Welcome to another set update. Zendikar Rising is a fantastic set, likely the best we have seen since Modern Horizons 1. This is mainly due to MDFCs – cards that either be played as land or as a spell. The boltlands allow you to pay 3 life and let the land enter untapped, and the rest enter the battlefield tapped.
No matter how bad their spell side is, their floor is always a land. Their effect on deck construction is different depending on what they replace. If they substitute a land, the cards increase your late-game power and reduce flooding. If they replace spells, they reduce mana screws and increase the amount of keepable opening hands. So which of the two should they be?
The answer is, unfortunately, icomplicated. The boltlands are so flexible, it is hard to see why they shouldn’t cleanly replace a land. The other MDFCs have a real cost – the lands enter the battlefield tapped. Nearly all decks can indeed absorb 1-2 such lands with ease, perhaps except for aggro decks. After the first one or two, I’d likely start to replace spells. I think a typical pattern would be to play 16 lands (and/or moxen) with two tapped MDFCs. This allows you to play with 18 hands in terms of hand-keeping consistency and feel like 16 in gas flow and threat number.
The MDFCs are interesting during deck construction. They reduce non-games due to mana floods and even mana screws, something which no other mechanic ever did that well. I believe they are quite powerful. I still took a mildly conservative approach with them, and more are likely to be added in the future. I fear multiple ETB tapped lands will be more detrimental than having small doses of them, but reports from other cubes have been great so far.
The interactions of MDFCs should be noted. They lack basic land types, so they play worse in green than other colors, as that color cares more about basic land types (see the Green section for details). They can be played as lands with Oracle of Mul Daya and Courser of Kruphix. They cannot be returned to your hand with Wrenn and Six, cannot be played as a spell with Uro, and cannot be discarded to Mox Diamond. The rule of thumb is: you can play them as lands, but they are never land cards.
Flickerwisp can flip an MDFC land to its other side if it is a permanent; otherwise, it remains in exile forever. Flickerwisp is now much better as it can destroy most MDFCs, or beneficially turn a land into a meaningful permanent in your side of the table. Things that return a land to your hand got better as well, such as Cryptic Command. Mystical Tutor can now search for a land via finding the front side of an MDFC. There are many small interactions this mechanic enables.
The MDFCs are accompanied by even more modal cards due to kicker. Aggro was not left out in the cold either, with almost every color getting a fantastic new aggressive two-drop.
White
–Shepherd of the Flock; +Luminarch Aspirant
Why cut Shepherd of the Flock?
A 3/1 body is just too poor. It dies to everything under the sun. The adventure had not been useful in practice. Aggressive decks do not want to return a creature to their hand, as that the tempo loss is tremendous, and the creatures do not have useful ETB effects most of the time. Reactive decks are not interested in the body of the shepherd. Shepherd’s only chance of making a comeback is if the MDFCs will be added in significant numbers, as the option to return them to your hand is appealing. As MDFCs enter the battlefield tapped, which is not synergistic with aggro and returning them to your hand to later recast them is very expensive and slow, I’d not count on that.
What I like about Luminarch Aspirant
Aspirant is the most threatening white two drop, barring Stoneforge Mystic with Batterskull. On its own, it attacks as a 3/3 on the first attack, and just keeps growing from there. Just that, alone, is a card that must be answered. It will eventually break open any board stalls. Compare this to Stromkirk Noble on turn one, which grows at the same rate but must both attack and connect each time.
Usually, a card like that would have been offset by being a lousy topdeck, but not this time. Luminarch Aspirant can immediately pump another creature on your team if you have one. This is particularly useful in white, with fliers, first strikers, lifelinkers, and even double strikers. White often has trouble getting damage through in later stages of the game. Aspirant will pump your largest creature to be big enough to swing. The beauty of it, though, is that if your opponent draws a removal, they will likely remove the big creature first, letting Luminarch survive to pump another creature if you have one.
Aspirant can do more than that, though. +1/+1 counters can reset a Kitchen Finks, add pings with a Walking Ballista and synergize with Sword of Truth and Justice. This results in a surprisingly versatile card; any deck interested in attacking with creatures early-game will want it.
What I dislike about Aspirant
As a standalone dude, he becomes big quickly but has no evasion. It is not a win condition, but a team player. It needs a deck with many pumpable creatures to thrive. Another drawback is that even if it survives a few turns and spreads counters around, all its contributions can be undone by a board wipe.
Prediction
Aspirant is right at home in aggro and midrange decks. A few creature-sparse decks might play Aspirant if he is particularly synergistic. Aspirant is a high pick in an anemic slot of the curve. The cleric is a good reason to pack cheap removals in your decks. I believe it will be in the cube even a decade from now.
–Castle Ardenvale; +Emeria’s Call
Why cut Ardenvale?
It is too inefficient. It is almost clean of drawbacks since you will often have a plains. However, with this update, there are going to be fewer nonbasics with the plains type. Castle is so inefficient you only use it when you have nothing better going on. At that stage of the game, a single 1/1 token a turn rarely matters. The other castles might eventually suffer a similar fate.
What I like about Emeria’s Call
It is a land early, and a game-winning spell late. A Broodmate Dragon with a full round of indestructibility to the rest of the team will be a high impact spell on basically any board. Emeria’s Call is a win condition for Azorius control deck, which sometimes have trouble finishing games. It is also playable in more midrange or ramp decks that happen to be heavy white. It is pretty perfect for Moat decks.
