Modern Horizons is a really interesting set for cube designers. In addition to the multitude of cards that are worth consideration, there is unique support for a ton of old mechanics and strategies that haven't gotten new cards in a long time. One of these mechanics needs special mention and an aside before we start looking at the cards themselves. I'm talking about Snow. There are a number of cards in the set that refer to "Snow Permanents" and their value is largely directly dependent on how many of them you have in play (and therefore in your deck). There are a lot of ways to go about making this plausible but the only one I feel is consistent enough without warping the draft process is to add Snow-Covered basic lands into the land pack. There is a monetary cost to doing this and not all cubes are going to want to invest for these cards as there aren't a lot of them. I happen to really like a lot of the snow-covered cards in this set so I'm going to pony up and make it happen. I'm going to make these available in the land box along with regular basic lands and see what happens. It's cleaner than just adding functional errata that says "all the lands are snow" and having to explain it every single draft. Because of that, every time you see a card that cares about snow mana, keep in mind that all the basic lands a deck with have can be snow lands to support these cards. You will also see a TON of cards that are color shifted or slightly altered versions of existing cube cards so some of these might already look very familiar! With that out of the way, let's get to it.
White
In Out
Our first snow card is a really solid one. This is a mono-white Chained to the Rocks as long as you have a basic land which is virtually guaranteed since you aren't casting this on turn one or two. Being able to answer any creature for a single mana with no actual drawback is amazing and the "downside" of having your land or enchantment destroyed just doesn't happen with the same regularity that it does in standard and when it does it's a cool moment and good gameplay. This is a great removal spell.
Cage of Hands was overtaken in power level a while ago and it's only held on this long because of its interesting gameplay. Being able to change targets is nice but doesn't actually come up that much in practice as it means unlocking the first threat. Three mana (plus two to bounce it) is also very expensive for something that can only target a single creature.
In Out
Putting flash on an anthem is a nice bonus but not one that will affect cube quite as much as it affects regular draft and sealed. Cube just doesn't devolve into creature battles and board stalls as often because the cards are so impactful. However, being able to cast with flash without paying mana is just as relevant. Having to take a turn off to play an anthem instead of committing to the board never feels great even if it's often correct. Force of Virtue allows you to do both at the cost of a card. I think some people are going to get hung up on the inherent card disadvantage of having to lose a card to cast this for free but keep in mind that's not something you have to do. In every game that you just have the excess mana you can just pay for it and it's fine. It still retains flash, you just don't get it for free. The cost reduction is an upside when you have a card you can't cast or you need the value immediately. At least for now there is a clear cut for it and I want to give it a trial run because the effect is so unique.
Marshal's Anthem looks great on paper but rarely ever panned out the way it seemed like it should have. Part of the problem is that white doesn't utilize the graveyard very well so you likely have to wait for your creatures to hit the bin in the fair way and that's not always reliable. Because of that, you will likely just run this out as an anthem without being kicked. In those situations, flash is a huge upgrade at the same cost. Six mana is also a ton in aggro decks to have to wait for their anthem. They often cannot afford to wait for the extra mana with their anthem rotting away in their hand. You can't afford to allow your opponent to stabilize because reanimating your small creature won't help you break through on turn nine.
In Out
Winds of Abandon is very similar to Mizzium Mortars except for the fact that the Overload ability isn't as taxing on your mana base. The ability to answer any creature for two mana is very strong, and giving your opponent a basic land is a drawback but one that isn't always relevant. It hasn't been that bad in Path to Exile and it shouldn't be here either. Losing instant speed is huge and is likely the one thing that causes me pause. Control decks should love this as they have a one-sided wrath that has a fail safe as a single target cheap removal spell. Six mana is very powerful for this effect as you can often remove your opponent's board and kill them before they get a chance for all that mana and deck thinning to actually matter.
Martial Coup is outstanding when you are able to get to seven mana and actually trigger the wrath ability. Most of the time though you get stuck at five or six and have a really awkward decision to make because you can't afford to wait until you get more lands as you need to do something proactive before you lose the game. In those situations, Martial Coup is still playable but it feels awful. Every time I play this my brain wants to assume that the wrath is guaranteed and the tokens are an upside. In fact, it's the opposite. You always get the tokens and the wrath is conditional. The decks that want this definitively want the opposite. Winds of Abandon is always live and when you do have enough mana it's the blowout you always wanted it to be.
In Out
I really like that they printed Giver of Runes. If your playgroup feels that Mother of Runes is oppressive or un-fun then I think this is a great replacement for your cube. If I had a 360 card cube and I knew that Mother of Runes would be present in every draft I would probably just swap it out myself. However, my cube is so big that an individual card only ever shows up inconsistently. I don't feel that Mother of Runes is game breaking (although it is very good) mostly because it largely only goes into the weaker white strategies that could use the extra help. I do think that Giver of Runes provides better play as it's more easy to interact with while still being powerful. I don't think the effect is something I want to see in every draft as it's pretty annoying to play against when it comes up too much. If it turns out that the effect is starting to get a little much for players I'm likely to cut Mother of Runes herself as she is more oppressive. For now I'm going to try both as the white decks really don't mind the extra help.
Doomed Traveler is a good card in the Orzhov decks but largely irrelevant everywhere else. If you aren't sacrificing it, it's just too easily ignored and never makes the main deck anymore. White has a lot of access to token making cards and this slot is better utilized with something that can actually push through damage and support aggressive decks.
In Out
I've been really impressed with clue tokens as a whole as they provide a reasonable advantage at a fair cost and Bygone Bishop is able to produce them without having to add extra mana each time. The fact that you also have a functional body makes it a great value for the cost. White always appreciates the late game advantage as it helps them draw closer to control decks without being drowned in card advantage.
Flickerwisp always looks like such a great package but badly needs flash in a cube environment. I don't even think it would be broken as the body is brick walled really easily. There are just so many idiot tokens flying around that you really need to get good value on the ETB and that's just not a guarantee. At least if it was instant speed you could get value in response to removal but sorcery speed you are all in on blinking something that actually has an ability. It just doesn't happen as often as it seems it would.
