Not to anyone's surprise, in limited testing this card has shown itself to be crazy good. Digging 7 is insanely powerful in cube as it turns out. I've also been experimenting with introducing a small combo package, and this card is retarded in that arch type for obvious reasons.
I haven't seen anyone compare this card to Impluse, but it seems appropriate given the similar mechanic. Dig is basically the beefcake version of that card. Though not sure you'd replace one with the other necessarily (not sure how may still even run Impulse).
I became 100% convinced that Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time were broken when I saw my friend cast Dig for UU, grab a cruise, and cast that for U in a Splinter Twin Combo/ Tempo deck at our last draft. Seeing him able to dig 10 cards deep and keep 5 of them helped me to erase any doubt I had in these two cards. They are extremely powerful
Being able to exile 13 cards seems like a rare occurrence outside of a deck full of cheap cantrip spells.
The deck was a lot of cheap burn and cantrips. You also just reminded how much work Looter il-Kor did.
Edit - Come to think of it, this was probably an outlier, but I still think both are very good as it is relatively easy to get enough in the graveyard to cast at least one very cheaply.
How good is Dig Through Time in 2024? It can be crazy cheap in the late game and be backbreaking. Early-mid game it can be uncastable. Does blue "need" a card like this?
I think Lórien Revealed has eaten a lot of the lunches of Dig Through Time / Treasure Cruise. I find cube to be much more tempo based now, which does make those types of cards much more of a liability in the face of initiative / M&B / Flash / etc.
No, blue thrives just fine without Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time. Blue is as powerful as ever, but the representation of these 2 cards is quite low in my 3-0 archive. The combination of singleton not favoring these big draw spells and power creep in general makes it difficult for Dig Through Time to keep its slot for me.
Disagree about dig through time being a relic of the past.
It's gotten worse, as strategies that leverage it have gotten worse (and the average card in general has gotten better),
but there's a reason it's a "fair" card that is a staple in pioneer (no fetchlands) , banned in modern/legacy and restricted in vintage.
When a deck can generate a significant amount of graveyard fodder, the card is still messed up.
Before in cube, dig was a good card in decks that can only generate a little bit of graveyard fodder, that has changed significantly.
If you want non-creature based interactive decks to still be a draftable strategy, removing their marquee cards will near guarantee that strategy fails.
The power of DTT is sensitive to how you build your cube and what strategies you chose to support over others.
Modern era semi-reactive decks should be built with a ton of cheap efficient interaction, and dig through time is a premium payoff for doing just that.
If you don't have a high density of cheap interaction , cantrips, or ways to put cards in the graveyard, it'll be a lot worse.
Ya I was a bit harsh on it. But its barely hanging on in my cube as well. Ive had it in and out. Its still ok at 540. Id certainly not cut it at 630 or 720.
I think it's still a good spell, and it performs well in the kinds of decks that want it. But I could certainly see cutting it from small cubes; slots are competitive.
Showing its age but still a solid include for me. I think my drafters prefer cruise for the raw draw power/cost ratio, but I'd rather pay the extra mana and get 2 gas cards.
If 2 cards from your top 8 isn't turning things around for you then there isn't much hope.
Even paying 4 at instant speed feels like a solid deal.
His youtube channel is also a great channel to learn how to think about drafting cube (and it's entertaining).
I get the most insight into how to draft combo from him, especially in a cube that doesn't focus on archetypes.
His youtube channel is also a great channel to learn how to think about drafting cube (and it's entertaining).
I get the most insight into how to draft combo from him, especially in a cube that doesn't focus on archetypes.
Incidentally you can right click on a youtube video and select "copy video URL at current time" and it will go right to the point your talking about. Like so - https://youtu.be/hhdU845Hz6w?t=681
(I assume there's a way to do it on mobile as well, but I don't know how.)
And I think that while dig through time does not go in every deck, for a non-vintage cube it remains great in basically any blue deck that is even a little reactive. I think it is substantially better than treasure cruise because the second U is much less punishing in cube and in every other way it's a stronger card than cruise.
Leaving up instants and being able to dig for the two best cards in your top 7 is still a really good value play, even in a powerful legacy cube. I am a very long way from cutting it.
I haven't seen anyone compare this card to Impluse, but it seems appropriate given the similar mechanic. Dig is basically the beefcake version of that card. Though not sure you'd replace one with the other necessarily (not sure how may still even run Impulse).
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The deck was a lot of cheap burn and cantrips. You also just reminded how much work Looter il-Kor did.
Edit - Come to think of it, this was probably an outlier, but I still think both are very good as it is relatively easy to get enough in the graveyard to cast at least one very cheaply.
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No, blue thrives just fine without Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time. Blue is as powerful as ever, but the representation of these 2 cards is quite low in my 3-0 archive. The combination of singleton not favoring these big draw spells and power creep in general makes it difficult for Dig Through Time to keep its slot for me.
For me personaly, Dig Through Time is barely holding on at 540 and I'm currently not playing Treasure Cruise.
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It's gotten worse, as strategies that leverage it have gotten worse (and the average card in general has gotten better),
but there's a reason it's a "fair" card that is a staple in pioneer (no fetchlands) , banned in modern/legacy and restricted in vintage.
When a deck can generate a significant amount of graveyard fodder, the card is still messed up.
Before in cube, dig was a good card in decks that can only generate a little bit of graveyard fodder, that has changed significantly.
If you want non-creature based interactive decks to still be a draftable strategy, removing their marquee cards will near guarantee that strategy fails.
The power of DTT is sensitive to how you build your cube and what strategies you chose to support over others.
Modern era semi-reactive decks should be built with a ton of cheap efficient interaction, and dig through time is a premium payoff for doing just that.
If you don't have a high density of cheap interaction , cantrips, or ways to put cards in the graveyard, it'll be a lot worse.
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If 2 cards from your top 8 isn't turning things around for you then there isn't much hope.
Even paying 4 at instant speed feels like a solid deal.
Go to timestamp 11:21 where LSV talks about dig through time.
Mirrors my thoughts exactly.
His youtube channel is also a great channel to learn how to think about drafting cube (and it's entertaining).
I get the most insight into how to draft combo from him, especially in a cube that doesn't focus on archetypes.
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Incidentally you can right click on a youtube video and select "copy video URL at current time" and it will go right to the point your talking about. Like so - https://youtu.be/hhdU845Hz6w?t=681
(I assume there's a way to do it on mobile as well, but I don't know how.)
And I think that while dig through time does not go in every deck, for a non-vintage cube it remains great in basically any blue deck that is even a little reactive. I think it is substantially better than treasure cruise because the second U is much less punishing in cube and in every other way it's a stronger card than cruise.
Leaving up instants and being able to dig for the two best cards in your top 7 is still a really good value play, even in a powerful legacy cube. I am a very long way from cutting it.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq