I don't like this set, aesthetically and practically. Why is it yet another five-archetype set? It seems easier to splash in Spiderman than this. Visually, I would honestly rather have Ninja Turtles than this League-of-Legends-meets-Harry-Potter. It's proof that the in-universe sets aren't fundamentally different from the UB sets these days to me. Yet again, the best art in the set is locked behind a language barrier for no good reason.
But also: these lands are some of my favorite full-art ones from a conceptual standpoint (even if I personally prefer landscapes for basics):
That said, Strixhaven is really an ideal setting for Magic at its base. The Mystical Archives being a compendium of all of the Multiverse's best spells is extremely cool and a great concept that pairs flavor with gameplay for retail draft. A Magic school is a great place to highlight the value of spells, and this set feels like a better take on the "spells matter" thing than our first visit did, because it's not quite as "make a creature token" heavy as it was last time around. I'm really excited to have a few new non-creatures from this set as well, and think it's neat that there are creatures that can "cast" their own spells. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'm including those, though!
Of course, there are no bad sets for Cube these days. There's plenty of individual cards I adore, so I'm stoked for its contributions, and it seems to be around normal for me, maybe a little low but not that far off.
Welcome to the Cube, Class
Really cool cards.
Erode and
Flashback are the most obvious hits, since they work in a framework we've already played with.
Fractal Anomaly feels like the kind of card Cube was made to support. I'm psyched, to say the least.
Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer is the first Planeswalker in more than a year I've been excited for, really as a Black analogue for
Pre-War Formalwear as I mentioned in the other thread.
Choreographed Sparks delights me too much to not be included, even if I worry people will not grasp that the creature you're copying needs to be on the stack still. I've been searching for a good red duplication spell and hope this is it, even if I'm not all that confident it will be.
Lorehold Charm is coming in because I'm trying to not have my entire gold section be creatures and it's a fantastic spell.
Junior Varsity Grade
Wow, that's a lot of black cards.
Ominous Harvest is the closest here. I think I just need to test it out to see if it'll make it in, but I feel pretty good about it. Besides that, there are two main categories here: life gain matters and prepared creatures.
Withering Curse is also extremely close. A big thing about this set for me is deciding whether I want to continue pursuing the minor life gain theme in my Cube, or if it's time to finally rip off the bandaid and remove the likes of
Starscape Cleric,
Soul Warden, and
Sorin of House Markov, or if I want to double down on it with things like
Lunarch Veteran (which is kind of crazy I'm not Cubing with now as a great Disturb card, tbh).
Moseo, Vein's New Dean is one of my favorite designs, but also, goodness, that's a lot of words and yet another unique token.
The prepared creatures are really cool. I just need to chew on whether I want to add them, because like with the Omen dragons, it's kind of an all-or-nothing situation. (I say this with just one Omen dragon left, but that's because I liked that one too much.) I think this is easier to grok than Omen, but I am still annoyed/cautious here.
I really like
Hardened Academic but I have two other RW creatures at 2MV that are more important to my Cube's mission, even if I like the Academic more in a vacuum. We'll see if I change my mind on this after playing around with it in retail, I presume I will tbh.
Quandrix, the Proof is not getting enough discussion from my POV. Honestly, a 6/6 for 6 that cascades is already good enough for me!
Dina, Essence Brewer is out for art reasons and because I'm sick of not having cards with proper Magic frames. It's just a lot harder to read these cards, and more visually exhausting, too.
Vicious Rivalry is great. I think adding on another color and mana to only hit artifacts over
Toxic Deluge is a lot to ask, but I'm not unwilling to pay that price, I don't think.
Others
I'm eager to think if I want to update my Cube to include the full tango or bicycle cycle now that we have the likes of
Umbral Expanse and
Eclipsed Steppe.
Ceaseless Conflict would be an easy include on a power-level basis, but it basically undoes the game in a way that's not fun. I may come back to this if my speculation turns out to be wrong.
Stirring Hopesinger is in the overly-competitive 3mv slot and doesn't do enough on its own to play in the big leagues for my Cube.
Informed Inkwright is cool, but not as cool as other 2-drops I run.
Practiced Offense,
Changing Loyalty, and
Duel Tactics are all reasonable picks for my main Cube, but the art is something I just can't get over.
I've already talked about
Jadzi, Steward of Fate and
Flow State, but in short, they're just not for me for preference reasons.
Intermediate Chirography would make it in for gameplay reasons, but there's just too much going on in this card to comprehend on a first, second, or third read, let alone a unique token.
Dissection Practice is close, but I think it needed to be juiced just a little more. I still prefer something like
Desperate Measures.
Lorehold Archivist feels too much like a retail limited card to feel great in my Cube, which is funny considering it's a commander card. I may come back to it in a while, but 7 mana to reanimate the first thing is a lot, even if it basically turns into a nerfed Recurring Nightmare afterwards.
Fix What's Broken is just a bit too weak for what I wanted it to do, but I am now desperate for a version that worked the way that many folks reasonably read it as. It also is probably inspiring me to add back in
Raise the Past.
Of course, there's like 20 cards where I'd upgrade the art to the Mystical Archives version if it was actually available in English with the art I like best, including the addition of cards that are currently in the on-deck binder and need the smallest push to get included like
Slight of Hand,
Return to the Ranks and
Deduce. But tell me, why can't I just run this art for
Helping Hand?!?
aggro deck.
