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.

Void Rend

An Esper Pulse variant.

What I Like: In comparison to a solid playable cube card like Maelstrom Pulse, this card provides the effect both at instant speed and while being uncounterable. If your deck can support paying the 3-color cost on curve with consistency, this card will likely make the main deck in most (if not all) of those situations. It’s a powerful, consistent, and desirable effect to have access to.

What I Don't Like: 3CMC removal is not necessarily at a premium, and there are a lot of decent targets this will trade down with in terms of mana efficiency. Add the fact that it’s 3-colors to the mix and it won’t be an appealing card to cube managers that don’t support a deep 3-color support section.

Verdict: If your cube plays a lot of 3-color cards and decks can consistently piece together mana bases that will allow this card to be played without issue, this might be an appealing inclusion for you. It’s a solid card for Esper decks of all shapes, so if you have the room, it’s likely a card your playgroup will enjoy.

Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer

A Naya Zenith variant on legs.

What I Like: Stapling a 3-power body to a Finale variant that can grab monsters of any color will be appealing to decks that have powerful utility and combo targets that are cheap. I think this might have even more power in Commander and some other constructed formats where 0-mana targets like Dryad Arbor are available to grab, but in cubes that have critical combo creatures to grab, this functions as both beater and combo enabler in a very appealing package.

What I Don't Like: When the card is only being used to grab typical value targets, adding 3 mana to the cost and adding 3 power to the effect is only a fair addition in terms of power, especially for a card that’s 3 colors. If this were a mono green creature, for example, it would be far more appealing as it would be playable as a value creature in a much wider variety of decks.

Verdict: In cubes that support creature-based combo strategies, this is a good tutor to have access to. But as a straight-up value creature, I think this is going to fall just short of playability for most cube managers.

Body Launderer

A black combo enabling creature.

What I Like: This creature is decent enough as a value creature; adding Connive triggers (looting effects that can also add +1/+1 counters if you pitch gas) to dig and recursive value upon death to justify its costs. But as fellow MTGS user Mangolassi pointed out, this card can create a combo loop with Karmic Guide, adding massive connive triggers and sacrifice triggers to loop with in and out of play. As long as the sacrifice outlet trigger outpaces the number of remaining cards in your library, you can kill the opponent with Altars and Bombardments and the like.

What I Don't Like: Without the combo applications, I think this card just falls short. The looting triggers occur too late to be reliable discard outlets for reanimator decks, and the limited range of creatures it can return will hinder its potential.

Verdict: For cubes supporting creature sacrifice combos, I think this card is worth taking a look at. It helps dig for combo cards in sacrifice shells, and functions as part of the combo itself in some cases. But for the rest of the cubes out there, I think this is going to be a miss.

Luxior, Giada's Gift

A colorless combo and superfriends enabler.

What I Like: In planeswalker heavy decks, this provides a cheap alternate win condition to use your ‘walkers to bash in through the red zone. Additionally, this is yet another card that makes infinite mana with Devoted Druid. If you play a cube that supports infinite mana combos and has a heavy planeswalker package, Luxior might be an appealing cheap support card to add in.

What I Don't Like: Unless your cube is set up to get good mileage out of both of Luxior’s applications, I don’t think it’s going to be appealing to a wide range of cube managers. As a regular piece of equipment, it’s pretty lackluster, and without the combo applications, it’s relatively weak on its own.

Verdict: Superfriends & Devoted Druid combo support? I’d give it a shot. Otherwise? I think it’s likely a safe pass.

Depopulate

A new Shatter the Sky variant.

What I Like: 4-mana Wrath effects (even with downsides & caveats) are worth close examination. In a multicolor-heavy cube, the effect will be a double-edged sword with some consistency. Killing all creatures for 4 mana is good, but decks will have a harder time building around this one in a lot of cases.

What I Don't Like: As steve_man pointed out, Shatter has the upside of “comboing” with white’s indestructible Gideon variants. This card will have a slightly harder time being a cantripping Wrath, even if it’s also slightly less likely to cough up a card to the opponent.

Verdict: If you love Shatter and you’re looking for another copy of that kind of effect, Depopulate will be right up your alley. But without having a specific cube configuration to take advantage of the effect, I think it’ll be a miss for most cubes.

Unlicensed Hearse

Colorless graveyard hate.