What I dislike about Emeria’s Call
For white aggro decks, reaching 7 mana is a pipe dream. In Azorius control, losing 3 life is very painful. In control mirrors, the angels are relatively easy to answer with a mass removal, or a spot removal plus a bounce spell.
Prediction
This is a minimal price to pay for a massively impactful spell. The more likely your deck reaches seven mana and triple white, the better this spell becomes. I expect Azorius control decks to love this and take it higher, and other white decks to pick it if it wheels. It should almost always make the main deck if you are in color.
By nature of being useful early, I think this is a better card than Sun Titan and will likely be better than most white high drops for years to come. This card is not going anywhere.
Play Tip
You should probably play it as a land more often than you think.
–Taranika, Akroan Veteran; +Maul of the Skyclaves
Why cut Taranika?
Taranika has many shortcomings. It is a supremely unimpressive 3/3 alone. The creature pumped would have likely had at least 2 power naturally, so she only pumps by two extra points of power. She is unlikely to survive for a second attack. She is pathetic on defense. Lastly, she has a heavy-white cost. Taranika is in a saturated and powerful point of the curve. She will not be missed.
What I like about Maul
White often has trouble making the last few points of damage. It doesn’t have many ways to get past blockers, once its creatures are outclassed. Maul aids there, making any creature an evasive monster. It is also useful for killing planeswalkers, especially on curve. It is cheap and spashable and will stay on board after a mass-removal. It can be fetched by Stoneforge Mystic.
What I dislike about Maul
Like all equipment, it does nothing at all by itself and needs a creature. The equip cost is horrendous. Cards like Maul have historically been bad. Griffin Guide offers a similar pump for the same price, and arguably the token is better than a piece of super expensive equipment. Angelic Destiny pumps harder and all uses but the first cost the same as Maul.
Then, there is the competition. As real estate for equipment is limited, does Maul make the cut over swords, Jitte, and so on in your deck?
Prediction
The comparisons are not exactly fair. The auras are very weak to instant speed spot-removals, as well as bounce and flicker effects. Maul is a much safer investment. The lower initial cost makes it a far better tempo play than Angelic Destiny. I am unsure Maul will survive for long, but I am hopeful.
Another interesting topic is whether it is better than Faerie Guidemother. Guidemother also gives a similar boost, but unlike Maul, it plays well with other equipment.
–Legion’s Landing; +Sevinne’s Reclamation
Why cut Landing?
It is too hard to flip. On its own, it is a low return of investment. It has cute synergies with blink and ascend, but it is just narrow and a perennial last pick.
What I like about Sevinne’s Reclamation
It is a rare white card advantage spell. There are great cards to return in those costs. Unlike Sun Titan, Reclamation is cheap enough to be played in aggro and midrange decks. The splashable cost is a real boon here as well. It can recur three drops such as Brimaz, Lurrus or Rabblemaster, and even planeswalkers like 3feri. A permanent has to be killed three times to be dealt with if you have Reclamation.
What I dislike about Reclamation
It still does nothing alone and entirely relies on what was drawn and answered. Control decks won’t have enough cheap cards to recur. If drawn in the opening hand, it might be nothing more than a Farseek by returning a fetch.
Prediction
Reclamation turned out to be strong in other cubes and constructed. As it has no close analog in white, it just really needs to be tested. I believe players will be excited to try it; breaking it makes you feel clever. I have high hopes for this one, and I even expect some decks to splash it if they have vital targets.
Blue
–Narset, Parter of Veils; +Jace, Mirror Mage
Why cut Narset?
Having all three of Narset, Jace Beleren, and Jace, Mirror Mage is too much. All three cards serve the same function of pure card advantage and selection. Rarely do decks want 2 or more copies of that effect, especially as they all cost exactly the same and are hard to splash.
As will be detailed below, I think Mirror Mage is the strongest of the bunch. It was a toss-up between Beleren and Narset. I think both cards are cuttable. Jace is just a convoluted draw spell. It dies to everything, and if it survives, it draws cards to your opponent. The ultimate is super rare and can be ignored. Another drawback is that the two Jaces play similarly, reducing variance.
Narset has her share of issues too. The biggest one is that she relies on a large concentration of non creatures, which only a subset of blue decks can support. She whiffs often, and if she whiffs even once, she is not a great deal. Her second issue is that she is not fun to play against. Her static ability is usually not too relevant, but can randomly hose you hard. On the other hand, Narset can dig towards your build-around cards, from Tinker to Upheaval. She also enjoys her reputation from constructed.
For now, Narset was cut. If we find out the two Jaces play too similarly, Narset can be played over Beleren.
What I like about Mirror Mage
In the three mana mode, it is similar to Jace Beleren. Mirror Mage starts with more loyalty. It is reminiscent of Nissa, Steward of Elements in that mode. A repeated Scry is still very strong even if the minus ability is never used. While the minus ability is worse than Beleren’s straight-up card draw, Mirror Mage will never give your opponent cards.
On top of that, we have a 5 mana mode. Creating two planeswalkers gives a lot of options and choices. Which planeswalker should use which ability? Perhaps you sacrifice the low loyalty walker to draw the card you need immediately, maybe you ramp its loyalty up with scry and let the beefier Jace take the damage? It also presents interesting choices to your opponent when attacking. Killing two different planeswalkers is no easy task.
What I dislike about Mirror Mage
Mirror mage can always randomly reveal a high mana cost card and die unless the scry was used beforehand. Jace has no way to defend itself, and against pressure, it would not live long. Even the kicked mode is weak to a wide board. Finally, revealing all your freshly drawn cards gives a lot of information to your opponent.
