play black unless it is your main color. Urborg (which does tap for black mana itself) makes all of your lands swamps which helps your mana in addition to being very friendly with a lot of black's cards that are swamp hungry. I would play this in almost every black deck as it just makes life a lot easier for you.
Liliana Vess is one of the weaker planeswalkers in cube as she rarely did more than act as a five mana tutor and damage sink. I was waiting for a better black planeswalker to be printed so I could replace her but I got tired of sitting on the pot. There is no reason why I should keep a sub-par card around while I struggle to look for cards to cut. Planeswalkers above all other card types need to be interesting and high quality since even a bad one is annoying to play against. My only regret is that I can't look at her hotness anymore.
In Out
Dance of the Dead is another in the line of reanimation spells. I have been wanting to make reanimator a little more consistant in cube for a while now and I think that adding cards like this will help. It may not be the most efficient (having to pay 1B to untap your creature) but being able to steal from any graveyard is cool and it is very cheap. An honsetly, most cases where you reanimate something you won't mind paying 1B to attack with it since it will probably be killing your opponent.
Grave Pact's mana cost scares some people off an even though it has a powerful effect I just don't see it get used. If it's not getting played with then it shouldn't be in the cube and I have seen this in a lot of sideboards. Just shaking things up
.
Didn't Make the Cut
Wight of Precinct Six is really close to being actually playable. The weird thing is that he is more of a midrange creature than an aggro one. He is pretty useless in the early game but come late game you are looking at a 3/3 or 4/4 for 1B...that is nuts. The problem is that if your plan on turn six is to drop a vanilla 4/4 you are probably behind. He needed to be a little quicker in order to work out.
Edicts are a lot weaker in cube than they would be elsewhere because you probably won't be able to kill what you really need to. You end up having to use them immediately on anything that resembles a threat just so they don't go to waste later on. They are especially bad against token decks. That said, I don't want any more edicts than I currently have so while this is actually very good it isn't as good as the edicts I already have so it doesn't get in.
Red
In Out
Wrecking Ogre is a really interesting card. It wasn't until my eleventy billionth time through the spoiler that this guy stuck out. Double strike is really, really strong....like really strong. Giving an attacking creature +3/+3 and double strike will win games. I guarantee this guy will kill someone out of nowhere. You cannot say that same thing about the card I cut for it and for that I applaud thee. Lastly, combat tricks are really underrepresented in cube and I like the idea of giving a couple just to keep people honest.
Kumano, Master Yamabushi has been a card I have been wanting to cut for a while now. It's not really terrible but it's not really that great either. The exile ability almost never comes into play and five mana is a lot for something like this. Red can do better.
Didn't Make the Cut
If Skullcrack hit creatures it would be amazing. Cube really needs flexible burn and while this counteracts lifegain (a real bonus) only targeting players is just not where I want burn to be.
Legion Loyalist is another Battalion creature that suffers from the same problems as those before it.
Raging Goblin is not good enough and that is what this guy will be most of the time. Even when he does trigger Battalion he will almost always die in that combat since he does not pump power or toughness. Add to that how many transient threats there are in red (
Hellspark Elemental) and you have a recipe for disaster. The only saving grace this guy has is that he is really good with equipment. Unfortunately in a cube my size you can't rely on that every draft.
Green
In Out
Experiment One is now one of the best one drops for green aggro decks. It only takes one creature for this to get to an acceptable size and it quickly gets out of hand after that. The regeneration clause is mostly a secondary ability that shouldn't come into play too much but is nice to have. This still isn't the best draw late but that's true about most one drops. The difference between this and
Cloudfin Raptor from earlier is that this only takes one creature to make it good while the raptor takes two. Green is also much more equipped to play larger creatures than blue is.
Tarmogoyf just isn't that great in cube. What makes it amazing in constructed is the ability to always have a fetch land in the graveyard on the first turn. You will usually have three other card types in the yard by turn three making him a very respectable 4/5 for 1G. Late game he just gets huge and is better in multiples. In cube, he will rarely be that big that quick and you are mostly looking at 3/4 a turn or two later than you would otherwise.
In Out
Okay, bear with me here. I get it that I am adding Pit Fight to the green section when it is red/green hybrid but hear me out. No red deck will want to play this...like ever. Okay maybe it will get played once or twice but for the most part this is a green mage's wet dream and a red mage will just wonder why it can't send it to someone's face. The ability for mono-green to have removal....and this is pretty good removal for what green tends to do...is huge. It's a unique ability that allow green a little more flexibility in its deckbuilding.
Let's be honest with ourselves. Nobody has ever played Summoning Trap in the cube unless they sideboarded it in. While it might be pretty sweet against blue decks it does literally nothing against anything else. I cut
Celestial Purge from the cube for the same reason and I stand by that. Less narrow sideboard cards in favor of all around good stuff.
In Out
I had originally added Gyre Sage (see below) in this spot but during the write up I realized that what a I really wanted was Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. I think green needed a little bit more ramp since I don't see it enough in drafts. Rofellos is one of the most powerful ramp spells in cube and will lead to some pretty crazy starts.
Returning two cards to your hand is sweet but five mana might as well be a million. You aren't going to be able to return and cast in the same turn and that makes it just too slow. I would much rather have the ramp than this, especially since we have some cheaper return options at our disposal if we find that we really need them.
Didn't Make the Cut
Gyre Sage is weird because I don't know if it wants to be aggressive and swing or rampy and tap for mana. In actuality I'm not sure it will be doing either really that effectively in cube. It will take a few turns of curving out for her to attack profitably or tap for mana. I have seen this being compared to
Werebear and I completely agree. I'm not sure I necessarily want a conditional Werebear on crack. The positive is that this card reminded me to add
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary which was the card I really wanted all along.
Boros
In Out
Boros Charm is so versatile it's ridiculous. Burn and aggro decks will love the 4 damage to a player while any Boros deck will like the indestructibility clause. Being able to dodge wraths will be huge for Boros since that is one of their biggest weaknesses. Double striking will come in handy in some cases but I see that being the least used of the three modes and mostly just gravy. I would just recommend holding this for when you are sure you need it because you will never be sad to see this in your hand.
I don't think a single person has ever casted Boros Swiftblade in my cube and I am okay with that. Boros used to be really low on playable gold cards...not anymore. Welcome to the new generation.
In Out
Aurelia's Fury is also incredibly versatile. There is definitely a number of scenarios where paying X for 0 or 1 is going to be correct. The damage is awesome but shutting off non-creature spells to allow your bomb to resolve is definitely relevant. Did you know this also taps the creatures it deals damage too?! It does so much! This is a gift wrapped alpha strike that forces your team down the throats of "stabilized" board presences. Not to mention it also prevents opponents from attacking and can pick off partially damaged creatures at will. So much utility.
Intimidation Bolt didn't really do anything that Boros wanted. Who cares if your opponent attacks you, you are probably winning a race if there is one. If not, you are doing it wrong. The creature removal here is just less effective than its replacement. All in all a solid upgrade.
In Out
Firemane Avenger the only Battalion card to make it in the cube. The reason for that is that it is a totally acceptable (if not super exciting) creature without triggering Battalion. The thing that really pushes it over the edge is the fact that you only need to trigger its Battalion once in order to gain a ton of value. Other creatures with Battalion require you to trigger it every round or they are much much worse. This is also a good draw at any step of the game, something that cannot be said of the other cards.
Master Warcraft was mostly a fun and quirky filler card that served as a pseudo finisher (all your guys are unblockable) or a board stabilizer (favorable attacks/blocks). Add in to that that nobody that drafted this ever played with it (for the most part) and the switch was pretty simple. That said, if one of my Boros cards is under-performing in the future, this is something to keep in mind.
In Out
Boros Reckoner will be happily played by either red or white mages and it should be a powerful option in any deck containing those colors. It's first strike ability allows it to be a powerful attacker or defender should the need arise while its damage ability is very threatening and is a nightmare for your opponents to play around. The casting cost is a little specific but you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is really, really powerful but unfortuantely is in the only combination of colors that doesn't want to wait for a 7 CMC creature and can't ramp to it either. While there are some control decks that run both white and red they are few and far between when compared to the other color combinations and usually also have another color to begin with. I can safely attest that if you get her in play she can win you the game in a hurry but getting there is just too hard for Boros to do consistently, especially when she is stone unplayable in the color combination's most common builds.
In Out
Aurelia, the Warleader is probably as expensive as any Boros deck will be getting but she is an awesome curve topper and could potentially end the game immediately. The mana cost isn't too friendly but I have confidence that you should have the requisite mana by turn six. Note that this isn't that much worse on later turns and is more reliant on good board presence than anything else.
Razia, Boros Archangel costs approximately one million mana. Even though she is pretty sweet when she does get on the board she is just too expensive for Boros.
Didn't Make the Cut
If Spark Trooper was mono-red then I would be all over this Ball Lightning variant. The only problem is that Boros just became one of the tightest guilds in the cube and when all is said and done...this is is just a Ball Lightning. Difficult to cast and less good on each turn later in the game. Four mana is a lot to pay for a creature that has one effect and goes away and I don't feel comfortable cutting one of the repeatable sources of advantage that Boros now has for it. In essence I have to ask myself do I want to pay W for lifelink and since that will only be good against certain decks I can safely say I won't miss this guy.
Dimir
In Out
Dustkmantle Seer fits right at home in any sort of aggressive deck as a curve topper that makes sure you don't run out of steam. In this case, the damage from his ability should be much more beneficial to you than your opponent. He is less good in a control build since your spells are more expensive but he is still a 4/4 flier for four which is insane. Also of note is that you are drawing the cards on your turn so you will have a chance to play yours before your opponents!
Psychatog is really underwhelming unless you are doing some sort of crazy combo with him. Since I took
Upheaval out of the cube I don't feel bad at all about cutting this little guy. He's not terrible but he really is just a resource user that you hope can't get killed in response. That was easy to ensure before but harder to justify now.
In Out
Dimir Charm is really, really versatile and actually has four abilities. While there are quite a lot of relavent sorceries in each color (okay, maybe not red so much) that you would want to counter that is not why you would play this card but an acceptable bonus option. The middle ability (destroying a creature) is really really good against every color since there are small creatures throughout every game with abilities that can make your life hell. Being able to deal with them is awesome. The last ability can be used to set you ahead or set your opponent behind and will probably be used the second most. Like the other charms, this will never be a dead card and will always give more than one viable option.
Consult the Necrosages is a similar card that just supplies fewer options. You draw cards or you make your opponent discard. Both are viable and relevant but more often than not I think I would rather have Dimir Charm as it can be reactive or proactive depending on the situation.
Didn't Make the Cut
Any time you have your opponent make a decision for you is one where you are getting the short end of the stick. Soul Ransom is not
Control Magic when you need it to be and neither is it
Divination when you need it to be. Instead, it will be whichever one of those happens to least wrecks your opponent. As much as I like the design it's just not right for cube.
Didn't Make the Cut
Mind Grind is a win condition that serves no function other than to mill. I moved away from mill a long time ago as a win condition in cube and I haven't regretted it at all. No matter how powerful this is it just isn't what I want to be doing in cube.
I really want to live the Nightveil Specter dream but I can't imagine being able to cast my opponent's spells consistently enough. That means that more often than not this will be a very hard to cast 2/3 flier which is just not good enough. While an awesome sideboard option, I don't think its reliable enough for the main and therefore not reliable enough for cube.
Gruul
In Out
Ghor-Clan Rampager is one of the most powerful additions to the cube this time around. Even without the bloodrush ability he is a very respectable body in a guild that really needed a little bit of help. The bloodrush ability will help push through damage and act as removal which is exactly what this guild wants to do. Like I said before, if I can add some combat tricks to cube I would like to do so but they must be versatile. This guy is exactly that.
Okay, raise your hand if you have ever played Scab-Clan Mauler in cube before. I see one hand...no wait they just put it down. Seriously this guy is so great if you get him working but if you don't then he sits in your hand and you feel bad about not being able to deal a damage. The difference between playing this guy on turn two and on turn three is significant and I am not going to miss him at all.
In Out
Flinthoof Boar is yet another Magic 2013 refugee that I looked over because I really wanted it to come into play on turn two with haste as a 3/3. However, this unrealistic expectation aside, this guy will be a 3/3 more often than not and the haste is a great bonus if you don't cast him on turn two. In fact...this guy is really sweet for an aggressive Gruul deck and I am sad it took me this long to see it. Consider this one amended.
When have you ever seen Blitz Hellion be more than a
Lava Axe? I guess there was the one time I drew him twice (never happened and you know it) or that one time where I sacrificed it before the end of turn to gain some sweet value (Ok, that one has happened once I think). Seriously though this will drop down and guarantee to do some damage to something. That said it's all this card can do and it isn't that fast or flexible. It's time to move on to better things.
In Out
Okay, I've gone back and forth so many times on Domri Rade that I feel ridiculous for still having not come to a complete decision about it. However, I am pretty sure that he is good enough for inclusion. When I originally read the card I thought you lost the top card if it wasn't a creature but it turns out you just leave it on top. That is significantly better since you aren't losing lands/spells if you need them. Repeatable card advantage for Gruul is very unique and it doesn't come at a great cost. That he doubles as removal (albeit sorcery speed) is very strong. His ultimate is a sure whatever good luck getting there but that's not taken into account for its evaluation. I don't think he is one of the better Gruul cards but I do want to try him out. One thing to note is that he is definitely a mid-range card as opposed to a hyper aggro one which will not want to take a turn off from playing creatures and pressuring the opponent.
Kessig Wolf Run seemed like a really great inclusion but as it turned out most of the decks it was in never really ran out of steam and needed a million mana for this to be relevant enough. I don't think it's bad I just don't think its good enough.
I don't think Skarrg Guildmage is quite right for cube although I do think he is a step in the right direction. He almost gives Gruul the reach it so richly deserves but he would be better suited for cube had he been able to go straight to the dome. The ability to animate the land is really the only playable thing on this card and that is only really exciting at eight mana. I think that if you have six mana in Gruul you can do better than make two of your lands creatures without evasion.
Clan Defiance is pretty cool as a jacked up
Branching Bolt but in the end that's really all it is. Most of the time this will kill one creature and dome a player for the same amount. I'm not sure that is better than the other cards Gruul can offer since red isn't really hurting for removal. In the end, this is a limited bomb that just misses the mark.
Didn't Make the Cut
I really like Burning-Tree Emissary but I just don't think it does enough to be included. My biggest concern with this is that you are actually spending a card to get a grizzly bear. Cards like this (add their own mana back into your pool) need to actually do something on their own and have the mana be a bonus. Here, the mana is really what you are excited about which means you are spending an entire card on a 2/2. Horrible topdeck and not great after turn two. Getting a free 2/2 is nice but I think the other cards I have in Gruul just do more and put more pressure on your opponent, which is what Gruul is all about.
Orzhov
In Out
Having played against Obzedat, Ghost Council already I can safely attest to its ridiculous bomb status. While the mana cost might leave you frustrated in some games his ability to completely dominate a game cannot go unmentioned. He (they?) are resilient to most removal and control effects since it probably won't be on the board during your opponent's turn. It will, however, be swinging for five immediately after draining them for two every turn. That really adds up and the life gain is appreciated in black. Even in the loaded Orzhov list this guy needs to be played.
Debtors' Knell is one of my favorite cards but it would be wrong to include it just because of that. The fact is, it's expensive, hard to cast and doesn't do as much as Obzedat will as quickly. I've enjoyed our time together my love but it's time to part. So long Debtors' Knell, may you find a casual deck to invade sometime in the near future.
Simic
In Out
Prime Speaker Zegana is awesome. Seriously awesome. Worst case scenario she draws you a single card and comes in as a 1/1. That's pretty abysmal for what she costs but let's be honest. It doesn't take very much for her to be insane. If you have a 3/x in play (very doable in G/U) you get a 4/4 that draws 4 cards...that is insane!! Magical christmasland scenarios aside she is already much better than the competition in the Simic guild. Easy inclusion.
Plaxcaster Frogling was largely a placeholder until Wizards printed something better so not much to say about this one. And there we are.
In Out
I think that Simic Charm has a lot of utility and will do a lot for Simic decks in cube. Being able to either bounce a creature or basically counter a removal spell or ability is a big time deal but I wouldn't ignore the pump ability either. This is never a dead card and will always be able to do something positive in any given situation....ok I guess it's bad if neither of you have any creatures in play...deal with it.
Snakeform was the greatest combat trick ever when it worked and the most frustrating cantrip ever when it didn't. Usually once you showed your opponent this it was just easily played around and blowouts were avoided. I like Simic Charm a lot more even though it doesn't draw a card.
Didn't Make the Cut
I waffled around with this one for a while before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't what I wanted to be doing in cube. The effect is super powerful and seems awesome but it completely relies on other cards to do any good. Think about it, are you blocking with this guy when your opponent is playing red? Probably not. It doesn't really attack very well either...in fact it will most likely act as an enchantment most games...one that is easier to kill. He is also one of the worst top decks ever if you are behind. Equipment dreams aside this guy needs too much to go right to work out profitably.
Conclusion
This was a better update than I was expecting at first...of course some of that is attributed to adding cards that had nothing to do with Gatecrash at all. Even so, I feel that each guild got at least one card that they badly needed while Boros went from one of the worst to best guilds in a hurry. My reanimation and ramp got a little better white got some shifting around that I feel is appropriate. I am excited to see what happens with Dragon's Maze as far as how much of it will be gold (gotta be some of it I would think). It's a small set so hopefully we can get a few good cards (or at least a few to talk about!)
As always, leave your comments/thoughts/concerns/gratuitous praise below and I will respond to every one.
Enjoy!
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