MTG Salvation

I would also like to see those lands!

Great article as always.

With how deep this set has been for cube, have you considered a second [P]review article for Zendikar Rising? One specifically honorable mentions?

Thanks!

And, nope. Just the Top 20.

Quote from Breathe1234 »

There is a part of me that always wants Wizards to complete the land cycles:

- Allied Mirage Fetch Lands.
- Ikoria Triome lands.
- Enemy Canopy Lands.

I really would like the Enemy Mirage Lands and the rest of the Triome lands to better support 3-4 colors + landfall in a more fair way.

Hmm, I really get why the Triome lands make people wishing for Mirage Fetchlands, but I think that the interaction is quite poorly, unfortunately. I mean, one of the arguments for the new Modal lands often is the fact that the come untapped. Having a land, that comes to play tapped and then brings a land tapped is so annoying. Espacially in powered cubes, I cannot imagine that that it's a good idea to play that interaction.
What we need is a new, simple Fetchland Cycle that comes into play untapped but brings a land into play tapped.
I actually play with some Proxies and I created that cycle, completed the Triomes and it is amazing!

@wtwlf: Did you consider cards that bounce back lands to your hand that you did not play before? With the Triomes and the Modal cards, some of those cards could be worth it now, right? It made me bring back Meloku.

Ya, Meloku and Kor Skyfisher got quite a bit better, and Flickerwisp has some cool interactions now too. Shepherd of the Flock might be worth an extra look as well.

Tapland -> Tapland is kinda a bummer, but it's still a good option to be able to choose from when you also have other good lands to grab. There's a lot of upsides to fetches, and the increased density with the Mirage fetches is still super sweet. Triome interactions are not THE reason to experiment with zmirage fetches, but the interaction is still quite solid when you can afford it. Grabbing the Underground Sea is still the main interaction with Bad River, but if Zagoth Triome is available as a target, and you can afford the tempo hit, it's still a powerful additional option to choose from when you can afford to.

I know this is definitely late, but I was busy and my login account was locked for some reason (excuses, excuses).

Great article! Personally I am putting in the aggro 2 drops - seems to improve aggro a lot.
Luminarch Aspirant - frows your team slowly puts you always ahead in board presence
Kargan Intimidator - 2cc 4 power with evasion (granted, a mana sink, but still)
Skyclave Shade - can have a late game application

Bloodchief's Thirst best spot removal I think, plus I like that it edges out Blasphemous Act because I feel iffy about the mechanic. I want a simple spot removal on this slot and BA seems there are a lot of random corner cases.

I appreciate the theory around the lands you put in. I am iffy on the tap lands but Kazandu Mammoth is quite decent by itself. (trample would literally push this through).

May I ask the group, how are the MDFC testing so far? I imagine the red one to be a slam dunk but very unsure about the rest.

Oh man, the MFDCs are great so far. I highly recommend experimenting with a bunch of them.

I think this review has been pretty spot-on so far. I may bump Hagra Mauling up some, and new Nighthawk has been even better than expected. Only underperforming card is Jace, and he's hurt by stiff competition on generic card advantage with not many great synergies.

Thanks. And agreed on Jace, I wasn't as impressed as I expected to be.