In Out
Palace Jailer is just a better version of Banisher Priest. I have been hesitant to introduce the Monarch mechanic into cube for some reason but after playing a little bit with the Conspiracy sets I've decided I really like how it plays out. It promotes interaction and changes combat decisions for both parties as being the monarch is a really good bonus. Being able to draw an extra card at end step means you are guaranteed to draw a card the turn you cast Palace Jailer in addition to removing a creature. Yes, sometimes the opponent will be able to attack you back, get their creature back and draw their own card but I think that's good gameplay. In aggressive decks it will be a more difficult decision for your opponent on whether or not they can afford to take the monarch and lose a blocker which also promotes interactive gameplay. Palace Jailer is really strong but I also really like him.
Didn't Make the Cut
Martyr's Soul is a trap. I think a lot of people look at this and see how easy it is to get a 5/4 for 2W (and it is pretty easy). However, in order to do so you need to take an entire turn off from attacking with three separate creatures. That's just too tall an order for what is a vanilla fatty. I'm out.
Recruit the Worthy is not Sprout Swarm. I really wish it was, because a white Sprout Swarm would work perfectly in cube and the Selesnya decks in particular. Unfortunately, they took away Convoke which was definitely the best part of Sprout Swarm because it feeds itself, making future activations even more trivial. Without Convoke you have a very expensive way to add to the board even if it's continuous. I'm both saddened and understanding...Sprout Swarm did single handedly ruin Time Spiral limited after all.
Didn't Make the Cut
I've not been that impressed with Beast Within because the 3/3 token is a real body to contend with and even though it's very flexible, it's best trait was that it provided green with an effect it doesn't usually have access to in the form of hard removal. Generous Gift is a color shifted version of green and it's biggest deterrent is that white does have access to a plethora of removal for all kinds of permanents. This both doesn't provide a need and has a significant enough drawback that I feel this is a comfortable pass.
Ranger-Captain of Eos has a passable body for its cost but the ability is way too narrow. It's likely you will be able to search out something with CMC 1 but it's unlikely it's going to be impactful. The toolbox just isn't diverse enough to warrant inclusion. The sacrifice ability is also a really weak ability despite how strong it looks at first glance. It's nearly impossible to tell when it will be relevant and it's never worked well on other cards that feature it and losing the body is too big a cost when you have no idea if your opponent even has something that cares about it. Keep in mind that the opponent can just cast an instant in response to the ability making it really only hose sorcery spells. It's just not that helpful.
Didn't Make the Cut
I'm pretty sure that Serra the Benevolent is strong enough for cube. It makes great threats with its minus and work well with token decks that pack flying tokens at a reasonable cost. It is able to make multiple angels pretty reliably and that should be enough to put some games away by itself. It is also able to reach ultimate after only a single turn if you use the plus immediately. The ultimate, which is usually the least important part of a planeswalker, is a very real threat but it's also one of the least fun and least interactive cards in magic. Worship is a miserable card to play against. There is no question how powerful it can be and even one that is delayed and more expensive is still good game against certain decks. It can be nearly impossible to win against Worship without wraths and even then you usually buy yourself a single turn to win against a competent opponent. It's not something I want in my cube on any level and that makes Serra an easy pass despite how powerful she is.
In Out
Faerie Seer is just a minor upgrade from Siren Stormtamer but one that feels a bit more cohesive. Siren Stormtamer plays out a little weird in practice. I'ts really only playable in tempo decks and those decks don't really keep mana up as they are going to be using their spells proactively to remove blockers or to commit further to the board. The ability is also a little worse in tempo where your creatures are more interchangeable. It would have much higher value in a deck with only a few creatures to protect your win conditions but the rest of the card makes no sense in that case. Faerie Seer at least gives an ability that tempo appreciates without having to be entirely responsive. This still isn't a great blue one drop which the color would really appreciate but I think it's a small step up.
In Out
Watcher for Tomorrow is a solid card that I underappreciated before playing with it. It ETB's tapped because of Hideaway (it's really hidden in the rules text), preventing it from being able to block immediately. This means you have to wait a turn to get your card off the Hideaway ability without shenanigans. Fortunately, shenanigans do work here as the Hideaway triggers when it leaves play and not on death. That means flickering is on the table as a potential upside. Hideaway is a very strong ability as digging four cards deep makes it very difficult to just blank on the ability and putting the card in your hand is actually not as bad as it seems as casting really limits what is helpful. If it was a cast ability like the original Hideaway lands, you wouldn't be able to get value off of counterspells and removal would be tricky too. Drawing the card makes all of those cards live as potential options. This is a cheap creature that control decks will actually want to play as a roadblock that provides card advantage, albeit slowly.
I must have misread Rattlechains when I first included it and assumed it was able to do more than it does. It's a flash flier but that's it. The two Spirit clauses are misleading (I don't support Spirit tribal) and without them it's just a Welkin Tern with flash. That's not good enough anymore, especially since it's only playable in the tempo decks.
In Out
Mist-Syndicate Naga is an absolute nightmare as Ninjutsu virtually guarantees a single trigger of its ability. Once you have two of these in plays it makes it very difficult for your opponent as the copies spiral out of control in a hurry. You don't need to go too far out of your way to make this well worth the mana. It must be blocked or removed and if it's trading for a creature and a removal spell and dealing 3 damage that is fantastic for only three mana.
AEther Adept is fine as another Man-o'-War but the double blue makes it harder to play on curve. It's fine but unexciting and very replaceable. Mist-Syndicate Naga has a much higher upside.
In Out
Negate is a card that has gotten really consistent reviews in cube for a while and after debating on it I think it makes a lot of sense. In a regular limited format, Negate is just fine but the counterspell you really want is Remove Soul as the creatures are usually what end games and there are so many of them comparatively. In cube though, the noncreature spells are on a much stronger level. In addition to the normal removal and token making cards, you get game breaking enchantments, planeswalkers and artifacts that that are almost always difficult to answer once they've resolved, particularly for blue. The targets are just so important to answer that I really like having a cheap, hard counter to them. Negate should see a surprising amount of play in most blue decks.
I've been a little frustrated with Memory Lapse because of the amount of the time I just wished it was a hard counter. Setting your opponent back a turn by forcing them to draw their card again is powerful but also doesn't actually set you up for victory unless you are already ahead on the board and the card you countered isn't game breaking. In cube though, the card is game breaking such a huge percentage of the time that the opponent typically would rather draw their card and cast it again as opposed to losing it. I've lost games where the card I delayed came back and killed me because I needed a second answer and didn't have it. It's just too dependent on you being already ahead to be functional.
