It's gonna be a cycle of splashy, pushed, mythic creatures with equipment on the back.
What you're paying for here is the modality, as neither side would crack most lists by itself. But both cards are powerful, and a combination of two powerful cards is quite powerful indeed. That sword can lead to some neat shenanigans too.
Personally, I don't really like the dude side (not a big doublestrike fan), but it's hard to deny the card is powerful, and worth comparing to the top white 4 drops.
All that said, I prefer a land on the other side to an equipment any day.
This is interesting to me, but I’m not sure if it cracks my list unless this set has as many hits as ZNR did for equipment density. I like the back side more than the front by a pretty reasonable margin.
EDIT: For clarity, I already feel like I'm playing one too many 4-drops, and I'm not sure which of these I like this more than:
This is possibly better than Leonin Warleader, but I think the rest of these are better? I'm already considering cutting one of these out to put another 3-drop in instead (Rick's cut was Court of Grace, which was previously a 3-drop).
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Neat card for a more marginal archetype. Always a fan when they print cards like this to help bolster lesser archetypes for cube. It might not be the most powerful thing in the world, but neither are enchantment archetypes in Cube.
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I think this one misses (the front side is just a 4 mana 4/4 way too much of the time and the equipment half is decently worse than bonesplitter on average I think, and there's not so much flexibility here to make up for that), but it's close-ish, so it gives me hope one of these at least will make it.
I will say, when one of the sides is not a land, these dual face cards are a lot worse =P.
On the fence/"will test if cheap" in my Artifact Cube, where there is a lot of equipment synergy.
I forsee most of these Gods are potentially staples there, especially aggro colors RWB.
Depending on the number of euipment you already have, then you can cast this as a creature (for the equip synergy), equipment (if you don't have equipment in play and in need of one). It basically increases the artifact/equipment density of the cube.
Not a fan of the vanilaa 4/4 mode as well as no artifact interactions for tutors nor graveyard. Also, does not save on equip costs because it only moves around equipment. Does nothing to unequipped ones.
I think the card looks pretty good. As Lucky Paper pointed out on Twitter, the equipment itself does a pretty decent job of impersonating Heirloom Blade; an effect that is quite powerful on equipment since it keeps you in gas. This one is especially potent with ETB triggers.
I would probably play the equipment side by itself if either the casting cost or the equip cost were reduced by 1. Am I willing to pay that "tax" to have access to the 4-mana 4/4 with upsides? Probably. I mean, if I have no threats to equip, this card is a threat. If I have threats to attach equipment to, this is an equipment card. Seems like the modality will have some value to it for sure. I might test this out and see how it does. Not to mention that you might run this out there when you have an enchanted/equipped creature and it could win the game almost instantly. Double strike is pretty strong. Funny, I think this works with Control Magic'd and Treachery'd creatures too.
It bugs me that I can't tutor for this with Stoneforge though. Bugs me a lot.
The front side will work with Control Magic auras (and also Animate Dead and co!). I run 13 Equipment right now plus 7 auras, which isn’t a ton, but I think that with the back side and the flexibility, this at least warrants testing for me.
I think the card looks pretty good. As Lucky Paper pointed out on Twitter, the equipment itself does a pretty decent job of impersonating Heirloom Blade; an effect that is quite powerful on equipment since it keeps you in gas. This one is especially potent with ETB triggers.
I would probably play the equipment side by itself if either the casting cost or the equip cost were reduced by 1. Am I willing to pay that "tax" to have access to the 4-mana 4/4 with upsides? Probably. I mean, if I have no threats to equip, this card is a threat. If I have threats to attach equipment to, this is an equipment card. Seems like the modality will have some value to it for sure. I might test this out and see how it does. Not to mention that you might run this out there when you have an enchanted/equipped creature and it could win the game almost instantly. Double strike is pretty strong. Funny, I think this works with Control Magic'd and Treachery'd creatures too.
It bugs me that I can't tutor for this with Stoneforge though. Bugs me a lot.
I think this looks pretty good too. I was down on it until I saw the equipment side. I was surprised how decent that looks on its own, especially with the cube's high volume of powerful ETB creatures. If you do already have equipment around, this guy is brutal.
Also want to say that I love this showcase border!
I would probably play the equipment side by itself if either the casting cost or the equip cost were reduced by 1. Am I willing to pay that "tax" to have access to the 4-mana 4/4 with upsides? Probably.
It bugs me that I can't tutor for this with Stoneforge though. Bugs me a lot.
I like this line of reasoning, but have a different evaluation. I wouldn't be willing to pay a mana tax for the versatility and am not interested in the card.
The option value of a ~ 4/4 for 4 is better than nothing, but it is small. Consistently paying an extra 25%+ mana cost to the playable side of the card is too big of a cost, when I want to be casting the equipment side of it 80%+ of the time.
If the flip side was a rarely good, but occasionally broken kind of upside, then we're talking.. But when the flip side is better than casting the equipment, it will mostly be slightly better and have no meaningful game impact (rare exceptions).
The noteable high upside comes when you have an equipment already on the battlefield and its equipped to creature. Seems too rare and winmore to me.
In a cube with a ton of equipment I like it a lot more. Seems great in an equipment deck.
I think the creature option is more than just a small upside. When you have no threats, equipment is straight dead. Completely eliminating that aspect of evaluating equipment is a powerful thing to be able to do.
Equipment when you have creatures to attach it to, and a creature when you don't. Feels like a good recipe. A fundamentally useful pairing of effects.
And ya, there will be times where the creature's text is far from flavor text. It's not just equipment and Rancors that he checks for. Control Magic effects and Animate Deads also count when checking for double strike, and I think that's super neat.
I don't think this card is broken, but it looks quite solid.
When I finally pulled the swords from my cube (tired of protection) I really started to think about how many pieces of equipment/vehicles I wanted. I fundamentally think they are great (primarily in aggro). But how many do you want in a deck or in your opening hand? one or two max? How many in the deck maybe 3 max? In a way this reminds me of Fleetwheel cruiser. No random narrow upside but it does slap as a threat, and sits there as a bump for your little aggro guys.
I never liked fleetwheel as just a vehicle or just as a threat but straddling that line was the god part.
I suspect this God feels good as being flexible. However being WW probably kills it for me in my small cube.
@steve_man i addressed this in the actual copter thread, but i prefer my creatures not die & still draw cards. i realize that clamp is a good card but its banned in modern & legacy b/c of its combo applications, not b/c of it being a "good" piece of equipment/vehicle; if you get what i'm saying...
I often find that I don't have much of a say when my creatures die. If paying 1 mana early and 1 mana after casting creatures helps me replace that loss, and then a whole 'nother card, I'm down. Skullclamp rules
It's broken in thirds with token strategies. But for my group, it still exceeds expectations against interactive or creature-heavy decks when simply attached to whatever creatures you have throughout a game.
God I wish I could keep this on the equipment side in its sleeve, but that's going to cause rules issues with new players. I think the sword is unique and good in flicker shells, midrange, and flyers. It doesn't feel strong for aggro to me, as I don't want to spend 4 mana to not grant something evasion.
My biggest vibe: If stapling lands to the back of cards like Glasspool Mimic has taught me anything, it's that free card types that you seriously need now and again are very, very good. The backside as a 4/4 for 4 sounds dandy to me.
It's gonna be a cycle of splashy, pushed, mythic creatures with equipment on the back.
What you're paying for here is the modality, as neither side would crack most lists by itself. But both cards are powerful, and a combination of two powerful cards is quite powerful indeed. That sword can lead to some neat shenanigans too.
Personally, I don't really like the dude side (not a big doublestrike fan), but it's hard to deny the card is powerful, and worth comparing to the top white 4 drops.
All that said, I prefer a land on the other side to an equipment any day.
