MTG Salvation

Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely!) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even the great Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone, or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.

Bitter Chill

Good blue …removal?

What I Like: This is the best version of this kind of effect that we’ve ever seen. It’s the only perma-tap removal aura that costs less than 3 mana without conditions or drawbacks, and on top of that, it comes with a very relevant upside attached! All the other cheap versions of this effect are conditional in nature or come with an inherent drawback, but not Bitter Chill. This card reminds me of a blue Journey to Nowhere, but by comparison, I think this card is far better. Journey prevents non-tapping activated abilities and static abilities, but it also concedes an additional ETB trigger if the enchantment is dealt with and the creature comes back. Creatures returning from underneath Chill will also stay tapped, so there’s no surprise blockers or hastey attackers that can be created when the aura is removed. And lastly, the triggered ability that scries and draws a card allows Chill to be card advantage against Disenchants if the opponent destroys the aura, or replace itself if the creature dies to incidental mass removal.

What I Don't Like: Two mana removal that only hits creatures has fallen by the wayside in my cube group, and despite this being one of the better options, it feels like it might be too little too late for this kind of effect to shine. Additionally, having to pay for the draw limits this card’s effectiveness in tapout midrange and control decks that are spending all their mana every turn.

Verdict: If you are in the market for a blue creature removal spell, this is one of the most cost-effective options that has been printed. I don’t have room for this card in my 540 with its current construction, but don’t sleep on this card if you see it elsewhere. It’s a good piece of creature removal to be sure. With an enchantment theme or a need for blue removal spells, this is a go-to option for your cube.

Tough Cookie

A green artifact beater.

What I Like: If your cube supports a metalcraft-style artifact-centric beatdown strategy, this card will play really well there. The ability to activate the ability on T3, animate the food and bash for 6 applies a lot of pressure in the early stages of the game. It also puts two artifacts to the board for 2 mana to boost your constructs and generally support artifact-centered themes. In a race situation, the food can help gain life if you’re behind, and you can also activate other noncreature artifacts in the late game to swing for lots of damage.

What I Don't Like: For being “tough”, this creature is about as fragile as it gets. It dies to creature removal, artifact removal, and trades in combat with every lion, piker and bear in the cube. If the body is dealt with, the Food token doesn’t feel like much compensation in most situations, so keeping it around to be able to use the activated ability is paramount. I really wish the ability could target artifact creatures so it could threaten to pump itself in combat to chip in for damage even when you have other things to spend your mana on in the post-combat main phase.

Verdict: If you support an artifact aggro plan with Toolcraft Exemplars, Galvanic Blasts, and Nerd Apes and the like, this card might be a slam dunk for your cube. But without that depth, I think it’s lacking in one or two small ways that could have pushed the card over the top.

Virtue of Loyalty

A flexible anthem variant.

What I Like: A 2/2 vigilance flash for two mana isn’t the most embarrassing floor, and the 5-mana anthem effect can snowball out of control if the game goes longer than expected. It’s a decent way to shoehorn additional anthem effects into the cube without dedicating a full slot to a noncreature effect.

What I Don't Like: I really dislike the lack of synergy in the design between the front half and the back half. The vigilance is redundant with the untapping effect, and it only produces one body. Additionally, the lack of immediate impact on the 5cc mode is a tough pill to swallow. I would’ve killed to see first strike instead of vigilance on the token (or turn the front half into a Raise the Alarm or Spectral Procession variant) to increase the synergy between the two halves. That, or change the 5cc mode to add the counters at the beginning of your combat step so you can get some immediate pressure for your 5-mana investment. Perhaps the card needed both changes for me to really feel great about it.

Verdict: Solid floor in the 2-mana mode, and a free big anthem effect makes for a decent include. I can’t find room in my current 540, but I think if my cube was bigger, I’d have the room to test this effect out and see how it plays in practice. For what it’s worth, I think this card is a banger in both retail limited and slower more casual cube environments.

Tangled Colony

A dirty rat of an aggro beater!

What I Like: If this card plays out like you want it to, it will be a 3-power 2-drop that dies in combat or eats a burn spell, creating a minimum of 5 attacking power for 2 mana over the course of the average game, which is obviously strong. All it really does well is attack, but in that role, it’s a hell of a beatdown creature. It either needs to eat a premium removal spell or be swept away by a Wrath, because otherwise it’s going to represent a lot of power for very little mana investment.