Prediction
I think this is a far more interesting, and likely a bit more powerful planeswalker than Jace Beleren. I believe this is the best blue three-mana planeswalker to date.
–Gadwick, the Wizened; +Thieving Skydiver
Why cut Gadwick?
The triple blue cost is much worse than it seems. Casting it for 3 mana is difficult and unimpressive, all told. Late game, you draw many cards, but that’s not remarkable in blue.
What I like about Skydiver
Artifacts are the strongest cards in the cube, and Skydiver steals them forever. Moxen and Signets are the average cases, and stealing them is a great tempo swing. It even auto-equips stolen equipment, of which there are quite a bit in the cube currently. Skydiver has flying, which pairs particularly well with a stolen sword. We know from Dack Fayden that stealing artifacts is disgusting. Skydiver is a 3-for-1.
What I dislike about Skydiver
Sometimes you won’t face an artifact to steal. Skydiver is expensive and likely requires tapping out during your turn, something many blue decks will not desire. Unlike Dack, stealing expensive artifacts like Wurmcoil Engine is very unlikely. The 2/1 flying body is of little use to most blue decks.
Prediction
This is a very swingy card. I am not as high as most on it, as I see many cases when it cannot steal something relevant. Stealing a Sol Ring with a 2/1 flyer on turn three is the other extremity. Hard to say where this will land. If Dack is any indication, the merfolk is very powerful.
–Sky Diamond; +Jwari Disruption
Why cut Diamond?
After Modern Horizons, there are a lot of mana rocks in the cube. Diamond is playable but easily the worst of the bunch. A card that can actually be a land is likely better.
What I like about Disruption
It is a close analog to Censor. It can be a cheap counter early, and a land drop late. For control decks, getting that fifth and sixth land drop is still significant to their game plan, making Disruption relevant for a longer time frame.
What I dislike about Disruption
Unlike Censor, it is a bad topdeck late. I am unsure an ETBT land is worth the very time-sensitive upside.
Prediction
Censor is great, so there is reason to think Jwari Disruption will be too. Cheap interaction is something you always want in blue decks.
–Ancestral Vision; +Waker of Waves
Why cut Vision?
It is a dead card when topdecked. Waiting for four turns in the cube is an eternity. Most ways to play the card for free have been gone from the cube now (we do not play any Expertise or cascade cards anymore).
What I like about Waker of Waves
It is a cantrip early and a giant fish late. As a cantrip, it is an instant uncounterable Sleight of Hand for two mana. The creature is large and has a good defensive ability against wide boards, as we learned from Jace, Architect of Thought. It gives another threat to control decks without compromising early game consistency. The major boon of the card, though, is that it puts itself in the graveyard, ready to be reanimated.
What I dislike about Waker
The whale has no protection and no evasion, making it a poor finisher and reanimation target. It really is a cantrip first and foremost. The cantrip is not a spell, so no spell synergies such as Thing in the Ice or Monastery Mentor.
Prediction
I like to add subtle power to reanimation and cheats decks if the cost of inclusion is small. I think Waker will be great in reanimator and good in control, which is a very rare thing to be. It is likely better than Opt too, which is currently in the cube. Other cubes had success with the sea monster.
Black
Black was the biggest beneficiary of this update. It got many needed effects: two more lifelinkers, two reanimation spells, and two planeswalker removals.
Why cut divest?
I want more one-mana discard cards for black; I wish they were a staple effect like mana elves are to green. Even looking at your opponent’s hand is valuable information. However, Divest is just not great. There are not enough relevant artifacts, as hitting a mana rock early, while certainly sometimes powerful, is usually a low priority. Discarding creatures is not very attractive in black, a color with so many creature spot removals of many kinds. The best cards to hit with targeted discard are spells like Duress does.
As an early game answer/disruption, Thirst’s one mana mode is superior.
What I like about Thirst
Thirst is very efficient against aggro, foiling their best starts like Fatal Push. You often cannot afford to wait about killing their Rofellos, Dark Confidant, or Goblin Guide. Usually, this type of card would be a sideboard-only card, as many decks do not have a significant quantity of low drops. Thirst got you covered with a sorcery speed Vraska’s Contempt. Contempt was actually a sound card against control, slow decks, and decks with sparse threats. Contempt was unplayable because it was so bad against fast decks. Thirst merges both options to one package, resulting in a desirable card for all matchups.
A lot of the time, both options will be relevant as the game progresses. Against ramp, it kills a mana elf early, or a fattie late. It snipes flying shark tokens for a single mana. At the very least, more spot removals against planeswalkers are always welcomed.
What I dislike about Thirst
The primary mode of the card is an unsplashable, expensive, and a clunky sorcery spot removal. It is way less efficient than, say, Hero’s Downfall. At four mana, Thirst likely costs more the threat you remove on average, losing tempo. Due to sorcery speed, Thirst will never be able to kill a manland, or get a massive tempo swing in response to an equip.
Prediction
Thirst is crazy versatile, both in decks that can play it and decks it is good against. Far stronger than Eliminate, I believe it is better than Go for the Throat all things considered. An interactive, versatile card that overs your bases impressively well. Get used to this card cause it ain’t going anywhere.
–Mindblade Render; +Skyclave Shade
Why cut Render?
