Usman & TrainmasterGT Tarkir:Dragonstorm Cube Review
It’s time for another cube review, this time about Tarkir:Dragonstorm!
In our Aetherdrift review and my Duskmourn post-mortem, two scales were used for rating cards: power and fun. The latter scale looked to encompass the non-power ratings that people use for rating cards. I’ve decided to name it the “vibes” scale instead, since it encompasses the concept better. The power scale is based on how we think the cards are, power-wise, in a generalist nature (but may be in some way influenced by our individual cubes.)
Some examples:
Walk-In Closet: Power: 2, Fun: 4.5
The Aetherspark: “Power” Rating: 3, Fun Factor: 5
Fuel the Flames: “Power” Rating: 3, Fun Factor: 1
Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer: “Power” Rating: 1, Fun Factor: 4
tl;dr - 10 favorites:
Elspeth, Storm Slayer: Power: 4.5, Vibes: 5
Cori-Steel Cutter: Power: 4.5, Vibes: 4.5
Rakshasa’s Bargain: Power: 4.5, Vibes: 4
Voice of Victory: Power: 4.5, Vibes: 3.5
Ugin, Eye of the Storms: Power: 4.25, Vibes: 5
Songcrafter Mage: Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
Shiko, Paragon of the Way: Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
Auroral Procession: Power: 4, Vibes: 4
Frontline Rush: Power: 4, Vibes: 3.5
Tersa Lightshatter: Power: 3.75, Vibes: 4
Skirmish Rhino: Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Elspeth, Storm Slayer: Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Songcrafter Mage: Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Tersa Lightshatter: Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Unending Whisper: Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
Clarion Conqueror: Power: 3, Vibes: 5
Sonic Shrieker: Power: 2.5, Vibes: 5
Auroral Procession: Power: 4, Vibes: 4
Voice of Victory: Power: 3.5, Vibes: 4
Descendant of Storms: Power: 4, Vibes: 3
WHITE
Usman:
Power: 4.5, Vibes: 5
I’m unsure if I like this more than Voice of Victory; it’s likely slightly worse but still a very good value play for a main phase 5 mana play. Generally, token payoffs have felt like they haven’t done enough to be worth going towards that archetype; the new Elspeth does a great job of being a good self-contained engine while also working well with token-generators. I’m curious at how often her flying ability ends the game out of nowhere, since it represents a ton of burst damage. The last ability looks pretty below-rate for the cost, but it’s very nice to have a built-in removal effect if need be.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Finally, an Elspeth card as good as Sun’s Champion! And this one is actually able to quickly close out the game rather than grinding down the opponent with a billion Soldier tokens! That’s honestly the only thing I don’t like: if Flying Crane Technique from the original Tarkir has taught me anything, it’s that Flying Overrun can be unfun, and that’s basically what Elspeth does every single turn. Still, I think the card is too cool to keep me away!
Usman:
Power: 4.5, Vibes: 3.5
Hosing instant speed plays is subtly useful for making cards less efficient at what they can represent in a game state, and although this somewhat emulates Kari Zev, Skyship Raider with bringing along temporary help. Having 3 defense helps it to attack for 3 in the early game, but my initial thoughts are that proposition starts to get dicey in the later game, but that’s still fine for an early drop that looks to disrupt via the kinda-Grand Abolisher text and get in early damage. Mobilize is great with sacrifice cards like Goblin Bombardment and I’m excited to pair those together, since they work well as an archetype.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 4
This is essentially Grand Abolisher that almost attacks as a 3/5 for two mana. I don’t usually like making like-to-like comparisons for cards, but this is easier to cast and is more relevant in most combats. I’m a huge fan of this card, and of the Mobilize mechanic more broadly!
Descendant of Storms
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 2.5
It’s pretty much what it says on the tin as this set’s 2/1 for W which does a decent job of attacking. It was in a draft where the impression was that it was better than Usher of the Fallen, since the exchange of representing a combat-trick/second main phase play for the ability to go tall was seen as a general upside, but I’d say it’s close enough to where I don’t feel strongly about one vs the other.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 3
Phenomenal upgrade to Usher of the Fallen. While I was definitely hoping for a more unique “one drop with set’s mechanic” in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, I think Descendant of Storms has the “it” factor.