In Out
Force of Negation is a slightly more expensive Negate (which I'm also adding, see above) so take everything I said above and apply that bonus to this. Now, it's slightly better as it exiles the countered card, getting around graveyard interactions. The big upside though is the ability to cast it for free on your opponent's turn if you exile a blue card. That is fairly restrictive but there are enough cards that are critical to have an answer for that your opponent can potentially resolve if you are attempting to commit to the board. I really like having a little bit of access to this effect as once your opponent knows you have it, the gameplay is really interesting on both sides. If you have two cards in hand, they have to respect that you might have this. It plays well and it's a powerful effect without being oppressive.
All of the power in Commit // Memory is completely wrapped up in getting value off of Commit. It's a good effect but it hasn't been worth four mana. It's just too much mana to reasonably keep up and too easy for your opponent to play around. Memory isn't even good as a "free" bonus as there have been multiple games where this is in my graveyard and I have opted not to use it even though I had mana and even though I had nothing better to do with my mana. Giving your opponent seven cards and letting them cast them before you is a recipe for disaster and has always been underwhelming in cube.
In Out
Scour All Possibilities and Think Twice is a very interesting comparison. Both replace themselves and later gain actual card advantage for an over-costed flashback ability. Both work really well in decks that utilize the graveyard and both, obviously, cost two mana on their front end. Think Twice is best in reactive decks that are able to take advantage of its instant speed with countermagic and lots of removal. Scour All Possibilities will be better in tempo and proactive decks that don't care so much about holding up reactive spells and can afford to tap out on their own turn. The real question here is whether or not Scry 2 is worth sacrificing instant speed. On the front end I think it's a resounding yes but on the back end I'm not so sure. Five mana is a lot and pretty much guarantees you can't cast whatever it is you draw until the following turn. Taking your whole turn off to draw a card (even with selection) isn't great unless you have absolutely nothing else to do. The real value is in digging so deep each time you use the card. I think the front of half of Scour is much better than the front half of Think Twice and people weren't really playing Think Twice all that much. Control decks that rely heavily on counter spells aren't as powerful in my cube as they are in some cubes because I have a lower density of counterspells and my aggro is stronger than most cubes. I'm going to give it a trial run to test but I can see a situation where I feel it's too slow, expensive and restrictive on the back end to be worth it. We'll see but I'm cautiously optimistic for now.
In Out
Narset has performed really well in other cubes and beyond. Her static ability is just so good against almost every deck in cube. Now that other colors have more access to card advantage it's just so rare that the static doesn't come up. The minus is really nice as it provides gas and selection at a fairy cheap cost. You only get two activations out of her (because proliferate is so rare) but that doesn't seem to be a problem, mostly because of how cheap she is and how good her static is. I'm not classifying her as a planeswalker because you only get to use her minus twice and she doesn't warp a game around her but she is very good an easily worth the slot. These uncommon planeswalkers feel great in practice and I look forward to these types of cards in the future.
Gush didn't quite live up to my expectations. This is mostly because returning two islands was just too restrictive of a cost. Control decks don't want to get stuck on lands and even tempo decks have plenty to do with their mana. Drawing two cards is a nice bonus but it's also not something that blue decks don't already have a ton of access to. Paying the full cost is terrible and setting yourself back a bit with your land drops does hurt, particularly because the lands have to be actual Islands. If you only have the two Islands you can't cast double blue spells for at least two turns. That really hurts depending on what you draw.
Didn't Make the Cut
Restrictive counter spells had better have a very relevant upside in order to see cube play and Prohibit does not. Being able to retain flexibility is nice but the second mode really needed to be a hard counter. It just doesn't answer as much as it needs to. I love the design but it's just a bad combination of restriction and cost that adds up to not doing what it needs to in your deck.
Rain of Revelation is a good option for lower powered cubes if they support blue graveyard and I definitely like it more than some of the expensive card draw options like Jace's Ingenuity. Putting the card in your graveyard can be a big upside depending on your deck and being an instant is a nice surprise. I just don't have room in my cube for it as four mana is a lot to hold up. Again, I love the design, but it needed to have a lever tweaked here or there to put it over the top.
Didn't Make the Cut
Pondering Mage really needed to cost way less and just be a smaller body. As a 1/4 for 1UU with this ability it would be beautiful for control decks as a defensive body that replaces itself but as it is, the 3/4 body just isn't worth the premium cost. Ponder on a stick is good in theory but it needs to be on a cheap value creature. Five drops need to start threatening to end a game, not tread water.
Winter's Rest is a solid benefit for cubes that run snow and are looking to give blue more "permanent" answers to resolved threats. This is the kind of card that probably goes well into cubes supporting mono-colored strategies as a unique effect at a reasonable cost. It should always tap its target and keep it locked down but the opponent still gets any ETB effects and can sacrifice it's now detained creature. I'm fine with blue needing to stretch a bit into other colors as it gives drafters a reason to balance their deck and colors. I think the drafts are better for the variety in effects and this isn't good enough to change my mind on that.
Didn't Make the Cut
When I first read Marit Lage's Slumber I was out because I already have some cards that Scry 1 on upkeep and they have been underwhelming as a whole. It's a fine ability but it doesn't really do as much as it seems. Then I read the card again and realized that you only get to Scry 1 if you play a snow permanent and that isn't a guarantee each turn at all. Now I'm way out. The last ability is mostly flavor text as you need to get to a monstrous nine basic lands in order to get value. The value is significant but not for something that essentially sits in play getting ignored for the first fifteen turns of the game. Simic ramp is about the only archetype that would ever want this and even then it's only going to be effective every couple of games. It's just not going to satisfy.
Mirrodin Besieged is terrible in cubes that don't actively support an artifact theme. Even in those cubes it's probably going to be underwhelming. Like with Marit Lage's Slumber you just need way too many cards to trigger the value from the Phyrexian side. It's just not going to happen with any regularity. That means that 9/10 times you are going to be picking Mirran which completely depends on your deck and cube. I'm at nowhere near a high enough density of artifacts to make this appealing.
Didn't Make the Cut
Archmage's Charm is exactly the type of cube card I usually like. It's a reactive, modal spell with multiple relevant abilities. Unfortunately, it's also triple blue and the third ability is almost a complete blank. If the third ability was something that would come up in any reasonable number of games I would have to strongly consider adding this in because the first two abilities are actively great. With just those two though, I'd rather just run Supreme Will as it's so much easier to cast and it's been great in practice. I could be wrong here but that casting cost is just too restrictive for my tastes. Cryptic Command gets a pass because it has so many combinations of relevant abilities and is good in multiple blue decks. Event that doesn't get drafted as highly as you'd think because of how hard it is to cast in multicolor decks on curve.
