I think this mechanic is powerful and fun, and I like that it encourages decks to play creatures. I like having cards that reward creature strategies so there's powerful stuff to do that's not storm or some other wonky combo thing. I think Palace Jailer is a 5-star staple, but the others are just alright, and could be pushed aside by something exciting at their cmc. For whatever reason, black 5s and green 6s have been pretty soft the last few years, at least in the power cube context.
I am much more mixed about monarch in lower power cubes or in theme cubes. It can twist the game to revolve around the monarch, and can reward turtling in an unfun way. These things are just less of a problem in power cube because there are so many busted things you can do. In lower power cubes, I can definitely see people not liking the monarch sub-game.
For my graveyard themed cube, the box is coffin shaped. It used to be an Innistrad cube that we drafted in packs of 13 cards. I also printed off a bunch of paper with occult/satanic symbols and writing, "aged" it by soaking it in tea and then microwaving it to dry it, and then using it to wrap the packs.
I have a big 6-foot playmat that the winner signs each time. It's a fun tradition, but I wish I had gotten a nicer mat. Those 6-foot mats are hard to find though without some lame art on them. I'd love to be able to get one custom made with a cool graphic on it, or just a black one people could sign in silver pen.
I play a variety of cubes, mine and my friends', powered, unpowered, and theme cubes. In powered cube, five mana is too much for this set of abilities, and I think the other Dimir cards are better, including 3-cmc Ashiok. In unpowered cube, I could see this being a decent option, though I still think old Ashiok is better, the abilities are more relevant in a slower format. Still, five is a lot more than three mana when you remember mana doesn't increase linearly. In theme cubes or lower power cubes, this card could be good, but it's rather boring and doesn't compliment any commonly played archetypes, except maybe mill, for which old Ashiok is probably better.
All in all, I like seeing more variety in the characters they are representing on cards, but I'm not looking to pick up this Ashiok for cube.
I'm probably going to see how this fares in retail booster drafts and constructed before I fully make up my mind. My initial impression is that it's pretty good though. Definitely a testable one for me.
This card can be a niche roleplayer for +1/+1 counters or artifact synergies, but outside of those, I think it falls short for standard cubes. My buddy's artifact cube will love this, but I don't see it cracking Legacy or Vintage cubes. Outside of synergies where it can be a roleplayer for multiple decks, it's just too low on priority list.
In artifact decks, despite being castable for any X, I don't think it's all that good early. Most artifact decks I draft in Legacy/Vintage cube would much rather have a mana rock or more powerful synergistic piece (e.g., Goblin Welder) early. If I'm playing it as a 2/2 or 3/3, I'm pretty sad. As a pay-off for ramping, it's decent on both offense and defense, and has some relevant protection, but it's just worse imo than all the most played current pay-offs.
In an aggro deck, it's fine, but I'd probably just want more 1-drops over this.
Seems like a fine budget Griselbrand. Having to pay mana for the cards is a big downside, but being able to kill things is nice. I will probably just stick to Grisel B for now because I don't want another large, uncastable black creature, but I could see adding this guy to larger cubes or to shake things up.
I think it's hard to come up with a list because cards get better or worse in context. Once you get past the tier 0 cards like Recall and Lotus, it becomes a lot trickier. The example I think of is Treachery. This card can be super busted, especially in more creature-centric unpowered lists. It's a card that varies according to context. For me, it's more about the environment I want to create, not just power level. When you are powered, a good number of cube slots are filled by the tier 0s and they kind of provide an anchor point. In unpowered, it's less straightforward. I think finding a few anchor cards is helpful. You can use them as a guide.
I like the idea behind this card. I want more cheap, disruptive sac outlets in Black. If it was a zombie, it would have helped, if it triggered later, would've helped. All in all, probably won't make the cut for me.
I am happy to be proven wrong on her. If people testing her seem to like her, I may try her out. I'm ok with cutting all but the best white 4's and 5's and just playing more 2- and 3-drops though.
First impression is that it won't make the cut for me at 450. The +2 is narrow only buffing fliers. The -3 is good, and she ultimates fast, but I don't think that is enough to get her over the line, especially at one of the most competitive color/cmc slots. Still, she's decent and I imagine she could crack into larger cubes as just Serra Angel for 4 is a fine floor.
Supporting aggro is important for me. I find it's a deck that needs me to explicitly support it. But, with so many options, how many 2-power 1-drops do I need? I used this article from Frank Karsten to get an estimate of how many cards I wanted at different casting costs in a draft. My cube is 450 cards, and I did the math assuming an 8-person draft (using the hypergeometric distribution.) How many cards to include at each spot is highly dependent on how you and your group cubes, but if you are like me and have a 450 card cube, and you often draft with 8, maybe these numbers can be helpful.
What I want is there to be at least aggro deck in white, red, and black possible to draft every time. For that, I want 6 1-drops, 8 2-drops, 6 3-drops, and 2 4-drops per color. I'm only considering creatures because they form the backbone of aggro decks. So to get these numbers with at least 90% probability, I need 9 1-drops, 12 2-drops, 9 3-drops, and 4 4-drops in those colors.
I am much more mixed about monarch in lower power cubes or in theme cubes. It can twist the game to revolve around the monarch, and can reward turtling in an unfun way. These things are just less of a problem in power cube because there are so many busted things you can do. In lower power cubes, I can definitely see people not liking the monarch sub-game.
I have a big 6-foot playmat that the winner signs each time. It's a fun tradition, but I wish I had gotten a nicer mat. Those 6-foot mats are hard to find though without some lame art on them. I'd love to be able to get one custom made with a cool graphic on it, or just a black one people could sign in silver pen.
All in all, I like seeing more variety in the characters they are representing on cards, but I'm not looking to pick up this Ashiok for cube.
Embereth Shieldbreaker
Bonecrusher Giant
Murderous Rider
Still deciding:
Once Upon a Time
Rankle, Master of Pranks
Oko, Thief of Crowns
Charming Prince
Questing Beast
In artifact decks, despite being castable for any X, I don't think it's all that good early. Most artifact decks I draft in Legacy/Vintage cube would much rather have a mana rock or more powerful synergistic piece (e.g., Goblin Welder) early. If I'm playing it as a 2/2 or 3/3, I'm pretty sad. As a pay-off for ramping, it's decent on both offense and defense, and has some relevant protection, but it's just worse imo than all the most played current pay-offs.
In an aggro deck, it's fine, but I'd probably just want more 1-drops over this.
What I want is there to be at least aggro deck in white, red, and black possible to draft every time. For that, I want 6 1-drops, 8 2-drops, 6 3-drops, and 2 4-drops per color. I'm only considering creatures because they form the backbone of aggro decks. So to get these numbers with at least 90% probability, I need 9 1-drops, 12 2-drops, 9 3-drops, and 4 4-drops in those colors.