General (NEO) Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Testing/Includes Thread
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
Don't forget the new Commander cards guys!
Jeskai Cube Includes:
Imperial Recovery Unit is a nice piece of glue between artifact and a small creature revival theme that I'd like to focus a little more on. I really like that it triggers on attacking, which makes it both repeatable and interactable. This will replace Idol of Endurance
The Reality Chip I like because it's an artifact without being specifically for artifacts. It works nicely in control decks as both a blocker and card advantage machine, but can also be interacted with relatively easily. Mirrorshell similarly fits into control decks very well while being an artifact for other interactions (Daretti, Scrap Savant comes to mind). They'll replace Ghostly Pilferer and Supreme Will respectively.
Ironhoof Boar, Lizard Blades, Rabbit Battery and Reinforced Ronin up the artifact density in red, fit nicely in some archetypes that have been a little underrepresented in red (mainly faster decks), and replace some cards that have grown out of budget for the cube. Interestingly, almost all of these card could be replaced by other cards of NEO that I've written down as "Maybe's" for now but would almost fill the same space. I can only fit so many cards in my cube unfortunately, so I'll also have to say goodbye to Goblin Welder, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Goblin Cratermaker and Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
Containment Construct is loved for all reasons mentioned on this forum already.I was looking for more discard interactions anyway, even eyeing Conspiracy Theorist, but I think this cards fits the cube better. I was toning down a little on aggressive 2-drops anyway, so this is an easy swap for Epochrasite
That's a lot! And to think that I've started to restrict my maybeboard size as well. A lot of cards in the maybeboard are redundant pieces that would be added to the cube if it was a little larger. For now they'll rest in my folder and be swapped in whenever I'm bored/unhappy of a certain card in the cube that fulfills the same role. It feels like that makes the cube as a whole sturdier though, which is nice
Touch the Spirit Realm, Runaway Trash-Bot and Roadside Reliquary make me want to add more enchantments. They're not the only cards that do so, but might be enough to tilt me over the edge at some point this year.
An amazing set overall, which seems to have nicely filled some holes for me. Right now NEO and MH2 will have a shared second place in the biggest part of my cube at 9 cards (5%). ELD still holds the throne in that regard. Let's hope the rest of Magic's 2022 continues this way!
Jeskai Cube Includes:
Imperial Recovery Unit is a nice piece of glue between artifact and a small creature revival theme that I'd like to focus a little more on. I really like that it triggers on attacking, which makes it both repeatable and interactable. This will replace Idol of Endurance
The Reality Chip I like because it's an artifact without being specifically for artifacts. It works nicely in control decks as both a blocker and card advantage machine, but can also be interacted with relatively easily. Mirrorshell similarly fits into control decks very well while being an artifact for other interactions (Daretti, Scrap Savant comes to mind). They'll replace Ghostly Pilferer and Supreme Will respectively.
Ironhoof Boar, Lizard Blades, Rabbit Battery and Reinforced Ronin up the artifact density in red, fit nicely in some archetypes that have been a little underrepresented in red (mainly faster decks), and replace some cards that have grown out of budget for the cube. Interestingly, almost all of these card could be replaced by other cards of NEO that I've written down as "Maybe's" for now but would almost fill the same space. I can only fit so many cards in my cube unfortunately, so I'll also have to say goodbye to Goblin Welder, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Goblin Cratermaker and Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
Containment Construct is loved for all reasons mentioned on this forum already.I was looking for more discard interactions anyway, even eyeing Conspiracy Theorist, but I think this cards fits the cube better. I was toning down a little on aggressive 2-drops anyway, so this is an easy swap for Epochrasite
That's a lot! And to think that I've started to restrict my maybeboard size as well. A lot of cards in the maybeboard are redundant pieces that would be added to the cube if it was a little larger. For now they'll rest in my folder and be swapped in whenever I'm bored/unhappy of a certain card in the cube that fulfills the same role. It feels like that makes the cube as a whole sturdier though, which is nice
Touch the Spirit Realm, Runaway Trash-Bot and Roadside Reliquary make me want to add more enchantments. They're not the only cards that do so, but might be enough to tilt me over the edge at some point this year.
An amazing set overall, which seems to have nicely filled some holes for me. Right now NEO and MH2 will have a shared second place in the biggest part of my cube at 9 cards (5%). ELD still holds the throne in that regard. Let's hope the rest of Magic's 2022 continues this way!
