General [Almost Daily] Every Set in Magic, Cube Edition

[henkdetenk]

Masques is such a terrible set, I love it to bits. It has a lot of discard enablers, though most are admittedly godawful. I really like the idea of using a card as a resource, rather than as a spell to play. It fuels a lot of graveyard shenanigans to boot.

Faves that I currently run:



Groundskeeper and Undertaker keep discard engines going and really help self mill. Waterfront bouncer is amazing in any shell. Trade Routes gives lands cycling , but the desperation plays it enables is just beautiful.

Also, Dawnstrider is absolutely backbreaking when coupled with Groundskeeper, which I've thankfully seen happen only once.

 

[inscho]

I was such a nerd for Shard Phoenix and when Nether Spirit came out I was OBSESSED.

I really like the idea of using a card as a resource, rather than as a spell to play.

Yep. I love the leveraging of cards in play, cards in hand, life, etc

While I run very few of the actual cards from this block these days, it was a block that had such a profound impact in developing the ethos of my cube. It’s funny because the block is rarely heralded, and is such a stark contrast to the absurdity of the preceding Urza’s block.

But it makes sense as this around the time I started becoming enamored with constructed deck design. Part of me is always chasing a modernized/reinterpreted 2000-2001 extended metagame. It had so many fun and quirky decks with unique styles of play.

 

[MilesOfficial]

Day: 010
Set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander (OTC)
Release Date: April 19, 20242022
Cards: 40 (new) + 266 (reprint)
Leads: Corey Bowen (Design & Development)
All New Cards, Sorted by ELO: CubeCobra Link

Our first Commander set, as decided by the Scryfall random gods!

I usually like Commander sets more than most, as it emulates a gameplay style that my playgroup really enjoys: build-arounds with the "build-around" part mostly pre-built-in. This is pretty middle of the road as far as Commander sets go, with two of the 40 new cards currently in my Cube and another 3 in my on-deck binder.

Whereas the main set of OTJ (and particularly its hastily-applied appendage, BIG) is a set I consider severely underrated in the Cube / oldhead MtG community, its corresponding Commander set is a bit less interesting. Four decks should provide a lot of options, but with one of them focused on deserts-matter (a dream for Desert Cubes and for my lofty goals of making Hazezon, Shaper of Sand one of the se days), one on outlaw creature type matters, and another on Commander-styled double-spelling, we've lost a lot of real estate right off the bat. Surprisingly, the crimes-matter deck gives us the least interesting cards!

Commander sets are not too beloved on these forums for one very loud reason: the Commander-only text. In a perfect world, they would not exist. In a totally reasonable world, the designers of the game would not dumb down things to say things like "if you control your commander" and would instead come up with more elegant ways to make commander/multiplayer-focused effects that also work in 1v1 without weirdness (i.e. "each player" or "if you control a legendary creature"). This issue has never been so frustrating as it is in this Commander set:



Is there any reason that Sand Scout must specifically get a Desert and not "a Desert or Basic Plains"? I'd hate to add more words to this card, but I'd hate even more to send people down a rabbit hole thinking its a supported theme or block off half the text on this card, even if the power-level is absolutely there even with the handicap. I know this is not a Commander-specific issue, but

How dare they make Thunderclap Drake? Again, I think this card totally gets there without the entire ability, but I don't want the additive confusion it provides....and it also makes me sad because I want that effect. I only need one hit out of it! Even in Commander! Who needs the "crazy upside potential", I want to be able to convert my Welkin Tern into a Fork.

Angel of Indemnity is the most valuable addition to my Cube from this set but also suffers from the Commander text. "Encore" is mostly fine in 1v1, but it still feels inelegant. I am on the record of preferring this to Sun Titan.

Here are my favorite designs of the set:



Smirking Spelljacker is great but I like what Transcendent Dragon does gameplay wise more, even if 6 mana is significantly more than 5. Easy art upgrade too. Rumbleweed is a neat Craterhoof Behemoth that asks you to pay attention to more things. I honestly would've swapped them if this came out a few years ago to provide a slight handicap to Craterhoof, but as my overall power level has risen, it's felt more appropriately costed as green's best top-end.

