This is a testing/includes thread. Post pictures using /ci or a text list using /c with what cards you plan to include and what cards you plan to test.
Main Cube:
Excited to Test:
(Secret Project):
Including
There is not as much here that immediately jumps out at me as I had hoped, which is unfortunate. I definitely think I am more cautious towards many of these cards since the Universes Beyond frame is so unappealing. As such, I'm mostly having to go with cards which have an alternate art treatment. I am very happy that the frame for all future UB cards is going to be the standard M15 frame going forwards.
Otherwise, I have noticed I tend to be too down on sets before they actually come out– primarily because it's not actually obvious during spoiler season which cards are going to be cool or fun. As such, my initial testing list is shorter than usual, but I think at least one or two of these has a chance.
I still don't have ink eyes nephilim yet. If i find one of those locally before Nu-Lorwyn comes out, then i might be willing to look at flightless birds, engorged cacti, and things that involve the number 9999.
However, what i DO have time for, is advertisements for Cup Noodle. " Lordy-hosephat," as my cousin once explained, " just put the noodles into face until smiles come out! "
Bruised shoulder? Put a noodle on it.
Who are these three boys? Why are they so upset?
Look more closely. None of them have noodles.
Is this final fantasy or is this los angeles?
No one cares. Eat noodles.
Are you covered in sweat, sutures, and stab wounds?
Just cover it with noodles and it'll buff right out.
Magic presents, final fantasy presents,
a cup of forever-plastics for ANY trash vortex you can imagine,
whether that be in the pacific ocean, or in your heart.
I don't have any slam dunks, but some cards are strong contenders. Posting in order of preference.
Love the possibilities here, especially with Agatha's Soul Cauldron making great use of the mana ability. Might be time to shelf Rielle, the Everwise as I cannot find a cut.
A decent rate for a hasty beater with the option of card advantage and 9 mana over 4 turns if it lives. High upside and decent floor makes me want to try. Might have to reconsider Elemental Eruption or Stormscale Scion if we have more ritual effects like this!
I could see this playing well. Hating on one card per turn is going to slow down the GY decks but not shut them down completely and you can always fill your own so you don't depend on what opponent is doing. Triggering on end step is a big plus!
Surveiling for each artifact (token or not!) has a lot of potential and the Raise Dead effect is nice gravy.
Has the potential to be a viable cheat option in Green. Sad it doesn't work in the same decks as Oath of Druids.
Kind of just want to cast it off Teferi, Time Raveler and Time Walk the opponent. Cute interaction aside, this will help go against aristocrats and clean up against the artifact deck.
The idea of casting a Frantic Search or Sevinne's Reclamation to get back impactful 3 drops is sweet. Would give a lot of staying power to Azorius creature decks. The fact that you need matching creatures to the spell's mana value might make this too fiddly to work in practice.
I like the potential here, since I have decks that can abuse it with Second Sunrise or Aftermath Analyst. Even without Bristly Bill pumping her stats, a simple fetch makes it 4 power.
I'm on the lookout for playing lands off the top of the library, but don't love the options. This one doubling landfall triggers can get out of hand quickly and has my attention. Shame the Bird text is there, it's a distraction for my cube.
Uncapped landfall triggers always has my attention. This lets you dig hard for your engines and might be useful with Urza's Saga once in a while.
Potential Persist combo enabler, but also a solid anthem/beater on its own.
For my lower power cube, one of my guiding principal was no UB sets. I dislike the frame and often the art. This set however kind of changes that and there are some perfect designs that I would love to include and I like a lot of the art being a FF fan.
Am I a man with zero will power or one with an iron resolve?
The Chocobocards would fit nicely, unclear if I want to support them for now.
Creature summons
These are really cool. They open up ways to interact with enchantments, up their density and have cool effects. Most Summons are much better defenders than attackers (since they usually only have an attack or two before dying). This means that adding a bunch of them would handicap aggro, so need to be careful.