When it cannot connect, it is just a vanilla 1/3, which is dire. The body is not aggressive enough to be very desirable in aggro decks. There are not enough warriors in black to make the trigger consistent. Overall, it was just a filler two-drop.
What I like about Skyclave Shade
Shade has an aggressive body. Usually, a 3/1 body with no evasion or combat abilities is too fragile, but Shade totally negates that with its recursion. It can bash through blockers one at a time, it can shrug off spot removals, and helps you recover post board-wipes.
Normally, this type of card would become obsolete once an opponent lands a fattie large enough to block it forever. But this card is not like the other recursive black creatures. It can be a 5/3 if you pay the kicker! Very few decks can repeatedly deal with a threat of that size. It is almost too obvious to mention, but Shade is a much better topdeck than most two drops because of the kicker.
This is not the first recursive black creature; we know the drill. We can combo it with Skullclamp, sacrifice it to Rankle, or discard it to Liliana of the Veil. Skyclave Shade plays a role in most black archetypes and has many synergies.
What I dislike about Skyclave Shade
As a creature that cannot block, it is useless on defense. Control decks won’t touch it, and even midrange decks are wary of it. The major home of the card is in aggro decks. Alas, aggro decks pack fewer lands to trigger the landfall. It is also an expensive card to recur. This will feel very clunky if you have to repay it every turn, unlike Bloodghast. Finally, it is weak to exile removals, especially in the 5 mana mode.
Prediction
The threat of activation disincentivizes your opponent to trade with it, so you likely won’t have to repay the card’s casting cost too much. While it is weak to the Oblivion Rings of the world, it is incredibly strong against Control Magic effects, as stealing a creature that cannot block is not good when facing an aggressive deck.
Shade is good early, good late, and has many strong synergies in its color. I doubt it would leave the cube in the next few years.
–Bearer of Silence; +Nullpriest of Oblivion
Why cut bearer?
Edict effects are weak in the cube, as there are so many tokens and cheap creatures with ETB effects to sacrifice. Getting one on top of a playable 2 mana card is more appealing, but the colorless requirement kills it. The edict is not worth building around and picking colorless producing lands highly. With filter lands being cut this update, colorless costs became harder to support.
What I like about Bearer
It is a two-drop that has some evasion, with a strong ability when drawn late. Bearer is good at every stage of the game. It provides to effects black is hungry for – life gain and reanimation. A menace on a two-drop is surprisingly effective, as we can see from Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. These two abilities scale very well with equipment and other buffs. Conversely, Nullpriest is quite effective against aggro decks, trading with an early attacker, and gaining some life in the process.
What I dislike about bearer
It is not powerful during the midgame. The card is unimpressive when you have 4 mana no matter how you slice it. Because there is such a vast gap between the kicked and unkicked mana costs, the card always has a weak mode for the deck running it. In aggro, reaching six mana is hard, and the reanimation is less impressive as the targets are small. In control, the two mana mode is almost useless unless you can trade it away quickly. In reanimator decks, six mana is way past what you wish to pay, and the two drop mode is again of little use.
Prediction
I think Nullpriest is overrated. I think the only deck where it is terrific is midrange. I suspect aggro and reanimator decks will also play it often, but it is not a priority, the type of card you take on the wheel. Overall, I suspect it will see enough play to have a secure spot in the cube, but I think it is not a bomb.
–Ammit Eternal; +Nighthawk Scavenger
Why cut Ammit?
An aggro-only black three drop, which is bad on defense and surprisingly tame on offense. It has a form of evasion, but afflict does not scale with equipment and buffs, injure planeswalkers, nor takes back the monarch. Splashable, sure, but so tame compared to three drops in other colors.
What I like about Scavenger
Vampire Nighthawk was too weak to survive, mostly because 2 points of power is just too low. Scavenger solves this problem and becomes a Baneslayer Angel in the late game. Scavenger’s average power will probably be between 3 and 4, which is a fantastic place to be. Black really likes lifelink due to all its life payments.
Even the fail case of Scavenger, 1 point of power, is an airborne blocker that trades with anything and gains a point of life. This is a fine card in control for that reason, and it becomes a legitimate finisher that cannot be raced when drawn later.
What I dislike about Scavenger
Cards that depend on your opponent are often worse than they appear. Tarmogoyf was sometimes small, and that card looked at your graveyard, the part under your control. The card’s clock is just unreliable. Your opponent could also randomly play a delve spell or pay an escape cost to shrink Scavenger to an irrelevant size.
Prediction
This is the sort of card I can see being played in Dimir at five mana with counter back up to ride the game. In aggro, it combos well with discard and spot removals and carries equipment like a champion. The power level is just high enough that most heavy black decks would consider playing it, even when it is off-plan.
–Nightmare Shepherd; +Hagra Mauling
Why cut Shepherd?
It has the same shortcomings as Luminous Broodmoth, except it is worse in almost every way besides having more power. Shepherd is bad alone; you really need many creatures in your deck, preferably many that provide value outside of their body as they return as measly 1/1s. It is not a good aggro curve topper due to that and its general lack of immediate impact. Control doesn’t have the needed creature density. Shepherd is decidedly midrange. But black is the color that least wants to exile its creatures – it has all the reanimation spells and self-recurring creatures. A 4/4 flier is not enough for four mana to propel this demon to cube worthy status.
What I like about Mauling
We can ignore the cost reduction and treat Mauling as an expensive Murder. This is not an efficient card, but it will nonetheless save your skin in many situations, be it a Questing Beast, a Gideon, or a manland that’s beating you.
