I'm considering this. I currently run Tidings, which has a home in control decks, U/G ramp, and U/R Wildfire decks, etc. This can slot nicely into its place. Sure it's one less card drawn (a closer comparison is Concentrate), but I think it can serve the same role. With just 3 cards in your graveyard, it's a strictly better Concentrate. More than that and it gets silly.
You realize this card essentially says: U - Threshold - draw three cards.
And it's actually more flexible than that. What's anyone else think?
Are you considering this in addition to Dig through time? Because that card is leagues ahead. For (nearly) the same mana cost, I would much rather take 2 out of the top 7 than 3. Also it's an instant.
I think I would run this in a larger Cube if there was some kind of relatively aggressive deck featuring Blue that is better than average at filling its own graveyard. Think Spells Matter, Madness- or Threshold-inspired decks.
With just 3 cards in your graveyard, it's a strictly better Concentrate. More than that and it gets silly.
I think you mean 4 cards. But we already have a strictly better Concentrate (Plea for Power) that doesn't see play. So until you have 5+ cards in your graveyard, this doesn't outclass any other cube options.
I'm not suggesting that the card is bad for the cube, but I think there are some better options out there for late game draw spells.
I actually ended up with 3 extra slots in blue the other day due to deciding to cut the entire Kiki combo package. I'll be testing this out in addition to Dig Through Time.
Completely disagree. The only time you're going to be casting this for less than four mana is deep in the late game. I'd much rather play tons of other late game cards if you're adding in a blue late-game spell.
Really though, I wouldn't play Plea for Power either. I'd much rather have Thirst for Knowledge, Compulsive Research, Intuition, etc. Any of the many 2U spells that are better than both of these cards.
It's definitely a late game Sorcery speed Ancestral.
It's okay mid-game (sometimes it's just a Concentrate, which is fine but nothing super stellar), and early game it's obviously horrible.
It's much, much worse than Dig. When you're drafting it, you should look at it as a mid/late game draw spell, one that can potentially cost very little mana and cement the game for you.
But it's worse than most other card draw spells. It's worse than Frantic Search, Thirst for Knowledge, Fact or Fiction, Dig, etc. It's pretty much the worst draw spell that's cubeable in a medium sized cube.
Can someone who tried this card share how it plays in Cube? Too slow and narrow, or is an late game only Ancestral still pretty awesome?
Ive found it to be fine in a medium size cube. I play a lot of blue cantrips so its easy to cast it for less than 4 mana by turn 5-6, which is generally when blue decks are looking to refill their hand anyway. Its much better than Concentrate like spells because you still have mana up after you play it.
We haven't tested it, but seeing what dig usually costs (3-5 mana), I think this is way too often going to be a 4+ mana sorcery speed draw three, at which point it's not really better than tidings or concentrate. I think cruise, much more than dig (which you don't mind costing 4 mana and not impacting the board because you get to end step it), really needs tons of fetch lands or cheap cantrips to be good, and normal cubes aren't running that many of either of those.
If you run more than 1 of each fetch, or you have a combo-centric cube or a cube with a ton of cantrips, it's probably worth testing and would find a slot. It seems strong especially if you support storm. Otherwise, I'd pass on this.
Dig Through Time is better for cube but that doesn't mean Treasure Cruise is a bad card or that it shouldn't be in your cube. We've gotta test it to find out.
Cruise turned out better than I expected at powered 540. I was expecting it to be garbage, but it's not bad. I would consider it in a 450 powered list that supports storm, but I don't think it makes any lower than 540 unless you're supporting storm hard and you're powered.
We support storm, with lots of cantrips and fetches, and the card is not amazing here but passable. I would definitely play it at 630 or 720.
Cruise turned out better than I expected at powered 540. I was expecting it to be garbage, but it's not bad. I would consider it in a 450 powered list that supports storm, but I don't think it makes any lower than 540 unless you're supporting storm hard and you're powered.
We support storm, with lots of cantrips and fetches, and the card is not amazing here but passable. I would definitely play it at 630 or 720.
