Hello and welcome to the Magic 2019 Core Set Cube Update. While Core Sets have historically been great at introducing and guiding the experiences of new players, they have been much more hit and miss for cube designers. Sure, you have your random mythics that get added in but after that it's usually few and far between. Such is the reality of a lower complexity set built for newer players. That's okay though. We still have some interesting cards to talk about and at least one great new card to add. Let's go!
Oh wait, no. One huge thing before we start. I said in the last review that I was considering revamping the gold section to better support existing strategies and to more clearly identify ones in guilds that are less defined. While doing so I came to the conclusion that I just have too many gold cards. I am going to be removing one card from each guild and all three-color cards (not including the three color lands) and replacing them with four cards in each main WUBRG color. There are a couple of reasons why doing this is beneficial. Firstly, I seed my packs when drafting. This means I make sure that each pack contains two cards of WUBRG each, 1 artifact, 1 gold, 1 land and 2 randoms. Because of this, I just don't see a ton of gold cards in each draft. This makes it difficult to see cards in play because, proportionally, a ton of gold cards are sitting in the box each draft not being interacted with. It's tough to get feedback when those cards aren't even in the draft pool. Secondly, if the gold cards exist to add spice, flavor and depth to existing archetypes but don't show up that often they are only adding the first two to the experience. The depth is missing. By adding more WUBRG cards I can increase the chance that these cards are seen and do a more effective job of supporting archtypes. After starting the removal process I immediately felt amazing about this decision. I think you will too.
Let's go for real this time!
White
In Out
Leonin Warleader enters the cube doing its best Hero of Bladehold impression and while it falls a little short of that standard it's still very powerful. An extra point of power and lifelink tokens is a nice palate cleanser for losing out on the Battle Cry ability. Good token makers are always in demand as well as top end aggro finishers. This isn't quite that but it's a must deal with threat and it's toughness is large enough to make it difficult to block effectively.
Angel of Sanctions ended up not living up to what I had imagined. I'm pretty sure that's my fault and not the Angel's. I had always imagined this as two removal spells but in fact it's the same removal spell casted twice. You are likely getting rid of the same threat twice which is not nearly as good. The real kicker is that the body just isn't imposing enough and prolongs the game rather than ends it.
In Out
Emeria Angel is probably best played as a five drop so you can get immediate value out of its Landfall ability. White doesn't have a lot of ways to mitigate mana flood so this is a valuable addition as a curve topper for aggro decks while also being playable in a couple of other strategies as well. I'm glad this has a chance to get back into the list where it belongs.
Our first casualty of the guild reduction is from Azorius. Reflector Mage is a great tempo play but loses a ton of value in a singleton format where you aren't playing multiples to continually return threats while sticking multiple copies of cards in your opponent's hands. As it is, the body needs to be relevant and in practice, it's too defensive.
In Out
Doomed Traveler comes from other cube's experiences as a decent option for BW sacrifice decks as well as decks looking to get things moving quickly. It's not overwhelming but it does have a purpose.
Darigaaz Reincarnated is a big huge finisher that is good but won't be missed as the stars just needed to align too often to make three color cards playable.
In Out
I'm glad I can finally get a spot to try out Legion's Landing because while the token is nice, being able to flip this and give aggro and sacrifice decks a steady supply of creatures that also mitigates flood goes a long way for only a single mana. This one should overperform.
Shadowmage Infiltrator is the Dimir casualty and is ultimately just a victim of time and creatures getting better. Fear is also not nearly as good an evasive mechanic as it needed to be to make this exciting. It's playable but has to be sideboarded out against opponents playing black which really hurt its staying power.
In Out
Journey to Nowhere was cut but it really shouldn't have been. It's one of the most effective single target removal spells in the cube. Sure, it only targets creatures but it's power is just too high to not be involved.
Samut is worth considering for Gruul as the white ability is mostly just gravy that rarely comes into account. Check over in the Gruul section to see how this one made it in the cube anyway!