Rally the Monastery, Sage of the Skies
Usman:
Power: 3.5/3.75, Vibes: 4
I hadn’t given much thought to Rally the Monastery until it was discussed on a recent Eternal Durdles episode, since the retail rate is just so bad at 4 mana. Like the new Elspeth, it has a lot of flexibility to it; on the episode, they talked about it akin to Entreat the Angels as a finisher for control decks that can also just be used as a wonky removal spell. When I tried out some of the flurry cards, I didn’t find them too hard to enable. Fast mana, of course, helps with being able to reliably double-spell to get max value out of these.
I am a bigger fan of Sage of the Skies, though, which played well in a WU control deck that had some baubles and cheap things to use it with, as the rate was absurd if enabled since it’s a pretty unprecedented rate for the cost, and it’s difficult for aggressive decks to outrace and/or deal with 2 ⅔ flying lifelinkers.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 5
I’m a big fan of both of these cards— I love how they reward you for playing decks with high spell-velocity. White has a lot of good cheap spells, so I think cards that get better when you’re casting multiple spells in a turn are very high value here. My only complaint is that Sage of the Skies would have been cooler as a Dragon!
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 3
Honestly, this is a very good hatebear that covers a lot of bases - hoses artifacts, planeswalkers and creatures makes it have a very good spread against a variety of archetypes, and since it doesn’t specify mana sources, it’s very good against green decks. It’s even fine on-rate as a body as a 3/3 flier, but my main concerns are how often it being symmetrical will be a drawback (likely not much) or if it’s something to build around (which I also doubt.) I don’t think I’m personally in the market for this, though.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 5
I always appreciate a good Hate Bear, and this one is a dragon. I don’t have a lot to say here other than I think this is probably the coolest 3 mana White hate bear.
Usman:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4.5
My gut is that it’s too safe to be worth playing since it’s at sorcery speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was dead wrong since the potential for it is very strong, ala Collected Company, only really losing out on instant speed/virtual flash. These kinds of effects are always fun, though, especially if a cube has a low enough curve for creature-light decks to make this consistent.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2 (In most places, there are situations where this could be broken), Vibes: 4
This card is either going to be busted or terrible, but I am not going to be the one to find out.
BLUE
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 3.5
Flashback upgraded by being able to use creatures for it, Harmonize works best in decks with creatures lying around (duh), and some like Ketramose and Rot-Curse Rakshasa can ritual out the Harmonize costs. Generally, 2-3 power creatures is where the cards start to feel good for the “flashback” cost. As a sorcery cantrip, it has a fine floor since it can just get cycled early and then used when you have nothing better to do, look in your graveyard and see this; like with the Harmonize Firebolt, its harmonize is very pricey and likely from development erring on the side of caution. Arguably, it’s a draw 2, but I found that the Harmonize 5U was a very real cost in the stages of the game that weren’t the late game, making it more of a cantrip, which is a fine floor.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
This is likely my pick for the standout Harmonize card of the set. Think Twice is fine, but this absolutely blows it out of the water. It’s a one-mana cantrip that effectively “draws” a second cantrip (admittedly one that requires you to tap down a creature for a turn, but still). I think there might be enough good cantrips these days that this doesn’t go into literally every power prioritized Cube ever, but I think it’s stylish enough to deserve a slot in myriad Cubes.
Usman:
Power: 4, Vibes: 3.75
Unending Whisper and this operate on some similar axes - being a fair draw spell with a slightly under-rate effect (these days, these kinds of draw spells are usually instants) but something that can be flashed back later. This looks like it has some potential to get there in more midrange blue shells that have creatures to bin and can flash this back and I’m currently higher on this than Unending Whisper even if the floor may arguably be worse since the Harmonize side is nicely costed; if it’s Harmonized for 2U, it’s an extremely good deal and doesn’t feel as embarrassing on the front as Deep Analysis and Harmonizing this back should be a big leg up in an attrition war.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4
Taking a mana off of Mystic Meditation and giving it a flashback variant seems… ok? I know many people are big fans of the “Thirst For” cards, but they’ve never been my favorites. That said, I think this one in particular could be a cool option since it ties in nicely with what graveyard-oriented UBGx decks are trying to do. Slamming a big guy and using it as a ritual for Winternight Stories while it’s summoning sick seems like an awesome line!
Usman:
Power: 2, Vibes: 4.5
Taigam’s a weird card, relying on the aspiration of living several turns to get the payoffs of a free copy of a spell. The payoff of “survive long enough, get an Ancestral” was the plan with Ancestral Vision, which is hardly played in cube these days.
One thing that I’d seen not discussed much is how useful it is if you can successfully chain 2+ cards off with this. When it was played, the deck that had it (a UW control deck) was usually able to get a spell off - like a Spyglass Siren - which was a fine floor but doesn’t bode well for it lasting long, especially since it was a nombo with countermagic. Being able to trigger off of non-creatures does help, though.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 5
Taigam is slow to get going but can provide a lot of value if the game doesn’t end before your spells start coming off of suspend. Notably, he can copy creatures! My only question is: why wasn’t this design used in Doctor Who? I feel like Taigam is far more interesting than any of the Doctor cards they ended up making (minus the Fourth), and yet he’s on Tarkir instead of in the Time Travel set.
Still gonna test him but I have no idea if he sticks around long term.
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 4
This surprisingly played better than I would have thought. Omen has weird cognitive dissonance, since it was the first of its kind and it’s going to take some real mental rewiring to realize that these aren’t adventures, since they don’t have the inherent card advantage of “draw” a creature to play later. Most of the better ones had the auto-pilot play of “adventure this, stock this away to play later” built in, which these lack, as they’re more split card with 2 sides than the virtual 3 sides that adventure cards have.
I’ve long said that modal cards need a non-embarrassing mode to be worth playing in a deck, as all of the flexibility doesn’t matter if a cube deck doesn’t want to play any part of the card itself. The mode that is the closest to getting there was the hard cast mode, although when it was played, the Omen side was surprisingly pretty good, even if under-rate by cube standards.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 3.5
I think I like this guy? Here’s my problem. I love adventure cards. These are not adventure cards… but they have a lot of the same style of “cast your spell, get a guy later.” The only issue: you have to draw them again. In a way, these are closer to self-renewing split cards than anything else. That’s cool, but maybe not the most effective system for this sort of card.
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 3.5
I had some decent hopes for it and it worked about as well as expected - it usually was a mana discount in the Sultai deck that played it, which was a great rate and was nice that it represented a Force Spike with only a blue open and much more if need be. Might be more of a splash card than a generic blue control card, but it’s playable there too, since it scales well into the late game if you have a big creature or two around. Overall, I’ve liked it more than Condescend but it’s early enough to where I don’t feel strongly one way vs the other, similar to the new Usher of the Fallen. Nice card, though.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4
Syncopate but cheaper with big creatures ties in again with what UGx decks are trying to do in many Cubes. I like this!
BLACK
Usman:
Power: 3.75, Vibes: 3
The yin to Preacher of the Schism’s yang. Pretty much a prototypical Baneslayer, where its value is encapsulated in its body and if it’s able to attack. The impression that I got was that it usually just died to a removal spell - although it’s got a lower floor from Preacher of Schism since mobilized creatures are essentially just points of damage. The impression that I get of how many friends it needs to bring along to feel good for the mobilize to be worth it is 2, which can be accelerated via self-mill and other creatures that bin themselves (cyclers) so I’m pretty hopeful.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 3.5
Slaps Roof I can fit so many 1/1 red Warrior creature tokens in this thing!
Usman:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 2.75
Every once in a while, we see a new riff on Vampire Nighthawk to try to power creep it back into the modern age - Nighthawk Scavenger is the most recent example that got close-ish to getting there, since having a 1-power deathtouch creature mostly did the same job as a 5-power deathtoucher for creature combat (but not racing life totals.) Having a base power of 3 is nice, since it starts the race at a pretty good rate.
Renewing from the graveyard is nice so that when this dies to removal, but I’m at a point where I don’t need yet another pile of stats at 3 mana and like Sage of the Skies more, even though it’s apples to oranges.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
Wow, I can’t believe WOTC copied my homework. I can’t wait to sue for a morbillion dollars! All jokes aside, this card seems ok, but I’m not more excited about it than something like Herald of Torment. Am I being a boomer? Maybe. The art is sick though, maybe I’ll try it anyway!
Usman:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 3.5
This is a weird bitterblossom, kinda, since it can also slowly get bigger as a mode B. I initially was higher on this than I am, since I’ve been off Bitterblossom for some time for being slow, but it may just get there on the flexibility of having your Bitterblossom potentially being a big finisher.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 3.5
Could this be Black’s answer to Ledger Shredder? It doesn’t quite scale as quickly, but it is a little easier to trigger consistently. I have no problems with this card!
Usman:
Power: 3, Vibes: 2.5
This was another one that made an appearance in the last cube draft and was fine; it was usually used for its wrath mode and hardcast as a dragon when a wrath wasn’t needed - one thing that I’ve been liking with these Omen dragons is that they have the spread of being some form of utility when needed and a generic beatstick if need be, and this one wasn’t bad as a 4/4 flier for 4 (which is fine by current creature rates) with some built-in protection, ala Graveyard Trespasser, which is more annoyance than true protection, but nice.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4
John Tedrick stands out once again as one of the best newer Magic artists. The man can draw his monsters! I like Scavenger Regent beyond it’s art, though: this feels like a cooler Graveyard Trespasser with fewer words and with a second “mode.” Good design!
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 5
I’m unsure if the current discourse these days is “black aggro is bad” these days, but this is certainly something that’s parasitic to the deck as a slow Ball Lightning that makes blocking weird. On one hand, it’s a slow one-shot damage source, but what interests me for aggro is that it makes blocking decisions incredibly awkward once it’s dead. Should the opponent leave behind blockers if they can just be turned into decayed things that can’t block? Is that fear of activation useful to act as a virtual “on-board” Falter? Can the opponent even race, if the creatures are no longer a consistent damage source?
I hadn’t really seen a lot of these discussions with this, and unfortunately, I didn’t see it used in play so I can’t make any judgments on that. Being able to mill this into the graveyard is nice, since it turns it immediately into a Falter. My gut says this is useful, even if limited in the decks that want it. But I honestly don’t know.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 4
Mom come pick me up I’m scared.
RED
Usman:
Power: 4.5, Vibes: 4.5
Mabel’s equipment gets its own card, sans vigilance. This gets there on rate, which the flurry cards tend to do better than the old guard which was mostly lacking if you couldn’t reliably double-spell. I can see this making a token on the opponent’s step, which is pretty nifty for representing burst damage or an emergency blocker if need be.
The question I always ask myself with this is if it’s worth playing this over a generic burn spell in a red aggro deck. Given the efficiency rate on this, I’d say the answer is usually yes.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4
I love that “Monk Tokens” are a theme in this set. So happy to see them!
Usman:
Power: 3.75, Vibes: 4
A mono red deck had this and it had good Fable meets Laelia vibes but obviously nowhere close on power level to either… but it still did good stuff since it had haste. Never got threshold but, as I talked about in the Duskmourn post-mortem, there’s more payoffs for delirium these days and here’s yet another on an on-rate threat.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Tersa kind of throws Laelia, the Blade Reforged vibes. She’s a quite a bit weaker, but I think she also has a higher floor. I think she’s going to be very cool in a lot of Cubes!
