For the majority of the Hidden Agendas, giving up a pick to get a potentially decent effect seems like a reasonable and fair trade-off. Like if I got an early Elspeth, but got forced into R/G midrange later on, then Unexpected Potential becomes a tempting pick later on.
Muzzio's Preperations works with tokens, I believe, if you can name 'Soldier' as a card(see Echoing Decay). I'm not sure if that's a legal choice though, as it isn't an actual card in itself. Would be good to get clarification.
Muzzio's Preperations works with tokens, I believe, if you can name 'Soldier' as a card(see Echoing Decay). I'm not sure if that's a legal choice though, as it isn't an actual card in itself. Would be good to get clarification.
There is a difference: Decay targets a creature in play, then affects all creatures with the same name (and never mentions cards). Preparations demands that you name a card. Tokens are creatures, but only exist on the battlefield and I think they are therefore never considered to be cards. I am not 100% certain though, so some confirmation would be nice.
I'm pretty sure you couldn't name e.g. "Soldier" (for tokens) as a card as there's no card in gatherer that's just named "Soldier" (the exception being if the tokens actually share a name with a card e.g. the Llanowar Elves tokens made by Llanowar Mentor).
The +1/+1 counter one would be cool with Pack Rat if it works that way, since the Pack Rats that are created by Pack Rats are also called Pack Rat.
201.3. If an effect instructs a player to name a card, the player must choose the name of a card that exists in the Oracle card reference (see rule 108.1) and is legal in the format of the game the player is playing. (See rule 100.6.) If the player wants to name a split card, the player must choose the name of one of its halves, but not both. (See rule 708.) If the player wants to name a flip card's alternative name, the player may do so. (See rule 709.) If the player wants to name the back face of a double-faced card, the player may do so. (See rule 711.) A player may not choose the name of a token unless it's also the name of a card.
majikian is correct, "Soldier" is not the name of any Magic card present in the Oracle database.
And if you want to use them, it's good to be aware how they work with split, flip and double-faced card: basically you can only name one half.
* If you have Double Stroke and Far/Away, you need to name only one side (Far or Away). It will copy the spell when you cast the right side and when you cast it fused. It won't work when you cast the other side.
* There is no card where naming the 'second' side of a flip or double card is a good idea, unless you are playing Immediate Action and is sure you will flip/transform the card in the first turn.
willdice is correct. I think I suggested to Goodking this could work with tokens but it actually doesn't, since you have to name a card, and tokens are not cards. My bad.
We threw the known Conspiracy cards that tickled our fancy into the cube and drafted, and boy was it fun.
We're testing the following draft altering/affected cards:
Lore Seeker: we weren't completely sold on this as it seemed like it didn't give enough incentive to actually pick it, even if the main attraction (an additional booster) doesn't depend on who takes it and as such is more a cube design decision. In the draft it was picked high though - 3rd pick I think - and gained the player who picked it a Jitte, so I guess that's a very good start for this card. Deal Broker: A reanimator player drafted it and offered a... Mox Pearl for trade! He got offered a Mox Jet and a Library of Alexandria for it and made a deal for the Library, then proceeded to maindeck the Broker. A great and memorable start for this card. Lurking Automaton: was drafted as a 9/9 for an artifact deck. This card is very interesting due to the fact that it actually gets better the later it is drafted, an unprecedented quality. Paliano, the High City: was included as support for 4-5 color decks. It was drafted by a 4-color combo deck as an 'ETB untapped' dual and hence made the final 40. Not a bad start.
We've been cubing with Cogwork Librarian for months now and it's been superb, it gets picked very high all the time and so far was used 4-5 times each time it was in the pool.
Do the Hidden Agendas actually work with tokens though? They say "name a card" which I think means an actual Magic card and not a type of token.
Thanks for pointing that out! They are still great with Myr Servitor though. If you have 3-4 SERVITORS in your 40 then they all get the respective abilities, which is doubly powerful because they tend to return from the graveyard. I also realised that the ability is not symmetrical; so your Myr Servitors get the bonus while your opponents' do not. Woot!
I'll probably keep the conspiracies as a separated set. Most likely we will draft them once or twice then let them aside... somewhere near the planes and schemes and heroes in the big card box...
From the draft cards, Cogwork Librarian and Deal Broker are definite includes; I will also test Agent of Acquisitions and Lore Seeker.
There was some kind of communication error, it was supposed to be spoiled in entirety last Friday, but it didn't happen (Sam Stoddard's article implied that it was spoiled fully.)