Didn't Make the Cut
Unfortunately for Resplendent Angel, the only way you are getting tokens out of this card is to use the pump ability. This is potentially very powerful but leaves you open to a horde of removal spells in response. Of course, you can also just play this a 3/3 flier for 1WW on curve and just bash. I don't like the all-in play style that this supports and while it very clearly wins a game if its able to make an angel or two, there aren't any interesting deck building or drafting decisions to be made as it's entirely self sufficient. That is good in theory but I don't have anything I want to cut for a french vanilla creature that randomly wins some games six turns later if the opponent finds no removal.
Remorseful Cleric is a fine beater with a marginal ability. This is almost a sideboard card against black and those cards are usually things I tend to shy away from. Graveyard strategies are nicely balanced right now and I don't think individual hate is really needed. Other than that, it's just a generic flier with power and toughness. It's fine but not something that white needs.
Didn't Make the Cut
Five mana wraths need a special something in cube to compete with their four mana siblings. Unfortunately, the option of destroying artifacts/enchantments instead of creatures isn't quite enough. You are likely to cast it for a single target making it a very over costed Naturalize. It's obviously better than that but it's not enough to make up for the extra mana. Keep in mind that white has a host of enchantments that are susceptible to being destroyed by this.
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants is a very powerful planeswalker. I'm pretty sure this is better than Ajani Goldmane for cubes as it as two very useful abilities for white weenie decks. The ultimate is also a very realistic possibility because its best ability is a plus as opposed to a minus for Goldmane. I'm not adding it because I'm very happy with my existing planeswalkers but I can see this as a replacement for Ajani Goldmane in lists that are still running that or just adding it altogether if you don't limit the number of total planeswalkers (which I do to three per color).
In Out
Departed Deckhand isn't unblockable. There are spirits in the cube (mostly tokens) that can block it. That said, it's close enough. Being able to make a second creature evasive is a huge bonus for decks that get stonewalled by board stalls. The sacrifice effect is mostly irrelevant as it dies to almost all removal anyway and keep in mind that it only dies if spells target it. This means it can still be equipped without having to be sacrificed, an important distinction and one that isn't usually how these cards work.
Skyship Plunderer was cute but the counter ability was largely just that, cute. Departed Deckhand has much higher upside while also having a more effective form of evasion.
In Out
Baral was underestimated upon being first released because I wasn't sure how much you would actually utilize the counter ability. That said, the cost reduction is very powerful and three toughness blocks a lot of creatures on defense. It's gotten very good feedback from smaller lists and I'm excited to have a reason to try it out. I'm expecting it to over perform relative to its mana cost.
Tamiyo was fine but difficult to cast. I really liked the card but it works best in aggressive decks and that makes it hard to cast on curve since those decks are rarely three colors.
In Out
Faerie Artisans is a small flier with a supremely powerful ability. Knowing that you can lose a token at any time gives incentive to be as aggressive as possible with them since you still get the new token regardless of if the old token is still around. This having flying means that, unlike some cards like this, it can get reasonably involved in combat making it more than just a token making enchantment that is easier to kill. Keep in mind that getting a token requires no mana and is not optional and since it enters play you get ETB effects but not cast effects. Being an artifact is mostly irrelevant but this card looks both fun and effective.
Flinthoof Boar is at best case scenario a 3/3 haste for 1GR. Worst case its a literal Grizzly Bear. It just isn't worth the inclusion, especially in a color that doesn't have a strong aggro theme.
In Out
Gitaxian Probe gives "free" information and replaces itself. I really underestimated the power of "free" information and I look forward to this being included in main decks more often than not.
Ethersworn Adjudicator gets the award for most played card that does the least. It did a great job at pushing people towards three color, most of the time to the detriment of their actual deck. However, it never really lived the dream of destroying all the things, mostly because of how expensive and mana intensive/specific the abilities are in conjunction with each other.
In Out
Force Spike is a really "fun" inclusion for all involved! Seriously though, it feels really, really good to Spike something successfully and the risk is pretty low in a format where everything is impactful enough to be countered.