Echo of Eons, comparatively, is an easy pass. I spoke briefly earlier about how much I don't like Timetwister effects in cube and Echo of Eons is just an inefficient Timetwister. I just cut Time Spiral and that is ages better than this. Again, the opponent gets to play their cards first and being able to flash it back later in the game doesn't help if you put the game out of reach for yourself by casting the front end of this first. I'm not in the market for a card that you HAVE to play for its alternative cost to make it worthwhile. This is fine out of the graveyard but even then it's unexciting. Easy pass.
Didn't Make the Cut
Urza, Lord High Artificer badly wants your cube to run other artifacts. In my cube, it's almost guaranteed to make a 1/1 and have a tough time taking advantage of the rest of the card. The free roll ability is fun but really expensive. It's a lot more palatable if you are tapping creatures (probably as intended) to pay for it but in a relatively fair cube like mine, you are likely tapping mostly lands to pay. You just can't afford to do that and it's the reason why cards with Cascade are so underwhelming unless it's tacked on to an already good card. The rest of this card just doesn't do enough to justify that. I think I would play this if it costed 1UU but at four mana, I'm out.
Bazaar Trademade is an easy pass. It's an alternate take on Serendib Efreet (which isn't that exciting in cube anymore, to be honest) but much worse. Tempo decks (the only ones actually interested in a 3/4 flier) cannot afford the card disadvantage that comes with this. It's fine if you play it with no hand but that just isn't reliable and then you are likely playing this off curve. The upside just isn't there to make up for the horrific downside. Even graveyard decks don't want to just discard their own cards for no value. Their self-discard is all tied up in small bonuses that add up over time. This is strictly downside.
In Out
Ransack the Lab is a nice little common that fills your graveyard while also replacing itself. Not all decks will want this, of course, but the ones that do really do. There aren't a ton of ways to put cards from your library into your graveyard so finding one that I like is a coup. I wish it dug four deep but you can't get everything you want. I think this is fine as a role player that will make the main more often than not just to make a deck function more consistently. It might end up being too low impact but that's the nice thing about have a 720 card cube. There is lots of room for experimentation.
Despite how much I love the new art for Beacon of Unrest, it's just so expensive. Reanimating an artifact just doesn't come up that much when it's not already a creature and the shuffle effect met it's quota of being drawn for the second time in exactly one match. I'm super excited to cut down on an expensive card like this.
In Out
This is a pretty sweet upgrade. Languish is fine for what it is but Dead of Winter scales really well as the game goes on. It comes down as a small roadblock a turn earlier than Languish does and late game it pretty cleanly should wipe the board. There is a bit of play with it in choosing to play your land before or after you cast it to adjust the size of the effect if it affects your creatures and it's also splashable. This is just a really solid magic card and one of the reasons to support snow mana.
In Out
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician does a whole lot for four mana. It's a good blocker with a relevant but fair protection as humans are everywhere in every color. It provides card advantage, shrinks opposing creatures and gives you a discard outlet with upside. It's fairly slow and durdley but it's also difficult to think of a board state where it is bad. Less effective, yes, but it will rarely be a bad top deck as the sacrifice clause doesn't cost mana and it draws cards even if it's not actively killing anything. It just does a whole lot for the cost.
Abyssal Persecutor is always so awkward to cast. It's not as easy as it seems to be able to get rid of as holding up your own removal for it doesn't always work when your opponent is bearing down your neck with threats of their own. Your best bet is to sacrifice it but once you cast it your opponent tends to put all their resources into getting rid of your outlets. The mini-game it creates isn't one that plays well and black just doesn't need this to be effective.
In Out
Cabal Therapist is a solid one drop that is able to disrupt your opponent without hindering your own strategy. The body is fairly forgettable although menace does allow it to attack for a damage or two over the course of a game. The real power is in the discard ability not requiring mana to activate. While the timing of the sacrifice is restrictive, it also doesn't render the card useless as you would really want to activate the ability before you cast your spells to remove problematic instants from your opponent's hand if you can. Getting to remove cards does require some work though. You need to either be playing other targeted discard spells that allow you to peek, have a good read on your opponent's deck, or just use the ability once for perhaps no value. That's obviously worst case scenario but it's not difficult to make a pretty good educated guess at what might be in your opponent's hand, especially in games two and three. Once you see the opponent's hand once you have a value train moving that makes it very difficult to miss again. This does a lot of work for a one drop and black does have a good amount of sacrificial fodder to allow you to use the ability more than it might appear. Snagging even two cards can mean the difference between victory and defeat depending on what they are and how it disrupts your opponent's sequencing. Note that when all else fails it can sacrifice itself to get one last trigger of its ability.
Cabal Interrogator is a solid option against control decks and isn't nearly as mana intensive as it seems. It's often good enough to just pay one or two mana for X as the opponent typically doesn't have a full grip of cards and/or a bunch of disposables to discard. It rarely blanks but it's also really slow and prevents you from being able to do anything other than it. Once your opponent commits to the board and puts pressure on you it can be difficult to find turns to activate the ability. Even paying three mana to look at two cards can take your entire turn and prevent you from furthering your actual game plan. This is the rare card that performs pretty much exactly as you expect, is annoying to play against, soaks up removal and still somehow causes you to fall behind. Cards are just too powerful and decks are too streamlined to afford this cost.
In Out
Force of Despair provides a unique effect at a reasonable cost. It doesn't help you when you draw it while already behind but it's sometimes going to be your only out when your opponent plays a bunch of tokens or drops multiple creatures in a turn or just drops a fatty and you are tapped out. It does kill ALL creatures that ETB in the turn so be careful playing this after your opponent plays a creature with flash at the end of your turn. That's a pretty narrow corner case but it can happen. I don't think this is as good as the blue Force but it's worth at trial run. It played really well in both draft and sealed of Modern Horizons so I'm hoping it translates well to cube too.
I haven't felt like decks have been thirsting for more direct planeswalker removal in a while so I feel good about removing the weakest one in Never // Return. As expected, the Return effect was basically nonexistent and the sorcery speed on Never was something that really irked me. It's just really unwieldy compared to the rest of black's removal suite.