What I Like: This is a pretty disruptive card against graveyard strategies, and over the course of a long(ish) game, it can grow to a pretty sizeable vehicle. Being able to attack for 6 or 8 in the late game for a crew cost of 2 is a pretty good deal, and if you can bust up valuable graveyard targets in the process, all the better. And fortunately it has an “up to” clause, so it can still snipe a single critical graveyard card if needed.

What I Don't Like: This card will face consistency issues arriving at a decent sized vehicle in the early/mid game. The crew 2 means your going to want to have exiled 4-6 cards before it becomes worthwhile to crew it, and that’s not going to happen early enough for it to be relevant as a mid-game beater.

Verdict: If you’re in the market for more graveyard hate and/or your playgroup likes having access to sideboard-style cards, Hearse may be worth a shot. I’m not super high on either of those ideas, so it’s a pass for me, but I could see some cube managers wanting access to a cheap colorless effect of this kind that can also add late-game pressure.

Inspiring Overseer

A white Cloudkin Seer variant.

What I Like: Do you like Cloudkin Seer? Are you in the market for a white one to have some synergy with your blink effects? If so, you’re going to enjoy the Overseer.

What I Don't Like: Seer was never a great card for my playgroup despite some extensive testing with it, and I don’t think that adding 1 point of lifegain and moving it to a really competitive white 3cc creature slot is going to make that experience any different for this card.

Verdict: For the midrange xerox cubes that enjoy Cloudkin Seer, this card will play well. If you have a deep blink support package in white, this might add another much needed flicker target in one of the main colors. For other cubes, it’s likely a safe pass.

Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second

A Divine Visitation variant on legs.

What I Like: This card immediately made me think of Zolthux, a cube manager with an insatiable love for Divine Visitation. And while Jinnie doesn’t make giant angel tokens, it does provide significant upgrade options for your token makers, and it comes with a 3/3 body stapled with it to boot. If you support token decks in your Naya strategies in the cube, I think this card’s overall impact will be pretty high, as both a 2-power haste option and a 3-power vigilance option will make a lot of token engines really powerful.

What I Don't Like: This is a 3-mana creature with 3 colored pips in its cost, and it can die to Bolt effects before having any impact on the game. If it lives, it can be in place to have a big-time impact on subsequent turns, but theres a level of vulnerability that can’t be ignored for a card with no guaranteed impact of its own to speak of.

Verdict: This is a cube card that can make for some fun and exciting stories, which provides a big appeal to a lot of cube managers. If you’re deep on a Naya color arc token theme, this card will provide some on-theme support. If not, it’s a fine card to pass up on.

Jaxis, the Troublemaker

A flexible value engine.

What I Like: There’s a lot to unpack with this creature. It can function as an ETB trigger abuse engine, while also doubling as a discard outlet. It adds the “draw a card” text to the death of the token it generates to essentially turn the discard drawback into a rummage effect. And it’s also blessed with a cheap Blitz cost, that adds a lot of versatility to the card. It allows you to use it as a 2cc play that bases for 2 and draws a card, or as a 1-shot variant of its effect so you can pay 3 total mana to discard a card, copy a creature (and get its ETB/attack value) and draw 2 cards when both Jaxis and the copy go away. When you’re copying the right suite of creatures, that can be a lot of value.

What I Don't Like: Activating being limited to a sorcery hurts my feelings. I would love to be able to use this defensively, draw cards when my copied creatures die on my opponent’s turn, and activate this during my opponent’s end step to attack with a pair of token bodies. It’s also a bit of a drag that the activated ability costs red mana instead of colorless, because when it’s paired with its Blitz effect, I have to pay 1RR to copy a creature once.

Verdict: If you play red as a support color for the blink/bounce/ETB abuse shenanigans midrange deck, it could very well be worth testing out Jaxis. I expect this to be a decent enough inclusion at 720+, but I don’t think it’s going to make the cut in too many smaller cubes unless you’re deep on the decks that can abuse it the most.

Ob Nixilis, the Adversary

A 3cmc ‘walker that can copy itself.

