Card evaluation is tough, especially in the context of Cube. Undervaluing or overestimating cards is trivially easy, especially when you aren't a very experienced designer. It's ok to make mistakes! However, it is important to understand what you got wrong, why you felt the way you did, and how you can apply your new knowledge to the future. Today, I want to examine some cards I have evaluated incorrectly in the past and provide some lessons that I learned as a result.
Card 1: Elspeth, Sun's Champion (Theros)
Elspeth was powerful. Game-ruining bullshit (GRBS), even. At least, that was true in 2013 when she was printed. Elspeth, Sun's Champion hails from a time when games were slower and less removal could target Planeswalkers. Back then, the only ways to deal with Elspeth, were to counter her, kill her through combat with creatures, or hope to draw Dreadbore and/or Hero's Downfall. She was too big to reliably kill with burn spells, and the combination of her +1 and -3 made her very difficult to kill on the ground through combat. Basically, the only way to deal with an Elspeth was with 2 or 3 power fliers that could maybe kill her before she had a chance to take over the game. Maybe. As such, she was quickly branded as GRBS, and was a card that was rightfully considered a bad option for many Cubes.
Flash forward 8 years to when I was rebuilding my Cube. I realized that Elspeth was actually an important card for the nostalgic experience I was hoping to curate. The only problem was that I feared her play patterns would be a net negative on the format. She had a reputation for a reason. I decided to give her a shot again, and lo and behold, she was fine. As it turned out, the number of removal spells that could specifically kill planeswalkers had increased 50fold since she was originally printed. Additionally, games were faster, and evasive threats were better. As such, Elspeth went from a broken Cube card in 2013 to a solid but cool playable in 2021.
Lesson: The power level of a card is relative to the context in which a card exists. If you like something but can't play it now, give it a few years and reevaluate later!
Card 2: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (Dominaria United)
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse was previewed to lukewarm praise. A 4 mana 4/5 with no entering abilities seemed super below rate in late 2022. Most people thought the card just looked bad. Personally, I thought the card was trying to do a black-ish Siege Rhino impression. It turns out, Sheoldred was pretty good. Her interactions with broken draw spells like Brainstorm made her both a cool value card and a hate card in Legacy, and her abilities complimented powerful Standard cards like Fable of the Mirror Breaker and Invoke Despair. Although Sheoldred fell off in Standard a bit in the year following Fable and Invoke's banning, she found a new friend in the eternal formats in the form of The One Ring.
Sheoldred's rapid rise to success has made her a popular card in many Cubes. Despite that, I still never became a fan. I felt her abilities tied to drawing cards were too inconsistent. Sometimes, she was dying to removal before doing anything, and other times, she was taking over the game by herself. Admittedly, this play pattern is found in all Baneslayer Angel type cards, but Sheoldred specifically was a unique problem because she didn't even need to attack. When I compared the wildly inconsistent Sheoldred to her very consistent four-mana 4/5 counterpart in Siege Rhino, I couldn't see a card that would make my Cube more fun. And indeed– I still don't! But the card wasn't bad; in fact, it's actually probably appropriate for Cubes of my main Cube's power level. I just didn't enjoy the card, unlike the majority of other Cubers.
It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that my dislike of the card was purely a personal preference. Realizing the nuances of why I don't like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has helped me to better understand what makes cards enjoyable to me and how that can make my Cube better in the future.
Lesson: You don't have to play a card just because it's popular and roughly fits your power band. If you feel it has toxic play patterns, don't play it!
Card 3: The Surveil Lands (Murders at Karlov Manor)
I knew the Surveil lands would be decent for my Cube when I initially saw them. Fetchable lands that fill the graveyard? Sign me up! What I got wrong was how good they would be in constructed, and as a result, how much they would cost. Surveil lands reminded me of the Temples from Theros block. These cards were fine in Standard, but they never broke into eternal formats. Entering tapped in exchange for a measly scry just isn't that good in high-speed formats. That fact, coupled with the distribution method of the Surveil lands individually appearing more frequently than other rares in a special slot of the new Play Boosters, led me to believe that these cards would be dirt cheap. After everyone at a 30-person prerelease tournament opened at least two of the surveil lands, I believed they would be dirt cheap.
Two things happened. Number one, the Surveil lands were actually good in Modern. Turns out, fetchable fixing that lets you dump things into the graveyard is good. I knew this, but I didn't think it was Modern playable good! Second, Muders at Karlov Manor was a terrible set. As such, the only cards seeing any serious play were the Surveil lands. As a result, the Surveil lands were the only cards driving people to open boxes, driving up their prices despite their decreased rarity. I was expecting to be able to pick these cards up for between 50 cents and $2. Instead, you can't pick up any of these cards for less than $6, with the most expensive of the group nearing $20. I was originally hoping to put at least a full cycle of these cards into my Cube, with me potentially using them in the Basic Land Box if they were cheap enough. Needless to say, that did not happen.
Lesson: Like-to-like comparisons do not hold up well in Magic. A couple of minor tweaks completely change how cards play!