In Out
Plague Engineer is much more disruptive than it might appear. There are a lot of shared creature types across decks and a lot of creatures with only one toughness that this can outright kill. Because of the deathtouch ability this will likely be able to trade for a creature, really gaining you more than a card's worth of value in the process. Shrinking one or two of your opposing creatures can make combat very difficult and this isn't a bad creature to recur in a pinch as you get to choose a different creature type once the board changes states. Great against tokens and go wide strategies as they typically rely on multiples of the same type of token, this should hold value for a good while even if it looks unassuming at first glance.
Murderous Redcap has fallen off the map a little bit in recent years as the body is just incredibly unimpressive for the cost. All of the value here is in the initial two damage and that's just not worth it anymore for four mana. It's nice in the sacrifice deck but really bad everywhere else and black doesn't need to use its slots on cards like this anymore. I also have a bit too much at the four slot so I like lowering the curve when I can.
In Out
Custodi Lich is the other monarch card that I underestimated upon first reading the mechanic. The main draw of the card is obviously the monarch but aside from that it provides soft removal and a disposable body that trades up well. You don't lose the monarch if this dies so there isn't a huge concern to it only having two toughness. It will likely happily trade with whatever comes its way just to keep the monarch on your side. I'm a little bummed that there are only these two cards that really make cube worthy use of the monarch ability. Maybe Conspiracy 3 will run it back and I'll see some more. For now, I'm happy with this on the lower end of black five drops.
Unless you actively support mono-colored strategies, Gray Merchant of Asphodel just isn't very good. It will most commonly drain life for 3 or 4 and then becomes a mostly irrelevant road block. You can sacrifice it and reanimate it to trigger it again, and in those cases it's wonderful but event then, you are really dependent on being ahead on board. I just don't support mono-colored enough to warrant this inclusion. I'm glad I tried it out though.
Didn't Make the Cut
Sling-Gang Lieutenant really wants Goblin tribal to be a thing. If it triggered off of any creature dying or if the body was a bit better I'd say we have to seriously think about it. As it is, it can't attack or block and only triggers off of one particular tribe. It's most likely use is to ETB, make some goblins, block, and in response drain the opponent for (eventually) three. I like black life gain to offset some of its life loss cards but not this much. It just doesn't do enough.
The upside of Feaster of Fools is a big game as you make a gigantic, evasive creature at a reasonable discount. There is a cost though as Devour isn't a guarantee and the base rate for this is way, way below rate. If you walk into a removal spell, you might just lose the game on the spot as all the equity is in the body itself. When you draw this on an empty board or with a creature you don't want to sacrifice, it's going to feel really bad to trot out your six mana 3/3 flier.
Didn't Make the Cut
Defile is a fine magic card, one that obviously gets better the more mono-colored centric you are. As it is, you likely will be able to shrink a small creature for one to three in the early game and scale up to four or five later in the game. For a single mana, that's not bad. However, it doesn't really ever kill what you need it to kill and its effectiveness will vary wildly from game to game. For every time you are able to spike their mana elf on turn one, you will be one swamp short of being able to answer anything. Those games are going to feel miserable. It's still a one for one removal spell after all and for a single colorless mana more you have numerous cards that just kill any target throughout the game. I'd rather play those and get some guaranteed value.
Endling is a card that I was definitely going to add until I saw Yawgmoth's card. I don't think I have room for multiple black four drops as this doesn't have an obvious cut. I've been really unimpressed with the 'ling creatures in cube on the whole as they just require too much input and mana to be effective. The base rate is pretty bad even if you take Undying into account. You really need to aggressively trade this off for something and then accrue whatever value you can as fast as you can thereafter. You just can't afford to hold up two to three mana turn after turn in cube. You have great spells to cast and great spells to respond to. The benefit is there for Endling but the cost is too, and I don't want to pay it.
In Out
Seasoned Pyromancer fits into just about any red deck as it goes wide, interacts with the graveyard, draws cards and does just about anything else you want it to for a really cheap three mana. The ETB is worded in a way that if you have no cards when you cast it you just get to draw two which is fantastic even if you don't make the tokens. Being able to add to the board late game once its already died is great as its essentially free value. You already easily get your mana worth off the body and ETB so anything else is just gravy.
Captain Lannery Storm is pretty good a making exactly one combat step interesting. The turn you cast her is usually pretty fun but without further ways to make Treasures it really runs out of gas quickly. It's been pretty unsatisfying past that first turn and Seasoned Pyromancer plays well throughout the game.
In Out
I usually don't run red removal if it doesn't target players because it doesn't fit well in the burn archetype but this one is a little different. Playing with the graveyard is really nice and Murderous Cut is pretty consistently played for one or two mana. This shouldn't be that different as red does a good job of filling up the yard and dealing five damage hits a threshold that red can't really deal with under normal circumstances.
Molten Rain hasn't been main decked in a very long time. I also don't really run land destruction on principle so it was always a bit of an odd design choice. Without dedicated mana disruption as a theme the only use for Molten Rain is to hope to spike someone's land leaving them color or mana screwed with isn't....fun...at all? Back in the day when creatures weren't as good it was a good way to supplement aggressive strategies and help them keep control at bay. That definitely isn't a problem any more so I don't feel bad about leaving this one out.
Didn't Make the Cut
Orcish Hellraiser is a fine card that will probably work out in practice pretty well. It's also incredibly boring though. The body is just fine and it never feels good to have to pay for Echo even if it's pretty easy to do as it is here. I'd much rather play two drops that have synergy now that we have so many good ones to choose from.
Exalted isn't a very good ability unless you have a lot of it. Cube really doesn't have a lot of it so while this is pretty strong on its own if you are able to cast it on turn one, it also really isn't that much better than a Raging Goblin. It never attacks for more than one and once your board goes wide you can't even attack with it along with the rest of the team since its power is 0.
Didn't Make the Cut
Bogardan Dragonheart is almost exclusively a Rakdos card as it has zero upside outside of being a sacrifice outlet. The upside is pretty good as it gives you a large, evasive threat with haste attacking on turn three without having to pay for the sacrifice effect. In order to make this worth the cost you really need to be able to attack a couple times as a Dragon. That's doable, but it's also completely unplayable when you don't want to sacrifice anything. Red just has way more impactful cards in this slot that are more consistent.
