Thank you. I didn't convert to cube to hear people make power level judgments. At the last draft table I also heard two guys claiming that a card was "not good enough for cube" as if that made any sense. It made no sense in 2012 and it's a real crime to still say nonsense like that in 2026. Could we AT LEAST here at the riptide labs stop doing that?
Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
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The channel lands likeSpeaking of "not good enough for cube,"
Give me your best bounceland synergies.
Right now I'm looking at returning MDFCs to "draw" a spell and, obviously, it's worth an extra land. Anything else cool about them?
and the adventure lands like
are sweet with bouncelands
I also like them with land counting effects like:
I'm going to assume that you're not interested in Amulet of Vigor and related stupid nonsense, so...
OK, they don't have to be the blue ones, but stuff that untaps lands or lets you play multiple a turn are good, and utility lands that do something on ETB also benefit pretty well.
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OK, for those of you in the audience who are willing to consider silver-bordered cards, I just noticed something:
When this was printed in 2018, the second ability was a little goofy because the range of counters you could pick from honestly wasn't that big, and most of them didn't have intrinsic rules effects.
In this post-Ikoria era, that is no longer the case thanks to ability counters (and Finality, Shield, and Stun counters) now being a thing. And that's before you include the weird stuff from playtest cards like manabond and base power 4.
What a weird extreme power-up.
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landfall guys and Fastbond. lol. but to be serious for a moment here:Speaking of "not good enough for cube,"
Give me your best bounceland synergies.
Right now I'm looking at returning MDFCs to "draw" a spell and, obviously, it's worth an extra land. Anything else cool about them?
EDIT: Untappers.
I think Sunken Palace specifically has the issue where it's unlikely to ever be generic goodstuff due to it's low power level. Even in a weaker environment where something like Colossal Dreadmaw is the unquestioned king of the format, spending a net two mana and needing to exile seven cards from your graveyard in order to copy something once is unlikely to be something you can reasonably set up without additional support. It just requires way too much setup to work as goodstuff even in situations where it's around other mediocre cards.
Context is definitely an important element to card evaluation, but there is a huge diversity of cards that are so niche or support dependent that they can never truly be generic goodstuff.
I'll add a few leave the battlefield cards
Also stuff like Windbrisk Heights and the generically good Surveil lands.
And one of my favorite untappers
Also stuff like Windbrisk Heights and the generically good Surveil lands.
And one of my favorite untappers
Yes, there are just lots of things that outclass it now.
Is this cute li'l guy still GRBS in 2026?
Still a dumb card when it can get going, but I don't think it's nearly as problematic nowadays with how much bigger creatures are at lower CMC and how much more efficient removal has become. The real issue is how boring it is to play with. The window for interaction before it locks up a game has become longer, but just pitching cards to make rats is a waste of a game.
The upcoming Rat King, Verminister looks way more fun to play with at the same slot.
The upcoming Rat King, Verminister looks way more fun to play with at the same slot.
Which is part of the reason I'm asking - if I recall correctly, the problem with the card is less that villain can't adequately deal with it and more that "pay
and feed a card to your rat army" was stronger than actually playing said card.In other words, does the fact that things outclass it now mean that it's become a late-game card you feed excess lands and early game dorks to instead of the best possible thing you can be doing at every point in the game? Has powercreep hit the point where you could reasonably run it alongside some incidental rats to create a little rat subtheme that'd come together once every few drafts, or would it still be a high pick for a generic black deck?
I think that the delta between those two possibilities is too small to present a realistic target. You could probably run it in something like MODO Vintage cube just fine, but it would be a backup card for Jund that you use when other options have run dry--seems pretty safe and maybe kind of fun there. I don't think this intentionally gets played alongside other Rats, though.Which is part of the reason I'm asking - if I recall correctly, the problem with the card is less that villain can't adequately deal with it and more that "pay
In other words, does the fact that things outclass it now mean that it's become a late-game card you feed excess lands and early game dorks to instead of the best possible thing you can be doing at every point in the game? Has powercreep hit the point where you could reasonably run it alongside some incidental rats to create a little rat subtheme that'd come together once every few drafts, or would it still be a high pick for a generic black deck?