Welcome to the Ixalan cube update! I've always loved tribal sets from a limited perspective. There is great synergy, attention to detail and it can lead to some truly unique draft picks and card choices in sealed. In cube, however, tribal loses a lot of value. There just isn't enough density of tribes to include cards that care exclusively about tribal. It also sends weird signals to drafters if something like Gemhide Sliver is in a pack with no tribal support. Sure, it works just fine on its own, but it sends such a clear signal to look for other slivers that people will be misled and disappointed when they waste picks planning around it. Because of that, there are a lot of good cards that lose a ton of value if they have tribal implications. This is doubly true for Ixalan because none of the four tribes are well represented in my cube in particular. There are zero Pirates and Dinosuars, for example. That, combined with the fact that this is an underwhelming set in terms of non-Tribal implications leaves cube additions few and far between. Plenty to talk about but not as much as normal to actually make room for. I will also be talking about a few cards from Commander 2017 that gave me pause. At least one of those actually made the cut! Let's cube!
White
In Out
Kinjalli's Sunwing has a nice combination of abilities, cost and P/T that I think it just sneaks into cubes. I don't think it's overpowering as 2 power and flying is not going to punish defending players too badly. However, the three toughness is really nice as it lets this attack through quite a few other flying creatures and it blocks fairly well making it a nice option for less aggro decks against red. I can see this getting pushed out in the future but for now I like it much more than Frontline Medic.
Frontline Medic's Battalion ability is very powerful. The problem is it just doesn't actually trigger all that often. With no evasion it really can't attack unless the Battalion is active and that just hasn't happened enough of the time to make this worthwhile. It also only protects them once they attack meaning your creatures are easy to pick off before combat or on your opponent's turn. The sac ability has been as useless as it seems like it would. These factors combined have resulted in this being a curve filler and little else.
In Out
Mentor of the Meek is a personal favorite that allows white decks access to a card advantage engine unique to its other options. I had originally cut it because I believed it to be only good in token strategies. While it does excel there it has proved its worth in regular decks as well. It turns out there are plenty of two power creatures in cube that see play in aggro and midrange strategies. This only has to draw a couple cards to feel amazing and it helps that it sometimes draws into more triggers for itself. Glad to have this one back.
Tappers have always been a fine but unexciting way to interact in combat with your opponent. Taking out their best creature each turn feels good. However, costing mana each turn really hinders its usefulness. It's never been bad an usually does get played but there is a real ceiling on how good it can be. It's only great when your opponent is reliant on a single huge threat or if they are already behind on board to continue snowballing them. It's just not something that anyone really feels passionate about.
Didn't Make the Cut
Adanto Vanguard is an interesting card. I've long since been unimpressed by the miscellaneous 3/1 for 1W creatures we get each set. This is closer to inclusion than most because being able to protect your guy without paying mana is very powerful. However, it cannot trade up if you are behind and 4 life is a real cost. This is annoyingly good against control where you can really leverage the life loss. However, the more aggressive your opponent's deck is, the worse this gets. I can see some people adding this but I would be much more impressed if it was a 3/1 all the time or if the life loss wasn't so drastic.
Bishop of Rebirth reminds me of how good Sun Titan really is. For one more colorless mana you get an extra +3/+2 and the ability to return any permanent and adds a trigger on ETB. That is nutty. This is still a fine card, too. This really needs a bigger body if it's going to compete in the five drop slot for white, though. It's just so competitive. The trigger is good but it really needs a body large enough to survive a double block as 3/4 just isn't good enough. Vigilance is fine in the aggro mirrors but doesn't help the card where it needs it most (surviving combat). This is especially important because you get no value at all until it attacks.
Didn't Make the Cut
Legion's Landing is a weird card to evaluate. Essentially, it's a 1/1 lifelink for W. Once you trigger Battalion (which we discussed earlier doesn't happen as often as you think) you get a land that you can pay three mana (and itself) to get another token. That is a lot of work for a Sacred Cat. Sure, you eventually get to keep making more but it's a steep cost for the ability to do so. It also does ramp you when you flip it but....yeah....I have a feeling this plays better than I think it does but I'm erring on the side of it having too much upkeep to be worthwhile.