However, someone goofed apparently and it wasn't spoiled. Their (Brand Manager?) Alison said on reddit that they were looking into how they wanted to now spoil them, I'm guessing they will spoil it tomorrow, but no official word.
For the second time we had a player draft Kitchen Finks and Muzzio's Preparations to go infinkinite. The best part was this time it was me! I discarded Finks to Hymn to Tourach in the early game but cast Death on it to bring it back. Opponent shrugged when I cast it until I revealed the Conspiracy which eventually forced my opponent to scoop. Pretty awesome
I wanted to post about the actual Conspiracy/hidden agenda cards as I’ve had the chance to play with a bunch of them for several drafts so I feel like I can give some information how they’ve performed so far. The most important thing to talk about from this set is the actual “Conspiracy” cards. Let me summarize them for you…they’re insane. They range in value from pretty good to potentially a top ten Cube card. I know some people are philosophically opposed to these cards and it makes me sad to think about that. We’ve had so many great moments in just a handful of drafts with these new cards that I think they’re going to become a cornerstone of Cube drafting in my group. The whole drafting process even in a draft with eleven conspiracy cards seeded in wasn’t disrupted too much and in fact I felt like everyone was more engaged throughout the draft. We all had a good time enjoying the different things that were happening. I’d almost call it a mini-game within the draft. Anyway, here are some thoughts about some of the cards we’ve been testing (ranked according to the power level from preliminary testing):
Double Stroke can enable some truly broken things in a Cube setting. 6 damage for one mana? 6 cards for one mana? 8 damage for two lands? Scry 4, draw 2 for one mana? 2 turns in a row for two mana? Discard 4 cards at random for 2 mana? Search your opponent’s library for two creatures & put them into play? Add 6 mana to your mana pool for one mana? Double Tinker? The list goes on & on. This card has done insane work already and we’ve only seen it in a few drafts. Double Demonic Tutor is just as crazy as it sounds. It would take something truly insane for me to pass this card in any draft pack. It competes with power and may be better than most if not all of them.
Backup Plan makes your start to every game better. Are you a control deck lacking in early action? An aggro deck lacking finishers? A combo deck needing specific pieces to work? A mediocre deck where you need to hit your bombs to win? Odds are you’ll see what you need in one of your openers. 35% of your deck is what you get to see between your two hands. Our early anecdotal evidence shows that the player has kept the second hand 7 out of 8 times. This card is easily first pickable and should be at least a top-30 Cube card as far as where it should be drafted.
Power Play is an interesting card as its clearly designed for a 1-game multiplayer format. For the last two years we’ve run a draft-only card with this effect that says “you win the opening dice roll for each match” and it’s played really well. I think letting a player go first in each game of each match is not the kind of effect I want in my Cube but I don’t deny its power. I will continue to run our “errata” version of it because it’s been a blast and I think it’s more along the lines of how Power Play would read if it was designed for regular 1-vs-1 games.
Advantageous Proclamation is one of the best Conspiracy cards. It’s innocuous on its face as it “only” reduces the size of your deck. This doesn’t have any visible effect on the board state but beneath the surface this does so much more. Seeing 20% of your deck in your first draw is awesome as is cutting the 3 worst spells in your deck. It also makes combo decks way better (if your Cube supports those) or even pseudo-combo decks like Reanimator. You can easily justify this as a first pick in any pack…especially since it makes any deck instantly better.
The first 4 cards listed here are all truly insane first-pickable cards. There’s a huge dropoff in card quality for the rest of the Conspiracy cards. That being said, the remaining cards are all quite playable and some are still high draft picks.
Have you ever seen an insane card later in a draft after you’re already established in your colors and thought, “I wish I didn’t have to pass this.” Now you don’t! Just take Unexpected Potential in a draft and run Dark Confidant in Boros, Garruk, Primal Hunter in control or Jace, the Mind Sculptor in anything. This is especially great if you took a card at the beginning of the draft and switched strategies. It also really throws off your opponent as the first time it’s cast in the draft they’ll have no idea that it’s coming. The surprise value will really “get” a lot of opponents for as long as this card is in the Cube.
