Hello all! Welcome to the Born of the Gods cube update. Born of the Gods has been a fantastically fun addition to the Theros limited environment but is a little lacking in the cube department. Seeing as how we have had so many successful sets in a row, I think we were due. Either way, I am excited about the cards that did get added, including a few from Theros itself that turned out to be a little better than they looked at first glance. Without further adieu, here are the newbies...
White
In Out
Brimaz is a very strong card, especially with any sort of token support (which this cube has) or anthem effects (which this cube has also). There really isn't too much to say that isn't already obvious about this card. It passes the vanilla test easily and is very difficult to block or attack through while bringing friends to play on either end. Very strong.
Mirran Crusader is one of the strongest three drops in white; especially if you are playing against a black and/or green deck. However, it is certainly also one of the least fun ones because of protection. I have been working towards getting rid of some of the cards that relied on protection to be functional and this is another one. Again, the reasoning behind this is that it just isn't fun to play against and it creates a really non-interactive game state against the right deck. Not cut for power reasons, just cut for fun reasons.
In Out
Daring Skyjek has gotten very good reviews in other cubes and I wanted to give it a trial run. The base stats are definitely suitable for cube and it has a very good ability if it can be turned on reliably. I was never confidant it could do that. However, with the token theme there is a good chance that that will happen more often than not. Worth taking a look.
Cloistered Youth wasn't really bad but it wasn't very exciting either. That, combined with the fact that flip cards are a little frustrating in cube when people don't know what the other side does and I don't think I will miss this guy. It is pretty good in the uber aggressive white builds but it loses steam elsewhere. I think it's the weakest two drop and I wanted to try out the Skyjek which is more flexible.
In Out
Unexpectedly Absent (in addition to being unexpectedly difficult to spell) is just a better version of what I was trying to accomplish with Soul Tithe. It answers any nonland permanent at a low investment and does so pretty efficiently. I have seen this card in the MODO cube used to good effect and I see no reason it shouldn't succeed in mine as well. In case you are wondering, it is from the Commander 2013 product, not an existing set.
Soul Tithe was pretty much exactly as advertised. That said, Unexpectedly Absent is just better. Soul Tithe dealt with troublesome permanents as long as they weren't about to win your opponent the game. The tough part is that if they were about to WIN YOUR OPPONENT THE GAME it obviously did nothing. This seems like a nice upgrade.
Didn't Make the Cut
Loyal Pegasus is another example of just how huge a drawback not being able to attack or block alone is. If a 2/1 flyer for one mana in WHITE isn't good enough with this ability then I don't know what is.
Spirit of the Labyrinth is a very sweet card against very specific strategies. However, against pretty much every non-blue deck (or weird combo deck that my cube doesn't support) it is just a 3/1 for two, and Blade of the Sixth Pride got cut a long time ago. Basically the ability is a little too narrow in addition to affecting yourself if you choose to be UW. There are better options.
In Out
Thassa has been completely ludicrous when she is in play and I definitely missed the boat with this one. It turns out that Scry 1 is not irrelevant and the blocking ability is only a little better than I had anticipated. Being indestructible is something that I didn't take into account but not being able to disenchant it is really very good. Because I am not convinced she will be a creature very often I am cutting a non-creature card for her.
Dream Leash hasn't exactly been bad but it's very slow as not only does it cost 5 but you have to get wrecked by whatever permanent you were waiting to steal in the mean time. Not bad but it hasn't been as exciting as it used to be.
In Out
The Bident has been shockingly efficient when I have seen it in play, enough so that I feel good giving it a shot in my list. The second ability has been much more relevant than I thought it would be and you really don't need to trigger the card drawing ability too many times to make it worthwhile. I think the first go around I thought this was win-more but it has played out much better than that.
Hidden Strings was a complete blowout the turn you cast it but every time it triggers after that it has been pretty much useless. Not being able to trigger until AFTER blockers takes away the reason it was good the first turn you cast it and it has really under-performed. I am looking forward to using the Bident in its place.
Didn't Make the Cut
Whelming Wave is a very underwhelming Evacuation. =D
Ok, seriously, even a one-sided Evacuation isn't good good enough, at one mana cheaper no less, when you take away the instant speed. There are better options.
In Out
Herald of Torment is a boon to black aggressive decks as a very nice three drop in the vein of Serendib Efreet, albeit one less toughness. However, it comes with a very nice Bestow bonus that can make any creature you have significantly more difficult to deal with. I really like Bestow because it allows you to have something left over should your creature get dealt with and is very strong against wrath effects.
Deepcavern Imp is a strange card because it fits into two camps. The first is the black aggressive decks that value the body. Those decks usually can't afford to discard a card since they need all of their valuable resources. The other is reanimator where the discard is awesome but the body is mostly irrelevant. Because of this it doesn't really do either one super effectively and I like the Herald as a better option.
