There have been quite a few cards that have proven absolute staples, not only in my cube, but in the cubes of most people who have tried them here. And yet, since they are all a bit unassuming, they may have gone without much notice. Here are some truly fantastic cards that fit a wide arrangement of cubes and that aren't as common as I think they should be.
This might be one of the best designs in years. At its base, it's a twist Thraben Inspector. It's a small body, with a ton of different synergies. It's an artifact, it flies, it's a token. It becomes better with tokens. It replaces itself and plays extremely well.
It's also one of my favourite token payoffs. Most token related cards are a bit of a trap, because they are feast or famine, or simply because they require you to get several tokens at once. Staff is playable on its own, but becomes more than worthwhile if you can get an extra card. This is enough to support a small token subtheme, but it also provides card draw to an archetype that lacks it.
This is the second Young Pyromancer we always wanted. It's one of those fantastic glue cards that ties four or five different archetypes together and it does that from a completely different angle. Note that it triggets when either player discards and the tokens fly, so it has a much better baseline than you may have given it credit for.
Most people run cards like Thrill of Possibility in an attempt to give Red some filtering and late-game draw spells. Sadly, these effects aren't too great. Two mana is too much for a glorified cantrip, even if it provides a glorified discard outlet. Pound for pound, they are a worse Impulse, which most would not bother playing.
Don't get fooled by the green text, this an improved version of all those 2-mana draw spells for red. Like them, it has a limitation, but it can be played around and provides some interesting sequences possibilities. It's no more oppressive than Night's Whispers yet far more playable than any of its brothers.
The bonus here, of course, is the Druid itself. Quirion Dryad is a design masterpiec that, sadly, had been neutered by the better creatures we have today. Attaching it to a draw spell makes it far more playable, and provides some interesting decisions. Sometimes, you may want to splash slighty for it! After all, if your deck is mostly non-green, then the Druid can grow faster and faster. And if you play it for the ability, it may give you an incentive to go into red. Note, too, that it's now a human, which is a small bonus.
This is better than Remand. This is Remand in white.
Here's the thing, one of the largest limitations of the colour pie is that only two colours, black and blue, can reliably interact with instant and sorceries. This heavily limits what decks can exist in other colours, particularly some types of control and tempo.
Just by having Reprieve around I've noticed a marked increased in my deck variety. I see more Black White control, more decks able to defend themselves to deploy a four drop. I see more sneaking of little creatures with equipment and overall a healthier metagame.
Rumagging, that is, discarding and drawing, is a fantastically useful effect. Not only it gives players more control in a game where draws can be everything, it has a ton of little synergies. Most rumagging cards, however, are a bit awkard. They are either too weak, not repeateable or too expensive. Inti, while being completely fair, gives your decks that ability. If you have ever played with Smuggler's Copter in cube, you may have noticed it goes with everything and pushes you into interesting decks. But you may have also noticed that, being colorless and a flying 3/3, it's a bit broken.
Inti is a better balanced card, plus it has additional support in the form of counters and giving trample. It's an all-around great card you will play on aggro and more midrange decks, which is just what red needs.
Anyways, these are just five cards I think are absolute staples but that aren't being as recognized as they might have been. What are yours?
This might be one of the best designs in years. At its base, it's a twist Thraben Inspector. It's a small body, with a ton of different synergies. It's an artifact, it flies, it's a token. It becomes better with tokens. It replaces itself and plays extremely well.
It's also one of my favourite token payoffs. Most token related cards are a bit of a trap, because they are feast or famine, or simply because they require you to get several tokens at once. Staff is playable on its own, but becomes more than worthwhile if you can get an extra card. This is enough to support a small token subtheme, but it also provides card draw to an archetype that lacks it.
This is the second Young Pyromancer we always wanted. It's one of those fantastic glue cards that ties four or five different archetypes together and it does that from a completely different angle. Note that it triggets when either player discards and the tokens fly, so it has a much better baseline than you may have given it credit for.
Most people run cards like Thrill of Possibility in an attempt to give Red some filtering and late-game draw spells. Sadly, these effects aren't too great. Two mana is too much for a glorified cantrip, even if it provides a glorified discard outlet. Pound for pound, they are a worse Impulse, which most would not bother playing.
Don't get fooled by the green text, this an improved version of all those 2-mana draw spells for red. Like them, it has a limitation, but it can be played around and provides some interesting sequences possibilities. It's no more oppressive than Night's Whispers yet far more playable than any of its brothers.
The bonus here, of course, is the Druid itself. Quirion Dryad is a design masterpiec that, sadly, had been neutered by the better creatures we have today. Attaching it to a draw spell makes it far more playable, and provides some interesting decisions. Sometimes, you may want to splash slighty for it! After all, if your deck is mostly non-green, then the Druid can grow faster and faster. And if you play it for the ability, it may give you an incentive to go into red. Note, too, that it's now a human, which is a small bonus.
This is better than Remand. This is Remand in white.
Here's the thing, one of the largest limitations of the colour pie is that only two colours, black and blue, can reliably interact with instant and sorceries. This heavily limits what decks can exist in other colours, particularly some types of control and tempo.
Just by having Reprieve around I've noticed a marked increased in my deck variety. I see more Black White control, more decks able to defend themselves to deploy a four drop. I see more sneaking of little creatures with equipment and overall a healthier metagame.
Rumagging, that is, discarding and drawing, is a fantastically useful effect. Not only it gives players more control in a game where draws can be everything, it has a ton of little synergies. Most rumagging cards, however, are a bit awkard. They are either too weak, not repeateable or too expensive. Inti, while being completely fair, gives your decks that ability. If you have ever played with Smuggler's Copter in cube, you may have noticed it goes with everything and pushes you into interesting decks. But you may have also noticed that, being colorless and a flying 3/3, it's a bit broken.
Inti is a better balanced card, plus it has additional support in the form of counters and giving trample. It's an all-around great card you will play on aggro and more midrange decks, which is just what red needs.
Anyways, these are just five cards I think are absolute staples but that aren't being as recognized as they might have been. What are yours?
card to draft and play with anymore. Sorry for more 