In the cube, many decks will have masses of scary creatures that must be answered fast, but a relevant portion of the metagame will barely play any appropriate targets. When your opponent it too quick or doesn’t play death-worthy targets, or simply when you are mana screwed, the land option is a sweet fallback.
What I dislike about Mauling
It is never efficient and likely costs more than the average thing it kills. The double black means only heavy black decks will want this card.
Prediction
The upside compared to a basic swamp is massive. Hard to see which black deck wouldn’t want to play this card. It can always replace a land or be a lovely option for land #18.
–Night’s Whisper; +Agadeem’s Awakening
Why cut Whisper?
Whisper is a good card, but black is spread thin with archetype-specific cards. If a card doesn’t support reanimator, aggro, or control, it should be playable in many decks. Whisper has a few limitations preventing it from being great. The life loss is a liability against aggro. Card draw is negative tempo as-is. Black has many cards that lose life already, and they get worse in multiples. The other issue is of desirable homes. Whisper is playable in many places, but great in none. In aggro, it doesn’t advance your game plan and is tempo negative. In control, it is a sorcery, it hurts you, and you likely have better draw options in blue. In reanimator decks, this is not a tutor or a piece of the synergy puzzle. Whisper is a reliable card and could return in the future.
What I like about Awakening
One of Whisper’s selling points is digging for the third land. Awakening can simply be that third land. Recurring several creatures is very likely to win you the game. For seven mana, you recur a 4, 3, and 2 drop – this is likely a better effect than the average seven-drop, and it is on a land! Black is always hungry to get more reanimation effects, and this is a way to get one without loading your deck with situational cards.
What I dislike about Awakening
This is the boltland with the highest ceiling of the cycle but is also the least consistent. Besides the very black heavy cost, you want several creature cards in your graveyard, with different mana costs. In a control deck, it will be hard to have enough creatures to recur. Awakening is an ill-fit for reanimator decks, costing significantly more than what it can recur. Unlike the other cards in its cycle, this is not great flood protection as when you are flooded, you likely won’t have a useful graveyard to recur from.
Prediction
I think replacing a land is a meager opportunity cost for such a backbreaking effect, even if it is situational. It is likely your best late-game card in an aggro deck, and it is even stronger in a midrange deck. I also really like that it will play differently from game to game. This is a card that will generate stories.
Play Tip
It should be played as a land the majority of the time. Don’t sweat playing the Undercrypt unless you are close to the late game or flooding hard anyway.
–Liliana’s Triumph; +Soul Shatter
Why cut Triumph?
Triumph is merely a sideboard card against creatures with shroud and/or indestructible. You side it in against reanimator decks, cheaty decks, and some control decks, depending on their finishers. In most situations, this will kill a token or an irrelevant creature that already provided value through an ETB effect. There is no need to have two edicts in the cube.
What I like about Soul Shatter
A Diabolic Edict that functions as a targeted removal at default. It even hits planeswalkers! Soul Shatter can be compared to Hero’s Downfall. Shatter will only kill what you want about 70% of the time, perhaps 80%. But Soul Shatter can kill an Ulamog or a Carnage Tyrant. Perhaps more importantly, it is easier to splash.
What I dislike about Soul Shatter
There will be times when an opponent will sacrifice a Mulldrifter instead of a Sower of Temptation, a Blade Splicer instead of its golem token, etc. You want consistency out of your removal spells, and when Soul Shatter is terrible, you wish you had an over-costed Hero’s Downfall over it.
Prediction
Soul Shatter is weaker than Hero’s Downfall. However, not by a considerable amount. However, Shatter is miles better than Liliana’s Triumph, and I believe it is the best edict effect for the cube. A deck very low on removals might play it, even splash it. But that should be a rarity. What it does excel though is as a sideboard card. Now it will also be sided in against ramp decks (I’d rather ignore the mana elves and tokens, thank you very much), superfriends, and even against aggro/control if you want to add another answer for game two.
–Ultimate Price; +Feed the Swarm
Why cut Price?
With Hagra Mauling, Bloodchief’s Thirst, and Eliminate (and even Soul Shatter), the number of removals has gone up enough. Ultimate Price is worse than Go for the Throat and Heartless Act. It might be better than Eliminate, and if that card disappoints, or if Feed disappoints, Price might make a comeback.
What I like about Feed the Swarm
This is the first black card that can directly kill an enchantment. Mire in Misery gave you no control over the effect, Pharika’s Libation did but is more expensive and had a worse fallback option. Every color has strong enchantments, some of which are truly dominating, such as Opposition and Moat. A black player is helpless against them.
A straight-up enchantment removal would be too narrow. It would not even be a great sideboard card, as if you side it in and your opponent didn’t draw the problematic enchantment, it would have been a dead card. Feed can kill any creature, with no targeting restrictions, so it will rarely be dead.
What I dislike about Feed
The creature removal option is weak. It is sorcery speed, and it costs a lot of life, in a color that already pays life plenty. Killing a four drop or higher is very painful; sniping a Sulfuric Vortex with it is subpar. Destroying a ramped or cheated fatty will be downright dangerous. I do not think it can pass as a generally maindeckable card. This is a sideboard card, and those should be scarce.
Prediction
I can see it maindecked in two scenarios. (1) When your deck has no outs to enchantments (Rakdos, Dimir, or mono black) and you have a few black tutors. (2) When you didn’t draft enough removals and are desperate. In all other cases, it should be a sideboard card. I do think there is a place for some sideboard cards in the cube, especially as this card is currently a unique solution to a real problem. I think Feed will improve the agency of black players. Feed is a high-risk experiment.