Didn't Make the Cut
Settle the Wreckage is a good magic card that will lead to some incredible blowouts against certain decks. Unfortunately for this, in cube you are much more likely to be staring down a couple large threats as opposed to many small threats. This is also true for aggro and tempo decks as well. Four mana is a lot to leave up for something that only hits attacking creatures. You can't afford to do this turn after turn waiting for the right moment. A single target removal spell or wrath would be better in almost all instances.
In Out
Siren Stormtamer provides an evasive one drop with utility for the tempo decks. It provides a more consistent source of damage than Cloudfin Raptor, which was way too divisive in its usefulness. It turned out that not playing the Raptor on turn one really was a huge problem. It was a horrible top deck later in the game and Stormtamer provides a very situational but powerful counterspell that should have plenty of targets over the course of a game. If it pokes in for a couple of damage and makes your opponent hold a removal spell or burn spell for a couple of turns, it has done its job.
In Out
Thirst for Knowledge is a cube staple but over time, I've found myself increasingly disappointed with it. My cube just doesn't have enough artifacts to guarantee only discarding one card. This means it is only really any good in graveyard based decks to discard something for profit. This is something that Chart a Course can still do without the reliance on an artifact for maximum value. Being one mana cheaper with a very simple raid trigger is amazing in tempo decks and should be very doable for most midrange decks as well. This will just fit in a greater amount of decks and should be more consistent.
In
Out
Search for Azcanta is an interesting card. A repeatable scry for no mana has been extremely powerful on something like Thassa, God of the Sea (which almost never turns into a creature). Putting the cards in your graveyard is better than the bottom of the library so this is technically an upgrade on Scry 1. Flipping into a land is great for blue decks that rarely have too much mana and being able to repeatedly dig for gas is great. This should be good in all types of blue decks which is something I always look for with blue being so flexible in deck varieties.
Unstable Mutation was included originally as an out for tempo decks since the support was originally much worse. As time has gone on it has no longer become as important as it once was and this is just completely unplayable in the nontempo blue decks. I am on the lookout for another utility blue spell as I think the card draw density is about as high as I want it to be. For now though, this is a cut that doesn't hurt too much.
Didn't Make the Cut
Dreamcaller Siren was so close to being a slam dunk for cube. It has a good body when you add in flash and flying and it will likely eat a creature when you cast it when they attack with a flier. Unfortunately, only being able to block fliers really cuts down on what it can kill and the Pirate clause will never be triggered. If that ability just happened, I would add this in in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it's both misleading and its drawback is significant.
I really like Daring Saboteur a lot just as a card for limited. Unfortuantely, for cube it really needed to just be unblockable. You can't afford to pay three mana to deal two damage and loot. It's not worth the mana input compared to the existing looters in the cube.
Didn't Make the Cut
Experience with previous counter spells have proven that five mana is just to much mana to hold up. The bonus has to be amazing for it to be worthwhile or it has to have some great utility if the opponent doesn't cast a spell. You just can't take a turn not using that much mana. With Spell Swindle, your opponent has to not only cast a spell into your open mana but it also needs to be something that costs enough mana to make it worthwhile. This is just too easy to play around.
Jace, Cunning Castaway is a cool card with three relevant abilities. Unfortunately, it's really only good in one deck, blue tempo. Jace Beleren fits into literally any deck wonderfully and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, Architect of Thought are all-stars. For cube, the -2 cost to make a creature is a little steep and looting instead of drawing a card is much worse. The ultimate is great if you can actually cast it but I don't like this more than the three existing planeswalkers.
Didn't Make the Cut
Patron of the Vein is the first card from the Commander 2017 set I'd like to talk about. This isn't getting much love from cubers but it is a six mana 5/5 flier that exiles a creature when it comes into play. This is likely better than Shadowborn Demon for those still playing that although there are more palatable options for black six drops than five drops. It's not better than what I'm already playing though.
Dire Fleet Ravager is such a weird card. It clearly wants to go into an aggressive deck because its ability is symmetrical and that is awful in control. The combination of menace and deathtouch are great and the 4/4 body is not bad at all for 3BB. The problem is that this is terrible if you are behind and isn't even very good in a race because the symmetry is going to be completely dependent on board states. There isn't really an average case for this because of all that goes into its ability. Because of that, it is unlikely to get played if people do draft it and looks like a card destined to sit in side boards until the matchup is confirmed favorable. That's not the hallmark of a good cube card.