I think Pashalik Mons is a very good card but it really needs a second Goblin to sacrifice in order to get the value train going and four mana is a LOT to hold up even if the benefit is solid. It can sacrifice itself in a pinch but then you lose the damage output from the future tokens dying. I have a lot of Goblins running around and most of the token makers in red make more Goblins but I don't like sending this tribal signal to players as its misleading to newer players to the cube. "Goblins" isn't a deck, there are just a bunch of creatures that happen to be Goblins. Red threes are good enough at this point where we need to start being selective of all the Goblin Rabblemaster cards as I don't want all my red three drops to do the same thing. Not promoting active tribal synergies that don't really exist as a deck is as good a reason as any to exclude a new one.
Didn't Make the Cut
Planebound Accomplice is not Sneak Attack as getting a single activation out of a planeswalker isn't nearly as strong as that of a creature since you can't use the ultimate. The activation won't be as strong as a big creature with an ETB or death trigger. That, combined with the much lower density of planeswalkers when compared to creatures and this is an easy pass for cube.
Goblin Engineer is a nice take on Goblin Welder in that you are able to search your library for a target at the cost of only being able to return a smaller artifact and paying some additional mana. This makes it less explosive but much more consistent and fair. I don't really run a big artifact suite so it's an easy pass for me but a lot of cubes would probably like this, especially if they feel Welder to be a bit on the strong side.
Didn't Make the Cut
Force of Rage frustrates me so much and I think it's my pick for most disappointing card in the set. Why on earth do your tokens go away at upkeep? That completely ruins the fact that this is an instant. What, are you going to play these as two 3/1 blockers? That sounds horrendous! I suppose if it was at your next end step you would just always cast this EOT and it wouldn't have great gameplay (also it would probably be completely unbalanced for constructed play) but making the card unplayable isn't a good compromise. Sure, you can do it for free but using this spell to make two blockers in your red deck sounds horrible. I really wish they had just changed the design completely. This is such a weird card and what a waste of a spot in what was a pretty exciting cycle of cards to talk about. Sigh.
Tectonic Reformation is a really unique card that has a potentially very powerful effect for decks that want it. The rough part is that not many decks are in the market for this and even the ones that are you will have some games where you need your lands and this just gets cycled away. That helps mitigate the times where this isn't helpful and prevents it from ever really being bad but it also will only really be good a small portion of the time. Control decks want their extra lands and even aggro decks have use for some excess mana within reason. This might get played but I feel like the majority of the time it's just getting cycled away because you don't have a bunch of excess lands and I'm not sure that's worth an actual slot when you aren't doing what the card is meant to do.
Tectonic Reformation is a really unique card that has a potentially very powerful effect for decks that want it. The rough part is that not many decks are in the market for this and even the ones that are you will have some games where you need your lands and this just gets cycled away. That helps mitigate the times where this isn't helpful and prevents it from ever really being bad but it also will only really be good a small portion of the time. Control decks want their extra lands and even aggro decks have use for some excess mana within reason. This might get played but I feel like the majority of the time it's just getting cycled away because you don't have a bunch of excess lands and I'm not sure that's worth an actual slot when you aren't doing what the card is meant to do.
In Out
This is as close to a direct upgrade as you can possibly get. Vanishing 3 is miles better than Echo in nearly all circumstances. You don't need very many turns with the Hermt in play to make use of the tokens and it still has a path to the graveyard, albeit delayed. Deranged Hermit was always so close to being great and losing Echo is the lever that makes this a staple again. I'm really happy with green's other five drops and this really does just invalidate Deranged Hermit so while this seems like the lazy swap, I also think it's the correct one.
In Out
Winding Way is a bit of a rarity in that it provides graveyard fuel as well as either land or creatures depending on what you need. It is possible to whiff on the ability but it's very unlikely. Four cards is pretty deep to dig and it has great interaction with decks that care about the graveyard. I'm trying to diversify green's strategy away from just ramp. Increasing it's role in the graveyard, tokens and +1/+1 counter is going to be a bit of trial and error. This is a step in that direction.
Evolutionary Leap badly needed you to be able to put the tutored creature into play as you have no control over what you are getting. Random rolls like this are really hard to justify in cube even if you have available sacrificial fodder lying around. Requiring mana also makes it more difficult to just spin the wheel in response to removal as you have to keep a mana back to keep them honest. It's not bad but green has better cards that do the same thing.
In Out
Grapple with the Past is a nice graveyard enabler that, like Winding Way, lets you hunt for either lands or creatures depending on your needs at the time. This digs one card shallower but it does so at instant speed and allows you to make your selection after the card are milled and from your entire graveyard and not just the revealed cards. This is very strong and very likely to stick around long term as a unique effect that further supports green as a graveyard color.
Shortly after actually playing with Vivien's Arkbow it was apparent that this was much worse than it appeared. The cost is just too high for unclear payoff. It's not worth it to both discard a card and pay man without knowing what you are going to get. This has performed poorly and is an easy cut. Sometimes, the only way we learn is to try things out.
Didn't Make the Cut
Glacial Revelation digs extremely deep but has the drawback of only being able to hit basic lands. Yes, it technically can it other snow permanents but there are so few that it isn't worth considering as a possibility. It does put any number of basic lands in your hand but when you really need gas this is an absolute blank. I don't like cards like this no matter how far they dig because of how boom bust they are. The gameplay is typically just not as good.
Thornado has consideration just because it has cycling but this is essentially a sideboard card that somebody can main deck without feeling bad about it. It's not actually that much better as three mana is a lot for this effect when it's only going to hit a couple of cards in an opponent's deck. I'd rather just be more proactive or play something with upside on top of a situational ability.
Didn't Make the Cut
Conifer Wurm pumps for each basic land you have and has trample, but is very mana intensive and doesn't do anything interesting to push out the existing five drops, all of which are more powerful are diverse than this.
Springbloom Druid does a nice job of fixing your mana and slightly ramping you while leaving behind a disposable body. Only being able to find basic lands doesn't really matter and finding multiples leads you open to be able to find multiple splash colors or your main and a splash. It's pretty flexible and since the sac a land clause is at ETB you don't get blown out like you do with Harrow if it gets countered. The lands coming into play tapped is pretty standard fare for this type of card and people still playing cards like Wood Elves should just upgrade. I haven't run those types of cards in a long time and I haven't really missed them. It's arguable that this might just be better than something like Cultivate because it leads behind a body after ramping for the same amount. I think that's more attributed to Cultivate being underwhelming on the whole rather than this being exciting.
