Hi everyone! Welcome to the cube update for the last core set ever (until they decide to do a reboot after a few years), Magic Origins! There are a startling number of cards that are worth discussion this time around and I can't wait to get talking about them. I keep telling myself that I am going to wait until later on in a set's lifetime to do these updates because I will have a better understanding of a card's power and play-ability but my excitement always gets the best of me. I think at a minimum I am going to wait until after the set's Pro Tour to see a larger sample size of the cards in action. With that said, let's get to work, shall we?
White
In Out
I have waffled back and forth on Archangel of Tithes for a while mainly because its onerous mana cost. The triple white is pretty rough but not unmanageable. People always say well you can only cast this in a mono-white deck and I have found that that is simply false. You might not be able to cast this exactly on turn three but this has uses when you are behind or ahead even late in the game. Needing to attack to trigger its second ability means you can't cast this as a surprise alpha strike but you can surely stem some bleeding with its defensive ability in the meantime. This has been consistently impressive when I have seen it in play and the body on it is pretty difficult for many creatures to either attack through or trade with.
Galepowder Mage can do some really fun stuff but if you aren't blinking something with an ETB or LTB effect what are you really doing? The card is all about the ability as the P/T isn't anything special for the cost, merely okay. That results in Galepowder Mage either riding the pine or being a main deck beast if you are able to draft and draw the correct interaction of cards. The only other use for this is blinking blockers to let your guys through and Archangel of Tithes does that but better.
In Out
Consul's Lieutenant is secretly really, really powerful. I say secretly because I don't think that the hype train has extended beyond limited yet....but holy crap is this guy busted. Compare him to a well known beast of a card in Knight of Meadowgrain. Same cost and first strike which makes the difference in toughness negligible. Trade lifelink for a the Renown and triggered ability seems pretty great. Not to mention it now has relevant creature types and you are talking an actual upgrade. If this actually hits it is extremely difficult to deal with and fits perfectly in white aggressive decks. That said, don't just cut Knight of Meadowgrain because they are both great and your cube can support both. Make a tougher switch out!
I am still finding cards that are markedly worse with the exclusion of the swords and Stoneforge Mystic is no exception. If you happen to have a Batterskull in your deck this is a beast. But if you don't, there aren't a ton of equipment that are that great. Maybe Loxodon Warhammer and Sword of Vengeance but that's about it. Either way you aren't likely to be able to have more than one target due to their low density in the cube relative to its size and the fact that they are playable in most decks. People just gobble them up. I can't count the amount of times I've seen myself or someone else pick a Stoneforge Mystic highly and then just get nothing. I have recently stopped drafting it entirely unless I already had one or two targets and even then its been underwhelming.
In Out
Kytheon, and his other side Gideon, are probably the best 1 drop white creature in cube. While the Savannah Lions cost/body is minimal in meeting expectations the indestructible ability is the real deal. It's a little expensive but it makes this a much better top deck late in the game, especially if you have no hope of igniting his spark. That said, it also makes it so Kytheon will survive combat to turn into Gideon. Gideon is like a miniature Gideon Jura which is really just icing on an already delectable cake.
In continuing to make the cards in my cube more interactive, I am still getting rid of some Shadow creatures. The latest victim is Soltari Trooper. It's merely a 2/2 unblockable/can't block for two. That's fine but hardly interesting or exciting. Still haven't reached critical mass on one drops but I feel we are getting close.
In Out
I think it was around the second time I pulled a Citadel Siege in league that I realized what I was working was, in reality, a little more than just a bomb in sealed. Being able to put the counters on immediately and not having to wait a turn is what makes this turn the corner. Immediate impact is crucial for cube and this has that covered. The Dragons ability is also more than just fluff as there are a lot of times when a single creature can win a game in cube and this shuts that strategy down. It also works well with bounce as you can re-choose your mode upon re-casting. I think this is a solid option for many decks.
Dictate of Heliod is like a super Citadel Siege with flash minus all of the flexibility for one extra mana. That extra mana actually makes a pretty big difference. It was always just a little too expensive for what it did. The flash was nice but never game breaking and I like Citadel Siege more for the same job.