What I Don't Like: I would’ve loved for this to produce a fixed number of tokens (perhaps based on power or toughness or something) upon death so that it could contribute to decks that weren’t simply all-in on the beatdown plan. So many of the decks that want this kind of effect would love to be able to sacrifice it to Rankle or Braids or something, and have it burst into multiple more rats to sacrifice later. Unfortunately this card can’t play that role, and it can’t block either, so it goes into the all-in black aggro deck that turns creatures sideways or it doesn’t see play at all.

Verdict: If your black aggro shells are more all-in on the beatdown plan and less centered around Stax-style value grinding effects, this is a beater worth exploring. I think I would have room for it in the 630-720 range, and perhaps in smaller cubes if they support an all-in black aggro plan.

Restless Fortress

The new Orzhov manland!

What I Like: Any land that takes up a land slot during deckbuilding, fixes your mana, and increases your threat density is going to be a good card. And for cubes that are big enough to run lots of lands in each guild, just play all of them! But for other cubes, you may only have room for one manland in each guild, so we have to draw comparisons between these new designs and the existing designs. In comparison to Shambling Vent, Fortress can attack into 3-power blockers, and gets the drain life trigger even when it’s blocked, which are both valuable upsides when they matter.

What I Don't Like: Unlike Vent, Fortress can’t kill bears in combat, applies less pressure to planeswalkers, only gains life on offense, and costs more mana to activate.

Verdict: Overall, I prefer Vent to Fortress, so I think this card will be relegated to larger cubes that have enough room to play both manlands in their section. Which isn’t a bad plan, it just requires the real estate. This is a good card thats only real weakness is the lack of room and the competition.

Lord Skitter, Sewer King

A black rat engine!

What I Like: This card draws comparisons to several different playable cube cards, which bodes well for its powerlevel. It can be a 4-power 3-drop with an upside, reminiscent of something like Blade Splicer. It can be a token-generating snowballing attacker that resembles a Rabblemaster variant. It can also provide sacrifice fodder every turn to sacrifice effects, much like an Ophiomancer variant. It can exile cards from the opponent’s graveyard during the process too, so there will be matchups where that upside is relevant.

What I Don't Like: In comparison to all the cube staples this design is adjacent to, it’s lacking in some significant way. In comparison to Blade Splicer, there is no ETB abuse that can generate extra value with synergy, and the lack of first strike makes it worse on defense. Because the tokens don’t enter tapped and attacking, this represents less damage than all the red Rabblemaster variants by comparison, and would make it the slowest Rabblemaster clock in the cube. And unlike Ophiomancer, this card lacks the defensive prowess to dominate a board with an endless supply of deathtouching headaches. This card just fails to excel at any one particular axis, and because of that, I think it’ll miss the cut for me, at least initially.

Verdict: Despite not being an ultra-competitive option in any one comparable role, the design is consistent with the recipe shared by lots of successful cube creatures, and because of that, it may be worth exploring. I think I would have room for this at 630+ for sure, and it’s likely worth testing in smaller cubes if you’ve had success with the other creatures it’s similar to.

Regal Bunnicorn

A white ‘Goyf variant?

What I Like: There will be certain situations where this card will be a giant monster for a very cheap cost. In aggressive decks that also go wide with token generation and the like, this can be a very big threat in the early- to mid-game. The ceiling on this critter is off the charts, since there’s no upper limit on its size.

What I Don't Like: Beatdown decks have evolved to have threats that are so efficient that your board doesn’t have to be congested with permanents to pressure the opponent effectively anymore. Back in the era of Spectral Processions being a primary gameplan for aggro, Bunnicorn would’ve been a house. In the era of 1-2 threats and one piece of equipment taking it down, this creature won’t be bigger than a 3/3 in a lot of situations. And a mono-colored Watchwolf isn’t where I want to be in 2023. With the depth of options for 3-power 2-drops in the modern era, this would need to be a 4/4 or bigger on average in order to make it for me, and I just don’t see that happening in beatdown decks often enough to be super optimistic. Unlike Tarmogoyf, this plays poorly post-wrath, and its P/T will be less reliable than that of other cheap threats. Most token/anthem builds have evolved to be more midrangey in nature nowadays, and I don’t see this creature being fantastic in those deck designs.

