M20 is a noticeably weaker set than the previous two, which is expected. Comparing it to past core sets it is in a pretty good spot. There is a decent amount of test cards. None of them are that powerful or influential. Some are support cards that have some longevity, most are simply a bit better than the other worse version of their role and are bound to be replaced soon.
White
–Paliano Vanguard; +Ancestral Blade
Why vanguard?
As humans support failed, this card can no longer be justified. By itself it is a poor Glory Seeker. The body is often useless and unable to attack and/or block. It is a worse pick as the draft progresses. It has memory issues. It not really a build around card.
What I like about Blade?
Blade is also just a Glory Seeker on his own. Flayer Husk was bad. So why Blade?
Blade is closer to a Safehold Elite. If the creature dies, be it to a spot removal, board wipe or in combat, you do not lose a card. It is also a relevant late drop. You can pump an evasive threat and get a 1/1 chump blocker behind. It can enlarge your creature enough to punch through midrange blockers. It scales well with double strike and lifelink. This is a card that is hard to efficiently nullify. It doesn’t all die to a Shatter effect, nor to a creature removal spell. Later in the game it can aid both offense and defense via double equipping.
It also has a lot of little synergies. It is an artifact, with all that attached baggage (although white decks are usually not artifact synergy decks). It is two permanents in one card, which is good with Tangle Wire and Skymarcher Aspirant. It is an equipment for Stoneforge Mystic. It is cute with Flickerwisp.
What I dislike about blade?
Glory Seeker is weak. You really need to have more creature for it to do anything, and likely a lot of them. It is worse than most two drops on curve. It might simply too weak without synergies, and possibly even with them.
Prediction
I think this card is better than it looks, but it is very far from a lock.
Blue
–Crush of Tentacles; +Cavalier of Gales
Why Crush?
Activating surge is not trivial and does pose some deck building constraints. The card is otherwise expensive. An 8/8 without evasion is not really a win condition.
The card was added as a measure against planeswalker heavy boards. We did not get much testing with the card, but if that problem ever rises again, Crush can be reconsidered.
What I like about Cavalier?
It is a blue five drop, which is not a competitive slot. It is evasive, generates card advantage and is a quick clock. It works well in Moat/Serra decks, it can put the Tinker targets you have drawn back in your deck to be cheated and it even works quite well with Sneak Attack.
But the best feature is that it is another source of inevitability. Blue control decks often have the problem of lacking win conditions. Cavalier is a reliable one, as you will eventually draw it and be able to win the game with it.
What I dislike about Cavalier?
First, the mana cost. It is blue intensive and unsplashable. It is not great from behind, as while it can block in the air it only blocks one creature. The inevitability might be too slow to be practical. It is also cold to exile removal spells.
Prediction
Cavalier is a good card without much to challenge his role. If better blue five drops and sticky threats are printed the story can change and rather quickly, but until that happens this seems comfortably good enough.
–Man-o’-War; +Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
Why Man-o’-War?
Man-O-War is not an attractive creature for any other than tempo. The 2/2 body is just meaningless to their game plan. What carried it is being a decent card against aggression. Mu is better at this. Man-O-War is a card that got worse with time. While tokens are more common, ETB effects are as well and Man-O-War is sad against those.
What I like about Mu?
Cheap planeswalkers tend to overperform. Mu has several modes of operation. The most common is probably an Air Elemental for 1UU with suspend 1. This reminds us of Serra the Benevolent. This is a significant threat for a cheap mana cost that is relevant in all types of decks from tempo to control. Of course Mu grows her loyalty rapidly and can generate more tokens later. The highest tempo mode is a pair of Air Elementals in 4 turns. All that for three mana. Mu is another tool for Moat/Serra decks.
Mu also protects herself in a similar fashion to Jace, Telepath Unbound but with an added bonus of grounding. This is great at slowing aggro decks down. Unlike most defensive card though, Mu is also a win condition. As stated before, finding win conditions is often a problem for blue control decks.
What I dislike about Mu?
Mu only has one useful ability immediately. As such, she is vastly less powerful when drawn late, doing nothing the turn you play her. In later turns, her capability to protect herself is much lower as well.
Ultimates are usually regarded as too rare to hold much significance and this particular one is even worse. I think it is actively a trap for most decks. The Air Elementals can probably win the game more quickly and reliably than counting on a single permanent to survive. Also, blue decks are generally lacking in win conditions and not card draw. You can easily risk milling yourself out with this ultimate and still have no way to close the game that is as good as an army of fliers.
Prediction
Man-O-War is not even the best blue three drop outside of the cube, now that we have Mist-Syndicate Naga. I do not foresee it returning. Mu is probably good.
–Nimble Obstructionist; +Cloudkin Seer
Why Nimble Obstructionist?
