I know we were just here not too long ago but I don't feel the need to wait as long as usual with the Commander 2015 cards. The reason is two-fold. Firstly, there just aren't that many cards that apply to cube. This is par for the course for commander products as they are tailored to multiplayer games. Secondly, I won't see any of these cards in play in formats for a while because they aren't standard legal. That means a faster cube update and maybe a card or two surprises me, I can handle both of those things.
White
In Out
Quarantine Field got rave reviews in cube and as I was already on the fence this was all I needed to give this a try of my own. This is especially true when eminently cuttable cards still exist...which brings me to...
Return to Dust served as a sideboard card for when you REALLY REALLY needed to kill an artifact/enchantment and weren't worried about playing a card much worse than anything else in your deck or sideboard. I actually think we have gotten to such a high number of Oblivion Ring effects that this is just unnecessary.
In Out
I absolutely love the Confluence cycle. However, I think on average they are going to be a little overpriced or underwhelming in cube. I do not think that this card is super powerful but I do think it matches up favorably to something like Decree of Justice, a cube mainstay since its inception. I think, on average, the angel mode of Decree gets used 1/100 times at best. This makes the spell good but hardly game breaking and always inefficient. I think the most secretly powerful effect on the Confluence is the gain 5 life mode. Being able to gain 10 or 15 life is really, really powerful in certain match ups. It's rarely a dead card and being able to destroy an enchantment is not flavor text. Again, not a slam dunk but I think it's fine until something better comes along.
Didn't Make the Cut
The extra white mana and irrelevant multiple opponent cause makes this a marginally worse Oblivion Ring effect than what we already have. I don't want millions of these running around because they have always been good not great in cube. We are also reaching critical mass for total number of this type of effect.
In Out
Illusory Ambusher is my pet card from this set. I am kind of convinced that it's a real thing. What's the worst case scenario? You cast it and attack/block a 1/1 token and draw a card or it gets killed by a removal spell. That's going to happen sometimes. Every other scenario...even the one where you flash it in and trade with a 2/2...it's a removal spell that drew two cards...that's insane! The ceiling on this is WAY up there. Drawing three or four cards on this and killing a creature is bonkers. it also triggers off of any damage so your opponent can't just Lightning Bolt without giving up value. It even attacks pretty well as opponents won't want to block it with many non-token creatures. I think this could very well end up being poop but I really see a situation where it surprises people. Here's hoping.
Time Warp just isn't a very good card. If you are behind, it may sometimes get you to parity and if you are ahead, sure, sometimes it wins you the game. But in that case you are probably winning the game anyway and this would just be a different card providing value. In any sort of parity it acts as an awkward rampant growth. The problem is you can almost never cast this and another spell in the same turn meaning the value on this is entirely related to the board state. It's just too expensive to be great in cube.
In Out
Mystic Confluence compares favorably to both Cryptic Command (less U mana) and Jace's Ingenuity, both of which are cube staples in many lists. Five mana is too much to keep up for a counterspell. That has been shows over and over again to be true. However, you can easily keep up that mana to draw some cards and bounce some creatures. Throwing on an extra mode to counter a spell is really, really powerful and makes my mouth water with value.
Dictate of Kruphix is just awful. I really wish it turned out a little bit better but it just didn't work out and I am totally fine with it being gone.
Didn't Make the Cut
The black Confluence is really overpowered for what it does. The middle mode is not Plague Wind and the other two effects are very underpowered for five mana, even if instant-speed makes these effects more tolerable. Instant-speed is the only thing that makes this card even close to cube worthy but I don't think its enough to make up for the rest of its short comings.
Didn't Make the Cut
The red Confluence is even worse than the black one. The artifact clause, much like the white one, is nice but unexciting. It's really the first two abilities and neither is worth the price of admission. The real question is how many times are you going to trigger the middle ability every time you cast this. I think that unless you are wiping your opponent's board it's going to be two or three times every time. I just don't think this card is going to end up being as confluence-y as it appears at first glance.
In Out
Great Oak Guardian was going to be on the outside until I realized that Mold Shambler isn't really required reading anymore. It was really important back in the day when you didn't have any answers for planeswalkers but even then it wasn't super exciting. Also, Mold Shambler is a six drop since you aren't EVER casting this as a 3/3 without tears rolling down your eyes. Great Oak Guardian allows you to play defensively or offensively since it has flash. It also has respectable stats on either side since it gets +2/+2 the turn it comes into play. It also allows you to cast it after blockers for full surprise effects. I think this addition is a little fluid since this isn't a slam dunk but it's good enough to try out at least.
Didn't Make the Cut
Ibex is just a slower, bigger version of the Great Oak Guardian. It's useless the turn its casted and I think that's its undoing. I think it's reasonably close though and I could consider it if green needs more of this effect.
This card is awful. My love for the cycle (card design and strategy-wise) is the only reason I am even talking about this. At six mana the last thing I want is any more mana ramping. The only thing I would want less is sorcery-speed +1/+1 counters. Oh. But at least we get to cast Restock that only hits permaments! Oh yeah, I cut Restock because it was so expensive. This is clearly the butt of the cycle.
In Out
Meren serves a similar role as Varolz in that its a grindy card-advantage machine. However, it does it much, much better. It's body is more impactful and getting your cards back to your hand is much stronger. You don't even really need the experience counters, they are just a bonus. I don't think this card is amazing but I think it has a chance to prove its worth over time. I'm also pretty sure it's a must kill creature on sight...what are you going to do point your removal spells at the OTHER creatures?
Varolz ended up working exactly as planned. It provided long lasting annoyance at a small cost. The problem is that cube is more filled with creatures whose mana costs pay for interesting and powerful abilities as opposed to large power. This makes this less exciting in hindsight especially since your target can get killed in response to your sorcery-speed scavenge.
As expected, there were only a few cards that were even worth consideration but, like the other supplemental products, they were pretty cool and I am very excited to play with them. This short reprieve from normal sets was brought to you by Oath of the Gatewatch..a set that might allegedly be using a sixth color of mana...let's hope it's going to be used like snow mana or phyrexian mana (one set only - which would be awesome) and not be the start of a new age of magic (god that would be awful). For the record, I'm betting heavily on the former. Until then though, enjoy your cubing!
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