Verdict: A bit late in the game for this design to shine in the era of powerful individual threats, but there could certainly be a home in an aggressive token package where this could shine. It’s a near miss for me at 540, but if your cube is arranged in a way to be able to take advantage of the design, it’s worth experimenting with, regardless of size.

Virtue of Persistence

A removal spell and end game value engine.

What I Like: The 2cc -3/-3 spell that gains life is a solid removal spell for black midrange and control decks, and the 7cc Debtors’ Knell mode can grind out some big value in the ultra-late game. In decks looking to go big, having early interaction is important. Additionally, if you’re running an enchantment-matters theme or an Academy Rector package, this is a good target and a solid option there.

What I Don't Like: I read this card like 10 times before I saw that the removal spell was a Sorcery, and I was really high on this card when I thought it was an Instant. As a sorcery, the removal spell isn’t good enough on its own to justify a slot, so the card has to get at least some of its evaluative value from the 7cc enchantment, and therein lies the problem. It’s just so slow. Not triggering until your own next upkeep is so problematic, since it’s not only slow, but now vulnerable too. Tapping 7 mana for a card that gives you nothing and having to pass is just so rough. Either you get overrun on the next turn, you get behind in the race, or they deal with the enchantment and you walk away with very little compensation for your total mana investment. A pre-combat trigger or an end step trigger at the very least would’ve gone a long way towards making this card great. But mediocre removal and a massively overcosted spell don’t equate to much for me given the length and tempo of my average cube games.

Verdict: With a Rector package, enchantments-matter theme, or a big enough card pool, I could see this card becoming attractive to the right audience. If long, grindy games are the norm for your group, having early interaction and a late-game bomb is a nice package rolled up together. It’s a miss for me, and would’ve been a lot more attractive with 1-2 small changes, but ultimately I think this design lends itself to shine in very specific cube lists.

Collector’s Vault

A colorless looting engine and treasure generator!

What I Like: I haven’t heard anybody in the cube community talking about this card, and I think it’s being slept on. There’s discussion in the cEDH groups about it, but that’s all I’ve seen. This is an artifact with a pair of unprecedented abilities. This is the cheapest recurring colorless looting engine since the treasure generation effectively reduces the activation cost to 1 mana, and it’s also the cheapest repeatable treasure generation artifact engine …rolled up into one card! Currency Converter is great because it’s cheap and it loots for cheap. The costs for the initial activation are flipped here, making it worse for the first activation, the cheaper net activation cost actually makes this better the more times it’s activated. After looting twice, you’ve only spent a net 4 mana instead of 5, which is the next cheapest colorless option. Not to mention the value that generating treasures every turn can be. If you don’t spend the mana right away, you can sandbag the additional treasures and save them up for a bigger spell later on. Decks that want to be looting to generate value from the ‘yard, like Reanimator, Loam, Stax, and the artifact.dec will all be happy to play this card because they can use all aspects of its design. Immediately recouping the activation cost by generating the treasure still allows for T3 reanimation even wit a 2cc reanimation spell, which is important. It will often feel like drawing two and pitching one, except one of the drawn cards is a Lotus Petal. It only costs one net mana to loot, and you have to option to save that treasure for later for valuable ramp and fixing later on.

What I Don't Like: In generic goodstuff midrange and control decks, this is likely to be a 22nd or 23rd playable at best, since it’s a relatively unexciting standalone effect. It really needs to be placed in a shell that can utilize the ‘yard to reach its full potential.

Verdict: I like this card more than the other medium-costed value/selection-over-time artifacts like Treasure Map or Scroll Rack because it can feed the ‘yard, fix mana, and ramp in addition to providing the card selection. I don’t think this will make the cut in ultra-tight small cubes, but if you play a medium- to large-sized cube that features multiple archetypes that utilize the ‘yard, I’d give this a spin if you can find the room. I’ve been testing this in my 540, and it’s been a very solid contributor to multiple decks so far.

Gruff Triplets

A lot of power for your 6 mana investment.

