Fundamentally broken in a sense that it's a guaranteed card in your hand. The fact that it's hybrid is what makes it obnoxious to me. Wouldn't be so bad if there was a decent restriction to casting it, but the fact that mono red can just play this and always have it in their hand makes me want to puke.
Assuming this works online, I'll probably at least test it to see how broken it is. I've never had to ban a new card that's Vintage legal, but this will probably be banned in my cube. Although I've never done it, I've always said if something does come along, I'd at least test it before concluding it's ban worthy.
I think cubes that think 3/3 elk's are broken, will not want this
Definitely agree with this
for cubes that want to play Oko, Thief of Crowns, they will also to play this.
I don't think this is going to be the case even for most powered cubes given how polarizing the free card in your hand is. Also, it's pretty logistically annoying seeing how many EDH players accidentally shuffle their commanders into their decks.
Holy ***** this is unbelievably broken in cube. We played Sovereign's realm for a month or so and Hymn of the wilds for like 2 years but eventually cut them on the basis that they're both insane and not vintage legal, but this thing is vintage legal so there's no excuse. Like Steveman said I honestly wish this wasn't hybrid, just seems so tailor made to be busted in cube it's almost just lazy.
Card is nuts. An extra card in the hand every game is huge, especially since the card is only slightly overcosted, not very overcosted.
Kind of reminds me of the good adventure creatures in that respect, but you always get the card advantage.
However, I don't mind including it in my cube as I think it still varies considerably in terms of power level depending on the deck, and in many decks, I'd pass it for a card better suited for that deck. Not an auto pick.
In a sneak-attack style deck, I don't think it would be a high pick.
In red agro, it'll be a high pick, but I doubt I'd pick it over a lightning bolt or a fireblast.
In a counter spell deck with instant speed spells and/or blue power, the card is extremly broken.
I could be wrong without testing, but unless this card is better than the moxes, lotus, or library, I won't have a problem playing this in my cube. My gut says It will be about the same power level as mind twist / balance. Completely capable of winning a game on its own, Too strong for most non-powered cubes, but requires other cards to set up a complete blowout. I think it is a little weaker than either of these cards, but has the consistency of always being in your hand. I also think that this card is secretly a red card that you can happen to play in some blue decks.
So this makes Twinflame into essentially a one card combo?
No, the ETB only happens if you cast it. It doesn't work with token copies or blink effects.
Ah, missed that stipulation and assumed it was exactly the same as Dualcaster
It's also only your spells, so it's worse in 2 ways than dualcaster (although the companion clause and hybrid massively more than makeup for these shortcomings).
I am really torn. I kinda like and dislike it at the same time. It could be a great card to make Izzet more attractive. But at the same time I am concerned about its power as well as clarity of the card. I banned all cards that are too hard to keep track of, make people write things down, make people keep an ordered graveyard and other things.
The card is obviously powerful, but I wont include it because it feels too out of place. Reminds me of Conspiracies, drafting matters cards, and other weird supplemental stuff. Wizards straight up said that they only intended this card to be played in Standard. TBH I wish that they never made this card cause I'm going to see dead horse posts about it for the rest of my life :/
Fork effects have always just missed inclusion because they're so situational and the chance of it being a dead card was too great to merit its inclusion in my final 23. This card remedies all of this. It doesn't require a slot, it is hybrid, it is attached to a reasonable body with flash, and it is an Elemental Otter. Izzet is a somewhat underwhelming guild as well -- I'm definitely ready to cut Electrolyze for this. Great card.
This card could be made significantly worse and still see play. I am so happy it was printed in a weak guild. Its main pitfall is being repetitive, but due to its open-endedness and varying power by deck I hope it would get otter this hurdle.
Obviously an insane card... But rather than repeat what everyone else has said, the opportunity cost of the draft pick should be considered. It’s not like EDH where there would be no opportunity cost of playing this. Do you pick a Sol Ring or a Dualcaster Mage that always starts the game as +1 card in your opener?
I think this card is a top 50 Cube card (Maybe more like top 20-30), but my gut tells me that it’s not the same level as Power for Cube.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Nice, who woulf have thought the slam dunk from thr kaiju set would be an adorable little otter buddy.
