I don't think bombardment is busted at all. May not even be good.
The issue is that it is only until end of turn, costs a card and a mana to set up.
Let's say you've managed to sand bag 3 dead cards?
Thats 4 cards and 4 mana for 6 damage... and pretty close to a best case scenario.
Worst case and common scenario is you are near hellbent and the card is worse than a shock.
Has some corner case build around potential (draw 7's + ramp) , but I don't think it's good in Mono R. Not "bad" tho.
Problematic Volcano on the other hand seems very good.
Great point! I might've been a bit overexcited by the Stormbind comparison, but I still think Bombardment is a really great late game option - its a single card that turns all your end game dead draws into damage. It'll never be your most efficient mana-damage-cards ratio, but it can give you the critical reach you need to finish the game. I think its worth testing out!
Do all of your creatures have to go on the same side or is it creature-by-creature?
Reading the card, it sounds like each player puts one creature at a time on a side of the volcano. So you can choose one at a time which creature to put where (and you can react to your opponent's placement too)
I'm certainly interested in a few of these cards, but probably only the ones that make sense or a pseudo-black-border (like City of Ass or something).
The fact that these cards technically are "black border" (as opposed to past sticker cards such as Look at Me, I'm R&D) makes me wonder if other cube managers will adopt them as well. It reminds me a bit of the Conspiracy modules we were including a few years ago...
Hi all! For the few Un-cube managers still out there (there are dozens of us!), the latest MYB set is an absolute treasure trove of material. I personally manage a powered 400 Un-cube experience, which means that the bar tends to be quite high for Un-cards to make the cut. I wasn't expecting any new cards to work with until the upcoming Unsanctioned set, but super happy they managed to sneak some Playtest cards into the latest Mystery Boosters. Though I wish they had been silver bordered! Regardless, I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts, tentatively ordered by playability, as well as get some feedback on what you guys think are playable
EDIT: Scryfall updated to support all the spoiled playtest cards so far, so check them out here: https://scryfall.com/sets/mystpt?as=grid&order=set. Updated the post with some of the new (and more powerful) cards that were spoiled.
Bombardment
I think this card might be the most busted I've seen so far from the Playtest cards. For anyone that remembers running Stormbind (back when Gruul was quite shallow...), Bombardment fixes a lot of the problems it had - random discard, 2 to activate, and 1GR casting cost as an enchantment. Bombardment represents the ultimate finisher for burn/aggro decks, turning all your dead cards in hand into sorcery-speed Shocks. If I was complaining, it would be that Bombardment and its fellow Missiles weren't all Instants - or that your Bombarding would be limited to the number of R you can produce in a single turn. Definitely finding a spot in my cube.
Mirrored Lotus
Any Lotus or Mox is worth testing in my books. In this case, Mirrored Lotus is a fully functional black lotus, with the drawback of symmetry. Fantastic for cubes featuring Storm, and also for cubes that are reluctant to test/run power due to their one-sidedness. It's a shame it self-exiles after use (same problem Blacker Lotus experiences with Yawgmoth's Will), but pseudo-power is pseudo-power. Definitely finding a spot in my cube.
Buried Ogre
This is an amazing design space. For reanimator decks, being able to skip the process of digging for and discarding a creature before reanimating is a huge boon. On the other hand, Buried Ogre is not exactly the most exciting body to reanimate, but speed is of the essence. Not all decks will reliably draw into their bomb, or count on a T1 Entomb, and at the cost of 1 life, Buried Ogre makes sure you're halfway to your combo from T1. Unfortunately, Buried Ogre definitely falls into the category of "parasitic" archetype cards, and I can see this card wheeling right to the end of the draft which is a pro for Reanimator drafters, but a con for the draft experience.