I dont support storm but with a fetch, cantrip and normal back and forth its a 1-2 mana draw 3 spell by the time you need to fill your hand. Its great at 540+
Yeah, I think it's home is at 540+. A normal 450 list probably wouldn't be able to find room for it, unless that list were powered and supported storm.
I played it this past week in my 540 Powered and was very impressed. I do believe that Dig Through Time is a much better card for cube but I jammed both in at 540 for fun. Neither are on the fence for me.
I think the fact that this card is seeing heavy play across multiple constructed formats as well as being very solid in limited makes it worth at least discussing. Obviously being good in other formats doesn't make a card good in cube, but being good in all of the other formats should raise an eyebrow.
I think the fact that this card is seeing heavy play across multiple constructed formats as well as being very solid in limited makes it worth at least discussing. Obviously being good in other formats doesn't make a card good in cube, but being good in all of the other formats should raise an eyebrow.
It was on everyone's radar. The important thing to pay attention to is why the card is good in those formats. You're talking about fetchland and cantripville in those formats--allowing Treasure Cruise to be played for 1-2 (rarely even 3) mana with regularity ...and early. Even multiple times a game because of how easy it is to fill your graveyard in those formats. Then look in the cube at the average turn in which you'd be able to do that. When it's turn 6-8, it's significantly less impressive than it is in constructed.
Dig Through Time is a different beast for 1 major reason. The spell is actually good when you're paying 4-5 mana for it in the cube. Which means that in that average-case scenario where it's castable for 2UU (or even 3UU, really) in the T4-6 range, the card is still amazing. Paying 3U or 4U for Treasure Cruise is significantly more "fair", and that's what really separates them in this format. Other formats, not so much.
Treasure Cruise is better than Dig in constructed formats in most decks for the reasons wtwlf123 outlined above (thanked), and adding onto that, there are two really important considerations when it comes to Treasure Cruise in constructed:
1) It costs a single blue, which allows it to be played in aggressive shells like modern U/R delver
2) You can play FOUR of them, which gives you incentive as the player to run as many fetchlands, low cost spells, etc as possible.
Neither of these things are comparable to cube. Aggressive decks in cube will not want Treasure Cruise because aggressive decks in cube are not the same as aggressive decks in modern or standard. I can't reliably have access to a turn 1 Delver of Secrets or Monastery Swiftspear -- but even if I do, it doesn't make Treasure Cruise insane since the bulk of my deck is not cheap cantrips. Moreover, I can't Treasure Cruise into another Treasure Cruise.
In Constructed, Dig is (ideally and also many times in practice) roughly twice the cost of Treasure Cruise because of the additional blue mana symbol. When you draw three off of Treasure Cruise, you're many times also getting more value out of it rather than taking 2 from your top 7, since you're drawing cantrips and mana that you're just going to use to dig deeper (and refill for another Cruise) anyway.
So in constructed, a lot of times not only is Treasure Cruise cheaper than Dig, but it can actually be more impactful because the extra card is actually significant.
Dig is so much better in cube because it's a more impactful spell the vast majority of the time because of deck construction limitations. Three random cube cards in almost any deck will be worse than the 2 you select out of the top 7.
Hope my line of thinking makes sense and I'm explaining myself decently. Good post wtwlf123.
Oh yeah, I absolutely agree. I feel like it's similar to something like Tarmogoyf in that way. 'Goyf is often a turn 3 4/5 or larger in those formats, whereas he's typically a turn three 2/3 maybe if you're lucky in the cube. I think Treasure Cruise would probably be fine for peasant and pauper lists and maybe for larger rare cubes just for some random value. I'm not running anything at 550 that seems worse, though.
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I'm considering this. I currently run Tidings, which has a home in control decks, U/G ramp, and U/R Wildfire decks, etc. This can slot nicely into its place. Sure it's one less card drawn (a closer comparison is Concentrate), but I think it can serve the same role. With just 3 cards in your graveyard, it's a strictly better Concentrate. More than that and it gets silly.
You realize this card essentially says: U - Threshold - draw three cards.
And it's actually more flexible than that. What's anyone else think?
I think I would run this in a larger Cube if there was some kind of relatively aggressive deck featuring Blue that is better than average at filling its own graveyard. Think Spells Matter, Madness- or Threshold-inspired decks.