In Out
Hallowed Moonlight is actually a very solid card in cube. It counters any token production as well as creatures being reanimated, blinked or otherwise cheated into play. That covers a TON of corner cases. The fact that it cycles also mean that even if you don't have an immediate use for it you can just trade it for another card. That means it's never a dead card and actually makes it main deck material. The question I have about it is how often are people actually going to put it in their main deck. Because it's not a straight out removal spell I wonder if people will actually play with it or not. I think there are enough situations where this is beneficial that it should see some play. I want to put it in for now and test it.
White Sun's Zenith just never materialized as a finisher. Part of the reason for this is that people were intimidated by the triple white in the mana cost but really, the problem lies in its full casting cost. It's just too hard to get your mana's worth here. Aggressive decks aren't going to have enough lands to get more than a cat or two and control decks just have better and more reliable options to finish out a game. It's a combination of just not needed in the decks that could make use of it and intimidating for would be drafters to commit to.
Didn't Make the Cut
Kytheon's Irregulars provide a powerful effect but at too specific a cost. The body (with Renown) is above the curve at the cost but the real power here is with the ability. Costing WW means that you are unlikely to be able to ever tap down more than one creature and while that is fine it does limit the uses of it. Being able to use its ability without having to tap is a huge boon in its favor but the competition at the white four slot is very deep and the bar is high. This is definitely playable in cube but I am going to stick with the existing options for now.
Vryn Wingmare's power is almost entirely in the fact that its not a legendary creature. Multiple of these is extremely punishing for decks relying on noncreature spells to deal with. One of them is already pretty irritating as seen in Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. The thing that Thalia has that the Wingmare lacks is a body worth the cost. A 2/1 flier for three is hardly exciting in cube while the 2/1 first striker for two is more than acceptable. It just battles better and can win a fight while this can't. There are already a bunch of decks that could play Thalia that have a tough time getting around its own ability. I'm not actively searching for more of this effect right now and that's the only exciting thing about this card.
In Out
Day's Undoing is the one card in this set that I am not sure how to properly evaluate. Effects like Time Spiral are strong because you get to use the resources you draw before your opponent. Obviously, since you turn ends here you don't have that opportunity. However, what you do get to do is hold up instants for your opponent's turn since Day's Undoing is so cheap. I think this is more like a five or six drop so you can hold up counter magic or bounce. There is a chance that this is not good enough for cube but it is certainly much better than something like Time Reversal which was utter garbage. I think chopping two mana off and losing the double blue really does make this playable. We shall see.
Sleep is, honestly, a card I didn't even realize was still in my cube. I only had it in there to help out the blue tempo decks but it's not an effect that they are really looking for anymore. It's awful when you are behind and while its definitely powerful while you are ahead, in those cases you are already (obviously) ahead, making this, at best, a stale-mate breaker or, at worst, a win more. I'd rather try out Day's Undoing which has more potential to be game-breaking.
In Out
Harbinger of the Tides isn't as powerful as some people think it is. The cheap mana cost makes people think it's a two drop but in reality it almost never is. In cube you are hardly ever going to cast this on turn two because you don't have anything to bounce. It is more likely that by the time you get a relevant target you can use the flash ability. That said, you don't have to as it's not game breaking if you do, it's just a little more versatility. Casting this for two and then having mana to do other things will probably be the main mode this sees. This card should almost always be playable and serviceable but will rarely be a complete blowout. It reminds me a lot of Pestermite in that you aren't going to want to wait too long to get the perfect play out of it. Most of the time it's probably correct to just get value as soon as you can and move on. And really, that will usually be good enough if you temper your expectations.
I think the first time I read Vedalken Mastermind I thought you could bounce any permanent and not just your own. As it is, it turns out it's a little slow and doesn't have enough board impact. As expected, it was spending a lot of time in sideboards. At least Harbinger is maindeck material.
In Out
Jace is very strong. Looting by itself is a powerful ability and if you are able to ignite his spark he is also good in most circumstances. Recasting a spell in your graveyard is bad with counterspells but almost universally good elsewhere. Also, it's fun and that's important. Being able to block a random token isn't nothing even if it's not going to come up that often.
I was not entirely sold on Shu Yun when I added it into the cube, and for good reason. The ability was a little too difficult to trigger and use reliably. Just too many moving pieces for this to be consistent. Not to mention that if you can't use the ability you probably aren't playing this as the prowess body is good but not great. The potential is there for power but it just didn't ever happen the way I imagined it could.
