My current White 4's are Hero of Bladehold, Restoration Angel, Gisela, Palace Jailer and Sublime. Out of these 5 I think I'd miss Gisela the least, and would be my cut for testing.
A lot of cool cards in this set! For my Cube, I'm making the current changes:
Dryad Militant > Dauntless Bodyguard
I consider Dryad Militant a White card, as I don't support Green-aggro, and the card very rarely sees play outside of White decks. It's the 2-power 1-drop that I consider to be the most cuttable, as both Soldier of the Pantheon and Mardu Woe-Reaper's abilities have been more relevant than exiling instants and sorceries.
Baneslayer Angel > Lyra Dawnbringer
Same stats and abilities as Baneslayer, but also comes with the ability to pump other Angels and give them lifelink. As I'm currently running 6 angels, Lyra's abilities will probably be more relevant than Baneslayer's, whose protection is only really relevant versus Sarkhan, Thundermaw, Dragonlord Atarka, and Griselbrand in my current list. Plus, I look forward to smashing with a lifelinked and pumped Sublime Archangel.
Asylum Visitor > Demonlord Belzenlok
I have a lot of Black 2-drops, and I've always wanted another Black topend to complement Grave Titan. While Massacre Wurm is popular, the floor of the card being a vanilla 6/5 was too much of a turnoff. Belzenlok, on the other hand, is a large, evasive threat that will always draw the player a card at the very least, and the potential for more. Exiling multiple lands off the top later stages is also very relevant to digging for gas in order to close a game.
Smokestack > Karn, Scion of Urza
Smokestack is definitely showing its age, and most of my players can no longer afford to cast a 4-mana spell that does nothing the turn it is cast. Karn, on the other hand, is a fantastic Planeswalker; its closest analogy is Coercive Portal, except Karn will draw the player a card immediately. Though the player will only keep the worst of the two, it's still possible to access the other card with a -1 downtick, making the drawback of the first ability much more palatable. In addition, the -2 of Karn can be deadly in the right deck, and churning out Constructs that can be sizeable threats is definitely a quick way to win a game. All this, combined with a high starting loyalty of 5, makes Karn a solid inclusion in most lists.
Currently I'm playing Hellrider, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, FTK and Hazoret in my 450. While I think this creature is pretty good, the section is simply too competitive to warrant its inclusion; Red 4's stacked, yo.
Huh; I wonder what percentage of games in my Cube meet the Ascend requirement. The mechanic seems to favor control/token strategies; maybe there'll be other ways to get the City's Blessing that favors aggro (low life total or hand-size)?
Much like the Conspiracy sets, stores aren't rushing to open product, meaning foil mythics of this set are going to be expensive; this, coupled with the fact that Urza is the most iconic Magic character ever printed means there is a large casual demand for this card.
I myself got a copy for ~70 USD, and I'm going to test him in my list with the caveat that players can simply choose whichever ability they want rather than pray to the RNG gods.
Anyone play with this card before? Early, selective discard spells are very powerful in Black, and Unmask can provide that on turn 1, on the same turn as Thoughtseize, Inquisition and Duress, albeit at the cost of a Black card. I understand that the alternative cost is a hefty one, but can this effect be worth the cost? Thoughts?
Lifelink is a static ability, and multiple instances of lifelink on the same object are redundant.
Dryad Militant > Dauntless Bodyguard
I consider Dryad Militant a White card, as I don't support Green-aggro, and the card very rarely sees play outside of White decks. It's the 2-power 1-drop that I consider to be the most cuttable, as both Soldier of the Pantheon and Mardu Woe-Reaper's abilities have been more relevant than exiling instants and sorceries.
Baneslayer Angel > Lyra Dawnbringer
Same stats and abilities as Baneslayer, but also comes with the ability to pump other Angels and give them lifelink. As I'm currently running 6 angels, Lyra's abilities will probably be more relevant than Baneslayer's, whose protection is only really relevant versus Sarkhan, Thundermaw, Dragonlord Atarka, and Griselbrand in my current list. Plus, I look forward to smashing with a lifelinked and pumped Sublime Archangel.
Asylum Visitor > Demonlord Belzenlok
I have a lot of Black 2-drops, and I've always wanted another Black topend to complement Grave Titan. While Massacre Wurm is popular, the floor of the card being a vanilla 6/5 was too much of a turnoff. Belzenlok, on the other hand, is a large, evasive threat that will always draw the player a card at the very least, and the potential for more. Exiling multiple lands off the top later stages is also very relevant to digging for gas in order to close a game.
Smokestack > Karn, Scion of Urza
Smokestack is definitely showing its age, and most of my players can no longer afford to cast a 4-mana spell that does nothing the turn it is cast. Karn, on the other hand, is a fantastic Planeswalker; its closest analogy is Coercive Portal, except Karn will draw the player a card immediately. Though the player will only keep the worst of the two, it's still possible to access the other card with a -1 downtick, making the drawback of the first ability much more palatable. In addition, the -2 of Karn can be deadly in the right deck, and churning out Constructs that can be sizeable threats is definitely a quick way to win a game. All this, combined with a high starting loyalty of 5, makes Karn a solid inclusion in most lists.
I myself got a copy for ~70 USD, and I'm going to test him in my list with the caveat that players can simply choose whichever ability they want rather than pray to the RNG gods.