Okay here we go
Mostly I dislike the set. This doesn't happen often when it comes to Standard legal lore-driven sets. The cards are too texty. Especially the low rarity ones. The art style on the modern cards are horrible in my opinion. That being said, I understand why Wizards did what they did. In fact I would have done the same had I been in charge. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the short-term result to help the long-term big picture. How does one show that Kamigawa has gone from the world it was 1200 years ago into what it is today (present timeline in MTG)? Well you have to show the world building and progress of those 1200 years. And the artstyle for the modern world of Kamigawa if fitting.
However I do run a cube that is currently 1500 cards and counting. It is divided into smaller cubes with several power bands depending on which levels the players are on. And there are some gems in this set. Wizards are doing modified, which is something I want to have in my low-powered starter set. I tried with a Boros keyword matters theme but I was lacking cards. I love the channel lands because they help prevent 'non-games' because they are good early and late. I also think Wizards found something good with reconfigure. I hope they explore this equip variant in the future. Moving on to the cards.
In my starter set I run a party tribal theme. (Clerics, Rogues, Warriors and Wizards)
I like what Wizards did with party. It was not only an A+B (+C + D) but they also included cards that cared about having just one of the creatures types. Such as Expedition Healer and Sure-Footed Infiltrator. I want to mimic that in my starter set. For that reason I want to test Selfless Samurai
I like the play patter Ninjas give to a cube. There's a mini game going on between the players if both have information about Ninjas being present. And the player who runs the Ninjas also has a mini quest when constructing his deck. There are many cool things you can do with the tribe even if it doesn't get regular tribe supported. You can recast creatures with ETB effects or bounce a creature with Adventure.
I have never found Ninjas to have enough redundancy to warrent an inclusion but with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty I think I now have. For that reason I want to test at least three of the four:
The Prosperous Thief for the same reason as the party tribal logic above.
I do not like what they have done with the Sagas in this Set. Sagas are normally one of my favorite sub types in Magic. However there are some I wish to test:
Unspeakable is an expensive draw spell and I like those. I prefer having a cube with at least some card draw spells that actually gives the blue player a card advantage and not just filter and cantrip like Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Serum Visions and Opt. I also like that it is slow and that is sometimes draw a lot if the player has the right build for it. And the creature is worth the slow wait.
I am always on the hunt for more cool lands. I had to give up my historic theme when I saw Wizards printed the Eldraine Castles as non-legendary and continued with the non-legendary on Kaldheim with The World Tree. I expect Wizards to only print these as legendaries because they have an ability that gives them usage even with one on the battlefield. However I still want them and I know I will be keeping them in forever. For that reason I am including:
Just like everyone else I have fallen for these little guys:
My starter set runs a madness theme using Blood tokens and Learn and this fits right in.
Finally I am going to test out some 'modified' cards to attempt to reconstruct the counters theme in my green section. It will probably mostly be about counters (mostly +1/+1) but modify might be the thing that makes the theme wide enough for me to succeed with it. It might spread from green to Gruul or Naya with Neon Dynasty. Testing:
About enchantment creatures: Some of the enchantment creatures are nonsensical to me. An enchantment creature should be able to feel like an enchantment and a creature at the same time. If you remove all the creature parts of an enchantment creature and the card doesn't have any card text left, then I do not see it as an acceptable enchantment creature. Examples: Colossal Skyturtle, Fang of Shigeki, Spirited Companion. All of these would make no sense if we removed the creature part of the cards. For this reason I might not include Moon-Circuit Hacker even though I wrote that above. It hurts every time a player can target these with Return to Nature.
I can't run a fan favorite card like Lion Sash because it completely single-handedly hoses an entire strategy (Any graveyard strategy really, from Reanimator to Delirium)
Overall I rate this set below average but it still has some simple designs.
Mostly I dislike the set. This doesn't happen often when it comes to Standard legal lore-driven sets. The cards are too texty. Especially the low rarity ones. The art style on the modern cards are horrible in my opinion. That being said, I understand why Wizards did what they did. In fact I would have done the same had I been in charge. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the short-term result to help the long-term big picture. How does one show that Kamigawa has gone from the world it was 1200 years ago into what it is today (present timeline in MTG)? Well you have to show the world building and progress of those 1200 years. And the artstyle for the modern world of Kamigawa if fitting.