In Out
Whirler Rogue is a strange fit in blue. It makes tokens, an oddity for the color, and it makes your creatures unblockable, something superfluous in a color with so many evasive threats. However, it's the combination of the two that makes this such a great deal. The fact that the tokens have evasion and it's three bodies is huge as it fits right into tempo decks by diversifying its threat base, something blue decks can't really do. Making a creature unblockable is nice when paired with another color that has big singleton threats. This is just a lot of value for a low cost and I think it will be main decked more often than not.
Torrent Elemental has the opposite problem as Shu Yun. The ability is almost never going to be relevant because it's rarely ever going to get exiled. That means it's almost entirely dependent on its base stats. This doesn't attack as well as I though it would at first glance and the tapping ability is fine if you are ahead but horrible if you are behind. Also, so many of blue's creatures have evasion that it matters less than you might think. For five mana, cube can do better. Also, it's confusing for people who see this exciting ability without realizing its flavor text in 99% of scenarios. I don't want to mislead my drafters.
In Out
Despoiler of Souls is another in the vein of Reassembling Skeleton and Bloodghast. What it loses in the ability to repeatedly come back (you will run out of resources at some point) it makes up in being an actual threat. The third power is a huge upgrade and makes it so you can actually trade with something when it gets blocked. I am guessing you might be able to rebuy this once, maybe twice, per game tops and that should be fine since you are getting more bang for your buck each time it hits play.
Just like with Soltari Trooper, one more shadow creature leaves the cube. Same reasoning as before but even more so since I reduced the black all-in aggro strategy.
In Out
Liliana doesn't look overly impressive until you realize just how easy it is to ignite her spark. She works perfectly in the sacrifice strategy and her other side boasts not only three useful abilities but interesting ones in black's gameplan. As seen with Liliana of the Veil counterpart, mutual discard is not bad when you can plan around it. The lifelink on her creature side is not super relevant but that's only because she is going to be a planeswalker more often than not. It's hard to be too surly about that.
Continuing in my disappointment with the hybrid rare/mythic cycle from Fate Reforged is Brutal Hordechief. Yet again, there is a disconnect in power level when you are able to use the ability regularly and when you aren't. This one is a little closer to playable but, again, the Hill Giant stats don't make up for the swingy nature of the drain life ability. If you can't use the ability, this will get blocked and killed immediately which makes the drain life ability a one-time use, unlike in limited where the body stands up a little better.
In Out
Priest of the Blood Rite is getting by because of pure power and toughness put in play for the cost. Not to mention that you are rarely going to really lose more than 2 life because of it. If you are it's because the 2/2 is either damaging your opponent as well or holding back potential attackers. The 2/2 is also ripe for the sacrificing by other cards that care about that...of which there are plenty. Black five drops are pretty unexciting so the bar actually isn't that high. Because of that, this warrants a look at the minimum.
Shadowborn Demon was a powerful card if you were able to keep it around. However, the upkeep ability was a bit harder to trigger than I thought it might be originally. If you don't have the giant body, it's not worth the destroy creature effect. Even if black's five drops are unexciting.
In Out
Languish isn't Damnation but seriously, what is? It's pretty close in most circumstances. It's even abusable if you have creatures with greater than 4 toughness. Either way it's incredibly powerful and easily strong enough for cube. The only concern is how many sweepers is too many.
In that same vein I am removing Barter in Blood because I am happy with the amount of access black currently has to mass removal. Barter in Blood is probably the weakest of the options and functions pretty similarly to Lanugish at the same cost. It's also a little weak against token strategies which hurts its quality a bit.
Didn't Make the Cut
Demonic Pact is very interesting. It's powerful, but you aren't going to be able to reliably bounce it repeatedly unless you also draft Capsize and if you do that...well more power to you. On the more than likely scenario that you can't bounce it back to your hand you have the fair scenario of hopefully winning the game by casting it which is unreliable at best. I think too much has to go right for this to be great and any other scenario just isn't worth it.