A mini anthem attached to a decent body.
One of my favorite cards from the set. I love casting many spells and this rewards you in a unique way. It's probably close to Murmuration that already run though, so might not be necessary.
Love this as a Saga payoff. It comes down cheap and let's you keep attacking with your creatures or get repeat value from chapters. Art is ... painful.
A playable Fork? The incentive is there for me to try and maximize future turns, seems fun.
Land ramp, counters and draw. Decent, but not super exciting.
Bounce theme
A bit on the wordy side, but combining artifacts, bounce, counters and spells into one card is quite the feat!
2/1 for 2 with sweet spell velocity trigger. Bouncing this is decent and there are multiple such effects in the set and stacking them is brutal! Really like the art too.
Spell velocity
Ignoring the Partner mechanic, Alisaie looks pretty good at enabling some nice turns. Cast her + Steel Overseer or something on turn 3 and you are off to the races. The snowball potential might be too high for this cube which has plenty of artifacts to cheat out.
Bird tribal is kind of a thing here with Murmuration doing a good job of buffing your team. Would even go in the same deck! Might be too good at staving off attacks though.
Decent rate and cool token. Love this one.
A more open-ended Guttersnipe with some defensive value.
Double strike + Prowess + spell reduction is a very exciting combination of keywords.
Bouncelands
I have a full set of bouncelands in this cube and the Adventure lands look like slam dunks
Cool cards
This is a cool take on Future Sight effects. It can block effectively the turn it ETBs, then you are incentivized to swing in for value.
Sweet clone effect to recur or use Good King Mog to make copies of tokens!
A cheap flyer with counters and artifact synergies is very nice. I like clues here as there is a real tempo cost to using them.
GY hate that doubles as a token maker seems like it should play well. Don't expect to get many counters, but a steady stream of 1/1s is plenty.
Gives counters and more importantly proliferates. Not interested in Persist combo shenanigans, but being able to proliferate a couple of times off some mana dorks is quite appealing.
A nice discard payoff in Boros. Doesn't need to attack itself to get some rummaging going.
I am strongly considering a Zombie theme and this would be a nice way to have it branch into White.
Some cards will play well, but they are kind of generic and I don't see the need to include them given I am not a fan of UB for this cube. Most of these are solid bread and butter effects.
On a final note, had to shout out this silly combo
I agree with this though find the gold cards less offensive. I think it is because the texture is more similar to old frame gold cards than modern frames.
I hadn’t seen this one yet. Oh man, I love it! I’m working on a cube revision that brings wildfire back and this is so good in that archetype in addition to all the self-mill shenanigans. You can Oath into, Goblin Engineer, Unearth, so many positive interactions
Edit: Greater Gargadon works great with this for an alpha strike too
Excited to test:
I’m going to be honest, Final Fantasy isn’t a franchise that I’m excited to test. I know I said I would make custom alters for cards I liked, but some of these cards are inoffensive enough to my taste buds that I might just include them as is. Looking at the majority of the art makes me actively unhappy, though. That reaction is as visceral as some people’s immediate love for this set though. As always, the customer is always right… in matters of taste. I’m pretty sure this set is going to be an all-timer for WotC in terms of sales, so I just have to suck it up. It is what it is.
Will begrudgingly test:
Whitemane Lion hasn’t been playable for years, but it is still a fun effect. The landfall makes it much better on attack, especially because I run fetches. The gating effect protects threats against removal or rebuys etb effects, adventures, Tangle Wire, and other stuff. As a final bonus, it’s a historic card, which also triggers a few cards in my cube. That said, the 2 slot is stacked, so it’s hard to butt your way in.
Hey, normal looking art! This is just a beater, but it has some sweet synergy play to it. Getting card in the graveyard isn’t necessarily easy in white, other than walking your weenies into a Wrath effect, but there’s plenty of reanimation options to grow this.