However I do run a cube that is currently 1500 cards and counting. It is divided into smaller cubes with several power bands depending on which levels the players are on. And there are some gems in this set. Wizards are doing modified, which is something I want to have in my low-powered starter set. I tried with a Boros keyword matters theme but I was lacking cards. I love the channel lands because they help prevent 'non-games' because they are good early and late. I also think Wizards found something good with reconfigure. I hope they explore this equip variant in the future. Moving on to the cards.
In my starter set I run a party tribal theme. (Clerics, Rogues, Warriors and Wizards)
I like what Wizards did with party. It was not only an A+B (+C + D) but they also included cards that cared about having just one of the creatures types. Such as Expedition Healer and Sure-Footed Infiltrator. I want to mimic that in my starter set. For that reason I want to test Selfless Samurai
I like the play patter Ninjas give to a cube. There's a mini game going on between the players if both have information about Ninjas being present. And the player who runs the Ninjas also has a mini quest when constructing his deck. There are many cool things you can do with the tribe even if it doesn't get regular tribe supported. You can recast creatures with ETB effects or bounce a creature with Adventure.
I have never found Ninjas to have enough redundancy to warrent an inclusion but with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty I think I now have. For that reason I want to test at least three of the four:
The Prosperous Thief for the same reason as the party tribal logic above.
I do not like what they have done with the Sagas in this Set. Sagas are normally one of my favorite sub types in Magic. However there are some I wish to test:
Unspeakable is an expensive draw spell and I like those. I prefer having a cube with at least some card draw spells that actually gives the blue player a card advantage and not just filter and cantrip like Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Serum Visions and Opt. I also like that it is slow and that is sometimes draw a lot if the player has the right build for it. And the creature is worth the slow wait.
I am always on the hunt for more cool lands. I had to give up my historic theme when I saw Wizards printed the Eldraine Castles as non-legendary and continued with the non-legendary on Kaldheim with The World Tree. I expect Wizards to only print these as legendaries because they have an ability that gives them usage even with one on the battlefield. However I still want them and I know I will be keeping them in forever. For that reason I am including:
Just like everyone else I have fallen for these little guys:
My starter set runs a madness theme using Blood tokens and Learn and this fits right in.
Finally I am going to test out some 'modified' cards to attempt to reconstruct the counters theme in my green section. It will probably mostly be about counters (mostly +1/+1) but modify might be the thing that makes the theme wide enough for me to succeed with it. It might spread from green to Gruul or Naya with Neon Dynasty. Testing:
About enchantment creatures: Some of the enchantment creatures are nonsensical to me. An enchantment creature should be able to feel like an enchantment and a creature at the same time. If you remove all the creature parts of an enchantment creature and the card doesn't have any card text left, then I do not see it as an acceptable enchantment creature. Examples: Colossal Skyturtle, Fang of Shigeki, Spirited Companion. All of these would make no sense if we removed the creature part of the cards. For this reason I might not include Moon-Circuit Hacker even though I wrote that above. It hurts every time a player can target these with Return to Nature.
I can't run a fan favorite card like Lion Sash because it completely single-handedly hoses an entire strategy (Any graveyard strategy really, from Reanimator to Delirium)
Overall I rate this set below average but it still has some simple designs.
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
You're not wrong, but Zur players and delirium players will take all the support they can get their hands on
Not all appearently
Kidding <3
I can see the enchantment frame can add something to the people who have enchantment themes in their cubes. To me they are design mistakes. Poor decisions to push a theme that appearently can’t stand on its own feet without the mistakes. (Because if it could, it would)
Kidding <3
I can see the enchantment frame can add something to the people who have enchantment themes in their cubes. To me they are design mistakes. Poor decisions to push a theme that appearently can’t stand on its own feet without the mistakes. (Because if it could, it would)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, I agree. I have no idea why Moon-Circuit Hacker is an enchantment, and the other two blue ninjas you quoted aren't. What makes the hacker special? There is nothing in the card mechanics that warrant this treatment, so it just comes off as random.
Go hack the moon and then get back to me.
Literally all they needed to do is add some sparkly stuff in the art and I'd buy it lol.
How many enchantments have you seen hack the moon? Is that a thing enchantments are known for?
Again, I am just kidding
What you see on this picture is Emrakul convincing Tamiyo to imprison her for reasons still unknown. Tamiyo went temporarily insane but was later fine again (But now she’s not so fine anymore.) Now we have Emrakul trapped on the moon by her own free will and we don’t know what comes of it. The heroes thought they won (and maybe they did?)