Understanding why we misevaluate cards is a great way to improve one's skills as a designer and player. What are some cards you have misevaluated in the past?
Thanks for reading!
–GT
Card 1: Elspeth, Sun's Champion (Theros)
Elspeth was powerful. Game-ruining bullshit (GRBS), even. At least, that was true in 2013 when she was printed. Elspeth, Sun's Champion hails from a time when games were slower and less removal could target Planeswalkers. Back then, the only ways to deal with Elspeth, were to counter her, kill her through combat with creatures, or hope to draw Dreadbore and/or Hero's Downfall. She was too big to reliably kill with burn spells, and the combination of her +1 and -3 made her very difficult to kill on the ground through combat. Basically, the only way to deal with an Elspeth was with 2 or 3 power fliers that could maybe kill her before she had a chance to take over the game. Maybe. As such, she was quickly branded as GRBS, and was a card that was rightfully considered a bad option for many Cubes.
Flash forward 8 years to when I was rebuilding my Cube. I realized that Elspeth was actually an important card for the nostalgic experience I was hoping to curate. The only problem was that I feared her play patterns would be a net negative on the format. She had a reputation for a reason. I decided to give her a shot again, and lo and behold, she was fine. As it turned out, the number of removal spells that could specifically kill planeswalkers had increased 50fold since she was originally printed. Additionally, games were faster, and evasive threats were better. As such, Elspeth went from a broken Cube card in 2013 to a solid but cool playable in 2021.
Lesson: The power level of a card is relative to the context in which a card exists. If you like something but can't play it now, give it a few years and reevaluate later!
Card 2: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (Dominaria United)
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse was previewed to lukewarm praise. A 4 mana 4/5 with no entering abilities seemed super below rate in late 2022. Most people thought the card just looked bad. Personally, I thought the card was trying to do a black-ish Siege Rhino impression. It turns out, Sheoldred was pretty good. Her interactions with broken draw spells like Brainstorm made her both a cool value card and a hate card in Legacy, and her abilities complimented powerful Standard cards like Fable of the Mirror Breaker and Invoke Despair. Although Sheoldred fell off in Standard a bit in the year following Fable and Invoke's banning, she found a new friend in the eternal formats in the form of The One Ring.
Sheoldred's rapid rise to success has made her a popular card in many Cubes. Despite that, I still never became a fan. I felt her abilities tied to drawing cards were too inconsistent. Sometimes, she was dying to removal before doing anything, and other times, she was taking over the game by herself. Admittedly, this play pattern is found in all Baneslayer Angel type cards, but Sheoldred specifically was a unique problem because she didn't even need to attack. When I compared the wildly inconsistent Sheoldred to her very consistent four-mana 4/5 counterpart in Siege Rhino, I couldn't see a card that would make my Cube more fun. And indeed– I still don't! But the card wasn't bad; in fact, it's actually probably appropriate for Cubes of my main Cube's power level. I just didn't enjoy the card, unlike the majority of other Cubers.
It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that my dislike of the card was purely a personal preference. Realizing the nuances of why I don't like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has helped me to better understand what makes cards enjoyable to me and how that can make my Cube better in the future.
Lesson: You don't have to play a card just because it's popular and roughly fits your power band. If you feel it has toxic play patterns, don't play it!
Card 3: The Surveil Lands (Murders at Karlov Manor)
I knew the Surveil lands would be decent for my Cube when I initially saw them. Fetchable lands that fill the graveyard? Sign me up! What I got wrong was how good they would be in constructed, and as a result, how much they would cost. Surveil lands reminded me of the Temples from Theros block. These cards were fine in Standard, but they never broke into eternal formats. Entering tapped in exchange for a measly scry just isn't that good in high-speed formats. That fact, coupled with the distribution method of the Surveil lands individually appearing more frequently than other rares in a special slot of the new Play Boosters, led me to believe that these cards would be dirt cheap. After everyone at a 30-person prerelease tournament opened at least two of the surveil lands, I believed they would be dirt cheap.
Two things happened. Number one, the Surveil lands were actually good in Modern. Turns out, fetchable fixing that lets you dump things into the graveyard is good. I knew this, but I didn't think it was Modern playable good! Second, Muders at Karlov Manor was a terrible set. As such, the only cards seeing any serious play were the Surveil lands. As a result, the Surveil lands were the only cards driving people to open boxes, driving up their prices despite their decreased rarity. I was expecting to be able to pick these cards up for between 50 cents and $2. Instead, you can't pick up any of these cards for less than $6, with the most expensive of the group nearing $20. I was originally hoping to put at least a full cycle of these cards into my Cube, with me potentially using them in the Basic Land Box if they were cheap enough. Needless to say, that did not happen.
Lesson: Like-to-like comparisons do not hold up well in Magic. A couple of minor tweaks completely change how cards play!
Understanding why we misevaluate cards is a great way to improve one's skills as a designer and player. What are some cards you have misevaluated in the past?
Thanks for reading!
–GT
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