Grenzo was powerful but the floor was very low and it didn't really fit into the sacrifice theme that Rakdos supports.
Didn't Make the Cut
I think Tezzeret is really powerful in a deck that has artifacts in it. By itself, it's still strong and can take over a game but it becomes entirely one dimensional as all it does is make tokens. With no real artifact.deck support in my cube this becomes the baseline for Tezzeret. I'm not interested in planeswalkers that only have one real mode as it makes them uninteresting. I think this is a slam dunk for cubes with an artifact component.
Metamorphic Alteration is not a Clone as it requires two creatures to be in play other than this. One to enchant and one to copy. This can be used both offensively and defensively depending on what is in play but it does neither terribly reliably. This does nothing on an empty board, or when you OR your opponent only has one creature. It also does nothing if you are ahead as you would have no reason to copy anything. When it is good, it's not a removal spell as it still provides a blocker and potential attacker to deal with. The floor isn't only low but really, really wide too.
Didn't Make the Cut
Mystic Archaeologist reminds me a lot of an old cube mainstay creature, Azure Mage except that it's ability is more expensive and more profitable. My problem with Azure Mage was that no deck really wanted it. This is similar. It can't attack or block effectively making it useless until you have five open mana. At that point it's absurd but that's only if you are in a position where you can take a turn off to not commit to the board. It's effective in a tap out control deck in that it gives you something to do with your mana if you don't counter something end of turn but in any other deck there are huge swaths of game where it sits in play and does nothing. As a 0/3 I would be interested as it at least blocks small creatures if you cast it early and you get some value out of turns or entire games where you can't use its ability. As it is, it's fail case is just too low.
In Out
Graveyard Marshal is a little deceiving in that it's not a two drop. Best played on a later turn when you can immediately use the ability, this gives you a late game mana sink that also gives you sacrifice fodder while also having a nice body for the cost. These are the black aggro cards I like because they are best in an aggressive shell but still give value in a different shell altogether.
Desecration Demon rarely actually deals combat damage and it's so big that the counters almost don't matter. It won't ever eat a creature your opponent doesn't want it to and while its cost efficient, your opponent has full control over its effectiveness. I like the card, but the drawbacks are real.
In Out
Isareth is much more what the cube doctor ordered as compared to Herald of Torment. It's got the same base stats, trading flying for deathtouch hurts a little bit, but a potentially game breaking ability with no drawbacks. Supporting both aggro, reanimator and sacrifice decks, this is a quintessential black cube card with all the levers tweaked in just the right way.
The life loss on Herald of Torment is a real cost. It's not the type of card you cast and then end the game with. There are a ton of games where this is in play for five turns or more and with no way to gain incremental advantage (Bitterblossom) to actually end a game faster, it does a serious number on your own life total. Black aggro isn't a fast burn, it wins through incremental advantage and inevitability.
In Out
Zulaport Cutthroat is a key card in sacrifice decks and I'm excited to get it into cube. Not much more to say, it's a keystone card in a keystone strategy.
Loxodon Smiter was a really weird card that heavily punished UB control and was a vanilla 4/4 against every other strategy. It's powerful but isn't interesting or something the color combination needs to further an existing strategy.
In Out
Victimize is a cool support card that benefits from both sacrifice and reanimator strategies. There is a cost but it's not overly strict for what you are getting. The downside to this, obviously, is that it only functions as a late game card due to the necessity of having two different targets in your graveyard and a creature you want to sacrifice in play. It's specific, but the upside and sudden open spot in black makes me interested in trying it out.
Soulfire Grand Master is a card that doesn't adequately fit into any particular deck or strategy. Decks that have a bunch of burn spells don't really care about their life total so the lifelink is meaningless. The only draw here is the ability wish is incredibly expensive and while it's very powerful, the stars just don't align in a way that makes this more effective than being a 2/2 lifelink for 1W 95% of the time.