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EDIT: For clarity, I already feel like I'm playing one too many 4-drops, and I'm not sure which of these I like this more than:
-Basri's Lieutenant
-Exalted Angel (this could arguably be classified as a 3-drop)
-Felidar Guardian
-Hero of Bladehold
-Leonin Warleader
-Luminous Broodmoth
-Palace Jailer
-Restoration Angel
-Rick, Steadfast Leader
This is possibly better than Leonin Warleader, but I think the rest of these are better? I'm already considering cutting one of these out to put another 3-drop in instead (Rick's cut was Court of Grace, which was previously a 3-drop).
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2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
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5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
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I will say, when one of the sides is not a land, these dual face cards are a lot worse =P.
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On the fence/"will test if cheap" in my Artifact Cube, where there is a lot of equipment synergy.
I forsee most of these Gods are potentially staples there, especially aggro colors RWB.
Depending on the number of euipment you already have, then you can cast this as a creature (for the equip synergy), equipment (if you don't have equipment in play and in need of one). It basically increases the artifact/equipment density of the cube.
Not a fan of the vanilaa 4/4 mode as well as no artifact interactions for tutors nor graveyard. Also, does not save on equip costs because it only moves around equipment. Does nothing to unequipped ones.
I would probably play the equipment side by itself if either the casting cost or the equip cost were reduced by 1. Am I willing to pay that "tax" to have access to the 4-mana 4/4 with upsides? Probably. I mean, if I have no threats to equip, this card is a threat. If I have threats to attach equipment to, this is an equipment card. Seems like the modality will have some value to it for sure. I might test this out and see how it does. Not to mention that you might run this out there when you have an enchanted/equipped creature and it could win the game almost instantly. Double strike is pretty strong. Funny, I think this works with Control Magic'd and Treachery'd creatures too.
It bugs me that I can't tutor for this with Stoneforge though. Bugs me a lot.
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But as the MDFC lands have demonstrated it is really easy to underestimate the value of the flexibility offered.
Excited to see the others in the cycle before I make final judgement on this card.
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I think this looks pretty good too. I was down on it until I saw the equipment side. I was surprised how decent that looks on its own, especially with the cube's high volume of powerful ETB creatures. If you do already have equipment around, this guy is brutal.
Also want to say that I love this showcase border!
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I like this line of reasoning, but have a different evaluation. I wouldn't be willing to pay a mana tax for the versatility and am not interested in the card.
The option value of a ~ 4/4 for 4 is better than nothing, but it is small. Consistently paying an extra 25%+ mana cost to the playable side of the card is too big of a cost, when I want to be casting the equipment side of it 80%+ of the time.
If the flip side was a rarely good, but occasionally broken kind of upside, then we're talking.. But when the flip side is better than casting the equipment, it will mostly be slightly better and have no meaningful game impact (rare exceptions).
The noteable high upside comes when you have an equipment already on the battlefield and its equipped to creature. Seems too rare and winmore to me.
In a cube with a ton of equipment I like it a lot more. Seems great in an equipment deck.
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Equipment when you have creatures to attach it to, and a creature when you don't. Feels like a good recipe. A fundamentally useful pairing of effects.
And ya, there will be times where the creature's text is far from flavor text. It's not just equipment and Rancors that he checks for. Control Magic effects and Animate Deads also count when checking for double strike, and I think that's super neat.
I don't think this card is broken, but it looks quite solid.
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I never liked fleetwheel as just a vehicle or just as a threat but straddling that line was the god part.
I suspect this God feels good as being flexible. However being WW probably kills it for me in my small cube.
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It's broken in thirds with token strategies. But for my group, it still exceeds expectations against interactive or creature-heavy decks when simply attached to whatever creatures you have throughout a game.
God I wish I could keep this on the equipment side in its sleeve, but that's going to cause rules issues with new players. I think the sword is unique and good in flicker shells, midrange, and flyers. It doesn't feel strong for aggro to me, as I don't want to spend 4 mana to not grant something evasion.
My biggest vibe: If stapling lands to the back of cards like Glasspool Mimic has taught me anything, it's that free card types that you seriously need now and again are very, very good. The backside as a 4/4 for 4 sounds dandy to me.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*