Read more here:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/promised-end-2016-07-27
Or here:
https://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/mtg-lore.3207/post-107700[/c]
So I'm looking at 25 inclusions for my 720 cube this set: tied with Midnight for most inclusions from a premiere expansion. I think many of these are just about at replacement quality with cards I already have in my list, and many of those I wouldn't keep if I were to cull my list in size, so I don't think this is an extraordinarily powerful expansion, but it is an interesting one with a lot to like.
On a card-by-card basis, I don't have all that much to add beyond what's already been said here, but my favorite cards from this set are:
I'm doubtful Fable of the Mirror-Breaker will last in my cube very long, the flip sagas are way too much to grok in a cube setting with anything less than 100% enfranchised players, but this is a nice way to let Kiki-Jiki out, since he's rarely drafted for value as is and I'm not keen on enabling easy two-card combos, which are not nearly as likely to come together anyways with the size of our list.
Eager to see any perspectives or if anything sticks out to y'all, omissions, etc.
In | Out |
On a card-by-card basis, I don't have all that much to add beyond what's already been said here, but my favorite cards from this set are:
I'm doubtful Fable of the Mirror-Breaker will last in my cube very long, the flip sagas are way too much to grok in a cube setting with anything less than 100% enfranchised players, but this is a nice way to let Kiki-Jiki out, since he's rarely drafted for value as is and I'm not keen on enabling easy two-card combos, which are not nearly as likely to come together anyways with the size of our list.
Eager to see any perspectives or if anything sticks out to y'all, omissions, etc.
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hot take: containment construct is the best card in the set
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
How is that a hot take?
i mean, even taking into account the legendary lands that people are either auto-including or complaining about how they’re auto includes… id rather have discardo roboto because the upside is ALL THE WAY UP
I mean, we probably won't notice because Arena only has Standard but I believe this one is the best card 'of the set' if we can count the Commander cards as part of the set. If not, then ignore this
It's an extremely inelegant way of writing: 1 mana to remove a creature or vehicle with the downside that the opponent can lose 5 power and get the creature back. It is also an instant and can be used to combo as well. I believe this is the most powerful card 'of the set' if we allow Commander cards.
It's an extremely inelegant way of writing: 1 mana to remove a creature or vehicle with the downside that the opponent can lose 5 power and get the creature back. It is also an instant and can be used to combo as well. I believe this is the most powerful card 'of the set' if we allow Commander cards.
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
That's arguably more of an upside than anything. It's really efficient for killing big chunky creatures, but it doesn't remove important engine pieces in synergy decks.
What are we implying with "best" card here. If we mean "best card for your cube" in terms of what it contributes to the environment, for me it's probably Lizard Blades even though I can't get over the art, and I would argue that Boseiju isn't a particularly good card for cube.
If we're talking raw constructed power level, I would say Boseiju, Who Endures Play Design, Scavenging Shoes and wildcard prediction March of Burgeoning Life.
If we're talking raw constructed power level, I would say Boseiju, Who Endures Play Design, Scavenging Shoes and wildcard prediction March of Burgeoning Life.
I'd say "best for the game in a general vacuum" or at least the "best for a generalized cube community".
It opens up so many synergies and incidental advantages, and does it in such an efficient-yet-not-OP way, all while being colorless and therefore available to any deck that wants it; that I can't see anything other than it as clear winner for what it provides to the MTG landscapes mentioned.
It opens up so many synergies and incidental advantages, and does it in such an efficient-yet-not-OP way, all while being colorless and therefore available to any deck that wants it; that I can't see anything other than it as clear winner for what it provides to the MTG landscapes mentioned.
I've got 8 cards on my shortlist to include this time around for the main cube (14 total counting the 6 lands going into the ULD). I can see half of these main cube inclusions staying around for a while.
Yoshi seems like a neat take on Champion of the Parish and I'm always in the market for scalable one drops that can grow vertically for Aggro decks. I think the ceiling is a bit lower compared with legendary permanents vs. the sheer distribution of incidental humans, but realistically I feel like if a one drop can deal 3-4 damage it's pretty much done its job. I can envision some very explosive turns in something like a R/W shell where you'll have access to cheap legends like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Kari Zev, Skyship Raider (This Ragavan token is also legendary!) alongside legendary lands like the new cycle from Kamigawa. You might be able to bump this up to a 3/3 on T2 with the right sequencing which makes it a super appealing card to me.