Red
Why cut Lava Dart?
It is a very low impact spell. The card made very few main decks as a result. You must have a lot of synergy pieces to desire it.
What I like about Akoum Hellhound
It is a Steppe Lynx, in color with a lack of good one drops. Red is also a more aggressive color. Since red has a lot of reach via burn, it doesn’t care as much for its creatures to retain value later in the game.
What I dislike about Akoum Hellhound
There is a reason why Steppe Lynx was cut a long time ago. It is one of the most miserable topdecks. Aggressive decks play fewer lands to trigger the landfall. No other decks bar aggro will ever desire it, as it is terrible on defense and not large enough to break through mid-sized creatures.
Prediction
Hellhound is not a great card. But red only had 9 one drops, compared to white’s 16 (not all are aggro-oriented though). It is there for the critical mass.
Play Tip
If you have the Hellhound in your deck, consider keeping an excess land or two in hand in case you draw the hound later in the game.
–War-Name Aspirant; +Kargan Intimidator
Why cut War-Name Aspirant?
It is the worst red two-drop. It is a 3/2 with bells and whistles. Except if you didn’t have a one drop, it is a measly 2/1. The partial evasion is useful, but not enough to offset the weak body in combat.
What I like about Initimidator
It is a 3/1 that is hard to block. The threat of activation will deter most blocks. It can punch for 4 to finish a Wall of Omens or kill a 4 loyalty planeswalker. His first line of text benefits all of your warriors, which is already a slightly supported tribe with Najeela. In the late game, Intimidator is a 4/2 trampler that bypasses their fattest blocker.
What I dislike about Intimidator
Without activating any abilities, it has an unimpressive 3/1 body. The abilities cost mana and are not something you want to use every turn while curving out. At the end of the day, Intimidator is still relatively easy to trade with for the defending player. Intimidator doesn’t defend well, with only 1 ability being relevant there.
Prediction
Mana hungry early drops usually disappoint. Intimidator is probably an average red two-drop. This is not a bad place to be considering there are 15 of them currently in the cube.
Play Tip
Don’t pump into him instead of curving out. Remember, the threat of activation will often be enough to let him go unblocked anyways.
–Skewer the Critics; +Roil Eruption
Why cut Skewer?
The spectacle cost on the card is very limiting. For one, non-aggro decks have a hard time satisfying its condition, especially if the spell is used defensively to kill an aggro dork. Two, even in aggressive decks, you usually want to cast the card to kill a blocker before the attack. The average cost of the card was higher than 2 for sure.
What I like about Roil Eruption
Volcanic Hammer and its ilk are potent cards. I know that some people dislike them, as several strictly better versions exist across all directions. Incinerate, Searing Spear, and Lightning Strike are instant, Chain Lightning costs less, and Incendiary Flow exiles. It’s time to lay the case for the Hammers.
Eliminate was printed lately and caused mild excitement. Finally, black got a cheap answer to both creatures and planeswalkers. A Volcanic Hammer kills more creatures than Eliminate. 184 creatures cost 3 or less mana, and 199 creatures have 3 or less toughness (some token with more than three toughness make the gap slightly smaller). Killing planeswalkers is more contextual, but it is a very safe bet that Volcanic Hammer kills twice as many of them as Eliminate in realistic scenarios.
I believe you are now convinced a Searing Spear is better than Eliminate. But Fire Ambush is a sorcery. How can it even be considered in the same league? We must not forget that a Volcanic Hammer, if we simplify it, is actually a split card. It says to choose one: Eliminate, or win the game if your opponent’s life total is 3 or less. Actually, it is far more potent than that, as damage stacks. You cannot use an Eliminate and a Fatal Push to kill Thundermaw Hellkite together. And we haven’t even touched the synergy with combat damage. When Eliminate cannot kill something, it cannot affect it at all, Hammer can.
Back to Roil Eruption, it is hard to refuse EVEN MORE DAMAGE on top of your burn spell. It is a mono-red card that can kill a Baneslayer Angel. A card that is great early and quite good late, with a splashable cost to boot. Chandra, Torch of Defiance, and Koth of the Hammer can quickly get you to the kicker mana cost.
What I dislike about Eruption
Seven mana is so expensive, the kicker will rarely be paid. It is simply out of reach for red aggro decks, the primary audience for burn cards, and a vast portion of the color. At turn seven, 5 damage will not kill everything you might face.
Prediction
Volcanic Hammer is good, and this is better. I don’t think it is better than Searing Spear, but that hardly matters. I suspect this will be the card you wish to topdeck late in many decks. Five damage directly to their life total is an awful lot.
Play tip
Don’t think this card doesn’t belong in you aggro deck because of the expensive kicker. It is perfectly fine without it.
–Experimental Frenzy; +Shatterskull Smashing
Why cut Frenzy?
Just like Frenzy, it is an aggro-only 4 mana card. Frenzy has a high ceiling, but it is slow and even more restrictive than the usual aggro curve-topper, as it also requires a low average mana cost in the deck for good performance.
What I like about Smashing
Ever wished to draw removal, but instead pulled a land? With Shatterskull Smashing, your land is a removal spell! This is the most flexible boltland, having a scalable cost, an option to enter as an ETB tapped land, and a way to provide mana immediately. Red decks often do not care much about their life total, making this quite a free-inclusion. Killing Rofellos is a good ability for three mana on a land. Later in the game, this could kill titans. If you get to X >= 6, this is a game-winning effect. Killing two mana elves on turn three after a signet is a power move too. Also, it can kill planeswalkers.