Witty Demon
This is a really tough card to evaluate, but I have a feeling it will be good. a 4/3 flying body for 1BB with a Demonic Tutor stapled to it sounds awesome, but with a unique drawback for draft environments - overloading your deck with extra cards. 13 cards is a big jump considering draft pools are typically 45 cards large, which means a lot of extra chaff will find its way into your deck. On the other hand, Witty Demon comes with a built in solution to finding your bombs and outs. This card will definitely have to go through some testing, but I have a feeling it'll perform better in draft environments which either give more sculpted pools (ex. glimpse drafting), or larger pools (sealed deck)
Do-Over
This is an extremely powerful Un effect that I have been crossing my fingers for for a while - the ability to reset a turn with full knowledge. The usages of this card is insane - scouting counterspells, undoing combat tricks, or identifying your opponent's line of play. The fact that it untaps your lands as well Would Do-Over also shuffle the deck, and give players a second chance at a topdeck?
Problematic Volcano
Now this is a card I can get behind! 1RR for a 4 damage burn spell (sorcery) is a great place to start, and the fact that the ability can divide up your opponent's blockers will be a big upside for aggro decks. The throwback to World Enchantments, and the complicated Raging River is a nice touch as well. Definitely will run this at 400, and I expect this card to stick.
Aggressive Crag
It's a Boros land with almost no drawback, apart from the fact that you might have less mana to use for instant-speed shenanigans (during your combat, or during your opponent's turn). The other drawback - if we're being greedy here - is the fact that it does not use the basic land subtypes, and therefore cannot be fetched. This will be an easy replacement for cubes still running Needle Spires, and likely makes the cut just after duals, fetches, and shocks.
Gold Mine
This is one of those un-cards, like Blacker Lotus, that pushes the boundaries of the rules for a cube environment. There's no doubt this card finds a home - it reminds me of a Gemstone Mine with greater flexibility/activations. In terms of house rules, I think we will errata this card to say that the Legacy counter will refresh every match (just like we do with Blacker Lotus right now). This will definitely force players to evaluate when they need to activate the Legacy ability, and when they can just get away with adding colourless mana.
Smelt // Herd // Saw
Not the sexiest playtest card to be introduced, but perfectly viable for the Jund slot. Like a lot of cube owners, I maintain multicolour symmetry in the tricolour slot, but despite being one of the strongest colour combinations, Jund has a fairly shallow pool (Hellkite Overlord, Gyrus, Waker of Corpses, and Lord Windgrace?). For other cube managers looking for something different, I think Smelt // Herd // Saw represents a solid tricolour answer for multiple stages/threats in the game - the ability to deal with power/artifacts, creature threats, or to create elks of its own. Will test in the Jund slot.
Form of the Mulldrifter
FotM is awesome! It gives you the option to turn all your creatures into Mulldrifter (or Inspiration, if you're Evoking), while retaining the ability to cast your creatures if they happen to be more relevant than a Mulldrifter at that moment. Flexibility is definitely valuable in a Cube format. However, Mulldrifter isn't the most exciting card in Cube (especially in multiples), and I wish FotM either cost 2 less, or left a body behind.
Generated Horizons
Have you ever wanted to reliably trigger landfall every turn while ramping? There's no doubt that this is a slower card - ramping from 5 to 6 can be too little too late. But the sooner you can drop Generated Horizons, the quicker you start accruing the huge advantage of additional land tokens. The fact that these permanents remain in play to interact with effects such as Smokestack, Greater Gargadon, or Nissa, Worldwaker can really help get green decks off the ground. Definitely a card to test, and I have a feeling this will perform better than expected in green ramp decks.
Time Sidewalk
This is about as swingy of a Playtest card as you can get. The average case scenario of being a 8 mana time walk is pretty bad, but the tradeoff here is starting your game with an extra 4 time walks in your library - unheard of even by Cube standards. Unfortunately, the impact of this card is not always going to be felt immediately (4x Time Walks into your hand would be something else). That's not even considering the added requirement of starting with Time Sidewalk in your opening hand. Similar to Gunk Slug, your experience of hitting the newly shuffled Tokens will vary. This card will be fun to test, but likely won't make the cut.