I'm a big fan of The Wandering Emperor as a combat trick that leaves behind a walker. 4 mana is a bit too expensive for a one-shot effect, but being able to provide additional value after the fact makes this a really solid inclusion for W/x Control decks across the board. +1/+1 counters, makes bodies, and can occasionally serve as a deterrent with the -2 at sorcery speed later in the game. That's a really flexible package of options. Making combat interesting and engaging is something I try to actively strive for with inclusions and this definitely fits the bill. It's also great being able to hold up and rep an additional option at 4 mana to enable some mind games. It's what was my hope for something like Foretell, but this is less parasitic and telegraphed.
The new suite of equipment definitely increases the stock of a card like Stoneforge Mystic with more hits and more subtly allows for a critical mass for Toolcraft Exemplar (coming back off the bench for a run) to go live more frequently. Lion Sash and Rabbit Battery seem to have solid utility as roleplayers, especially the Battery being able to peck in for a few points before turning into a way to get hasty threats out there. I'm really excited for the Blade of the Oni as an alternative means of pushing through more damage once the board gets stalled. A 3/1 menace can definitely get through a small bit of damage early, but the real prize is having the dual mode of being a curve-topper at 4 with reconfigure. You can pull off some really powerful sequences to pressure the opponent if it ends up being paired with some recurrable bodies. I like the resiliency of these falling off and turning back into creatures in the case of a board wipe or piece of targeted removal, exactly the kind of resiliency fair decks need to keep up with the various X-for-1s headed their way.
Reinforced Ronin does a great impression of one of my favorite mechanics in Dash and has that added bonus of cycling away for another card in the latter game once things get stalled. After playing with and against Horizon lands in various formats, the ability to cycle away a resource for an additional card is just invaluable in a stalemate situation or when you're a few points of damage away from a win. Turning an otherwise bricked resource into a new card is excellent utility. This also serves as a human for Champion of the Parish and an artifact for Toolcraft Exemplar giving it enough splash synergies to justify its slot; an A+ Aggro inclusion for me. Eater of Virtue is also a great equipment to give additional help to aggressive decks as a Bonesplitter+ option. I don't like memory issue cards very often, and this does mess with recursive creatures, but this seems easy enough to keep track of that it should be more of a positive than anything. Really I just want more opportunities to attack with a 5 power Toolcraft Exemplar on T2 or grow Yoshi into a chonky boy.
Finally we have Kodama of the West Tree which is definitely the most cube-able of all iterations to this point. With the addition of these new Reinforce equipment and the subtle +1/+1 cards sprinkled through my cube, there's more than enough to make this work right on curve. The way I see it, you only really need this to trigger once or twice to get your money's worth with that Sword of the Animist trigger. Being able to get a ramp effect without bogging down your lower to the ground deck with ramp only cards is huge. Giving modified creatures trample is big game in pushing through damage and could be the difference in closing out a game. I do like that this gives some additional identity to a more lean and aggressive G/x deck featuring cards like Pelt Collector or Experiment One or Dragonsguard Elite that can accumulate counters on their own. It's a 3-drop that can be hit off CoCo, synergizes with existing counter generation already in my cube including Felidar Retreat, and is a Legendary for the new Kamigawa lands channeling ability as well as Yoshi getting big. I also like that it's relatively easy to deal with as just a 3/3 for 3 on its own.
The one annoyance I have with this set for cube is the superior artwork for many of these cards that I can't run due to a lack of reminder text. It's one thing if Modify or Reconfigure become common mechanics moving forward, but I don't want to confuse any drafters who can't recall these mechanics in the future. Such a shame.
Yoshi seems like a neat take on Champion of the Parish and I'm always in the market for scalable one drops that can grow vertically for Aggro decks. I think the ceiling is a bit lower compared with legendary permanents vs. the sheer distribution of incidental humans, but realistically I feel like if a one drop can deal 3-4 damage it's pretty much done its job. I can envision some very explosive turns in something like a R/W shell where you'll have access to cheap legends like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Kari Zev, Skyship Raider (This Ragavan token is also legendary!) alongside legendary lands like the new cycle from Kamigawa. You might be able to bump this up to a 3/3 on T2 with the right sequencing which makes it a super appealing card to me.