Didn't Make the Cut
Cards that can only be casted with Suspend X have really underwhelmed unless X=1. It's just too easy for the opponent to prepare for the incoming effects and if you draw it later in the game it's an actual blank. Even if you suspend it on turn one you get your tokens on turn five and they don't even have haste because it's a sorcery and not a creature. The payoff is just way, way too slow.
Force of Vigor really shines in small, powered cubes that play must answer artifacts and enchantments, seeing their entire cube contents in virtually every draft. It does a great job of keeping the opponent honest while punishing them for trying to do broken things. In my cube though, I'm largely playing fair cards that don't require immediate answers. I do have some that fit the bill but they come up so infrequently that this would much more likely just punish the deck playing a signet and a removal spell. That's good but hardly necessary for something that green already has cheap access to. Yeah, I can see an argument that it's both better and more interesting than something like Naturalize but that's really only if you pay the card for free. I just think this is like killing rats with a bazooka. It's overkill and doesn't really add to the drafting or playing experience.
Didn't Make the Cut
Hexdrinker is unplayable in every format. Let me be clear. It's powerful, cheap, evasive, scales well at all phases of the game and is good whether you are ahead, behind or at parity. It's unplayable in every format if you actually want to have fun, interactive games. People playing this in cube are doing their environment a disservice. It leads to uninteractive gameplay and one sided blowouts all by itself. If you don't have a removal spell the turn this is casted, it typically will be unkillable outside of wrath effects in one turn. That is terrible gameplay for a card that then proceeds to win the game entirely by itself over the course of four turns. It's miserable to play against and unrewarding to play with. Cubes that want only the most powerful cards will probably love this. I would rather actually enjoy my time cubing and have fun playing magic. Hexdrinker is unplayable in every format.
In Out
Arcum's Astrolabe provides colorless fixing and card replacement. I really like having access to this type of card for those on the splash since I took out tri-lands as it smooths out your mana and thins your deck a bit. My cube is big enough to have a couple of flex spots in artifacts since I'm not playing all the broken stuff.
I'm guessing a lot of people will be surprised that Wayfarer's Baulbe was even in the cube and...in fairness...the main reason it still is is because there is a picture of an Oshawott on the card. Don't ask. It did get played though and more than once. In any event, Arcum's Astrolabe is clearly an upgrade.
In Out
Icehide Golem is just a nice curve filler that any aggressive deck will want. A colorless 2/2 for 1 is going to see a lot of play as long as the deck isn't control. The main deck percentage is just too high for this to sit on the sidelines.
Skysovereign is really expensive and slow. The ability is undeniably powerful and it's really nice that it triggers on ETB but crew 3 has just proven too difficult. The creatures you want to be crewing with all have only one or two power and you are almost always crewing with multiples to get there. It's not bad but it's just too difficult to get to work reliably even as a finisher in an aggressive deck.
Didn't Make the Cut
Lesser Masticore really needed an ETB effect to be playable. The persist is so weird here because it doesn't really do anything. Pinging isn't necessarily bad in a vacuum but paying four mana to do it once is insane. It also comes with card disadvantage! Such a weird, weird design. I get it, it's a call out to the old Masticore cards but...jesus christ is it bad.
Mox Tantalite is also a really weird card. It can't accelerate you any earlier than turn four and that's if you cast it on turn one. That's extremely slow for a single mana. I get why it's good but is GLACIALLY slow even if it costs nothing to suspend. Cube will eat you up if you are actually relying on this to do something. I guess if you are all about Storm in your cube there are worst things but jesus, there aren't many.
Didn't Make the Cut
Ah, swords. The easiest of all passes. I honestly feel the best design decision I ever made was the cut the swords cycle the first time around. Why in the heck would I ever want to add in more? They are not fun to play against, completely ruin games as soon as they are cast and make people feel miserable that they happened to draft a particular color combination. You shouldn't win a game purely because your opponent happened to draft Azorius and you happen to have Sword of Truth and Justice. It's just stupid gameplay. Easy, easy pass.
In Out
Soulherder is a fun card. It's not the card that magically makes blink.deck a viable strategy in cube but that's largely because I think it's a trap archetype as a whole. I think blink is much more effective as a smaller contingent to control/tempo decks than the main dish. Soulherder is a virtual 2/2 as long as you have any other creatures but being reasonably unable to attack for a couple of turns really hurts its prospects in tempo shells. You really need to be able to take advantage of the blink and I understand the irony of cutting Flickerwisp which is easier to cast (kind of) and has a much better body but the repeatable blink makes Soulherder much more appealing. You don't need to worry about sequencing as much as you can change blink targets as the game progresses and the advantage really adds up quickly. Blinking attacking creatures to give pseudo vigilance means it's difficult to really ever blank on the ability unless this is your only creature and triggering on end step means it will always trigger the turn you play a creature instead of having to wait a turn for your value as you would if it triggered on upkeep (a much more common stop). This is definitely the worst Azorius card and it's on the chopping block but it seems fun and I've been looking for an excuse to cut Geist of Saint Traft for a while. Consider this a fun interlude until they print another good Azorius card.
I don't love the play pattern that Geist of Saint Traft provides. In practice, it either deals four to an opponent and dies (if that's good), sits there without attacking for what feels like forever (if it's not) or completely takes over the game single handedly and wins by itself (when they can't block it). None of those are satisfying or interesting outcomes and hexproof, as usual, is the culprit. The body is so anemic that it just never does anything in combat unless it's going to kill the opponent. It's powerful, but it's also not fun or interesting.
In Out
Boros is probably makes the best use of the pain lands because it's the most aggressive guild and it's therefore probably also makes the best use of the Horizon lands. Losing the ability to tap for colorless is a cost but being able to cash in for an extra card is extremely powerful, especially in a guild that doesn't need a lot of lands to function. This is a really exciting upgrade.