In Out
I definitely underestimated the Confluence cycle and this is one that I want to try out. While none of the abilities are anywhere near worth five mana, the collective options might be worth more. I'm interested in seeing it in action but I can see a scenario where it just doesn't do enough. If it overperforms I think the White Confluence is the next to get at trial run. Unfortunately, I'm confident that the Green Confluence is just...pretty bad.
Obzedat is powerful but just so unrealistically hard to cast. While it's good on every turn it also is extremely grindy and is pretty bad when you are behind as you can do nothing but sit there with it as a blocker, accruing no value.
In Out
Grey Merchant does not require a mono black deck to be effective and it does a very nice job of closing out a game from nowhere. Merchant is actually a pretty good blocker and if it dies and you are able to reanimate it, you gain such a life swing that it puts you right back into most games if it doesn't outright end it. It's a very unassuming five drop.
Guul Draz Assassin looks way better than it plays. It's busted in regular sealed deck but in cube it's just glacially slow. It takes over three turns to be able to shrink something once and a couple more to actually develop enough advantage to be worth the mana investment. It just never gets there.
In Out
Tasigur comes over from the tri-color section and gets it's own slot in black. It's the same old card as an oversized but undercosted fatty with upside should you be able to activate the ability.
Didn't Make the Cut
Demon of Catastrophes is fine. It's an efficient beater in a color that already has a lot of this effect. I don't want to overload the four drop slot with creatures that are all functionally identical and this does have the drawback of being a terrible topdeck. You won't always have sacrifice fodder available and since this doesn't do anything interesting or game changing when you cast it, I'm inclined to be unimpressed for cube. Note that you get wrecked if this gets countered as you have to sacrifice as part of the cost.
I rather like Blood Divination but the cost of sacrificing a creature is a steep one in addition to four mana. Even in a sacrifice deck, that's a real cost. You are getting something for it but it's not something that black particularly needs as it has plenty of access to card draw and card advantage.
Didn't Make the Cut
Four life is a little too much to pay to be able to draw cards, especially since the upkeep ability will never trigger. Four cards is potentially a game changing amount of cards but, as said above, black doesn't need this effect.
New Liliana is pretty impressive in that she does actively nothing in any of her three abilities outside of a Zombie tribal deck. I don't support tribal synergies intentionally and she definitely isn't better than the existing options, being as narrow as she is. She's really good if you run a tribal cube though!
In Out
Dismissive Pyromancer is a slower card but one that supplies a lot of card selection at a cost. It's fairly mana intensive but does grind value. Late game it turns itself into a relatively effective removal spell, albeit for another mana investment. It won't be rumbling into the red zone too much unless the board is empty but I think that's okay. I at least want to get it a trial run and see how it performs.
Torch Fiend just doesn't do enough in today's magic unless there is an artifact in play. The body is just too anemic and it really only gets played out of sideboards. There just aren't that many must answer artifacts that require cards like this anymore. It's just too narrow.
In Out
Dark-Dweller Oracle is a nice tool for slower red decks as it gives them an option for later in the game. I like that it can sacrifice itself in response to removal and while it won't be dominating combat most of the time it can rumble if you play it early enough. 1 mana to activate the ability is about as cheap as is realistically possible for balance reasons and while it does limit how crazy this gets it's still very reasonable.
I've never been that impressed with Plated Geopede. Red decks, especially aggro ones where this fits best, just don't run that many lands so the dream of running this out on turn two and then having an unblockable monster for every turn thereafter is just not realistic. It just never happens like that in practice.
In Out
Hordeling Outburst is a nice go wide option for aggro decks while also acting as sacrifice fodder for RB decks. It's gotten pretty good reviews in other cubes and this is as good an excuse as any to give it a trial run.
Genju of the Spires is a weird card in that it does randomly win games. The rest of the time it just feels miserable for the person who has it. It's completely all or nothing. You either win the game because your opponent can't interact with your 6/1 or you lose because you lose all your lands in combat and get mana screwed. That, or it just sits in your hand unplayable. None of these scenarios are fun or interesting. It's just not a very fun card.