Personally, I think Erebos's Titan is a horrible card. Just...completely...unplayable. I am only talking about it because it got some good press upon release and I want to cut it down. The casting cost is difficult enough that it sets a pretty high bar for playability. It's indestructibility ability is almost totally useless since it only triggers if your opponent has no creatures and you have this. If that's the case who cares if this is indestructible? That's also a pretty unlikely occurrence. Then we have the other ability where you need to have a card leave an opponent's graveyard (which never happens), then discard a card (bad for you) just to return this to your HAND. it doesn't even go back in play. This is a difficult to cast vanilla 5/5...with a lot of flavor text...god I hate this card.
In Out
I am not sure if Chandra's parents are too slow for cube but I am willing to give it a shot. Worse case scenario you have some fliers to ping your opponent and best case you get to actually use the fling ability a couple of times. This is very resilient to spot removal as nobody wants to use a removal spell on the 2/2 body. I think this will likely over perform its base stats.
Shaman of the Great Hunt was severely disappointing. My fears came to fruition when it turned out that it was an awkward combination of aggressive and control, fitting into neither deck well. The two toughness means it doesn't ever win a fight and can't live long enough to trigger its counter ability.
In Out
I am not sure how good Goblin Glory Chaser is because it's power is entirely dependent on dealing combat damage to the opponent. That said, there are a couple of things that are in its favor over something like Liliana's Reaver, a classic example of a Saboteur creature that isn't good enough for cube. Firstly, it only has to deal damage once to get full value. Many saboteur's need to repeatedly deal damage or lose value immediately. With no evasion that almost always means that they aren't good enough. Secondly, in the same vein as Stromkirk Noble, it's cheap enough to get underneath potential blockers and once it deals damage once its great. I could see a future where this card gets cut for not being consistent but I think it's worthy of a trial run.
Jackal Pup is a card I've cut from the cube many times because I feel it's the weakest of red's one drops. I keep bringing it back because I find that I don't have a critical density of one drops yet. Well, here we are in the same boat. I don't think it's a bad thing to keep revisiting so eventually I'll get it right.
In Out
I am not a huge fan of the can't be countered ability because it really only interacts by hosing blue decks. If blue decks are overpowered in your cube then its a legit foil but I haven't found that to be the case in mine. That said, four damage for three mana is on par with what red amounts to and even though I would rather it do something more interesting....welcome to life as red. The sorcery speed on this isn't great and I wouldn't be surprised to see this get axed in a future update but for right now I think this is fine.
Koth is an interesting case. In a mono-red deck he is an absolute house. But in a deck that doesn't have literally mono-mountains it loses value insanely quickly. This is due to all three of its abilities only interacting with mountains. I have rarely ever seen anyone use any of its abilities except its +1 and that not only doesn't make for interesting gameplay but it loses so much of the appeal that planeswalkers have in the first place. Here's hoping another red planeswalker is released soon that is good because a slot is open.
Didn't Make the Cut
Abbot of Keral Keep is a consideration solely because you are able to hit lands off of it. 90% of the time I have seen this card in play it has either hit a land or whiffed. That is for two reasons. Firstly, it's one mana more expensive than Ire Shaman and that is a huge amount of mana for something like this. Also, it's stats don't hold up well in the late game so you want to cast it as early as possible. That makes it a lot of the time a decent body on turn two with no ability or a bad body late with a decent ability. Neither are exciting. Ire Shaman having evasion and unmorphing for just R is what makes it playable. This isn't.
Three drops in red are the pits. It's just a really weak spot in the curve relative to the other spots. Acolyte of the Inferno is a lot tougher to block than it appears at first glance once you realize you really can't double block it because the trigger hits all blockers before it deals damage. It usually trades up and the renown ability means its a legit threat if it hits. That said, it's not as interesting, evasive or resilient as the other cards I am currently running. Just thought I'd point out that I wouldn't blame someone for giving this a trial run.
In Out
Yay! A playable red three drop. I wasn't going to add this in originally but after looking at it and my red section it just does so much more work than something like Fire Imp. You are basically playing the Imp for the shock effect only as the body is terrible. Chandra should output way more damage, if she survives, than the Imp can even if she doesn't flip. If she does flip then it's even better. Her other side is the cookie cutter red damage abilities but they are still very good. This should be a nice upgrade.