Didn't Make the Cut
Both of these cards are not being included because of my non-support for black aggro. If your cube supports black aggro I think these are very close to inclusion worthy. Ruin Raider is a riff on Dark Confidant that triggers off any creature attacking and not just its own. It is a little awkward because if you are low on life it actually can prevent you from attacking because you can't opt out of the life loss. Kitesail Freebooter is yet another riff, this time on Mesmeric Fiend, except it can actually participate in combat at the cost of not being able to hit creatures. In black aggro this is better but it is likely much worse in control. There isn't room in my cube for either but I think they are interesting considerations for a cube supporting the archetype.
Didn't Make the Cut
I've found myself being very unimpressed with double black removal spells on average. It's just too mana dependent for killing a single creature. I am already including Malicious Affliction to uneven results and that is much better than Walk the Plank. If it costed 1B I would swap the two in a heartbeat but for now, we are staying the course.
Vraska's Contempt is also just another Hero's Downfall and the extra mana is not worth the two life. Three mana is already about as much as I want to spend to cast a single target removal spell. It's not a bad card but it's just too much mana to leave up and doesn't have enough impact. You have to do better than marginal lifegain in cube.
In Out
I really like Keldon Champion and it always overperforms, even if I have literally never casted the Echo cost. Okay...maybe once. Territorial Hellkite is very similar. The difference being that you don't actually have to pay for the echo. if the game continues for another two turns you get to attack again. This should be looked at as a free, but unlikely, bonus. You miss out on reanimation shenanigans but in those decks you likely have a sac outlet anyway. While they might have a flying blocker, I don't think there are any that are able to block this and actually survive it. This is probably the worst four drop in red right now but it's an upgrade over Keldon Champion.
In Out
Captain Lannery is in purely because I wanted to remove Combustible Gearhulk and it was interesting enough to deserve a trial run. If there wasn't an obvious cut, I don't think I would have included it. The haste is nice but having to sac a treasure for no value just to pump it feels terrible and without the pump the body is just okay. The power here is all in the treasure making ability and time will tell how useful that is. This could be cut later if something better comes along but it gets a shot for now due to its unique ability. Note that ramp and mana fixing is not typically something that red has access to and I default on the side of inclusion in those cases.
Combustible Gearhulk fell into all of the pitfalls that I had predicted it would. The effect is classic punisher in that it never does what you need or want. Even when it does work you don't feel clever. The body is just big and awkward and when you actually whiff it feels terrible. Nobody will miss this leaving.
Didn't Make the Cut
Burning Sun's Avatar actually has a better and more consistent ability when compared to Combustible Gearhulk and the loss of first strike is mostly irrelevant (although the triple red is damning). However, this doesn't even remotely look like a cube card and it's ultimately that which made me decide to cut the Gearhulk. Just some trivia!
I actually really, really like Charging Monstosaur as a card. However, the red five drops are among the most competitive in the cube and this just barely misses out. The fact that this is splashable is actually huge since that is not true of most of red's finishers. Ultimately, evasion or utility abilities are better than trample and that's what this is contending against since so much of red's finishers have haste.
Didn't Make the Cut
Rigging Runner isn't actually a one drop. Sure, it costs one mana but you aren't casting this unless you have attacked with something. That isn't a hard clause to meet but it does make some awkward opening hands where you have this with a good curve but no other one drops. When do you take the turn off to cast this in lieu of something else? Turn three is probably your best bet and in that case I'd rather be running a one drop I can actually cast on turn one without losing a ton of value. A 2/2 first strike for R is great but you really do need to be able to hit that as soon as possible. This doesn't do that.
Captivating Crew has a very powerful ability but it's just expensive enough that you aren't ever going to be able to realistically use it twice in a turn. The other downside is that activating the ability will take your whole turn making it very difficult to further your gameplan in addition. The body isn't bad but it's just too mana intensive and reliant on the ability, doing nothing until you activate it.
Didn't Make the Cut
I understand the appeal of Vance's Blasting Cannons. It looks like the best parts of Outpost Siege and flips into a repeatable 3 damage source. However, the requirements to flip this are extreme and not being able to play lands off this means coming up empty is a real danger. Outpost Siege is good because it literally never misses. This does nothing for at least one turn and you can't afford to miss with this. There might be games where you cast this and wait multiple turns before actually using it. Those are games you are losing. In order to actually flip this you are going to have to hit with the exiled card and actually store two more spells and have enough mana. It's high reward for a cost I don't think will come through reliably enough to be fun.