What I dislike about Smashing
It is very inefficient. It is far worse than any burn spell, of which red has plenty. It is sorcery speed and cannot kill the opponent. In aggro decks, you don’t count on games going long enough to reach large amounts of mana. In slower decks, bolting yourself is a severe drawback.
Prediction
Since it costs so little to include, I have difficulty not seeing red decks playing this often. It is useful in all of them, but likely best in big mana decks.
–Territorial Hellkite; +Sarkhan, the Masterless
Why cut Hellkite?
I think Hellkite is an excellent card in aggro decks. It usually does 6 damage to the face for four mana. Very reminiscent of Fiery Confluence. If it doesn’t kill in one hit, usually the opponent has to spend a removal spell on it, which is still a great deal. Its shortcomings are the inability to attack walkers, instant speed removals, and various flying tokens. Despite it all, it is still good at its job. It gets cut because it is only suitable in aggro decks, and there is a surplus of four drops for that deck type. There is only a small number of four-drops aggro decks can play. Fiery Confluence, for example, is used in other decks.
What I like about Sarkhan
One of the reasons we don’t see a lot of red midrange decks, especially Gruul, is that there are not many midrange cards in red. The goal is not to make red the new white, but small changes can have a large effect. Sarkhan is quite good on the defense, laying down a flying fat while protecting against token swarms. The turn after, you can attack for 8 evasive damage. Sarkhan is hard to answer completely, spreading the power between a creature token and a planeswalker. The middle ability is a strong finishing move to super friends decks, which are popular and usually play red.
What I dislike about Sarkhan
The biggest drawback is the lack of homes. It is not an aggro card and not quite a control finisher. In Gruul decks, it has to compete with green five drops, a tall order. The card’s defensive value relies on the token, which can be bounced, removed, or just sometimes be too small to be relevant. The triggered ability will not affect most creatures much, with most having more than 1 toughness.
Prediction
I think Sarkhan is better than some of the current red five drops, but I still fear it might not see enough play.
Play tip
Don’t jam Sarkhan in aggro decks.
Green
Green cares about the Forest type quite a bit: Rofellos, Arbor Elf, Nissa, Worldwaker, Nissa, Who Shakes the World, and Utopia Sprawl are all reasons to prefer a basic forest. This makes MDFCs worse. However, if the front side is a creature, green has plenty of ways to tutor for one, such as Survival of the Fittest.
–Incubation Druid; +Tangled Florahedron
Why cut Druid?
It is the worst two-mana ramp spell. It never fixes colors, has zero power, and the activated ability is expensive and underwhelming. It is definitely playable, especially if you can cheat a counter on it. But it is consistently the last ramp spell to make the deck.
What I like about Florahedron
This is a very flexible ramp spell. In ramp decks, you often run into one of two problems: you draw too many lands and not enough ramp, or you draw many ramp spells and not enough lands. Think about it; it is tough not to have a keepable hand if one of the cards is Tangled Florahedron.
It can legitimately replace either a land or ramp spell, depending on how many ETB tapped lands you have, how much ramp, and your curve. A 1/1 body is far better than topdecking a basic land in the late game. It can block or carry equipment. It can be discarded to Survival of the Fittest or Fauna Shaman, or curiously be found by them. Do not forget Cradle, Natural Order, and Craterhoof that prefer creatures too. Significant upsides compared to a Forest.
On the other hand, it also has significant advantages over a 2 mana ramp creature. Mana screw protection is obvious, but often the safety of a land is what you need. Fear a mass removal, face a Liliana, the Last Hope, or a red player with a hand full of burn? Lay it as a land.
What I dislike about Florahedron
If played as a ramp spell, it is weaker than most two-mana ramp spells as it cannot fix your colors.
Prediction
It will increase the number of keepable hands for every deck that plays it. I think the flexibility, while always resulting in more mana next turn, is quite strong.
–Sylvan Advocate; +Kazandu Mammoth
Why cut Advocate?
We know green is not aggressive, and most decks would carry on their game plan with more ramp. The problem is, Advocate is not very impressive in midrange either. The body is not great for two mana anymore. You really want to be in a deck that reliably gets to upsize Advocate, and that is too limiting. The newly added card is a better aggressive green card.
What I like about Mammoth
Mammoth is almost good enough as a creature. It can be played on turn 2 with a mana elf, and attack for 5 damage on turn three, or 7 if you have a fetch land! The ability to also play it as a land propels the card to desirability in basically any green deck.
What I dislike about Mammoth
The body has no evasion, so it is not a finisher. The double green is a big drawback, as most aggressive decks will be lighter on green and vice versa. Mammoth is only a 3/3 on defense in the vast majority of situations.
Prediction
Ramp decks are prone to running out of gas. Playing the Mammoth over a land seems to be worth it a lot of the time.
–Regal Behemoth; +Turntimber Symbiosis
Why cut Behemoth?
Behemoth was added when green had few playable six drops. It is a way for green to draw cards and get enough mana to cast eldrazis. But the drawbacks are severe too. It is a disaster sometimes if answered by a removal. Yes, you drew a card, but your opponent is now the monarch. It is weak against evasive creatures, which are a problem for green anyway. The newly added card is a better way to cheat eldrazis.