I'm a big fan of The Wandering Emperor as a combat trick that leaves behind a walker. 4 mana is a bit too expensive for a one-shot effect, but being able to provide additional value after the fact makes this a really solid inclusion for W/x Control decks across the board. +1/+1 counters, makes bodies, and can occasionally serve as a deterrent with the -2 at sorcery speed later in the game. That's a really flexible package of options. Making combat interesting and engaging is something I try to actively strive for with inclusions and this definitely fits the bill. It's also great being able to hold up and rep an additional option at 4 mana to enable some mind games. It's what was my hope for something like Foretell, but this is less parasitic and telegraphed.
The new suite of equipment definitely increases the stock of a card like Stoneforge Mystic with more hits and more subtly allows for a critical mass for Toolcraft Exemplar (coming back off the bench for a run) to go live more frequently. Lion Sash and Rabbit Battery seem to have solid utility as roleplayers, especially the Battery being able to peck in for a few points before turning into a way to get hasty threats out there. I'm really excited for the Blade of the Oni as an alternative means of pushing through more damage once the board gets stalled. A 3/1 menace can definitely get through a small bit of damage early, but the real prize is having the dual mode of being a curve-topper at 4 with reconfigure. You can pull off some really powerful sequences to pressure the opponent if it ends up being paired with some recurrable bodies. I like the resiliency of these falling off and turning back into creatures in the case of a board wipe or piece of targeted removal, exactly the kind of resiliency fair decks need to keep up with the various X-for-1s headed their way.
Reinforced Ronin does a great impression of one of my favorite mechanics in Dash and has that added bonus of cycling away for another card in the latter game once things get stalled. After playing with and against Horizon lands in various formats, the ability to cycle away a resource for an additional card is just invaluable in a stalemate situation or when you're a few points of damage away from a win. Turning an otherwise bricked resource into a new card is excellent utility. This also serves as a human for Champion of the Parish and an artifact for Toolcraft Exemplar giving it enough splash synergies to justify its slot; an A+ Aggro inclusion for me. Eater of Virtue is also a great equipment to give additional help to aggressive decks as a Bonesplitter+ option. I don't like memory issue cards very often, and this does mess with recursive creatures, but this seems easy enough to keep track of that it should be more of a positive than anything. Really I just want more opportunities to attack with a 5 power Toolcraft Exemplar on T2 or grow Yoshi into a chonky boy.
Finally we have Kodama of the West Tree which is definitely the most cube-able of all iterations to this point. With the addition of these new Reinforce equipment and the subtle +1/+1 cards sprinkled through my cube, there's more than enough to make this work right on curve. The way I see it, you only really need this to trigger once or twice to get your money's worth with that Sword of the Animist trigger. Being able to get a ramp effect without bogging down your lower to the ground deck with ramp only cards is huge. Giving modified creatures trample is big game in pushing through damage and could be the difference in closing out a game. I do like that this gives some additional identity to a more lean and aggressive G/x deck featuring cards like Pelt Collector or Experiment One or Dragonsguard Elite that can accumulate counters on their own. It's a 3-drop that can be hit off CoCo, synergizes with existing counter generation already in my cube including Felidar Retreat, and is a Legendary for the new Kamigawa lands channeling ability as well as Yoshi getting big. I also like that it's relatively easy to deal with as just a 3/3 for 3 on its own.
The one annoyance I have with this set for cube is the superior artwork for many of these cards that I can't run due to a lack of reminder text. It's one thing if Modify or Reconfigure become common mechanics moving forward, but I don't want to confuse any drafters who can't recall these mechanics in the future. Such a shame.
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dig these adds big time!I've got 8 cards on my shortlist to include this time around for the main cube (14 total counting the 6 lands going into the ULD). I can see half of these main cube inclusions staying around for a while.
Yoshi seems like a neat take on Champion of the Parish and I'm always in the market for scalable one drops that can grow vertically for Aggro decks. I think the ceiling is a bit lower compared with legendary permanents vs. the sheer distribution of incidental humans, but realistically I feel like if a one drop can deal 3-4 damage it's pretty much done its job. I can envision some very explosive turns in something like a R/W shell where you'll have access to cheap legends like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Kari Zev, Skyship Raider (This Ragavan token is also legendary!) alongside legendary lands like the new cycle from Kamigawa. You might be able to bump this up to a 3/3 on T2 with the right sequencing which makes it a super appealing card to me.