What I Like: Unless your opponent has the right types of answers for this card, they’re in for a world of problems. For the initial 6-mana investment, you get 9 power worth of trampling bodies. If they kill off one creature, you wind up with two 6/6 tramplers on the board. Once they kill the second threat, your third body becomes a 12/12 trample. They have to use multiple exile-based removal spells or one giant sweeper to deal with the threats or they will dominate the game. It’s particularly powerful with effects that can cheat the body onto the battlefield early, or flip the main creature in and out of play repeatedly. With Flash, you can get two 6/6 trampling creatures for 2 mana. Sneak Attack and Through the Breach swing for 3 and leave two 6/6 tramplers behind, or can be done during your opponent’s end step to untap and swing for 12 with consistency. And with Recurring Nightmare? …you can create an ABSURD amount of power and toughness. So gross. It’s also just a solid card in token-centric ramp decks, where other anthem effects and +1/+1 counter effects can add even more power to the impact the Triplets will unleash on the game. You can also shuffle Grafted Wargear around between the first two bodies and swing for lethal in one shot.

What I Don't Like: If the opponent can deal with the threats in ways that don’t cause the bodies to “die”, it can feel like a lackluster 6-mana investment. Exile, bounce, and wrath effects can all be clean answers to at least one of the threats and make the rest of the card significantly more manageable.

Verdict: This has a bit of a Grave Titan feel to it in that it adds a lot of power and toughness to the board, and requires both a swift and specific answer or it will dominate the game. Because I support a Flash package, this was an easy include for me at 540 (or perhaps smaller if you play all the cards that have powerful synergies with it). Otherwise it might be relegated to slightly bigger cubes simply due to the other competition at the top of green’s curve.

Restless Cottage

The new Golgari manland!

What I Like: In comparison to Hissing Quagmire, this attacks as a 4/4 instead of a 2/2 for only one more mana, which applies a lot more pressure to the opponent or their ‘walkers. It also doesn’t trade down with every lion, piker, and bear in the cube, which feels bad with a manland. It also attacks the opponent’s ‘yard, and generates Food tokens to grind out additional value in lengthy midrange mirrors and control matchups.

What I Don't Like: Quagmire activates for less and can threaten finishing monsters with its deathtouch, which is nice, especially with Loam effects to bring it back when it trades.

Verdict: Overall I like this card more than Quagmire, and I’ll be playing it in its spot. I’d play both in a cube with a large enough land section to accommodate more than one manland.

Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender

A new colorless 2-drop beater!

What I Like: 3-power for 2 colorless mana has only shown up a couple of times. Scrapheap Scrounger fits this bill, but doesn’t play like a true colorless card because it needs access to black mana to have a relevant upside. Zenith Chronicler joined these ranks very recently, but it has a double-edged symmetrical effect. We’ve never seen a truly colorless 3-power 2-drop with a pure upside before …and Syr Ginger has 3! It’s a boss against ‘walkers, where both the haste and the hexproof are relevant abilities, and the trample can help clear them off the board even through blockers. The middle ability triggers off of a surprising number of artifacts in the cube, and between Baubles, Stars/Spheres, Treasures, Clues, & Food, you can find ways to get the +1/+1 counters and the scrying effect with some regularity. It’s especially cool with Retrofitter Foundry where the activation actually sacrifices the artifact token so you get even more P/T out of your upgrades and it can happen every turn. Lastly, it’s a food itself, so if the body ever becomes useless, you can sacrifice it for life. But it can’t be bounced by Jace, Stolen by Dack, tucked by Teferi, or blasted by Chandra because it has hexproof while planeswalkers are around.

What I Don't Like: I wish the anti-planeswalker abilities included first strike, since the 1-toughness is a liability before you can get some counters on it. Or perhaps vigilance so you can attack, chump block and sacrifice it as a food in the same round of turns.

Verdict: I think this is a solid 3-power beater that can easily slide into most aggressive decks without too many problems. It really shines if you can pair it with self-binning artifacts, and with enough of them around in the cube, it’s worth exploring his synergies. I found room to test at 540, and I’m pretty optimistic he’ll be able to stick around for a while at this size.

Restless Spire

The new Izzet manland!

What I Like: I like the cheap activation cost on Spire, the free scry, and the ability to kill 2-toughness creatures in combat in comparison to Wandering Fumarole. The first strike when attacking allows it to swing into most smaller creatures in the cube with impunity, and the cheap activation cost allows me to keep up mana for interactive spells at the same time. And don’t sleep on the scry trigger. Once you hit 5-ish mana in an Izzet tempo deck, and you can activate Spire and chip in, leaving your other couple mana free for burn spells, flash creatures and tempo counters, you don’t want to be drawing more lands. The repeatable scry can bottom lands and help keep you in gas, which is a valuable thing to be doing in those decks.

What I Don't Like: I wish this had first strike all the time so it could be a better defensive manland. Flying would’ve been sweet too as long as I’m wishing for stuff.

Verdict: I like this more than Fumarole and I’ll be cubing this in its place. I would play both in a large cube, but with room for only one, Spire lends itself to shine in the tempo kinds of shells I love to play since the massive reduction in its activation cost makes it far more flexible.

Cheeky House-Mouse

An adorable new 2-power 1-drop variant!

What I Like: Unlike most other 2-power 1-drops, the Mouse offers some additional impact if it’s drawn later on in the game. You can use it as a small pump spell that provides evasion first, and then resolve it to the board as a threat. If it triggers your Swiftspears and Pyromancers in the process, all the better. One of the things I like about it is that the evasion it provides is relevant against the vast majority of the creatures in the cube that bring initiative and monarch along with them. MTGS forum member jamis pointed out that interaction, and how a lot of those creatures have power too high to block a creature targeted by Squeak By, so you can more reliably take the initiative, and then resolve a chump-blocker to protect it. In comparison to the other 2-power 1-drops with marginal upsides, the ability to play this as an evasive pump spell is one of the better ones. Additionally, asmallcat pointed out that if the opponent stabilizes with a lone substantial threat (like a Batterskull or Wurmcoil or something) that the evasion can be critical; perhaps even game-ending if they were relying on the block to get back in the game.

What I Don't Like: It’s as plain as it gets if you resolve this on T1, and the pump spell being a sorcery prevents this from doubling as a combat trick.

Verdict: I think this squeaks in as the new bottom-tier 2-power 1-drop option for most medium- to large-sized cubes that have the room for a full suite of beaters. I’ve been playing and enjoying the critter at 540, and it could fit in quite easily there. Plus, it’s super adorable! So it’s got that going for it, which is nice.

Restless Bivouac

The new Boros manland!

What I Like: This is like a cheaper and more flexible Boros version of Raging Ravine. While it attacks for less on its first swing, it’s both cheaper to activate, and it can distribute the counter to another creature! This is actually quite important, because traditionally the +1/+1 counter that goes onto the land will only provide value on future turns where you can activate the manland. But in the case of the Bivouac, the ability to put it on another creature means you can get future benefits from that activation even if you don’t reactivate the land later on. You can place the counter onto an evasive creature, a double-strike threat, or a card like Hangarback or Ballista for extra synergy. Overall, I like this more than Ravine, which is a land I already liked a lot more than Needle Spires, so this is a big upgrade in Boros for me.

What I Don't Like: There were some situations where the double strike on the Spires allowed it to get in for huge chunks of damage, but overall, I think the Bivouac will outperform it.

Verdict: This replaces Needle Spires for me, and in fact, it’s so much better that even if you weren’t considering playing a Boros manland before, this deserves a close look. It’s cheap to activate, can start to snowball early on, and it can distribute counters to other threats. Easy upgrade over Spires, and by a large enough margin to be worth exploring in cubes that might’ve been “too small” for Spires before.

The Goose Mother

Legendary bird hydras? In my cube? It’s more likely than you’d think.

What I Like: The low-hanging fruit comparison is to size this up next to Hydroid Krasis and discuss pros and cons. But that’s a bad idea, because the two cards are completely different. They play differently, they shine in different decks, and they should be placed in the cube and picked from packs for different reasons. I like the Goose because it is a flexible threat in the earlier stages of the curve. For me, the main uses will be a 3/3 flyer for 3 that draws a card on the next turn, or a 5/5 flyer for 5 that will draw 2 cards over the next two turns. But I’ve already seen in testing that this can be played on T2 after an Experiment One as a Gaea’s Skyfolk that pumps my E1 and fleshes out the curve nicely. It’s also been played as a 7-mana 7/7 that makes three food tokens and goes ham. Unlike Krasis, this card is engineered to shine on the lower stages of the curve, where this costs 5 mana or less to resolve. And the flexibility of fitting anywhere in the middle of the curve is very nice. Krasis is a wildly ineffective low-mana creature, whereas the Goose is specifically included to shine in those spots. Decent evasive stats with the ability to generate card advantage after an attack or two. That’s all you should be asking of the Goose to do, and it’s good at that. Especially if your deck has other incidental ways to produce food tokens. Not necessary, just extra upside at that point.

What I Don't Like: As a big mana card, this pales in comparison to Krasis. Not only does this not guarantee the draws, but it also takes multiple turns to get full value, meaning that it has to survive to generate any form of card advantage. It’s also missing trample, so it can be chump-blocked all day by cheap flying tokens. If you’re looking to play a card that shines in Simic super-ramp decks as a sick 6-, 8-, or 10-mana bomb, Krasis is still your boy. If that’s the role you’ve been tasking Krasis to do for you, its job isn’t being threatened by the Goose.

Verdict: I’m playing this alongside Krasis in my cube as one of my 4 Simic cards, and I think it fits well to complement the rest of the package. I would test this in the top 4 of Simic slots which is likely the 450-540 range.

Restless Vinestalk

The new Simic manland!

What I Like: For only one more mana to activate in comparison to Lumbering Falls, this attacks for at least 2 more damage, and with trample! Not only that, but it has a fantastic triggered ability that can change the base P/T value of any other creature (on either side of the table) to 3/3, to either add up to 3 more power to your attack, or to shrink down an opponent’s big blocker to force bad blocks or chip in for more damage. The size of this manland is huge, and it’ll be really good at pressuring opponent’s ‘walkers, even through token blockers. The base P/T 3/3 resetting trigger works really well with small creatures that gain their size through counters (like Hangarback, Ballista, etc.) or (or as MTGS user Kryptnyt illustrated) lands that have been animated with counters through cards like Nissa. In some instances, you can get up to 8 additional attacking power out of Vinestalk, and it’s one fantastic target to secure with Primeval Titan.

What I Don't Like: There were times where the hexproof on Falls was meaningful, and it can save your big manland from getting blasted by a premium removal spell in some cases.

Verdict: I think this is not only head-and-shoulders ahead of Lumbering Falls, but Vinestalk might compete as one of the best manlands in the cube overall. This is another one that should replace Falls for an easy swap, or perhaps even replace another land in the Simic suite to find room for even if you weren’t currently running the manland. It’s that good. An easy include in the 450-540 range, for sure.

Charming Scoundrel

A new charming creature in red!

What I Like: This card does a lot for two mana. At its absolute floor, it can be a 2/2 haste that pings the opponent when it dies for two mana (by putting the +1/+1 wicked role token on it), which is a reasonable play in a red aggro deck. You can also elect to rummage if that’s what your hand construction calls for, since it can be used to try to fix mana screw or mana flood if needed. More importantly, the rummaging effect can be used in graveyard decks to feed reanimator targets into the ‘yard, discard lands to be recouped by Loam/Crucible effects (for net free card draw), pitching a Bloodghast or the like and playing it from the ‘yard to get a full card’s worth of value, or pitching a giant robot so it can be brought back to the board by Welders and Darettis. Plus, you can use the Scoundrel to make a treasure token, and in the modern era of hugely impactful initiative and monarch enablers, resolving your Caves of Chaos Adventurer a turn early in your mono red deck is just a powerful beating ahead of the curve. A splashable Wily Goblin with haste is a fine floor too. Last but certainly not least, you can place the wicked role token on another threat, to add power to an evasive threat or to allow your 2/2 to become a 3/3 and attack into that 2-power first striker or that 2/3 creature that’s otherwise stonewalling your attack. It can also play multiple roles in the same game with ETB support cards. Play Scoundrel on T2, place a role on your 1-drop and swing for more damage, target Scoundrel with a Flickerwisp on T3 and then put the new role on the ‘wisp to make it a 4-power flyer for the next turn …there’s a lot of cool things you can do with this card.

What I Don't Like: I don’t have much to complain about with the Scoundrel. At first I thought it was missing something to put it over the top, but after seeing it in action, it’s been quite impressive.

Verdict: I would certainly test this card at 450 where I would expect it to find a home pretty comfortably. It may even be worth testing at 360 if there’s a 2-drop that you’ve been considering benching. The Scoundrel does a lot of stuff for several different red archetypes.

Mosswood Dreadknight

A Golgari value-generating beater!