Conclusion:
That's all I've got for now! Apparently there are ~70 playtest cards floating around but I haven't been able to track down spoilers for all of them just yetScryfall is supporting MYSTPT cards now, so check them out here. Given the massive size of this set (1000+ cards), I'm really hoping that more competitive and playable cards find their way into our hands - I'll keep this thread updated as they come up. I'm definitely looking forward to the shenanigans we can add to our Un-cubes, and its a nice surprise given that we also have Unsanctioned on the horizon. Thanks for reading!
Puresteel Angel
Now this is a card I'd tinker into! The fact that its Indestructible should mean that it should stick around long enough to get a swing in, and the emblem is a great last resort. However, the fact that your opponent keeps their board, nor does it draw you a fresh hand of 7 are definitely strikes against it. I don't think this will make the final cut at 400 (there are a lot of great tinker targets these days), but definitely will test it out.
Unicycle
This is a card I really want to like. 3/1 First Strike for 2 should be familiar for cubes running Porcelain Legionnaire, albeit with the downside of not being a creature (but upside of being a Haste Vehicle?). I think its flexibility as an equipment really pushes this over the edge. In the end, this card compares a bit unfavourably to both Porcelain Legionnaire or Chariot of Victory, while simultaneously imitating both, but I don't think it will ultimately stick in an environment with Smuggler's Copter.
Impatient Iguana
As a Redditor commented, this is a 2-mana 2/1 haste that gives you the Power Play 17.5% of the time. Red 2 drops tend to be fairly pushed (our Wizard Lizard is no Earthshaker Khenra), but I could see this card making an impact in medium sized to larger sized cubes. Having played a bit with Power Play, the ability to go first can be highly impactful for aggro decks, and being able to keep the losing player on the backfoot in a best-of-3 match can be good as well.
Largepox
For cube managers still running the Pox archetype, I give you Largepox! I really wish this card cost less than BBBB, since this technically inflicts less damage (1 card/life, as opposed to 1/3) than Pox, but the diversity of effects definitely makes up for it. This card will likely only be relevant for cubes that push mono black, devotion, or Pox effects, but the potential card advantage for hitting your opponent's planeswalkers, artifacts, enchantments, etc. is high.
This is another card I really want to like. The "battlecry" ability is reminiscent of Hearthstone, but the ability to shuffle dead draws into your opponent's library can be very detrimental. However, this card suffers from the same drawbacks of its Hearthstone brethren: uninspiring body, and low probability of drawing into Gunk. If it happens at the right moment, it can win you the game, but more often the 3 Gunk cards will not be relevant during the game. Fun card, but likely will be reserved for larger cubes.
have any cube managers gotten some playtime with Yawgmoth yet? it looks like an incredibly powerful card in grindy matchups, but in my 400 powered cube i'm not sure it'll cut it. but a free half-skullclamp is hard to say no to (especially with something like ophiomancer!)
sad to see MTGS go, but i hope the MTGS cube community can reconvene around a new website/forum to keep the conversation and content going. looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Anyone got maybe 3-5 spare Cubeamajigs you'd sell me? I don't want to buy a whole pack, but I'm a few packs short of having my whole cube in packs of 15.
I didn't know those existed but they seem perfect for cube! How are you finding them so far in terms of durability, aesthetics, etc.? Would you recommend them? I wish there was a way to get these with random booster pack art on the fronts (kind of like a chaos draft).
hey wtwlf - i'd love to get your thoughts on Teferi, Time Raveler. I run a smaller cube than yours, so I haven't quite gone the Narset/Leovold route, but I thought Teferi was a very interesting candidate given that I support Storm. I think the potential to start storming off in an opponent's end step (especially since one of my Storm cards is Crow Storm) seems extremely valuable. I'm also wondering if you think a card like Teferi could push Storm more into viability, or if its merits are strong enough to justify it a slot in smaller cubes anyways?
Also, Teferi Hero vs Teferi Raveler? That's the cut I've made the for the time being (I find Raveler much more interesting to play/build around), but would love to hear your thoughts. thanks!