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 3
God do I wish this was an instant. As is, this just feels like Firebolt but worse. That’s not an intrinsically bad place to be, but it’s also not very stylish.
Usman:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
This does feel like a Firebolt that’s just way too safe, and honestly Firebolt is one of the worst Shocks available for cube since it’s sorcery speed and costs a billion to flash back.
Usman:
Power: 3, Vibes: 2
A pretty good rate and it even locks down the land, which makes it an ok-ish tempo play (which a lot of these Field of Ruin effects aren’t - and arguably, can even be tempo negative since they can just ramp the opponent by an untapped land for a turn.) It’s a safety valve for annoying lands which may be a feature or a bug, but I’m cautiously optimistic for this as a tempo play for larger red decks, even if it doesn’t just end the game like a lot of red 4s.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 1.5
Field of Ruin Dragon with Siege Rhino Stats? I feel I should like this more than I do. I’m sure this card is good but I’m not 100% sure it has the cool factor.
Usman:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 4
This mostly caught my eye for red storm decks since it’s a kinda wheel effect stapled onto kinda a Past in Flames but admittedly, my experience with these in cube is nil (and I don’t really do storm in my own cubes) so this is really speculative. Arguably could get there in fair red burn decks as a way to wheel away an empty hand or buy back some burn, but I don’t think those decks need another 4-mana play.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 1
The most compelling part of this card is the art, it seems like an easy pass to me.
GREEN
Usman:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 3
This was another one that was surprisingly good when it was played, since the base rate mode of being a dragon that gained life was usually good enough as a midrange threat. Green midrange decks usually didn’t have a hard time getting enough basic forests to make the dragon’s omen playable. I just think I like my current green midrange threats more and think most cubes are in a similar boat.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 3.5
Combining a faux “Kodama’s Reach” with a big dragon seems pretty cool. I think the creature half of this card is a little low on impact (well, as low impact as a 4/5 flier can be!), but I don’t think this is bad as a ramp spell you can draw repeatedly to thin your deck repeatedly and eventually act as your finisher.
Heritage Reclamation
Usman:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
I’m at the point in my cube journey where I don’t really care that much when I see a new Naturalize variant, but this at least cycles and does something small when cycled.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
Mainboardable Naturalize always seems fine, but I feel like they keep trying to make this effect and it doesn’t really land. Is the slight upgrade over Wilt what makes this version of the card cool? Honestly, I have no idea.
MULTICOLOR
2-color:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 5
Just when I started to think “I should try Roast in my Cube again,” they printed a Roast that recycles itself and is also a split card with a 5/4 flier. I wish more of the omen cards had been like this one!
Usman:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 2
The floor is fine as a Roast, which is honestly a pretty good card in its own right and being a dragon that does a Loxodon Hierarch impression is a fine thing if you just need to end the game. Not busted by dual-color standards but I wouldn’t turn my nose up to it in a base red deck with decent white fixing.
Usman:
Power: 3.25, Vibes: 4
I’m pretty sure I’m alone in thinking that this card has cube potential, but sometimes I get a feeling about cards that go under the radar. When looking at global enchantments for 3 mana, usually they give either a power boost or haste, but never both. I’m cautiously optimistic for this because of that rate and how well it works with raw damage output, which is why granting trample isn’t flavor text either. It represents a ton of burst damage, and although its curiosity mode is pretty bad, it’s nice for when you just need to outcard your opponent.
Weirdly, Enduring Courage never piqued my interest, but maybe it’s the cheaper cost that’s doing it. Unlike a lot of Izzet cards, it isn’t a generic value spell but I think it has potential.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 3.5
It’s funny that adding Blue to Fervor provides +1/+0 and Trample. It’s also funny that replacing a blue pip on Squidward, Sarcastic Snob takes away the 3/2 body and Cunning Evasion effect. I’m sure this is a fine modal card, but it’s not something I would want to play for power level reasons– I would want to be leveraging both abilities in an ideal world.