I'm a big fan of The Wandering Emperor as a combat trick that leaves behind a walker. 4 mana is a bit too expensive for a one-shot effect, but being able to provide additional value after the fact makes this a really solid inclusion for W/x Control decks across the board. Making combat interesting and engaging is something I try to actively strive for with inclusions and this definitely fits the bill.
The new suite of equipment definitely increases the stock of a card like Stoneforge Mystic with more hits and more subtly allows for a critical mass for Toolcraft Exemplar to go live more frequently (coming back off the bench for a run). Lion Sash and Rabbit Battery seem to have solid utility as roleplayers, especially the Battery being able to peck in for a few points before turning into a way to get hasty threats out there. I'm really excited for the Blade of the Oni as an alternative means of pushing through more damage once the board gets stalled. A 3/1 menace can definitely get through a small bit of damage early, but the real prize is having the dual mode of being a curve-topper at 4 with reconfigure. You can pull off some really powerful sequences to pressure the opponent if it ends up being paired with some recurrable bodies. I like the resiliency of these falling off and turning back into creatures in the case of a board wipe or piece of targeted removal, exactly the kind of resiliency fair decks need to keep up with the various X-for-1s headed their way.
Reinforced Ronin does a great impression of one of my favorite mechanics in Dash and has that added bonus of cycling away for another card in the latter game once things get stalled. After playing with and against Horizon lands in various formats, the ability to cycle away a resource for an additional card is just invaluable in a stalemate situation or when you're a few points of damage away from a win. Turning an otherwise bricked resource into a new card is excellent utility. This also serves as a human for Champion of the Parish and an artifact for Toolcraft Exemplar giving it enough splash synergies to justify its slot; an A+ Aggro inclusion for me. Eater of Virtue is also a great equipment to give additional help to aggressive decks as a Bonesplitter+ option. I don't like memory issue cards very often, and this does mess with recursive creatures, but this seems easy enough to keep track of that it should be more of a positive than anything. Really I just want more opportunities to attack with a 5 power Toolcraft Exemplar on T2 or grow Yoshi into a chonky boy.
Finally we have Kodama of the West Tree which is definitely the most cube-able of all iterations to this point. With the addition of these new Reinforce equipment and the subtle +1/+1 cards sprinkled through my cube, there's more than enough to make this work right on curve. The way I see it, you only really need this to trigger once or twice to get your money's worth with that Sword of the Animist trigger. Being able to get a ramp effect without bogging down your lower to the ground deck with ramp only cards is huge. Giving modified creatures trample is big game in pushing through damage and could be the difference in closing out a game. I do like that this gives some additional identity to a more lean and aggressive G/x deck featuring cards like Pelt Collector or Experiment One or Dragonsguard Elite that can accumulate counters on their own. It's a 3-drop that can be hit off CoCo, synergizes with existing counter generation already in my cube including Felidar Retreat,
The one annoyance I have with this set for cube is the superior artwork for many of these cards that I can't run due to a lack of reminder text. It's one thing if Modify or Reconfigure become common mechanics moving forward, but I don't want to confuse any drafters who can't recall these mechanics in the future. Such a shame.
i would be really interested to hear how the Emperor plays out for you, as she’s on my short list of “if i pull it ill play it” cards for paper
I think she fits well as a niche walker that can slide into a specific archetype but is kinda mediocre elsewhere. Like how Daretti, Scrap Savant can be nutty in an artifact deck where you're bringing back a strong card ahead of schedule from the grave but just passable filtering without that. That's the kind of design I prefer when it comes to walkers in cube; a threat in the right build that deserves attention, but not necessarily an answer me or die game-warper.
She's not nearly as powerful as other 4 mana walker options in White that we've gotten in the past ala Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, but I like that a drafter will have to think before deciding to just jam her into their final 40. I think having a few walkers like that is fine in a cube, but you don't want too many. For Emperor, in any grindier W/x deck you should be able to hit that 4 CMC threshold and being able to flip a combat sequence on its head through some combination of those abilities is really big game. The exile + life gain is huge, but that first strike can really mess up the math on an otherwise solid attack. No real ultimate so there's no impending doom scenario, but it has enough play to it to keep the opponent busy trying to solve it. Good solid design, I think it will end up being a nice roleplayer along the lines of Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer.