MTG Salvation

Quote from LucidVision »

Triomes would be my 4th and final cycle of land for a 360 vintage cube and > canopy lands.
I also don't think I'd support the cards that leveraged canopy lands? I wouldn't run crucible effects outside of wrenn and six @ 360 I think?

Canopy lands are great on their own, the presence of Crucible effects don't move the needle at all on their viability. And unlike triomes, they ETB untapped and you're not restricted to choosing between playing it as a land or cashing it in for a card.

If I were forced into a situation where I can only run 1 uniform land cycle outside of fetch / dual / shock, I would snap pick a completed Horizon Canopy cycle.

Quote from LucidVision »

Increased fetchland density and the way power is distributed in multi-colored good stuff cards (top heavy) is what makes triomes even more valuable in a small cube than in larger cubes. ETBT is a bigger deal at small sizes, but the fetchland synergy more than offsets that.

I'd argue that the increased pressure of a top heavy 360 cube makes the triomes ETBing tapped much more of a liability. 10 ETB tapped lands is A LOT for a 360, IMO, even with increased fetch density. I've personally found the mana fixing of triomes to be excessive at 540, nevermind a 360 cube where all 10 are guaranteed to be in a draft pool with 8 players.

Quote from LucidVision »

I used to be very high on canopy lands, but I underestimated the downside cost of the pain they cause... Especially in multiples (which matters a tiny bit more at smaller cube sizes). The've dropped to my #5 slot from #4.

It's definitely true that the cost of pain lands has increased since inflation of damage has devalued life points. But again, the increase of pressure also increases the cost of ETBing tapped also.

Quote from LucidVision »

I wouldn't run crucible effects outside of wrenn and six @ 360 I think?

Assuming all other things being equal, the presence of Wrenn and Six and / or Primeval Titan would probably be the biggest tie breaker(s) more than any domain card / land types matter card / other Crucible effects / etc.

I've always said that your choice of land cycles won't make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things since a lot of them are very interchangeable with other cycles. That being said, here's some personal anecdotes I've observed over time:

- WOTC finishing the Horizon Canopy cycle has been on the top of my overall MTG wishlist (not just cube) since when Future Sight came out in 2007 (nearly 17 years ago at the time of writing this). I really can't say that I was waiting anxiously for WOTC to complete the triome cycle.

- The only Horizon Canopy to have been standard legal is Horizon Canopy itself, everything else so far has only been printed in a direct to Modern set. Meanwhile, WOTC has been okay with all 10 triomes having been legal in Standard (shocklands too as long as fetches aren't legal). I feel like WOTC would've completed the Horizon Canopy cycle by now if they were more comfortable with them in Standard. I assume the real reason the cycle hasn't been finished yet is because they have to compete with fetchland reprints, and there isn't a single non-reserved list land cycle that can compete with those since fetchlands will sell the most packs by far.

Quote from kingneb »

Rank these white 3-drop creatures:

White Plume Adventurer
Blade Splicer
Skyclave Apparition
Elite Spellbinder
Flickerwisp
Loran of the Third Path
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

The two definitives for me is White Plume Adventurer #1 with Thalia, Heretic Cathar being at the bottom. After that you can really go either way with everything in between.

Here's how I'd rank everything else in the middle. Not definitive, any different day I'd probably rank them slightly different.

- Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- Skyclave Apparition
- Elite Spellbinder
- Blade Splicer
- Flickerwisp
- Loran of the Third Path