In Out
I absolutely love Ninjutsu. It's got great gameplay, is immensely satisfying and when it's on creatures that might actually be able to connect more than once it's very powerful. Fallen Shinobi might be my pick for most underrated card in the set. Ninjutsu nearly guarantees a trigger because of the way it functions and the effect here is one of the most powerful effects I've seen. Being able to play the cards you exile means you can hit lands as well as spells and you really do not need to hit very much to make this crazy. Keep in mind you also dealt five damage in addition to the free value. A second hit isn't nearly as likely as the first but the body is actually quite large for 2UB and this can swing a game very quickly. Even if you are behind on board and life total, it might be correct to just swing in order to free roll the effect. The upside is just so insane. Even the floor is pretty high as Dimir has so many evasive creatures and removal that it's very easy to be able to attack with a single creature in your deck.
Far // Away's biggest advantage is the flexibility it provides. Both sides of the card are overcosted and inefficient effects but the ability to do either or both proved very good. Ultimately though it doesn't provide a need in the guild and is really bad unless you have access to both. Fallen Shinobi provides much more fun gameplay and a unique effect.
In Out
In Out
Nyx Weaver is a nice little value card I always loved way back when it was first printed. It gives you a decent, defensive body (due to the reach), fills your graveyard without needing additional mana and is a payoff for doing so itself. You need to worry about turbo filling your graveyard in limited since you have so few cards in your deck and being able to cash this in to rebuy a card if you are getting low is great value. I think this is on the lower end of Golgari playables because of its obviously smaller body and slow graveyard fill rate but Golgari is already so grindy that I think it's still good. If they print a better graveyard dump in the future this will be the likely replacement. For now, though, I'm happy with my little spider friend.
I'm taking out Find // Finality not because it didn't perform well but to shore up the balance between enablers and payoffs. I think I have enough payoffs in Golgari to reward graveyard synergies but I largely need more good ways to fill your graveyard outside of doing so fairly. I worry about the density of wraths and don't mind taking one out. I think decks see them often enough that it's not something I feel the need to keep too high.
Didn't Make the Cut
Wrenn and Six is a really cool card but not one that makes for particularly powerful gameplay in an unpowered cube. Unless you are abusing Strip Mine, there is very little value in the plus. The minus is probably better than it looks on paper and the ultimate synergizes well with the plus but it just creates a repetitive game state where you retrace your best spell every turn you can until the game ends. Because of the color combination, that's probably either a burn or ramp spell and neither of which are particularly interesting. I don't even run Strip Mine so this has really zero appeal for me.
In Out
See Nurturing Peatland and Temple of Malady conversation above. The same applies here.
In Out
Kaya's Guile is an extremely flexible spell and I love modals that allow you to choose multiple modes. It's just so difficult to have game states where none of the modes are relevant and this being an instant is a huge boost in power and flexibility. Entwine is actually a realistic cost and being able to do everything should happen with some regularity. Gaining four is a ton against aggro decks. Exiling a graveyard is extremely relevant against certain decks. The other two are just never dead even if they can be less impactful. Tacking on an evasive token or a light removal spell onto another effect is really good and within the Orzhov strategy.
I don't love getting rid of Aryel as it is a really nice signpost card for BW tokens but Kaya's Guile just seems so good, and Aryel is just so slow and mana intensive. The body is nice but you actually have to untap and then put more mana in over the course of a couple of turns to make it worthwhile. That's a hard sell in cube unless the upside is significant, as in Hero of Bladehold. The upside is definitely there but you really have to work for it.
In Out
See Nurturing Peatland and Temple of Malady conversation above. The same applies here.
Watch List
It feels really weird that I'm not adding this card since it seems strictly better than both Naturalize and Disenchant and I'm running both of them. In fact, it's not better, just more flexible. After much debate though, I'm just not sure how to fit this in. I don't want it to be in the gold section since it doesn't fit any of the criteria I look for in guild cards. I also don't want to add it in colorless (which I've seen people suggest) as it actually does require colored mana. The other option would be to put it in the main color section but what would I replace? It's an easy improvement over both Naturalize and Disenchant but doesn't fit into one color more than the other and I can't remove both to add this because then where does this go? It's a conundrum that I don't have an answer to. I think if the internet finds a solution that I like I'll add it in but right now it's kind of in classification purgatory. I'm putting it on the watch list in case a solution is ever discovered that I agree with.
In Out
In Out
This is a huge upgrade. For the same cost and body you gain flash and flying guaranteed. You also gain conditional deathtouch but by the time you are actually flashing this in and eating something you should absolutely have a couple basic lands as you aren't doing this on turn two or three most likely. The loss of potential ramp is a downside but guaranteed card draw isn't a long way down since it's only worse if you actually would draw a land. Any other card is strictly the same. Baleful Strix is one of the best cards in Dimir for a reason and I'm confident his is now one of the best cards in Simic; a guild that really, really needed some more marquee cards.
In Out
I was pretty confident that Roalesk, Apex Hybrid was strong but until I played with and against it I was unconvinced of its true power. Roalesk is very good. The body is really impressive (5 toughness makes this very difficult to kill in combat due to flying) and giving two counters means that even a mana elf becomes an actual card. Double proliferate is also really good as I continue to increase the density of +1/+1 counters in the cube. If they kill it immediately, it gave four counters to a creature which is just incredible. I'm happy I put this on the watch list.
Progenitor Mimic is really fun and can do some really cool things but for six mana you need more consistent results. For every game you are able to copy something stupid and gain incredible value you have to copy something that isn't nearly worth the mana investment. You also need this to survive to your turn to get any real value and while the dream does happen, it also doesn't really fit that well into anything Simic is trying to do. Roalesk is a much better signpost and has a much higher floor without lowering the ceiling too much.
In Out
Prismatic Vista is as close as you can get to an automatic include in every cube that runs rares. It's simply amazing mana fixing that gets whatever you need the turn you need it. The life is a totally fine cost to get the color you need and the basic land ETB untapped is outstanding. This will be played in the main 100% of the time it appears in a draft without being oppressive. That's an amazing recipie cube card.
Westvale Abbey just costs way too much to activate and is way too slow to actually flip. I'd much rather improve mana fixing across the board then have something that only a small portion of decks would ever be interested in.
I'm really happy with the design of Modern Horizons. The overall proportion of cards that are worth discussing is wide and stretch across many different varieties of cube environments. Powered, unpowered, pauper, tribal, etc. all got different tools and there weren't a ton of cards that were just out and out home runs for everyone. It also created a lot of great discussion around snow's role in cube design. It's a quick turnaround for Magic 2020 and I'm already excited for new cards even though we just got all of these. If only I could actually draft my cube more!
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