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.

 

[henkdetenk]

The humble Dusk Legion Zealot.



It fits into any deck that runs black in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Humpty_Dumpty]

Warren Soultrader does a similar job at a lower mana value, but this is my favourite card from the set:


Such simple synergy potential, open-ended with no silly "only once per turn" clause.

 

[ravnic]

I remember that og Ixalan reignited my fire for the game during that time, because it had so cool themes: Dinosaurs and Pirates! Even though I'm less into tribal themes, once again, I liked both Ixalan sets for cube decently enough.


I tested seven cards from Rivals of Ixalan, one of which was World Shaper. Super sweet design, but sadly too clunky even for my cube, mostly because you don't want to attack with it in the selfmill/loam decks.

However, there are still three cards I'm cubing today from RIX. Thrashing Brontodon is a cool naturalize effect that also feels okay to just use as a beefy attacker/blocker. My weirdest inclusion here is probably Famished Paladin. It's mostly a much worse Pridemate, but if you want to support a Wx lifegain theme and have it be aggressive as well, you gotta cube some two-drops to support it.

But my pick for my favorite design goes to this dino boy:



Swordtooth is my favorite exploration effect in the game, which are usually hard to justify in limited. But it really helps when they come with an undercosted body. Thanks to the flexibility of ascend, this dino here is also playable in decks that don't ramp or do stuff with lands. You can achieve the 5/5 part of the card easily by creating a bunch of creature tokens or even artfact tokens these days.

I love that you usually either can profit from the exploration part when you drop it turn three, or you draw it later, when the exploration is useless, but you can immediately have a 5/5 dino to block and attack. Wayward Swordtooth is never a dead card!

 

[Humpty_Dumpty]

I like the suggestion of Famished Paladin, which can easily be a 3/3 vigilance for 2 mana, making it very difficult to race in the aggro mirror. I find the art a bit strange: the split cloak and odd body posture make him look as if he is partially invisible.

 

[MilesOfficial]

Day: 011
Set: Commander 2015 (C15)
Release Date: November 13, 2015
Cards: 196
Leads: Dan Emmons (Design) & Ben Hayes (Development)
All New Cards, Sorted by ELO: CubeCobra Link

Back before Eldraine, it felt like half of the foundations for new Magic sets and releases were the results of a thought experiment. "What if a set was all _____?" or "we haven't done ____ before, what would that look like?" This leads to a lot of mistakes and experimentation, and the average quality is mixed (especially compared to the routinely solid limited formats of the last 5 years), but it also allowed for some weird stuff. And it's the weird stuff we fell in love with, yeah?

Commander 2015 was the extension of "hey, we haven't made very many enemy-colored commanders, have we?" thought experiment.

Let's put it this way: when Commander 2015 came out, only 92 Orzhov cards existed in the game. Now, less than ten years on, we're at 310. This was an enemy-colors cycle of commander decks, with many of the new cards in one of these five two-color combinations. At time of release, Commander 2015 represented 2 of the 10 Orzhov legendary creatures ever printed. Nowadays, WotC would never make a distinction between "enemy" vs "allied" colors, and only old heads and people trying to maximize a Tarkir Dragonstorm sealed mana base ever take this concept into consideration.

That said, it was not the two cycles of face commanders that excited the Cube community from this set. It was, as it always is with a bunch of armchair game designers also known as "Cube curators" who are seeking to maximize player agency, the modal cards.



From this set, I still run Mystic Confluence and Fiery Confluence, and I love them both dearly. I doubt I will ever stop running them, because like so many spells from yesteryear, it feels like they fall into the space where modern designers are not looking to accelerate power level. These feel like the sweet spot of Commander design, where yes, it's optimized for four players with 40 life each, but it's costed appropriately for a powerful Cube because the cards were never intended for 1v1 play. That's how we can get Fiery Confluence which can wipe the board or be a cheaper and more powerful Lava Axe depending on how you're feeling.

The excesses of Commander design were hardly creeping in by this set -- the worst we get here is myriad -- and the other "make a 4-player card work in a 2-player game" designs worked just fine for Cube, like the at-the-time underrated Oreskos Explorer.