In Out
Much like with Tasigur, above, Alesha comes over from the gold section and joins her red compatriots as an efficient beater with an amazing ability should drafters be playing those colors. Her flexibility and penchant for unique game states are two big nods in her favor.
In Out
Feldon is another card that gives red a little bit more staying power and things to do with its mana in the case of flood. The token ability takes advantage of all CITP effects and since you lose it at end of turn the tokens are ripe for the sacrificing as well. The body isn't great but with three toughness it can block smaller attackers against an aggro matchup. Keep in mind you can also put tokens into play on defense in a pinch. You won't get to attack with them but you sure can surprise someone who forgets that this is an option and blow them out.
Grisly Salvage was added in to try and give Golgari decks direction but it's clearly the weakest of the existing options, making it an easy choice to cut.
In Out
Much like with Hordeling Outburst, above, Dragon Fodder is as it sounds...fodder for sacrifice decks or giving credence to go wide strategies. I'm just glad I can add some red spells that aren't just more burn spells.
Kiora's Follower was unassuming and did it's job without complaint. It was also easily the least exciting of the Simic cards and nobody will remember it was in the cube in a month, let alone actually miss it.
In Out
Tormenting Voice is a nice card for spell heavy red decks and for decks that don't have a good use for excess lands, pitching one for a new card in addition to replacing itself. UR decks will appreciate this as will land heavy GR ramp decks that have a lot of gas spells late and don't need land number 8 or 9.
Yasova Dragonclaw does very little without the gold ability making it an easy cut with few regrets.
Didn't Make the Cut
Demanding Dragon is behind about ten other five drops in consideration for cube and the punisher mechanic is not the way to get people excited about a card. I think it's still good as you can cast it when your opponent has no creatures to essentially force them to choose the damage option but that isn't a board state you can necessarily force them into easily. Competition is just too tough for this one.
Much like with Liliana, above, the new Sarkhan is good in a Dragon-centric deck that doesn't really exist in cube. His plus ability is okay at best as rummaging is only ever just okay. Not much to consider on this one.
In Out
Dryad Greenseeker is another in a line of defensive options that provide card advantage. Drawing about a half a card a turn on average and at worst giving you information and not your opponent (you don't reveal unless its a land) is a nice rate. For only two mana this goes a long way towards giving you eventuality and making sure you hit your land drops even without acceleration in your hand/deck.
Boon Satyr is held back by its complete inability to actually win a combat in which it ambushes something. The bestow cost is too much for what you get when you can't put it on a flying creature and green already has gigantic creatures anyway. If you aren't gaining a keyword there isn't much difference between a 5/5 and 9/7 in practice.
In Out
Regrowth is a card I used to have in the cube way back in the day but have been pining for for a while. It's a really cheap way to re-buy threats or reactionary cards in decks that are lacking. It is pretty unplayable early in the game and some decks just don't it. However, green is hard up for noncreature spells and this is a playable one until they print more. For now, it gets an abbreviated return trip and another chance to show its worth.
I don't think anyone actually cast Pulse of the Tangle in cube. The effect is only good if you cast it multiple times and even then you aren't ever getting a deal, just repeated expensive vanilla creatures. It doesn't take over a game or intimidate anyone since it's only good if you are behind. At parity or ahead it is a really bad card. These are the kind of things that don't get drafted highly or put into main decks.
In Out
Goreclaw is a monster. Attacking as a 5/4 trample for 3G is no joke. I'm not too worried about blocking with this because I expect to be attacking pretty aggressively if this is in my deck. The cost reduction is extremely relevant as it hits a large number of cards in not only green but also expensive cards in other colors as well. Once you know what's in your deck you can be more aggressive.
Masked Admirers just never made the main deck. The body is too small and the effect too slow and grindy for it to function as the engine it appears to be.
In Out
Explore isn't quite as good at ramping as some other cards since you won't always have an extra land in hand. What it does do though is replace itself. It's never dead because at worst it just has cycling.
I've found over time that cube decks would rather have a cheap way to fix their mana and ramp than a more powerful and expensive one. Ramping from two to four is much more important than ramping from four to seven. It's just too expensive and provides an effect that the deck doesn't really need at that time.
