Well that being said, I like mana rocks that do something more than be mana rocks, and that's partially why I like something like Mind Stone as it's ramping early and a cantrip late. I also like some of the key runes, specifically Rakdos Keyrune as it has a very strong body while fitting in the Wildfire Deck.
I was looking at Dimir Keyrune but my issue with it was that it's still 3 mana to cast and generally you want the majority of your mana rocks to be 2 mana. Guardian Idol offers a decent spell in that it's a turn 2 play, that can also be a dude sometimes, in some ways it's like an awkward Mishra's Factory.
The issues I see with it are that it comes into play tapped, meaning you can drop it on turn 3 and still have mana for something like Mana Leak, and it's a rather small body for the activation cost. Let's face it, two mana is actually a lot for a 2/2 with no abilities, and on top of that it isn't amazing fixing for any deck like Coldsteel Heart is.
The benefits of this card are that you can drop it on turn two, which is important for a ramp spell, since it allows you to Wrath on the critical turn. It's a 2/2 when you need it to be, which isn't a completely negligible body, and it evades a decent amount of removal. Finally, it's also colourless, unlike say the Keyrunes which require you to be in a specific combination if you aren't planning to use them for more than just a ramp spell, a function they're not amazing at particularly.
I play it for some time now in my Cube and I am reasonably happy with it. Entering the battlefield tapped is occasionally bad, but the additional body makes up for that in my experience. It increases the threat density in a control deck and it can keep the pressure up against a control deck.
Guardian Idol has been solid here (450 cube). A lot of decks need mana rocks and this one is colour neutral. For some decks a random signet might be better as it might provide some fixing, but the advantage of being a 2/2 is not small. Coldsteel Heart is better, but that doesn't mean that you should not include this card.
Sometimes you can block, other times you have an extra threat after Wrathing. That is a serious upside for slower decks.
Keyrunes look nice, but costing three is a big disadvantage for mana rocks. I prefer good two casting cost mana rocks in most decks.
It was in our original cube and it's a reasonable card. Competition amongst mana rocks is very high though and I wouldn't consider creature mode as its primary role, meaning it has to compete with all the signets, Mind Stone, Chalice etc. That's a tough place to be in at 2 CMC.
I like this card, acceleration is always nice, and I like it over signets since it doesn't fix and goes in every deck that wants it. I've randomly killed people by equiping it as well. The animate ability doesn't come up much, so you can sometimes get people to attack into with a creature they normally wouldn't have traded for it.
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Guardian Idol was discussed here in the Random Cube Card of the Day thread. This thread has been idle for a few years now, why not see how people feel about it in 2017.
As mentioned in the thread, I think this makes the cut in most unpowered cubes, even if you're running Signets and Talismans. The tinker package needs more help without Moxen and the more broken artifacts.
So, uh, yea... I like mana rocks.
Well that being said, I like mana rocks that do something more than be mana rocks, and that's partially why I like something like Mind Stone as it's ramping early and a cantrip late. I also like some of the key runes, specifically Rakdos Keyrune as it has a very strong body while fitting in the Wildfire Deck.
I was looking at Dimir Keyrune but my issue with it was that it's still 3 mana to cast and generally you want the majority of your mana rocks to be 2 mana. Guardian Idol offers a decent spell in that it's a turn 2 play, that can also be a dude sometimes, in some ways it's like an awkward Mishra's Factory.
The issues I see with it are that it comes into play tapped, meaning you can drop it on turn 3 and still have mana for something like Mana Leak, and it's a rather small body for the activation cost. Let's face it, two mana is actually a lot for a 2/2 with no abilities, and on top of that it isn't amazing fixing for any deck like Coldsteel Heart is.
The benefits of this card are that you can drop it on turn two, which is important for a ramp spell, since it allows you to Wrath on the critical turn. It's a 2/2 when you need it to be, which isn't a completely negligible body, and it evades a decent amount of removal. Finally, it's also colourless, unlike say the Keyrunes which require you to be in a specific combination if you aren't planning to use them for more than just a ramp spell, a function they're not amazing at particularly.
"What am I looking at? Ashes, dead man."
Sometimes you can block, other times you have an extra threat after Wrathing. That is a serious upside for slower decks.
Keyrunes look nice, but costing three is a big disadvantage for mana rocks. I prefer good two casting cost mana rocks in most decks.
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