Definitly giving this a shot. Irs a perfect effect for it as I have found in the past cluttering my hand with copy spells is awkward and a hard effect to make room for, this guy make that irrelevant.
I really hope for some other campanions with interesting effects.
I could be wrong without testing, but unless this card is better than the moxes, lotus, or library, I won't have a problem playing this in my cube. My gut says It will be about the same power level as mind twist / balance. Completely capable of winning a game on its own, Too strong for most non-powered cubes, but requires other cards to set up a complete blowout. I think it is a little weaker than either of these cards, but has the consistency of always being in your hand. I also think that this card is secretly a red card that you can happen to play in some blue decks.
The main draw of the card is the companionship, not the fork effect. Don't get me wrong, a 3/2 flash forker is nice, but it definetely not insanely powerfull like Balance of Mind Twist. Can it be? Yes sure when the suns align and you fork that Fiery Confluence.
The brokenness of the card is not in its power, it is in the fact that is a card that is always in your hand and never takes a spot in your deck. How to evaluate this will take some time to figure our.
The main draw of the card is the companionship, not the fork effect. Don't get me wrong, a 3/2 flash forker is nice, but it definetely not insanely powerfull like Balance of Mind Twist. Can it be? Yes sure when the suns align and you fork that Fiery Confluence.
The brokenness of the card is not in its power, it is in the fact that is a card that is always in your hand and never takes a spot in your deck. How to evaluate this will take some time to figure our.
This. I feel like people are saying this is the second coming of Sol Ring for cubes and I just don't see that to be the case. Right now, without having played it and with no experience with any cards that really add +1 to your starting hand size, I think it will be decent to occasionally really good. The card does have text and that text is merely just ok for a creature in a cube environment. Not only has the Fork ability proven to be mostly medium to bad in cube, but your opponent knows about it from the start of the game. I doubt they'll be playing into it unless they have to, and I would hope they aren't playing something into it that would end up being devastating to them. And if you're Forking your own spells, remember this adds +3 to that mana cost. It'll be good in a counter war. It'll be good with removal or burn. It might even just be valuable just as a flash 3/2. None of this leads me to the conclusion that this card is broken.
Like I said, I think it's fine. I think it's worth testing to see just how valuable the ability to play the card from your sideboard is. I don't, however, think it's anywhere close to Sol Ring or Recall in power level. We often play the conspiracies that alter the game in some way and they have varying levels of power. I may put this into that package instead of swapping it out for an Izzet slot, especially since it's likely to be picked up by non-Izzet and even non-blue and non-red decks that can have the perfect mana line up and be able to cast it.
This will be among the top cube picks P1P1, yes. The fact that it creates a real decision for the drafter when it's an available pick against power and other top-tier cube cards should speak volumes about its powerlevel. The folks that are comparing this to the absolute best cards in the cube are much closer to evaluating it properly than those folks that start talking about what Lutri actually does as a card. It's stupid broken. Otterly absurd, one could say.
This card has absolutely no business being in a cube that cuts cards based on powerlevel. It's close to being too good for powered (measuring up against the very best cards in those environments), and probably belongs in lists running conspiracies and Contract From Below and the like.
I'd like to hear more on the reasoning here - assume I have a "high-octane" unpowered cube - competitive but without P8 (Timetwister is fine), Library of Alexandria, Sol Ring or Mana Crypt. What does Lutri, quite concretely, do that gives the drafter that picks the card such an edge?
I don't think people understand how good casting cards from your sideboard is. It's free guaranteed card advantage and a threat. That you're guaranteed to have. That can't be disrupted because it's never in your hand. It has flash. It can be played in 70% of decks (more, actually, since any deck that can even remotely cast it off of like a Coalition Relic or a couple City/Birds effects can cast it too). It guarantees that red beatdown decks will ALWAYS have a 3-power 3-drop. It guarantees that tempo decks will always have a threat to cast in on T3 when they leave their mana open to cast other spells. And if it ever copies anything, you're getting at least +2 card advantage. That's a 2-for-0 mind you, which is the same card advantage rate as a 3-for-1, like Ancestral Recall is. Except you always have it, it impacts the board and... you don't have to draw it. It's not the same as always having it on top of your library to start the game, and it's better than an "8-card hand" with this as one of the cards.