Low powerlevel. It is still a decent card. I personally almost always played it within permission decks, where I most often held him as a surprise blocker or planeswalker killer. It is a 3/1 flash flier most of the time. Paying three mana for a stifle is too much, even if you draw a card. The flier mode is more convenient than it is good. Obstructionist dies to everything and provides no value.
What I like about Seer?
Unlike Obstructionist, you will happily trade with Seer or let it eat a burn spell. Seer still pressures planeswalkers, blocks in the air, carries swords and is even somewhat of a clock. It does all that while not costing you a card. This is of the most playable cards, as almost every deck will consider playing it.
What I dislike about Seer?
A 2/1 flier is not game winning alone and not great on defense. It is never be the dream turn three play. It is a 23rd playable for all blue decks, it is a top 10 card of none.
Prediction
This card relies on group adoption. I like having glue cards that can be plugged in most decks to make them playable. This is important to ensure every player has a good time, especially if there are new players. However, if the card will be perceived as too vanilla and unexciting, it will not achieve this goal.
Black
–Pale Rider of Trostad; +Rotting Regisaur
Why Rider?
The discard is both a blessing and a drawback. The abilities of the two cards overlap, and they do no play well together. They are also both narrow as a result of their drawback.
What I like about Regisaur?
It is huge for the cost. It is splashable. It is a zombie for Gravecrawler. It actually passes the Vindicate test. The repeated discard can be an advantage, say in reanimator decks. There is also no drawback at all if your hand is already empty.
What I dislike about Regisaur
The body has no evasion, and it unclear how good is a 7/6 vanilla dork. It is great on an empty board, but easy to stall in reality.
In many situations the drawback can be crippling. This is especially sad if you opponent can answer the dino without removing it from the battlefield, say with Maze of Ith.
Prediction
This is a high risk test. It is exciting enough, so I believe people will at least try it.
Red
–Dismissive Pyromancer; +Goblin Engineer
Why Pyromancer?
It is just underpowered. It is slow to act, red intensive (assuming you still want to cast red spells) and the effects are not a bargain. It is a filler for decks that are still not too common.
What I like about Engineer?
This is a riff off of Goblin Welder. Obviously it is at home in red based artifact decks, right next to Daretti. The deck certainly needs the help. What does Engineer contribute to the deck?
It can fetch a black Lotus for mana shenanigans. It can rebuy Tangle Wire. It can regrow swords and/or Jitte that have been disenchanted. It can generate value from thopter tokens or clues. Scrapheap Scrounger is a good combo with Engineer if you play black.
It can also be just an Entomb for artifacts. You can fetch Wurmcoil Engine or Sphinx of the Steel Wind for your reanimator deck. Especially sweet with Recurring Nightmare.
What I dislike about Engineer?
Unlike Welder, the ability costs mana and is limited by CMC. The card is still very narrow.
Prediction
It might actually be a better cube card than Welder, as you do not need to pair it with discard outlets.
–Subterranean Tremors; +Chandra, Awakened Inferno
Why tremors?
Destroying artifacts is a drawback to many decks that will play such a card. Red mass removals are not in high demand and Chandra provides that effect.
What I like about Inferno?
She is one of the better planeswalkers from behind. She protects herself with an impressive mass removal ability, and can Dreadbore most threats. Her plus ability provides inevitability and adds a lot of loyalty to her. Her competition is only Chandra, Flamecaller. She is an appealing card for midrange and control decks.
What I dislike about Inferno?
Being a red six drop only for midrange, ramp and control, this card is narrow. As such, we might not want to have both Awakened Inferno and Flamecaller in the cube. Flamecaller is likely the better card.
Flamecaller has a much faster clock; she will usually kill in three turns compared to six with AI. Flamecaller can activate the mass removal ability for values greater than 3, say to kill multiple Mu Yangling tokens. More commonly it can be activated for 1-2 loyalty and be as effective, if not more so, as you can keep your 3 toughness dorks alive. She can also draw cards. She has more synergies too, the pair of tokens work well with anthems, skullclamp, sacrifice outlets and more and the discard ability works with reanimator and delve.
However, Flamecaller is worse in many boardstates. If there is a stall and the pair of 3/1s cannot connect, Falmecaller cannot win the game. A single Wall of Omens will halve her clock. She also cannot answer Titans and the like.
Prediction
It is unclear which Chandra is better – the quick or the more reliable. There is a chance the cube is large enough for both, but I’d count on it for the long term. A creature six drop will be appealing to more decks, such as sneak attack. When such a card will be printed it is hard imagining both Chandras staying in the cube.
Green
–Bramble Sovereign; +Nightpack Ambusher
Why Sovereign?