What I Like: This ‘walker does a lot of little things. With a decent suite of tokens and recursive creatures to mitigate the Casualty cost, you can get a lot of value for 3 mana. The {+1} ability is worded in a way where the opponent has to discard the card to prevent the damage, so you can use this as a Vortex effect when they’re hellbent. As long as one of the Ob Nix copies makes a Devil token with the {-2}, you can protect the ‘walkers, and gain life with the other one’s {+1} effect. I think that recursive, aggressive Rakdos shells can use this as an effective tool to both get reach, disruption, and a bit of lifegain with consistency. Not to mention that it provides you with two ‘walker bodies that are building up to a Griselbrand activation as their ultimate.

What I Don't Like: The bodies they generate are pretty anemic for a {-2} cost, and the lifeloss can be mitigated if the opponent has a few extra cards in hand they don’t need. And if you don’t have a cheap body to sacrifice one lone copy of Ob Nix on the board isn’t going to feel particularly threatening.

Verdict: I think that Ob Nix looks like a pretty threatening ‘walker for the right Rakdos shell. It won’t be an all-star in every black/red deck, and that hurts it a bit when deciding to dedicate a multicolor cube slot to it. I would expect this to be a fine inclusion in slightly larger Rakdos sections, and it might be a decent inclusion for cubes in the 630/720 range.

Strangle

1cc red removal.

What I Like: This is a mana efficient removal spell that can really shine in decks that are more controlling in nature and might not need all of their burn to go to the face for reach. Hitting planeswalkers is a nice touch too, since a lot of ‘walkers can leave themselves in “bolt” range after using certain combinations of abilities. It kills a lot of targets in the cube for a single mana.

What I Don't Like: Not going face does hamper the number of decks that can get maximum slot equity out of a card like this. And while the 3rd point of base damage does add a lot of potential targets, most Shock+ effects will kill a similar number of early game threats and also have the flexibility of functioning as reach to close games out.

Verdict: If the players in your cube use red for a wide range of different things and Strangle’s lack of reach won’t always serve as a detriment, I would suggest giving this card a trial run. Cubes that have enjoyed Unholy Heat and other “removal” burn options should have success with Strangle as well.

Sanctuary Warden

A 6-mana finisher in white.

What I Like: Resolving with two shield counters allows you to both activate the ability and protect the Warden on its own. Which means you’ll wind up with 2 bodies, 6 power worth of creatures, drawing a card, and having a shield counter to protect the 5/5 flying creature for your 6 mana investment. And that’s a solid baseline. But being able to repeat the trigger on attack is where the real value can start kicking in. As long as you have counters of any kind to feed the Warden, she’ll keep you in fresh bodies and card draw. In decks with lots of extra loyalty counters and +1/+1 counters floating around at your disposal, Warden becomes a powerful engine that can effectively protect herself with shields.

What I Don't Like: If you don’t have other counters available in your deck, you’ll run out of shields quickly, and leave the Warden vulnerable to removal and mass destruction effects. While the collection of value adds up even if you only deplete her pair of shield tokens, it does leave the main body weak to removal, and a big chunk of your board impact will obviously be from her 5/5 flying body, which you’ll want to keep around.

Verdict: Overall, Warden is a super solid 6-drop that can provide card advantage, token support, and an effective finisher. Most cubes are pretty light on the number of 6+cmc creatures they’re running nowadays, but if you can find room to test her out (especially in cubes that are heavy on ‘walkers or support a +1/+1 counter theme) she’ll undoubtedly be a solid performer in her role. I would likely find room in my own cube in the 630/720 range, but cubes with adequate counter support might be able to find room even at smaller sizes.

All-Seeing Arbiter

A 6-mana finisher in blue.

What I Like: Draw 2 discard 1 is a powerful ETB/attack trigger, and the ability to shrink down the opponents creatures can both help provide effective attacks and defend yourself from their pressure. This card will both guarantee value and provide a consistent stream of value over time, while impacting the board in multiple meaningful ways the entire time.

What I Don't Like: That 4 toughness is a huge liability for me, making this creature weak to Wildfire effects, Languish effects, and red’s suite of creature killing triggers that deal 4 damage. It’s especially a bummer in and against Wildfire, since it would pair so beautifully with that card. If this was a 5/5 instead of a 5/4, it would likely make enough of a difference for me to add this into my cube.

Verdict: If you’re looking for an impactful card advantage engine in blue’s top-end curve, this is a card you can try out over things like Frost Titan if you want to both impact the board and generate value at the same time. I’d play this at 630/720 in my own cube, and I think cubes that have an extra 6cc creature slot to test out in blue that don’t support Wildfire might be able to find room even if they’re a little smaller.