Worldknit will be a card with some of the best stories from Conspiracy. I’m really having trouble properly evaluating this card. In early testing the Worldknit decks have done really well versus the traditional Cube decks. Grabbing a handful of planeswalkers, sweepers, O-Ring effects and sweet finishers has been too much for most decks to handle. Most of the decks I’ve drafted with this have been midrangey or slightly controllish. I’ve even drafted an aggro deck once but never got to play it out to see how it did. This card definitely gets worse as the draft progresses but I drafted it at the halfway point in a draft last week and still went 2-0 in a 4-man draft. Cards that are even better in a Worldknit deck? Vedalken Shackles, Rofellos and Spectral Procession. They are absolutely insane as you can play all lands of one color. As a point of reference here are some of the sweeter Worldknit decks I’ve drafted:
The strength of Brago's Favor lies in its flexibility. Being able to make a 1-mana Time Walk, 2-mana Ashiok, 3-mana Hero of Bladehold, 4-mana Tamiyo, 5-mana Titan or 6-mana Karn is so powerful. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to decide until you build your deck. Light on 3-drops but heavy on 4-drops? Just move a card down one slot to help balance your curve. This card is definitely worth picking just below the insane cards of Cube but above most everything else.
Muzzio's Preparations is a card I initially dismissed as being terrible. “What creatures are worth wasting a draft pick just to give them a +1/+1 counter?” is what I thought. Kitchen Finks, Murderous Redcap and Glen Elendra Archmage all say hello. Infinite Kitchen Finks (infinifinks) has happened in multiple drafts. No sac outlet yet to live the full infinite life dream but just having a 3/2 that gains 2 life every time it dies is almost impossible for most decks to beat. You need to exile/pacify/lock it down or else you won’t be able to recover. In games where Kitchen Finks gets cast with Muzzio’s Preparations on it, the caster is 3-0. Big shock. Even without the insane recursion cards it’s still sweet making Goblin Guide a 3/3, Vengevine a 5/4 or starting Kalonian Hydra with 5 counters instead of 4.
Immediate Action adds a much-needed keyword to any card in your deck. Giving haste to *any* creature in your deck is quite strong and helps deal with Planeswalkers or finish off your opponent on what they think is a “safe” board state. Vengevine is great as a recurring creature but is also strong just being a 4/3 hasty guy for 4. It’s awesome to live the dream in Cube & haste up a Titan. So much value!
Secrets of Paradise makes any crappy 2-drop a Sylvan Caryatid in any color deck. Putting this on Wall of Omens or Omenspeaker to help block yet still ramp out the 4-drop is totally sweet. Being able to fix your mana and splash off of it is also really nice.
Iterative Analysis is probably the worst Conspiracy card I’m running but it’s still a middle-of-the-pack card in a typical draft. “Bolt you, draw a card” are pretty sweet words to say. Almost as sweet as casting any of the blue 1-drop cantrip spells off it to essentially draw 2 cards for 1 mana. This is the least flashy/exciting of the Conspiracy cards but it will always make your deck and always be worth picking in the middle of the pack. You can also stick it on your “worst” instant/sorcery to automatically improve the quality of your whole deck.
The Conspiracy cards are all really neat and should at the very least be tested in all Cubes. I think it’s unfortunate every time I see someone say they won’t play any of the Conspiracy cards because I feel like they’re depriving themselves of having even more fun through the drafting process and having ultra-cool effects during the games on cards that are actually Cubeworthy and not just “fun.”
Great write up, thanks kingneb. I feel that the the only conspiracies I'll be including are the ones without Hidden Agenda, as the logistics of keeping track of hidden cards can be annoying. However, the rest of your writeup matches up with my expectations of the conspiracies as a whole.
Nice overview. While it is clear why you didn't talk about Secret Summoning (useless in the typical singleton cube), the only other conspiracy that you didn't mention is Sentinel Dispatch. I think it is the fairest of the five non-Hidden Agenda cards, but might still be good enough. That additional blocker can buy controlish decks another crucial turn and it is also an artifact for Tinker and other artifact-related shenanigans.
Also, isn't Worldknit going to screw drafts since if someone gets it early they will start taking nonbasic lands from weaker packs just to keep their deck size down? I guess they wouldn't take shocklands or ciptaplands..
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Muzzio's Preperations works with tokens, I believe, if you can name 'Soldier' as a card(see Echoing Decay). I'm not sure if that's a legal choice though, as it isn't an actual card in itself. Would be good to get clarification.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
The +1/+1 counter one would be cool with Pack Rat if it works that way, since the Pack Rats that are created by Pack Rats are also called Pack Rat.
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majikian is correct, "Soldier" is not the name of any Magic card present in the Oracle database.
And if you want to use them, it's good to be aware how they work with split, flip and double-faced card: basically you can only name one half.
* If you have Double Stroke and Far/Away, you need to name only one side (Far or Away). It will copy the spell when you cast the right side and when you cast it fused. It won't work when you cast the other side.