In Out
Chord of Calling gives green another way to search out its threats from within the deck and convoke is a nice way to reduce the unwieldy casting cost. It has good results in other cubes and shuffling it back into your library to redraw is the kind of things that seems irrelevant but comes up more than you might think, especially in a 40 card deck.
Aurelia's Fury makes me sad. It looks it does literally everything and in practice it does literally nothing. I've never seen a card with so much potential be so disappointing. It's too mana intensive to be a good burn spell, the Silence ability is rarely effective and while the tapping is the best part of the spell, it just doesn't do enough to be rewarding.
In Out
Farseek is just another ramp spell and mana fixer. It doesn't get Forests which can be a real cost if you need an extra green mana but it's still flexible and useful enough to function most of the time.
Nicol Bolas was probably going to be cut for the new flip walker in this revision but I think it's a close call. This is one of the cooler tri-color cards and I'll miss it.
In Out
Pelakka Wurm was a card I was looking to get back into the fold for a while. It's one of the better ramp targets as it gains a significant amount of life on ETB and replaces itself on death. It does just about everything.
The Locust God is expensive for a mostly aggressive guild and while it acted as a nice finisher, it was very slow. It just doesn't fit as well as the other cards in the guild.
In Out
Avenger of Zendikar is a fine finisher and green was in need of a few more finishers to supply diversity. I like having a couple of options because if you don't see any of them in your pool the ramp decks just don't function at all.
Siege Rhino is the only other three color card that I will miss. It still didn't get played because the three color cards never did. I feel even better about this decision as I go on.
Didn't Make the Cut
I actually really like Thorn Lieutenant in an aggressive deck as it has both early game stats and late game utility. That said, the late game utility is extremely expensive and the token making ability is never going to trigger more than once and rarely unless they are killing it in response to a pump.
Runic Armasaur's best attribute is that it's a fantastic blocker. The ability will only be relevant once every couple of games and otherwise it's sitting around doing nothing. It's too reactive and green would rather have something proactive.
Didn't Make the Cut
Vivien Reid does not have an interesting play pattern. You cast her and use her plus ability until you can ultimate and immediately do so and might win the game. The only snag in this is if your opponent has a target for her minus in which you do that once and then go back to the aforementioned plan. There aren't interesting decisions and she will play the same way every time. Not the type of planeswalkers I like to have in cube. The best part about this card is the ability to hit fliers. Unfortuanately, I also don't think that the plus ability is as powerful as it needs to be.
In Out
Samut is essentially a Gruul card as the white activated ability is rarely going to come up and if it does, it's just positive. The ceiling for this card is crazy high and even the worst case of casting it into removal you can play around as it has both flash and haste giving you a ton of control over when to cast it. Giving other creatures haste is very powerful as it greatly threatens the opponent out of nowhere.
Fanatic of Xenagos is fine but unexciting. Nobody was clamoring for this in their RG decks, mostly because Gruul is a poorly defined clan. I'm thinking more of a go over the top with creature archetype as opposed to a fast aggro deck. It better benefits green and gives red something else besides all in aggro.
Didn't Make the Cut
Not having any more three color cards makes this an easy decision to not include but I wanted to just mention that this is an easy inclusion for cubes that do support that. It gives immediate benefit and has unparalleled power on the flip side planeswalker.
As previously discussed, Core Sets usually aren't the most exciting sets when referencing Cube but that's okay, it's not what they are designed for. I got a couple of interesting cards to add and some more to talk about so I'm calling it a success, especially because of the revamping of the gold sections. We head back to Ravnica with the next set and with it I am going to be doing a deep dive into my gold sections and figure out if they are as focused as they could be both in card selection and overall strategy support in the colors themselves. I have a feeling I still have some upkeep to be doing. I'm really hoping to see a couple of the more uninteresting or undefined guilds get some really clear direction in the upcoming block (here's looking at you Gruul and Simic).
Until then though, keep cubing!