I can't put it any other way than "If you don't think this among the best cards in the cube, you're 100% misevaluating it". The real question is about figuring out where among the top 20 powered cube cards does this will ultimately land.
Honestly, I think I would P1P1 this card above Time Walk. My gut places it below Sol Ring, Lotus, Moxen, Ancestral, and Mana Crypt, but above everything else . . . IT'S A FREE ROLL IN 100% OF DECKS THAT'S A 3-FOR-1 THAT YOU GET ACCESS TO IN 100% OF GAMES. 70% of decks can easily cast it, and the rest can still have some random duals to make it possible.
Assuming this works online, I'll probably at least test it to see how broken it is. I've never had to ban a new card that's Vintage legal, but this will probably be banned in my cube. Although I've never done it, I've always said if something does come along, I'd at least test it before concluding it's ban worthy.
Definitely agree with this
I don't think this is going to be the case even for most powered cubes given how polarizing the free card in your hand is. Also, it's pretty logistically annoying seeing how many EDH players accidentally shuffle their commanders into their decks.
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Kind of reminds me of the good adventure creatures in that respect, but you always get the card advantage.
However, I don't mind including it in my cube as I think it still varies considerably in terms of power level depending on the deck, and in many decks, I'd pass it for a card better suited for that deck. Not an auto pick.
In a sneak-attack style deck, I don't think it would be a high pick.
In red agro, it'll be a high pick, but I doubt I'd pick it over a lightning bolt or a fireblast.
In a counter spell deck with instant speed spells and/or blue power, the card is extremly broken.
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Crazy, crazy card.
No, the ETB only happens if you cast it. It doesn't work with token copies or blink effects.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Ah, missed that stipulation and assumed it was exactly the same as Dualcaster
It's also only your spells, so it's worse in 2 ways than dualcaster (although the companion clause and hybrid massively more than makeup for these shortcomings).
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Not sure if I am going to test it.
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I think this card is a top 50 Cube card (Maybe more like top 20-30), but my gut tells me that it’s not the same level as Power for Cube.
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Definitly giving this a shot. Irs a perfect effect for it as I have found in the past cluttering my hand with copy spells is awkward and a hard effect to make room for, this guy make that irrelevant.
I really hope for some other campanions with interesting effects.
The main draw of the card is the companionship, not the fork effect. Don't get me wrong, a 3/2 flash forker is nice, but it definetely not insanely powerfull like Balance of Mind Twist. Can it be? Yes sure when the suns align and you fork that Fiery Confluence.
The brokenness of the card is not in its power, it is in the fact that is a card that is always in your hand and never takes a spot in your deck. How to evaluate this will take some time to figure our.
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
This. I feel like people are saying this is the second coming of Sol Ring for cubes and I just don't see that to be the case. Right now, without having played it and with no experience with any cards that really add +1 to your starting hand size, I think it will be decent to occasionally really good. The card does have text and that text is merely just ok for a creature in a cube environment. Not only has the Fork ability proven to be mostly medium to bad in cube, but your opponent knows about it from the start of the game. I doubt they'll be playing into it unless they have to, and I would hope they aren't playing something into it that would end up being devastating to them. And if you're Forking your own spells, remember this adds +3 to that mana cost. It'll be good in a counter war. It'll be good with removal or burn. It might even just be valuable just as a flash 3/2. None of this leads me to the conclusion that this card is broken.
Like I said, I think it's fine. I think it's worth testing to see just how valuable the ability to play the card from your sideboard is. I don't, however, think it's anywhere close to Sol Ring or Recall in power level. We often play the conspiracies that alter the game in some way and they have varying levels of power. I may put this into that package instead of swapping it out for an Izzet slot, especially since it's likely to be picked up by non-Izzet and even non-blue and non-red decks that can have the perfect mana line up and be able to cast it.
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The card is so unreasonably broken it's not even funny.
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My first reaction is that this card is closer to Mana Drain tier.
This card has absolutely no business being in a cube that cuts cards based on powerlevel. It's close to being too good for powered (measuring up against the very best cards in those environments), and probably belongs in lists running conspiracies and Contract From Below and the like.
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I can't put it any other way than "If you don't think this among the best cards in the cube, you're 100% misevaluating it". The real question is about figuring out where among the top 20 powered cube cards does this will ultimately land.
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