Tenacious Underdog

A recursive black beater.

What I Like: 3 power for 2 mana that can come back from the graveyard later on is a good recipe. The Blitz from the ‘yard basically allows you to pay 4 mana to attack for 3 and draw a card every turn. Not the most cost effective way to threaten the opponent, but it does provide both inevitability and an outlet for aggro decks to spend mana on if they get flooded in the late game.

What I Don't Like: 4 mana and 2 life is a steep cost to reinvest in a creature that doesn’t even stay on the board after it’s recast. And I might be able to overlook that if the main body was more valuable when it was on the table. With Menace or Lifelink or something the main body would be something worth killing; adding more value to the fact that it can be recurred.

Verdict: This just misses the mark for me in my 540 list. I would play this at 630+ though, especially if Human and/or Warrior tribal is a thing in your cube. It’s still a 3-power 2-drop that can self-recur, so the floor is totally acceptable.

Tainted Indulgence

A Dimir Chart variant.

What I Like: The recipe of spending 2 mana for a conditional draw 2 that has a floor of draw 2 discard 1 has been used before, and we’ve seen it in Chart a Course. And that card’s great. In comparison to Chart, Indulgence is an instant, which can help setup reanimation plays without telegraphing your line, and makes it easier to play in reactive decks. It also has a draw 2 condition that’s not tied to attacking, so creature-light decks might be able to use this in the 2-mana draw-2 mode more often than they could with Chart.

What I Don't Like: Unlike Chart, this card is 2 colors; severely hampering the number of decks that can use it. And Chart’s draw 2 condition is really easy to hit. But the most important distinction is that Chart always has the ability to be used as a discard outlet, where Indulgence can only draw 2 cards once is condition is met. This might hamper its use as a discard outlet in the later stages of the game if you’re setting up for a big Living Death or something cool like that.

Verdict: This is a good card, and it would make the final 40 in pretty much every Dimir deck, I think. But finding room for gold cards in the cube is hard, and being unable to reliably use this as a discard outlet in every situation is ultimately what is going to keep this out of my 540 arrangement. I would test this in a 630/720 card cube though, since I think it’s solid, flexible value for 2 mana.

Make Disappear

A new Quench+ effect.

What I Like: Generally speaking, splashable countermagic that makes the opponent play 2+ mana is good. For a lot of cubes, Rune Snag/Quench are narrow misses, and anything that’s even marginally better than those effects become worthy of consideration. Miscalculation and Lose Focus have both been very good spells for me, and I think Make Disappear has the right recipe to be successful. In most occasions, it’ll just function as a 2-mana counterspell. But similarly to Lose Focus, there will be situations where the opponent can pay the 2 and you’re looking for more. LF’s ability to simply pay 1 more mana makes it pretty easy to “kick”, but there are a number of decks that might have cheap recursive creatures or tokens floating around that can be sacrificed to MD in order to copy the spell and counter that target even if the opponent has 2 or 3 extra mana open. It won’t show up often, but when it does, it’ll be a really important caveat to have. Also note that the copying works with Magecraft, so you can both sacrifice Witch Pests to pay for the Casualty cost, and benefit from the copying to make extra bodies.

What I Don't Like: Unfortunately, there are a lot of blue decks that don’t have the creature count necessary to elevate Make Disappear’s Casualty trigger reliably available. While token and tempo decks will have everything needed to take full advantage of the card, traditional draw-go control decks will see this card function as a Quench with a bunch of flavor text on it like 99% of the time. Maybe still good enough for a final 40 if you’re digging for playables, but outside of the right shell, MD might not have what it takes to edge out the competition.

Verdict: I’m going to be testing this card at 540, but I expect it to wind up as a card that might settle as a 630+ kind of card. Typically a Quench with any kind of upside is a slam dunk, but there are a lot of blue decks in the cube (at least for my playgroup anyways) where the Casualty is just flavor text, and creature counts are too low to take full advantage of all the card’s options.

Workshop Warchief

Thragtusk’s other brother, Tragthusk.

What I Like: In the broadest sense, this is simply a more aggressive version of Thragtusk. In comparison, Warchief has trample, makes a 4-power body when it dies, and has a Blitz mode that can make it into a cantripping Skizzik that gains 3 life and leaves behind a 4/4 body when duty calls.