My favorite cards from the set are probably the Confluences, but the designs I think about more are a pair that have been in and out of my Cube for a decade now:



Mizzix's Mastery is a great way for red to get spells back from the yard that feels very red. I love taking a mechanic only a year or two old at this point and making a creative and bomb-y execution for it in the Commander sets. A great way to reuse an otherwise pretty limited mechanic, design-space wise. Scourge of Nel Toth is a big 'ol dragon that presents a game to drafters: how do you make this work? Hopefully it's not a trap. It's a great deal to get a 6/6 flyer for 2 mana, but it asks you to do a lot: to get it into your graveyard, to have two dudes you're willing to sacrifice, and to have a reasonable quantity of black mana sources. Not really turn 2 or 3 behavior in most Cubes! I ended up taking it out because Tombstalker ended up being more practical for my players, but I love the Scourge and have him happily in my reject Cube still, even if that list's power-level has also gone up enough to make him seem anemic.

What did you all like from Commander 2015?

 

[gaytransmulldrifter]

Here's a cool weird one that I don't think I've seen anywhere besides Fair Nuff lol. My playgroup loves this card. Gets people into the lands deck in a really weird sideways type of way, and it is always funny when someone discards an Ash Barrens or whatever and you get to tell them that they activated your trap card. Fun design.

I also like doming people for 6 with Fiery Confluence.

 

[MilesOfficial]

Here's a cool weird one that I don't think I've seen anywhere besides Fair Nuff lol. My playgroup loves this card. Gets people into the lands deck in a really weird sideways type of way, and it is always funny when someone discards an Ash Barrens or whatever and you get to tell them that they activated your trap card. Fun design.

I also like doming people for 6 with Fiery Confluence.

I really like this card, and back then, I was trying to see if I could support centaurs in any way haha

The GG cost for getting it back, timed to when the land going into the graveyard, was too big of an ask. Nowdays though? Honestly, it's worth a second look.

 

[ravnic]

I like the suggestion of Famished Paladin, which can easily be a 3/3 vigilance for 2 mana, making it very difficult to race in the aggro mirror. I find the art a bit strange: the split cloak and odd body posture make him look as if he is partially invisible.

It's pretty good in this one deck but rather narrow, sadly. In theory, it could be a combo piece. Let's say you add Presence of Gond and a Soul Warden effect for infinite elfs and infinite life. You could also do Hermetic Study and Basilisk Collar for the knockout.

 

[StrionicAdventurer]

A green board wipe!? I run this card because the environment cares about big creature tokens, and because it's a Commander-compatible cube where an 8-mana spell might actually get cast. I also personally like it a lot.

Important! The tokens are errata'd Phyrexians, so if you've got some Phyrexian kindred stuff in your cube, give this big stupid spell a second look.

 

[ravnic]

Rwgatding Commander 2015, my vote goes to Mizzix' Mastery, the only card I ever tested. It doesn't fit my cube perfectly though, as I do have so few instants and sorceries with mv>3.

 

[henkdetenk]

Here's a cool weird one that I don't think I've seen anywhere besides Fair Nuff lol. My playgroup loves this card. Gets people into the lands deck in a really weird sideways type of way, and it is always funny when someone discards an Ash Barrens or whatever and you get to tell them that they activated your trap card. Fun design.

I also like doming people for 6 with Fiery Confluence.

I'm considering giving this one a spin.

 

[shamizy]

C15 was a fun commander set. I picked up the Meren of Clan Nel Toth pre-con and had a lot of fun with it. She was an awesome Golgari value card and I wish that I could find a slot for her in cube, but I hate tracking experience counters and they are such an inelegant mechanic. If they could somehow tweak a version of it without the hassle of experience I'd probably give it a long run because it's exactly the kind of grindy engine that these kinds of decks love as the centerpiece.

As far as actual cube inclusions I'm still running Mystic Confluence and Fiery Confluence nowadays. It's everything you'd want a more experience modal spell to be and they definitely justify their mana costs in this hyper efficient low curve era of Magic design. These are the versions I'm currently running (Mystic in retro foil is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cards I own):



I just wish Centaur Vinecrasher played as well as it looked on initial release. I tried to make it work in the early years of my cube to no avail as the timing restrictions were too tight and the base body was so anemic.

The idea of doing cool value plays and rebuying it was always much more impressive than the actual gameplay from it. It might be a little better now with so much more self-mill support to slot into cubes, but returning it to hand and then recasting for 4 makes you go through that whole weird loop requiring 3. That's a huge cost the more powerful the cube environment, but it could probably work in environments tailored to maximize the graveyard.

 

[gaytransmulldrifter]

Yeah I do not think Vinecrasher is particularly strong and won't hang in most cubes, but in Fair Nuff where there is a shitload of support for like every axis of the card and 30 copies of Ash Barrens and a very modest power level, it gets the job done.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I have run stuff from the set, but that’s been a long time ago. C15 has no special place in my heart. I will say screw Meren of Clan Nel-Toth. Her play patterns were atrocious in my cube.