Sovereign provides no immediate value and is weak on its own. The ability is situational and expensive. You need to play more creatures, and you need those creature to have an ETB effect most likely. Copying a mana elf is not doing much. Then you need the mana to both cast the creature and two extra mana to copy it. Until that happens, you have a vanilla 4/4.
What I like about Ambusher?
Ambusher can kill an attacker with its flash. The triggered ability can create a lot of tokens and take over a game. Even if doesn’t, creating a token or two makes this a solid value card. There are also some tribal synergies with other wolf-creating cards such as Garruk Relentless and Sword of Body and Mind.
What I dislike about Ambusher?
Not casting something on your turn is rare, and becoming rarer as the cube curve gets cheaper and we have more card selection tools in many colors. Huntmaster of the Fells had problems flipping, and Ambusher is likely even harder to flip. All three drop or higher are better than a 3/3 token most of the time. Green is not a color that can easily play at the end of your opponent’s turn.
Prediction
Ambusher is likely the better card, but it is still ultimately curve filler. Green doesn’t have enough instants or mana sinks for that.
–Master of the Wild Hunt; +Shifting Ceratops
Why Master?
Master fails the Lightning Bolt test. It dies to everything, including much cheaper spells, and if it is killed immediately you get nothing for your investment. When he survives he generates value, but very slowly. He is too expensive and fragile to be a realiable token producer for synergies.
What I like about Ceratops?
A mini-thornling. A good body for the cost that has relevant abilities in most board states. Ceratops is a unique effect in green – by having haste and possibly trample it can finish games out of nowhere. Obviously it is also solid against heavy blue decks, a difficult matchup for green decks. It is aided by the lack of competition in green four drops.
What I dislike about Ceratops?
If you want to cast and give it haste immediately, it is green intensive and an actual 5 drop. It is not great on defense, blocking only one creature, but at least it has reach. It also soft to non-blue removal spells, which are 90% of removal spells.
Permission based blue decks are being hated out. With Chandra, Awakened Inferno in this set, and the two planeswalker from War of the Spark (Domri, Anarch of Bolas and Teferi, Time Raveler) they got a lot of potent hosers in a short amount of time. Permission decks are currently far from dominant. Tap-out blue control decks are dominant, and Ceratops is strong against them, but this comes at the expense of the weaker archetype.
Prediction
Ceratops is going to be strong, but will be cut when good green four drops are finally printed. It might be short lived if the blue decks suffer too much after all the recent changes.
–Manglehorn; +Voracious Hydra
Why Manglehorn?
Manglehorn is a narrow sideboard card. The static ability hates on an archetype that is struggling and doesn’t merit the hate. Green has a lot of Naturalize effects and good three drops.
What I like about Hydra?
Hydra is a playable form of green removal. Garruk Relentless is often a Shock for 3G + upside. While Garruk, the Veil-Cursed is better than a 2/3 trampler, Hydra is a lot more versatile. She can be cast at any point of the curve for two different modes. From casting her for 1GG to kill a Grim Lavamancer or a mana elf, all the way to killing a titan and getting a 6/7 trampler for 6GG.
The double stats mode is no slouch ever. It makes Hydra an unconditional mana sink. Yes, that mode is weak to removal and doesn’t provide card advantage, but it’s great when there is nothing relevant to kill. It is huge, it tramples and demands an answer.
What I dislike about Hydra?
It is inefficient at every casting cost, like most X spells. Removals of other colors are still significantly better.
Prediction
This is always fair, but it’s versatile and provides a needed effect so I expect to see it played a lot.
Multicolored
–Tajic, Legion’s Edge; +Skyknight Vanguard
Why Tajic?
There is a very strong competition of three drops in both colors for aggro decks. Tajic dies very often in combat with his low toughness. He has a bunch of useless abilities. It is rare to use the activated ability in practice. The passive ability is super conditional – if your opponent has burn they can point it at Tajic. It hoses red mass removals specifically.
What I like about Vanguard?
The competition at the two drop slot is much lower. Vanguard is an impressive two drop on an empty board. Vanguard goes very well in go wide and token decks. Mass pump effects are plentiful in both colors, be it anthems, Battle Cry or Hellrider triggers. Purphoros or Goblin Bombardment are even better. The main body has evasion, so it is likely to survive and carries equipment well.
What I dislike about vanguard?
Without synergies, the tokens are very unlikely to survive combat, resulting in little more than a 1 power flier. Vanguard has poor defensive value.
Prediction
I think most aggro Boros decks would want it.
Colorless
–Gilded Lotus; +Sword of War and Peace
Why Gilded Lotus?
Narrow card. Very few decks want it, and even for them it is not a priority.
Why Sword?
We can afford to have 6 swords. It is still the weakest sword we have so it is living on borrowed time.
MtG Cube Crafting 