In Out
Pain Seer is compared most readily to Blood Scrivener as they both have a Dark Confidant effect at a severely restrictive rate. I don't want both of these in the cube so the choice comes down to which one I think will trigger most often. In general, I think that Blood Scrivener is better as a late game top deck while Pain Seer is better on curve. Neither will trigger as often as Bob will, obviously, but I think having one effect like this is good. The other difference is that if your opponent drops a wall, you can just collide into it as often as you want with this and trigger its Inspired ability. Blood Scrivener sits there and stares at it.
Didn't Make the Cut
Gild doesn't actually do anything other than act as more creature destruction. Black doesn't need more creature destruction, especially expensive single target creature destruction. Oh, it makes a Gold token? Moving on to red!
In Out
Looking at red's one drops resulted in the same observation as looking at white's did last time. There aren't actually as many as I had thought as some of them are utility creatures as opposed to aggressive support. Jackal Pup is a strong one drop and red appreciates it's returned presence.
Goblin Diplomats was cute but red really wants two drops that actually deal damage as opposed to act as an enchantment/artifact. It has enough ways to get rid of annoying creatures especially since the ones it really would want to get rid of are walls with big toughness that can't attack anyway.
Didn't Make the Cut
I am pretty sure that Tribute is just not a cube-able mechanic. The cards and decks are good enough that one side is almost always going to be irrelevant since one of them is always "large french vanilla creature". I don't think this is a bad card but the four drops in cube are so strong that any replacements really need to be game-changing bonkers crazy all the time. That list is limited and this guy isn't on it.
In Out
Courser may not be able to ramp you like Oracle of Mul Daya can but don't let that fool you, this is a very strong centaur. Having a reasonable body that can interact in combat is a HUGE bonus when you look at Oracle which pretty much stays out of combat at all costs. Gaining life is not irrelevant and only costing 3 is exciting for decks that want to ramp into this on turn two. Green needs some more exciting three drops and this is a great start.
Great Sable Stag is bonkers against exactly Dimir. It is pretty much boring everywhere else. This is an exciting upgrade for all parties involved. Goodbye double protection!
Didn't Make the Cut
All of the multi-colored gods need to be good enough without being creatures for inclusion and Ephara isn't. Drawing cards is nice but this is an expensive way to get there. Oh, also Azorius competition is INSANE. I would rather add Sphinx's Revelation compared to this.
Didn't Make the Cut
Phenax is a near a ten on the Jace, Memory Adept scale of un-fun-ness. Yes that has been officialized. So has that word. Seriously, don't play this guy in limited if you want to keep your friends. It's not even fun to play with beyond the first game. Fun to DRAFT around but way too non-interactive for my cube.
Didn't Make the Cut
If I had one more spot available in Gruul I would probably add Scab-Clan Mauler. If I had a SECOND spot I would definitely add this. That said, I don't and I don't think it's necessarily that much better than the other options in Gold. Giant Solifuge should start sweating though as I am not particularly attached to it and it is the weakest of the Gruul options in the list IMO.
In Out
I wrote the explanation for why I wasn't going to include Mogis, got all the way to the end and then realized that it is probably better than Sarkhan the Mad. It is cheaper, gives Rakdos some great reach and is likely to be a creature in a dedicated Rakdos deck as a lot of those creatures are pretty mana symbol heavy.
Sarkhan did some nice work but it never really ran away with anything outside of the one deck where it fit with all of the Act of Treason effects. Not being able to throw counters on it is so flavorful but doesn't help its cause power level wise. Also, removing a planeswalker is rarely going to be argued against as keeping their limits low is important.
In Out
Fleecemane Lion is clearly strong enough for the cube as a Watchwolf with a huge upside. Sure, they might kill it in the meantime but if they don't, it's downright ridiculous and I don't know of any deck that wouldn't want to play that on turn two or late in the game with mana up.
The competition is fierce and I think the time has come where Loxodon Hierarch just isn't as good as the other options. It's more expensive and keeping mana up for the regeneration effect is a little debilitating.
God is ramping a boring effect for this god to have. I don't even care if it turns into a creature with any regularity. Also, Selesnya is insane and there is no way this is even close to the list when you look at what isn't included.
In Out
Kiora is the only planeswalker in Simic so there is a spot open for it. Luckily, she does exactly what the guild wants (ramping with card advantage) while also protecting itself and having a potentially game winning ultimate. Literally the only thing the card has that isn't good is the starting loyalty. One hit from anything will kill Kiora so maximizing her use is paramount. That said, she is cheap enough to be included and I look forward to using her in the future.
Coiling Oracle is super bonkers in constructed when you have multiples. It isn't bad in cube as much as its a ramp spell or card draw on a very irrelevant body. That is still pretty powerful but not as powerful as Kiora.
While Born of the Gods wasn't the most exciting cube update it did provide some really good things. Personally, I am most excited about the fact that every gold combination is stacked to the brim with powerful utility and there is a ton of room for customization. That was not possible before Ravnica Block and Theros has done a nice job of topping it off. I can't wait for Journey into Nyx for the enemy combos as well as the goodies it will surely have for the mono-colored as well. See you in the underworld, folks.
Enjoy!