What I Like: When I first evaluated this card, I was significantly colder on it than I am today, and it’s because I was looking at it through the same lens as all the other Adventure creatures. The traditional recipe is adventure first, then cast creature from exile so you don’t miss out on the extra value. And to be fair, that soured my initial evaluation on this card because I don’t want to be playing a bad 2-mana cantrip on my turn 2 in a beatdown deck. So… don’t! Just play this as a 3-power trampler for 2 mana where the adventure is only there to facilitate the post-death value, and the card is so much better. It’s essentially a 3-power 2-drop with trample that can generate 2 cards worth of value every time it dies. And through that lens, it’s obviously a lot better. I also initially drew comparisons to Tenacious Underdog, another card that I was less than impressed with, which sullied the good name of Mosswood Dreadknight. Unlike the Underdog, I can pay the Dreadknight’s mana in multiple installments from the ‘yard, so it doesn’t have to eat my entire turn every time I use it, and more importantly, the threat stays on the battlefield! I can sacrifice the body to my own cards if I want to pay costs or generate a card draw loop, and I don’t have to pay the cost every turn, because it won’t die every turn (unlike the Underdog). You always have the ability to play adventure+body once you have 4+ mana available and it's not preventing you from applying additional pressure, but as a 2-mana card, the creature side first really helps to push the pressure, and you can use it as a value creature later on.

What I Don't Like: I wish it didn’t have to timing restriction built into playing it as an adventure from the ‘yard, but I understand why it has to be there. It would be nice to freely cast it from my graveyard whenever I wanted to instead of being priced into doing it before the end of my next turn, but that’s asking a lot for a 3-power trampling threat for 2 mana that draws 2 cards every time it dies.

Verdict: Golgari has a lot of good options, and that’s one reason why this card might see less cube play than it perhaps deserves. That, and the fact that it shines in decks with early attacking green cards, and not every cube uses green to support those kinds of shells. But if you do, I think this can easily be a top 3-4 card in B/G, behind Grist and your favorite removal spell of choice. It’s likely worth testing at 360 and an easy include at 450+.

Embereth Veteran

A 2-power 1-drop with upside in red!

What I Like: This is a great 2-power 1-drop. Not only is it unencumbered by drawbacks, but it has a very relevant upside attached to it that launches it ahead of most of its competition. As soon as you’re facing a situation where your Goblin Guide or Zergo can’t attack into your opponent’s 2-power first striking blocker or their 2/3 creature that’s simply cutting off your ability to attack, you can sacrifice the Veteran to place its Role on your beater so you can attack into that blocker and keep the pressure on. So instead of having two creatures that can’t attack at all and having to stop applying pressure, you can have one bigger threat that can bash into that problematic blocker and you can keep the pressure up. Not to mention that the creature will get an additional +1/+1 counter on the following turn, allowing the Veteran to upgrade any bear to a 4/4 (recouping all the Veteran’s power in short order) or placing up to 3 +1/+1 counters on an evasive 1-toughness threat to get a total of 3 power from your Veteran as the game progresses. It’s super cool with Walking Ballista (so you can remove counters to ping and then attack to replace them) and Hangarback Walker (so you can attack with the creature and get the counter in the same turn) too, as well as several other small interactions floating around. I think this is probably the 4th best pure 2-power 1-drop behind Ragavan, Goblin Guide and maybe Zurgo, which makes it an easy include in pretty much any cube of any size. Not to mention that the art is gorgeous. Importantly, this upside matters in so many more situations than most of the ones in its competition have, it’s not even close. I’ve already utilized the Young Hero Role in more situations in testing than I’ve cast vampires with madness over the years by a lot. This is a line of text on a red 2-power 1-drop that actually matters. Even something simple as guaranteeing some value against cheap removal is great. Plan on Fatal Pushing my Veteran? Sacrifice it in response to put the role on my other critter. Done.

What I Don't Like: Human Warrior instead of Human Knight for one more tribal interaction in the cube? IDK. Card’s great and I have no complaints.

Verdict: The vast majority of cubes are going to dedicate a certain minimum number of slots to the red 1cc section for aggro beaters. And that number is usually somewhere around seven or so. Plus the other incidental creatures that are playable but not exclusive to aggro, like Swiftspear, Channeler and Lavamancer. Even with those cards included, Veteran is in the top 7 and should see play at 360. If you play 7 dedicated 2-power 1-drops, there’s room for Veteran and 3 more creatures behind it before it fails to make the cut. I think this is an easy include in even the smallest of cubes.