* There is no card where naming the 'second' side of a flip or double card is a good idea, unless you are playing Immediate Action and is sure you will flip/transform the card in the first turn.
Yep, that works! Pack Rat tokens are all named Pack Rat (and also have a mana cost of 2B). Imagine all the hasty, +1/+1 pack rats you could make!
I almost didn't recognize you by your new avatar wtwlf123.
Cubetutor link - 380 Peasant Cube
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Former DCI L2 Judge
My old Cube podcast on ManaDeprived, with Goodking and artbcnco: http://manadeprived.com/podcasts/mtgin3d/
You can find me on Twitter as well.
We're testing the following draft altering/affected cards:
Lore Seeker: we weren't completely sold on this as it seemed like it didn't give enough incentive to actually pick it, even if the main attraction (an additional booster) doesn't depend on who takes it and as such is more a cube design decision. In the draft it was picked high though - 3rd pick I think - and gained the player who picked it a Jitte, so I guess that's a very good start for this card.
Deal Broker: A reanimator player drafted it and offered a... Mox Pearl for trade! He got offered a Mox Jet and a Library of Alexandria for it and made a deal for the Library, then proceeded to maindeck the Broker. A great and memorable start for this card.
Lurking Automaton: was drafted as a 9/9 for an artifact deck. This card is very interesting due to the fact that it actually gets better the later it is drafted, an unprecedented quality.
Paliano, the High City: was included as support for 4-5 color decks. It was drafted by a 4-color combo deck as an 'ETB untapped' dual and hence made the final 40. Not a bad start.
We've been cubing with Cogwork Librarian for months now and it's been superb, it gets picked very high all the time and so far was used 4-5 times each time it was in the pool.
Thanks for pointing that out! They are still great with Myr Servitor though. If you have 3-4 SERVITORS in your 40 then they all get the respective abilities, which is doubly powerful because they tend to return from the graveyard. I also realised that the ability is not symmetrical; so your Myr Servitors get the bonus while your opponents' do not. Woot!
From the draft cards, Cogwork Librarian and Deal Broker are definite includes; I will also test Agent of Acquisitions and Lore Seeker.
What do you mean? They're all at the top of the site under the Conspiracy tab...
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/spoilers/139-conspiracy
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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I assume they wanted some cards to spoil in the last few days before the release.
"What am I looking at? Ashes, dead man."
However, someone goofed apparently and it wasn't spoiled. Their (Brand Manager?) Alison said on reddit that they were looking into how they wanted to now spoil them, I'm guessing they will spoil it tomorrow, but no official word.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
It's ...a conspiracy.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Double Stroke can enable some truly broken things in a Cube setting. 6 damage for one mana? 6 cards for one mana? 8 damage for two lands? Scry 4, draw 2 for one mana? 2 turns in a row for two mana? Discard 4 cards at random for 2 mana? Search your opponent’s library for two creatures & put them into play? Add 6 mana to your mana pool for one mana? Double Tinker? The list goes on & on. This card has done insane work already and we’ve only seen it in a few drafts. Double Demonic Tutor is just as crazy as it sounds. It would take something truly insane for me to pass this card in any draft pack. It competes with power and may be better than most if not all of them.
Backup Plan makes your start to every game better. Are you a control deck lacking in early action? An aggro deck lacking finishers? A combo deck needing specific pieces to work? A mediocre deck where you need to hit your bombs to win? Odds are you’ll see what you need in one of your openers. 35% of your deck is what you get to see between your two hands. Our early anecdotal evidence shows that the player has kept the second hand 7 out of 8 times. This card is easily first pickable and should be at least a top-30 Cube card as far as where it should be drafted.
Power Play is an interesting card as its clearly designed for a 1-game multiplayer format. For the last two years we’ve run a draft-only card with this effect that says “you win the opening dice roll for each match” and it’s played really well. I think letting a player go first in each game of each match is not the kind of effect I want in my Cube but I don’t deny its power. I will continue to run our “errata” version of it because it’s been a blast and I think it’s more along the lines of how Power Play would read if it was designed for regular 1-vs-1 games.
Advantageous Proclamation is one of the best Conspiracy cards. It’s innocuous on its face as it “only” reduces the size of your deck. This doesn’t have any visible effect on the board state but beneath the surface this does so much more. Seeing 20% of your deck in your first draw is awesome as is cutting the 3 worst spells in your deck. It also makes combo decks way better (if your Cube supports those) or even pseudo-combo decks like Reanimator. You can easily justify this as a first pick in any pack…especially since it makes any deck instantly better.