Pyretic Charge is the only other card I'm running besides Angel of Indemnity, and it's not long for my Cube, even though I like the cross-section it sits in with all of red's love of discard, but it's just not really defensible Bedlam Reveler, Hearth Elemental, and even Valakut Awakening are all on the outside looking in.

Back in Town is my favorite card from the set, however. It's the one "IRL reference" that I think was executed well in this set (even High Noon annoys me, if that gives you any context). I like cards that can immediately make you reconsider your draft picks and deck construction differently in a big way. It's a one-card build around that supports many creature types. Still, it's one mana too expensive to be appropriately explosive for its restriction. It's very easy to have this as a worse Zombify, even in a thoughtfully-build draft deck. I still like the potential it has, and hope to one day have a good environment for it in one of my lists.

What do you all like/dislike about this set?

 

[ravnic]

I am always close to cube this one:



I love retrace and want more of it.

 

[StrionicAdventurer]

An absolutely sweet, highly flexible effect gets the Universes Within treatment! This card is very awesome in my Welder's Workshop cube, where there is always a valuable artifact to destroy, and it's also often advisable to mill yourself for five while you ramp. Plus: playable from the graveyard!

I'm also trying to find a slot for Pyretic Charge, and I love the art on Dune Chanter so much that I almost want to start a new cube where his talents can be maximized.

 

[henkdetenk]

I generally dislike all the hat sets, so unless a card really speaks to me, I tend not to try any of it. I am that old, I suppose. That said, I do like Rumbleweed and it has been on my maybe board for a while.

.

It's like a weird overrun Ghoultree.

 

[Seeker]

Back in Town is my favorite card from the set, however. It's the one "IRL reference" that I think was executed well in this set (even High Noon annoys me, if that gives you any context).

When it first got spoiled, I showed that card to my wife, who does not play Magic, and asked her who it depicted - and, of course, she instantly said "the boys!". I agree with you that it's the only reference that isn't bad.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I love how everyone ignored J25 and just kept posting cool Masques cards. It should come as no surprise that I kinda hate the set for its art direction. There are numerous cool designs there that I don’t run because I don’t want to be forced to run anime art.

I also don’t run any OTC cards. Loved the main set, but its commander cards don’t really tie into my themes. New Capenna Commander this ain’t!

 

[MilesOfficial]

Day: 010
Set: Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
Release Date: January 19, 2018
Cards: 196
Leads: Ben Hayes (Design & Development)
All New Cards, Sorted by ELO: CubeCobra Link

I'm so glad they stopped doing blocks. Rivals of Ixalan is a really poor set. Limited was awful. The designs were uninspired. "Ascend" is an awful mechanic when it comes to tracking, and "evolve" reads poorly, even if it plays extremely well. I am also one of those Ravenous Chupacabra haters, which is certainly unmerited based on all of my other opinions, but at the time, I felt like we were losing something by making this particular design. I haven't gotten over it -- I still have avoided running it, even if I appreciate its elegance now.

I only run one card from the set, and it's my favorite:



is great. And I love every version of the art. It's so hard to pick which one, but the OG print is probably the best. He's a simple creature that emphasizes everything that green is in the game that makes people want to play midrange instead of straight ramp.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

YOU PUNY MORTAL! ARE YOU DISSING THE POWER OF DINOSAURS?! I DARE YOU TO REPEAT YOUR INSIGNIFICANT OPINION TO MY FACE!



Besides the Lord of Lizards himself, I also still run Raging Regisaur, which is just useful and interesting enough, while being a simple design, that I keep it around.

And of course every ninja lover should appreciate my third and final inclusion from the set:



This card is so elegant, and makes defending surprisingly tough. Lovely little gem from this set!

Despite having no love for tribal or DFC’s, there’s quite a few unassuming gems in this set for lower power levels. More role players than marquee cards, but fun nonetheless can be found on the shores of Ixalan!

 

[StrionicAdventurer]

I loved the transforming destination lands from this set, and I think Journey to Eternity is my favorite. I also run Storm the Vault and Golden Guardian, which are both sweet in artifacts-matter environments.