Also, given the 7 swords we have right now, which would you run in a ~400 cube?
for what its worth, I've been playing Aurelia and she's been quite fun in RW. I've recurred her multiple times in the past with reveillark, and the fact that you can dig her up with imperial recruiter also helps. it lends a different style of play to the stereotypically linear boros guild.
What's everyone's favourite Disenchant? I'm currently running Ice Age but looking to upgrade - evaluating between (played) Beta, or foil 7th. Thoughts?
Definitely a card I’m excited to run. I like the fact that it gives blue more identity than Counterspell as a “recursive” beater, but also plays well with U/x decks where other spells may take better advantage of the discount. Sensei’s Divining Top also plays really well with this.
I'd love to enter for the Gideon of the Trials! Probably sounds weird, but I never got around to picking up a copy to add to my cube, and I've heard a ton of positive feedback about the card. Not to mention the SDCC promo is gorgeous.
I'd probably have to go Desolation Angel. It gets special mention for being my very first magic card (a friend gave a copy to me), but its a very powerful effect strapped to a highly relevant body. It's too bad that she's been crowded out over time from the BW guild, but I love where we are with the state of cube today, and the plethora of playable options. I may need to create a cubeboard to start siding in old favourites over time!
Thanks again for running this. You've inspired me to do something similar for my next foil update
Speaking of which, how would you rank the three UR walkers (Ral Zarek, Dack Fayden, and Saheeli) in 400 powered? I’m trying to cut one to reduce planeswalker density in Izzet
Great point! I might've been a bit overexcited by the Stormbind comparison, but I still think Bombardment is a really great late game option - its a single card that turns all your end game dead draws into damage. It'll never be your most efficient mana-damage-cards ratio, but it can give you the critical reach you need to finish the game. I think its worth testing out!
Reading the card, it sounds like each player puts one creature at a time on a side of the volcano. So you can choose one at a time which creature to put where (and you can react to your opponent's placement too)
The fact that these cards technically are "black border" (as opposed to past sticker cards such as Look at Me, I'm R&D) makes me wonder if other cube managers will adopt them as well. It reminds me a bit of the Conspiracy modules we were including a few years ago...
EDIT: Scryfall updated to support all the spoiled playtest cards so far, so check them out here: https://scryfall.com/sets/mystpt?as=grid&order=set. Updated the post with some of the new (and more powerful) cards that were spoiled.
Bombardment
Mirrored Lotus
Buried Ogre
Witty Demon
Do-Over
Problematic Volcano
Aggressive Crag
Gold Mine
Smelt // Herd // Saw
Form of the Mulldrifter
Generated Horizons
Time Sidewalk
Conclusion:
That's all I've got for now! Apparently there are ~70 playtest cards floating around
but I haven't been able to track down spoilers for all of them just yetScryfall is supporting MYSTPT cards now, so check them out here. Given the massive size of this set (1000+ cards), I'm really hoping that more competitive and playable cards find their way into our hands - I'll keep this thread updated as they come up. I'm definitely looking forward to the shenanigans we can add to our Un-cubes, and its a nice surprise given that we also have Unsanctioned on the horizon. Thanks for reading!Puresteel Angel
Unicycle
Impatient Iguana
Largepox
PS. I just got the reference to Smallpox.
Gunk Slug
I didn't know those existed but they seem perfect for cube! How are you finding them so far in terms of durability, aesthetics, etc.? Would you recommend them? I wish there was a way to get these with random booster pack art on the fronts (kind of like a chaos draft).
Also, Teferi Hero vs Teferi Raveler? That's the cut I've made the for the time being (I find Raveler much more interesting to play/build around), but would love to hear your thoughts. thanks!
Also, given the 7 swords we have right now, which would you run in a ~400 cube?
I'd probably have to go Desolation Angel. It gets special mention for being my very first magic card (a friend gave a copy to me), but its a very powerful effect strapped to a highly relevant body. It's too bad that she's been crowded out over time from the BW guild, but I love where we are with the state of cube today, and the plethora of playable options. I may need to create a cubeboard to start siding in old favourites over time!
Thanks again for running this. You've inspired me to do something similar for my next foil update