What I like about Symbiosis
A classic case of good early, great late card if I have ever seen one. A massive upgrade over a basic land. I really appreciate having another playable cheat effect. It is expensive, but it adds a lot of needed redundancy for that deck. If you have an Eldrazi, this is both a land and a combo piece.
Symbiosis is playable in other decks too. It is good in your old ramp decks to find the fatties. Paying seven mana to dig seven cards deep for a five or six drop is a good deal. Even if you only see a weak creature, you get compensation in the form of a significant permanent buff. Counters can scale very well with some cheap creatures, be they double strikers, lifelinkers, or evasive beaters. A 6/4 True-Name Nemesis, I’ll pay seven for that TYVM.
What I dislike about Symbiosis
Obviously, it is too expensive to be your primary method of cheating an eldrazi; it can only serve as a backup. The fail case of getting a 4/4 Llanowar Elves is still a bad return of investment. The worst-case scenario is not seeing any creature at all though, paying seven mana and getting absolutely nothing in return. The triple green cost is a mild annoyance too.
Prediction
While hitting a one drop is quite bad, getting a three drop already looks promising. A 5/4 Reclamation Sage or Eternal Witness are solid hits. I don’t see this card leaving while we have the eldrazis, and it will probably retain a spot even without them.
–Elvish Visionary; +Merfolk Branchwalker
This is such a straightforward swap, I am breaking the format for it. We want green to be more accommodating to Gruul decks. Currently, green has only a few two-drops that are of interest to non-ramp decks. Branchwalker is more aggressive, which pairs better with red, while still having a broadly-playable baseline. Branchwalker is as much a filler as Visionary, but perhaps one that pushes in a better direction.
Colorless
–Field of Ruin; +Crawling Barrens
Why cut Field?
It saw little play. It isn’t as disruptive as Wasteland. Rishadan Port is not seeing much action too, despite being a better card.
What I like about Barrens
Barrens is a manland finisher for two different homes. In a control deck, you often keep up mana for counters. At the end of turn, if that mana was unused, it could pump the land. You don’t have to animate it per activation, so it can be kept safe from Lightning Bolt. As a manland, it is naturally resistant to sorcery speed removals, so it is quite sturdy.
The other use of Barrens is as a mana sink. You can pump the land several times per turn. It can use excess mana from ramp, Gaea’s Cradle, Tolarian Academy, Urza, and so on.
What I dislike about Barrens
The first activation is very inefficient. It is hard to get this land rolling. It lacks evasion, so sometimes, it will have minimal impact on the board.
Prediction
While lacking evasion itself, it pairs really well with board wipes. So far, colorless manlands have performed well, even Mobilized District and Frost Bastion. Barrens is likely better than the latter two, although it is a different enough card to not be confident of its success.
–Treasure Map; +Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
Why cut Map?
It is a slow card, and the meta is quick.
What I like about Golos
It is a fun build-around. The activated ability is a way to win the game, and it is fun. The body is reasonably defensive and hard to remove, and you are guaranteed the value of at least one land.
What I dislike about Golos
Drafting 5 colors is hard, and Golos’s ability is a gamble. It is a build-around card, and if Golos is opened in the last booster, there is a good chance no deck will be able to accommodate it.
Prediction
The card proved itself in both constructed and other cubes. I believe it is a fun build-around players will be excited to try.
Fixing
–Sunken Hollow; +Clearwater Pathway
–Cinder Glade; +Cragcrown Pathway
–Canopy Vista; +Branchloft Pathway
–Fetid Heath; +Brightclimb Pathway
–Cascade Bluffs; +Riverglide Pathway
–Rugged Prairie; +Needleverge Pathway
What I like about the Pathway cycle
They provide either color of mana, untapped, on turn one, unconditionally. This is a feat very few lands can achieve. From that point on, they have no drawback whatsoever, no life payments, and no restrictions. I like that they add a decision point, something that few fixing lands provide.
What I dislike about the Pathway Cycle
Once you make a choice, you are locked to that color. No turn 1 Thoughtseize, turn 2 Counterspell with Clearwater Pathway. What is perhaps less apparent is how bad they are at splashing colors. If you want to access the splash color, you are locked into playing the land on what is essentially a colorless producing face for the rest of your deck. Finally, they do not have basic land types, which some dual land cycles do. They cannot be fetched, do not count towards Vedalken Shackles, cannot be enchanted by Utopia Sprawl, etc.
Didn’t you forget about the cuts?
Filter lands – They are bad on turn one. They are also bad at splashing. In a three-color deck, they do not work with a basic of the third color. While they do specifically enable scenarios like T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Rofellos, they do not allow splitting mana between phases and turns, such as turn two Ponder + keep a white mana open for Swords to Plowshares. The worst cycle we have played.
Tango lands – They never enter untapped in the early game, and their late-game advantage is usually worse than the bicycles. The fewer basics you run, the worse they get, so they fare poorly in multicolored decks. With the addition of Triomes, there is less demand for ETB lands with basic land types.
Prediction
Pathways are worse than the top four cycles of Duals, Shocks, Fetches, and Canopies. I don’t see them besting the painlands, and most man lands either. It will be interesting to see if the Pathways are also better than the fastlands and bicycle lands. On the other hand, I think they are better than checklands. I’d count on the Pathways surviving for at least a few years. The entire cycle will be added once it is completed in Kaldheim.
MtG Cube Crafting 
One thought on “Zendikar Rising set update”