The first 4 cards listed here are all truly insane first-pickable cards. There’s a huge dropoff in card quality for the rest of the Conspiracy cards. That being said, the remaining cards are all quite playable and some are still high draft picks.
Have you ever seen an insane card later in a draft after you’re already established in your colors and thought, “I wish I didn’t have to pass this.” Now you don’t! Just take Unexpected Potential in a draft and run Dark Confidant in Boros, Garruk, Primal Hunter in control or Jace, the Mind Sculptor in anything. This is especially great if you took a card at the beginning of the draft and switched strategies. It also really throws off your opponent as the first time it’s cast in the draft they’ll have no idea that it’s coming. The surprise value will really “get” a lot of opponents for as long as this card is in the Cube.
Worldknit will be a card with some of the best stories from Conspiracy. I’m really having trouble properly evaluating this card. In early testing the Worldknit decks have done really well versus the traditional Cube decks. Grabbing a handful of planeswalkers, sweepers, O-Ring effects and sweet finishers has been too much for most decks to handle. Most of the decks I’ve drafted with this have been midrangey or slightly controllish. I’ve even drafted an aggro deck once but never got to play it out to see how it did. This card definitely gets worse as the draft progresses but I drafted it at the halfway point in a draft last week and still went 2-0 in a 4-man draft. Cards that are even better in a Worldknit deck? Vedalken Shackles, Rofellos and Spectral Procession. They are absolutely insane as you can play all lands of one color. As a point of reference here are some of the sweeter Worldknit decks I’ve drafted:
Token Subtheme: http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/137763
Lots of Value: http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/136032
Planeswalker Control: http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/134925
Aggro: http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/134544
The strength of Brago's Favor lies in its flexibility. Being able to make a 1-mana Time Walk, 2-mana Ashiok, 3-mana Hero of Bladehold, 4-mana Tamiyo, 5-mana Titan or 6-mana Karn is so powerful. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to decide until you build your deck. Light on 3-drops but heavy on 4-drops? Just move a card down one slot to help balance your curve. This card is definitely worth picking just below the insane cards of Cube but above most everything else.
Muzzio's Preparations is a card I initially dismissed as being terrible. “What creatures are worth wasting a draft pick just to give them a +1/+1 counter?” is what I thought. Kitchen Finks, Murderous Redcap and Glen Elendra Archmage all say hello. Infinite Kitchen Finks (infinifinks) has happened in multiple drafts. No sac outlet yet to live the full infinite life dream but just having a 3/2 that gains 2 life every time it dies is almost impossible for most decks to beat. You need to exile/pacify/lock it down or else you won’t be able to recover. In games where Kitchen Finks gets cast with Muzzio’s Preparations on it, the caster is 3-0. Big shock. Even without the insane recursion cards it’s still sweet making Goblin Guide a 3/3, Vengevine a 5/4 or starting Kalonian Hydra with 5 counters instead of 4.
Immediate Action adds a much-needed keyword to any card in your deck. Giving haste to *any* creature in your deck is quite strong and helps deal with Planeswalkers or finish off your opponent on what they think is a “safe” board state. Vengevine is great as a recurring creature but is also strong just being a 4/3 hasty guy for 4. It’s awesome to live the dream in Cube & haste up a Titan. So much value!
Secrets of Paradise makes any crappy 2-drop a Sylvan Caryatid in any color deck. Putting this on Wall of Omens or Omenspeaker to help block yet still ramp out the 4-drop is totally sweet. Being able to fix your mana and splash off of it is also really nice.
Iterative Analysis is probably the worst Conspiracy card I’m running but it’s still a middle-of-the-pack card in a typical draft. “Bolt you, draw a card” are pretty sweet words to say. Almost as sweet as casting any of the blue 1-drop cantrip spells off it to essentially draw 2 cards for 1 mana. This is the least flashy/exciting of the Conspiracy cards but it will always make your deck and always be worth picking in the middle of the pack. You can also stick it on your “worst” instant/sorcery to automatically improve the quality of your whole deck.
The Conspiracy cards are all really neat and should at the very least be tested in all Cubes. I think it’s unfortunate every time I see someone say they won’t play any of the Conspiracy cards because I feel like they’re depriving themselves of having even more fun through the drafting process and having ultra-cool effects during the games on cards that are actually Cubeworthy and not just “fun.”
TL;DR Test these cards & you won’t be sorry
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Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Now they can be a 2/2 haste mana Bird that can be played for any color mana.
So, yeah, looks like Mons' is in our Cube..