In Out
Avaricious Dragon is an interesting cast study. The body is above the curve with flying, similar to something like Thunderbreak Regent. This has a much better ability than the Regent though. People are scared about the discard your hand step but what they are missing is...idk...don't cast this if you have a hand full of other cards that you don't want to discard? Just cast those instead. Also, you only discard your hand once. I mean, it states you do it every turn but that's not really true. Thereafter you draw two cards every turn and the discard ability is really mitigated by your lack of hand size. I think this is better than it originally got credit for and I am looking forward to casting it as it gives red something unique and interesting.
Avalanche Riders are on the low end of power level. The body is bad and the echo is worse. The haste is nice because of course it attacks when it comes into play since you don't want to have to echo it. However, you are really only playing this for the destroy land ability. It's always been serviceable but rarely fantastic and I want to try out the Dragon. If that proves worse than expected I could see this coming back in. Gotta try things out every now and then.
Avalanche Riders are on the low end of power level. The body is bad and the echo is worse. The haste is nice because of course it attacks when it comes into play since you don't want to have to echo it. However, you are really only playing this for the destroy land ability. It's always been serviceable but rarely fantastic and I want to try out the Dragon. If that proves worse than expected I could see this coming back in. Gotta try things out every now and then.
Didn't Make the Cut
People are excited about Molten Vortex as another in the vein of Seismic Assault but I just don't see it. Seismic Assault isn't good in cube without combo iterations. While Molten Vortex is easier to cast you still have to pay red per land discarded which means you still need to be very red heavy...something nobody is mentioning. Sure you can just discard one or two lands a turn but it's way, way less powerful and way, way more grindy then a speedy win condition. I'm not seeing the potential here.
Scab-Clan Berserker doesn't seem like it would be all that great at first glance. It's an expensive sabateur with a pretty decent ability and a cruddy body. The haste is what makes the card though and again, the red three drops in cube are just so...damn...unexciting.While great against certain decks it's stone awful against others and way too swingy to be reliable.
In Out
I am very much looking forward to casting Evolutionary Leap in cube. I have no idea how powerful it is going to end up being but I think it has a lot of potential. I want to lead off with saying that this is nothing like Survival of the Fittest. Survival works in reanimator strategies and helps you consistently deploy threats because you can discard uncastable creatures and search through your toolbox. Evolutionary Leap only functions if you recycle the threats you have already casted. While worse on the surface it means that you should always have a steady supply of gas because you aren't trading unspent resources for new ones but trading used up ones for different ones. That's a huge difference. It's also very powerful against wraths and removal spells because you can do it as many times as you want per turn. It also works with tokens. I am very excited about casting this card and I really think this is a cube sleeper.
Bow of Nylea is an interesting case. It does a lot of things. However, the things it does are so underwhelming that they need to collectively add up to a greater part. In this case, I don't think they do. The graveyard ability is absolutely irrelevant, as is the 2 damage to flying creature (in most cases). That means you are relying on the counter ability (which is very slow) and the gain life (meh). In practice this has been the deathtouch ability hopefully being relevant (attackers only)
In Out
This is one of the very few times when I am able to do an actual strict upgrade. The only difference here (except irrelevant creature type to a different irrelevant creature type) is the may ability. Indrik is already on the weaker side of things so I don't need both. A straight out swap seems appropriate.
In Out
Nissa isn't overwhelmingly powerful on her creature side as a bad Civic Wayfinder. However, that card is already pretty good and the fact that if you draw this late in the game it will usually automatically flip is important. The planeswalker side is VERY good as it makes an impressive 4/4 body and has a rock solid plus. The ultimate is also a game winner making this a strong option. I think most people will end up playing this on upside alone and even if you don't get to flip it, making sure you hit your land drops isn't nothing in a deck that wants to get up to 6 or 7 mana...which most green decks would be okay with.
It turns out I just really don't like the ability on Shaman of Forgotten Ways. Tapping for multiple mana is great but this is neither fast nor flexible since it only hits creatures. The formidable ability is an actual impossibility and while the body is fine it's not great and you aren't blocking if you are using the ability so it might as well just be a 0/1...something I missed previously. All in all this is just pretty unimpressive.