Without those, I don't think it's better than Deep Analysis, Compulsive Research, Ancestral Vision or Tidings.
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I think you mean 4 cards. But we already have a strictly better Concentrate (Plea for Power) that doesn't see play. So until you have 5+ cards in your graveyard, this doesn't outclass any other cube options.
I'm not suggesting that the card is bad for the cube, but I think there are some better options out there for late game draw spells.
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Compare it to Plea for Power or Dig Through Time. Cards have got to do more than this in this era to be cubeable.
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Really though, I wouldn't play Plea for Power either. I'd much rather have Thirst for Knowledge, Compulsive Research, Intuition, etc. Any of the many 2U spells that are better than both of these cards.
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It's okay mid-game (sometimes it's just a Concentrate, which is fine but nothing super stellar), and early game it's obviously horrible.
It's much, much worse than Dig. When you're drafting it, you should look at it as a mid/late game draw spell, one that can potentially cost very little mana and cement the game for you.
But it's worse than most other card draw spells. It's worse than Frantic Search, Thirst for Knowledge, Fact or Fiction, Dig, etc. It's pretty much the worst draw spell that's cubeable in a medium sized cube.
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Ive found it to be fine in a medium size cube. I play a lot of blue cantrips so its easy to cast it for less than 4 mana by turn 5-6, which is generally when blue decks are looking to refill their hand anyway. Its much better than Concentrate like spells because you still have mana up after you play it.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
If you run more than 1 of each fetch, or you have a combo-centric cube or a cube with a ton of cantrips, it's probably worth testing and would find a slot. It seems strong especially if you support storm. Otherwise, I'd pass on this.
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We support storm, with lots of cantrips and fetches, and the card is not amazing here but passable. I would definitely play it at 630 or 720.
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I dont support storm but with a fetch, cantrip and normal back and forth its a 1-2 mana draw 3 spell by the time you need to fill your hand. Its great at 540+
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
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It was on everyone's radar. The important thing to pay attention to is why the card is good in those formats. You're talking about fetchland and cantripville in those formats--allowing Treasure Cruise to be played for 1-2 (rarely even 3) mana with regularity ...and early. Even multiple times a game because of how easy it is to fill your graveyard in those formats. Then look in the cube at the average turn in which you'd be able to do that. When it's turn 6-8, it's significantly less impressive than it is in constructed.
Dig Through Time is a different beast for 1 major reason. The spell is actually good when you're paying 4-5 mana for it in the cube. Which means that in that average-case scenario where it's castable for 2UU (or even 3UU, really) in the T4-6 range, the card is still amazing. Paying 3U or 4U for Treasure Cruise is significantly more "fair", and that's what really separates them in this format. Other formats, not so much.
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1) It costs a single blue, which allows it to be played in aggressive shells like modern U/R delver
2) You can play FOUR of them, which gives you incentive as the player to run as many fetchlands, low cost spells, etc as possible.
Neither of these things are comparable to cube. Aggressive decks in cube will not want Treasure Cruise because aggressive decks in cube are not the same as aggressive decks in modern or standard. I can't reliably have access to a turn 1 Delver of Secrets or Monastery Swiftspear -- but even if I do, it doesn't make Treasure Cruise insane since the bulk of my deck is not cheap cantrips. Moreover, I can't Treasure Cruise into another Treasure Cruise.
In Constructed, Dig is (ideally and also many times in practice) roughly twice the cost of Treasure Cruise because of the additional blue mana symbol. When you draw three off of Treasure Cruise, you're many times also getting more value out of it rather than taking 2 from your top 7, since you're drawing cantrips and mana that you're just going to use to dig deeper (and refill for another Cruise) anyway.
So in constructed, a lot of times not only is Treasure Cruise cheaper than Dig, but it can actually be more impactful because the extra card is actually significant.
Dig is so much better in cube because it's a more impactful spell the vast majority of the time because of deck construction limitations. Three random cube cards in almost any deck will be worse than the 2 you select out of the top 7.
Hope my line of thinking makes sense and I'm explaining myself decently. Good post wtwlf123.
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