Didn't Make the Cut
Rampaging Ferocidon would have gotten the free slot replacing Combustible Gearhulk if it weren't for Captain Lannery Storm. Preventing life gain has been ancillary at best in cube while the symmetrical damage prevents this from reaching the heights it needs to compete. The body is nice because of menace but even then it's probably trading for one of the blocking creatures and not both. I think this needed one more lever pulled to be added.
Repeating Barrage is an easier to cast but harder to activate Hammer of Bogardan and it's been a long time since that was played in cubes of any size. It's just too expensive and slow to actually recur once, let alone repeatedly. If this was an instant or could be returned at instant speed, then we would be talking.
Repeating Barrage is an easier to cast but harder to activate Hammer of Bogardan and it's been a long time since that was played in cubes of any size. It's just too expensive and slow to actually recur once, let alone repeatedly. If this was an instant or could be returned at instant speed, then we would be talking.
Didn't Make the Cut
Carnage Tyrant is an easy candidate for second best six drop in green behind Primeval Titan. It hits hard and can only be dealt with via wraths or in combat. So why didn't it make the cut? It has hexproof. Hexproof goes against everything my cube stands for in that it's noninteractive, not fun for opposing players and uninteresting. Hexproof and protection are on my list of banned keywords (along with miracle) for my cube. It's not interesting or interactive and those are cardinal sins for cube. (And yes I still have Thrun, the Last Troll in my list...I'm working on moving him out once I get a cut I like).
I mention Thrun but Ripjaw Raptor isn't a suitable replacement. It's just a big vanilla body that will sometimes draw you a single card. There aren't pingers in cube like there are in regular limited so dreams of drawing an extra card or two every turn just aren't going to come to fruition. You might get a card when it's double blocked in combat and that's about it. A cantripping vanilla creature isn't high on my list of priorities. This is a shame because green is in need of one to two more good four drops...I'm just not very high on this card.
Didn't Make the Cut
Gaea's Cradle is a good cube card because it can tap for two or three mana early, ramping you to your six drops on turn three or four. It can then ramp you to eight or nine drops. By the time Growing Rites actually flips you are going to be on turn six or seven and you are missing out on the early game ramp. This is only helpful for end game ramp and only then if you are swarming the board with creatures in your non-aggro decks (again, green doesn't have aggro). Those sound like games you are winning and don't really need the ramp. The card also sits in play and does nothing until it flips once you get your scry 4. Only hitting a creature isn't even very good as it doesn't have a fail safe mode of letting you take a land if you whiff or just need an extra land. This card is bad. Please don't play it.
Didn't Make the Cut
Two things with Old-Growth Dryads. Firstly, I don't support green aggro. Secondly, even cubes that do support it should not include this. Allowing your opponent a free rampant growth on turn one is incredible...for them. I would gladly pay 3-6 life voluntarily for a free rampant growth on turn one. After that it's purely terrible. Do not be fooled by the stats.
In Out
Bloodforged Battle-Axe is a very interesting card. It is entirely realistic to connect with an equipped creature and the power boost will let this trade with most blockers that get in its way. Once you get two axes this becomes an absolute snowball and nightmare to deal with. I think this is being underrated in nonpowered cubes as a solid non-protection equipment that has interesting gameplay. I think this has a good chance of making most aggro decks as its a great mana sink and threat.
Nobody was ever excited by or actually played Gorgon Flail. It just...it's so forgettable. Finally an interesting and powerful equipment.
In Out
I'm making the easy swap of Pithing Needle for Sorcerous Spyglass because I don't want too many of this effect. It tends to be a very powerful and popular sideboard card that not every deck really wants. It's just too reactive. I like Spyglass more because it reduces the chances of whiffing which makes it much more likely to be maindecked. The extra mana isn't a big deal in unpowered cube as it still gets under most threats.
Didn't Make the Cut
I really like Conqueror's Galleon as an alternative Trading Post value card but Crew 4 is just so unrealistic for cube. It's true it only needs to activate once in order to flip but that means taking an entire turn off because the two damage it deals is completely irrelevant. Like Trading Post, it's incredibly mana intensive but the abilities are also very powerful. This is almost exclusively a control card which further makes the flip requirement awkward because those decks are much less likely to have four power randomly sitting in play.
Didn't Make the Cut
Somewhere between Treasure Map and Sunset Pyramid is a cube worthy card. Treasure Map is much less mana intensive and has the ability to ramp or fix you should you choose that route. Unfortunately, because treasure is not a mechanic in cube you are unlikely to be able to take advantage of the flipped side if you make use of the treasure for mana. If the flip trigger was on treasures instead of counters we would be talking. As it is, you lose the ability to scry and gain nothing if you use them for their intended purpose. This awkward dynamic really limits the usefulness and makes it a really roundabout way to draw cards. I'm not a fan.
In Out
Fractured Identity is a cheaper and better Confiscate. Note that this takes any nonland, not just creatures. You also get to take advantage of any ETB effects that the target has and they can't destroy the enchantment to get their target back. This is really powerful and a great addition to control decks. Tempo decks can use this as a curve topper to clear a blocker out of the way and keep committing to the board as well.
Azorius Guildmage struggles because its abilities are just so expensive to use. They are powerful, and certain games have been won because of countering planeswalker abilities but the cost is real and it really inhibits the rest of your gameplan. If it countered triggered abilities as well this would still be good enough. As it is, it's just been passed by in terms of pure power.
Didn't Make the Cut
Huatli is a one note planeswalker, much like Ajani Goldmane. While this is definitely better because it commits to the board and has a useful ultimate, the best use for this is just to pump out a 3/3 trample every turn until the end of time. There is just no good reason to gain life unless you are getting hit by an evasive threat and are low on life. This is competing against Ajani Vengeant for a Boros slot and Vengeant has a much better variety of play and is cheaper, which fits the Boros strategy much better. This is powerful but, ultimately, not dynamic enough.
In Out
Hostage Taker is one of the better Dimir cards in the cube. The body isn't great but it has an incredibly powerful ability. Much like with Fractured Identity, above, it is able to take advantage of ETB effects on recast. Even if this dies it still removes the threat meaning the fail case is never that low. Once you cast the exiled card this becomes a fairly decent addition to combat as 3 toughness blocks fairly well against aggro. This isn't even taking into account that you can blink or bounce this to get another trigger. Yeah, this is very good.
Duskmantle Seer was the worst Dimir card simply because it doesn't really fit that well into any Dimir decks. Dimir tempo isn't a strong archetype due to black's strategies and while Duskmantle Seer is good it just doesn't fit as well as Hostage Taker.
In Out
Vraska is cheaper and has more starting loyalty and grows loyalty faster than Garruk. The ultimate is very good and realistic to see occur in a game. The -3 abilities are similiar and while the life gain of Garruk's was huge, it's not enough to make up for the rest of the card's disadvantages. I think Vraska is just as likely to dominate a game and will do so much quicker at 6 mana than 7.
Didn't Make the Cut
Regisaur Alpha reminds me of Broodmate Dragon and Armada Wurm in design but lags behind in power level. It's easier to cast than both but neither the 4/4 or 3/3 bodies are great. Neither token has evasion (too small for trample to really matter) and the only exciting part is the haste attached to the 3/3 since you won't have other Dinosaurs. This isn't more interesting or powerful than the existing options in Gruul, which doesn't need many finishing cards.
Didn't Make the Cut
Mirri is weird. Her abilities seem powerful but don't actually match up that well for cube. All your opponent needs is one 4/4 and she's completely shut off because that one creature can attack and block as normal. Because of this, she is terrible against control decks that are likely to only have a few creatures to begin with. She is better against aggro decks because of her last ability which helps racing but Selesnya is more dedicated midrange than anything else meaning it's already likely to be favored in those matchups due to having larger creatures to begin with. It just doesn't do anything that helps the matchups that Selesnya struggles with which makes it lose a ton of value.
This was an underwhelming set for cube, to be sure. That makes two in a row now and I don't have super high hopes for the next set either as its just a continuation to Ixalan's tribal theme. Should be great for regular limited and standard but cube will have to wait a bit or another barn burner. That's okay as it gives me plenty of time to give existing cards the reps they deserve. Until next time!