In Out
Woodland Bellower is pretty strong for the cost. Sure, the body doesn't have evasion but whatever you are getting with it (narrow as it might be since it cares about both color and CMC) are important. If you cheat it into play you still get to search since its an ETB effect and not a cast effect. I'm not sure exactly....how strong...this will end up being but I am cautiously optimistic. Its final power definitely depends on your deck contents so this might be a wait and see.
Baloths aren't awful but in order to make them playable you absolutely have to have a land to use immediately. That makes this a 7 drop. And while this does scale really well over time it's pretty middling in power level compared to some of the other options. It's not bad but it's not great either.
In Out
Hangerback Walker is a god send. My cube really needed a couple more exciting artifacts and this one is great. You probably aren't going to have enough mana to ever make this that big off the bat but it slowly grows and grows thereafter. If it dies, which is easy with black's sacrifice theme, you get to upgrade to a bunch of thopters. This isn't the fastest card but you are easily going to get your mana's worth in any scenario where it doesn't get exiled. Great card.
This is exactly how every draft ever with Deal Broker has gone. Ahem. Deal Broker tables multiple times before being scooped up once all other cards worth consideration for a player are gone. It quickly gets put in the back of the drafted cards pile. The draft ends. Deck building commences. After about twenty minutes goes by the person who drafted it goes "oh shit! Uhhh..does anyone want to trade for..*searches sideboard for a card that is both unplayable to them and won't wreck them*...this?!" Everyone glances at their cards for a second before responding in unison..."Nah, I'm good". Person who drafted this shrugs and moves on with their life and it goes back to the sideboard. No really, I'm not explaining anything else. This is what you get.
In Out
Again with unexpectedly playable artifacts from the core set...and an equipment even! I don't think this is as good as some of the hype made it seem. However, I do think it's playable. Hitting a free land drop every turn and the marginal P/T boost make this playable in most decks running creatures even if it's not going to break any game wide open. I am perfectly happy running this most of the time as my only equipment.
The echo on Ring of Gix is what kills it. It's just so slow and expensive. Once you have it, for 6 mana spread across two turns, it's great but getting there is so plodding that it usually gets left in sideboards.
In Out
Coercive Portal is from the conspiracy set and I don't think I ever touched upon it. Each turn you get to choose to either draw an extra card or destroy all nonland permanents regardless of what your opponent wants. The fact that that resets each turn means its great when you are ahead, behind or in a stalemate. These are the kinds of cards I want in cube and I am glad I was reminded that it existed because I had just flat out missed it.
Razormane was just never played anymore because of more powerful options in other colors. The drawback is real and the upside never got there. Excited about this coming out. Masticore is right behind it once we get more playable artifacts.
In Out
Why have the command when you can have the lady herself? Ojutai's Command was very underwhelming and the flexibility did not make up for the lack of inherent power in the abilities for such an expensive card. The Dragonlord on the other hand has overperformed my expectations and I think this was the correct configuration to begin with. Live and learn! Then fix it!
In Out
My initial thoughts on Dragonlord Atarka were that it was both too expensive and not exactly what Gruul wanted to accomplish since its not exactly a ramp color. That said, this card is way more impactful than I gave it credit for. I credited for being a little more powerful than Bogardan Hellkite but in reality this is way stronger. It is also pretty exciting to cast and that counts for a lot.
Giant Solifuge was nice but in a lot of games it was a four mana spell that dealt a couple damage and traded immediately. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't anything anyone was actively looking for to draft or play. Also, it has shroud and I am okay with further reducing that mechanic in cube.
Didn't Make the Cut
I think this card is closer than I thought at first glance. It compares favorably to something like Pestermite or Wolfir Avenger but is two colors. That said, it makes the competition that much fiercer, even if Simic is one of the weaker guilds. I could cut something like Simic Charm for it but I like the uniqueness of that spell and the other options are just better.
That really was a lot of updates! I am trying to make an effort to discuss cards that people are talking about or excited about so that there are few concerns over "what about Card X?!" and I am happy with the results. If you see any cards I did not discuss that you think I should have or just want to put in your own two cents feel free to leave a comment and I will be happy to discuss and explain my reasoning further. My mind has been changed before. At some point I will also be making a post about my thought process and card evaluation techniques per popular demand. Just haven't gotten around to it yet due to life concerns. Look forward to that in the coming weeks!
Until Battle for Zendikar....
May your cube experiences be awesome
Enjoy!