What I Don't Like: Thragtusk has a more splashable casting cost, gains 5 life instead of 3, and its token generation is a leaves play trigger instead of a death trigger, making Warchief weaker to bounce, exile, and harder to abuse with flicker effects.

Verdict: I plan on testing this at 540. I think that it is about on par with Thragtusk in terms of its overall value, and I think the Blitz is really powerful.

Titan of Industry

The Swiss army knife of green fatties.

What I Like: There are so many different combinations of selections to pick from, and all of them have good value. A baseline 7/7 trample with reach is a good start. Naturalize effects are valuable in all stages of the game. 5 life is a lot to gain towards stabilizing if you’re under pressure. A 4/4 token is super relevant even if the main body is dealt with. And the shield can protect itself or another creature you control if needed. It’s a fine target to cheat onto the battlefield or ramp into, and it’s a decent enough reanimation target too.

What I Don't Like: The only thing potentially holding this card back is some of the competition. Craterhoof Behemoth wins games on the spot. Woodfall Primus is one of the best Sneak targets out there. Hornet Queen can stabilize against a wide board even in the face of a Sword/Path. So this slot is arguably filled by other monsters already (for small cubes).

Verdict: I plan on adding this creature to my green monster suite at 540, and it could very well prove to be worth it at smaller sizes too. It has a very versatile suite of effects and is a safe bet in most all situations. Looking forward to seeing this creature in action.

Allied Triomes

They printed the allied Triome cycle!

What I Like: Triomes are powerful fixing lands. Fetchable by like 90% of true fetches, permanently fixing 3 colors of mana, and having cycling to boot. The only thing I didn’t like about the OG Triomes is that they only made half of ‘em.

What I Don't Like: They could arguably be too good at their jobs, making 3-5 color decks function better than your playgroup might want them to. So if that’s not a thing you want your cube to be doing, you might want to be careful adding these in.

Verdict: Most cube managers have experience with Triomes, so you know what to expect from these. If you don’t, and you’ve been waiting for the whole “cycle” to be available to test them out, be prepared for some smooth 4/5-color fixing to suddenly crop up in your cubes. Splashing a 3rd color becomes easier and more commonplace too, so watch for that more often than before. They add value to cards like Prismatic Ending and Engineered Explosives since extra colors are more readily accessible. Overall they’re quite powerful, and they should very likely go into your cube IF 3-5 color decks (being relatively easy to draft too) is something you want to see happen and/or encourage. Playable at 450/540 for sure, again, if the environment they foster is something you want.

Scheming Fence

A thieving Azorius Revoker variant.

What I Like: I like Phyrexian Revoker a lot. And in comparison to Revoker, this creature has a 2/3 body, and it can’t be shattered, so it’s a LOT more resilient once it’s on the battlefield, making it a more consistent form of “removal” for the permanent that’s had its abilities deactivated. But unlike Revoker, Needle, Spyglass, or any other available version of this kind of effect, Fence STEALS the ability and gives it to you! Looking over all the available targets with activated abilities for Fence to target is exciting, because there’s some powerful things you can do with this card. But it’s particularly potent at taking the opponent’s mana. Sol Ring? Not anymore, now I have an Azorius Rofellos variant. Mox? Nope, now you have a dead card and I get the ramp for myself. Signets? Waste of mana for the opponent and free fixing for you. This is an insanely powerful card when dealing with opposing fast mana, and those are the times you need your cards to be at their best.

What I Don't Like: Unlike Revokers and Needles, Fence chooses the permanent, it doesn’t name it. So you can’t proactively name a card and prevent the opponent from getting the first activation. Additionally, multicolor slots are hard to come by, and Azorius’s upper crust is pretty powerful.

Verdict: I’ve heard multiple people refer to this as a 2-mana Dack Fayden. And I get it. Against a Mox, it does effectively steal it from them and give it to you, which is bonkers good at 2-mana. I’m not quite that high on the Fence as some are, but I do agree that it’s a great deal for 2 mana, it deals with some of the cube’s most powerful and problematic effects, and it steals them and gives them to you, which is crazy good. In a powered cube with the full suite of fast mana I think this is worth testing out even in the smallest of cubes. It’s just too efficient an answer to not try out. Un an unpowered list, however, I think this loses a huge suite of critical targets that makes it broken, and it might not displace the best of the other Azorius options available.