That said, Andy Mangold needs to get this into the 100 Ornithopters Cube!
Usman:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4
Is this the Growth Spiral to Explore of Regrowths? Probably. Like Growth Spiral, being an instant makes it significantly better (although this doesn’t ramp) by representing a ton of counterplay and the ability to represent a strong play afterwards, since it doesn’t lock you into doing the play on your main phase.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4
I am a big fan of this card– having the option to both hold up a Counterspell or cast a Regrowth seems really cool in tempo-oriented UG decks. My only gripe is that you probably want this in a deck with a third color to provide some stronger removal than UG generally musters.
Glacierwood Siege, Hollowmurk Siege
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 3.5
Both of these have some potential in their “good” modes, with Hollowmurk’s menace mode being a pretty good “free” equipment for an attacker. Glacierwood has the potential as a Crucible (the kids still like Crucible effects in cube, right?) of Worlds that can just be used as a wincon if you have a few instants/sorceries in hand.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 2
I am not really vibing with either of these, but I think they both have at least one “always useful” mode.
Usman:
Power: 4, Vibes: 3.5
Raise the Alarm has been awfully close to making it into my cube, and having a side B of being able to turn an unblocked creature into a +5/+5 boost is a very nice upside for a ton of burst damage. It’s somewhat like the sieges where there’s a generically good mode A and a situationally useful mode B. Likely a “boring” card but I just like what this represents for Boros decks because it can just end the game out of nowhere.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4
Is this the Raise the Alarm variant we need in 2025? Perhaps.
3-color:
Usman:
Power: 3, Vibes: 3
Another card that’s what it says on the tin - a fine-by-2025 creature that drains the opponent for 2 and has trample for free. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this around the power level of the original Siege Rhino, but being a 2-mana play off a mana elf may just be an upside that makes this better. I just don’t think most cube decks would be interested in splashing this and it’s pretty mid if not played on-curve.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 5
This was exactly the callback to Siege Rhino I was hoping for. 10/10, no notes, would be a cool inclusion in any Cube with uncommons.
Usman:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
We’ve seen a ton of Snapcaster variants and most tended to be weak - not just when compared to the original, but in general, since they required so many hoops to go through. The hoops this time are mainly it requiring Temur mana, since you can’t just play a wrath from the graveyard for 3WWU like you could with Snapcaster. Still, I’m very optimistic about this one since it lets you use the creature to harmonize a mana discount. Temur tends to be the better of the tri-colors to splash since blue plays for the long game and green tends to be best at mana fixing (and also tends to play a slower game) which definitely helps.
Most of the juice with the discount is in blue (Stock Up, Mystic Confluence) with some discounts in red and green (Pest Infestation is a nice hit), which is nice, but since it can be used at EOT, requiring a tap isn’t the worst thing. There’s the temptation to say “I won’t be fooled again by this” via mental shortcutting, but providing a discount via Harmonize makes me think this has potential - but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was wrong on this.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 5
Snapcaster Mage that helps you cast the Flashback? Sign me up! The only thing I would be concerned with here is the intense colored mana requirement of casting the Songcaster followed by whatever spell is being harmonized. Still a cool card, and definitely the sort of thing I had wanted to see more of out of this set!
Usman:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4
Gave this a whirl and it was better than I expected, did a LOT, like surveiling 3 when gaining 3 life when there was nothing to counter - which was always a weakness with cards like the original Mystic Snake, when you had nothing to counter and it was such a bad play to run it out as is. I’ve seen my fair share of cards that are a jack-of-all-trades but aren’t good enough to be worth playing, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well this played.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 3
Mystic Snake? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within the Sultai clan!? Can I see it? In some Cubes, maybe! It would be nice if Fangkeeper’s Familliar is as cool as Mystic Snake was back in Apocalypse. We’ll see.
Usman:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 4
Being a 3/3 first strike helps this to be nice, since the floor’s at least pretty respectable unlike something like Sea Gate Stormcaller, which never amounted to much. LSV’s limited review talked about this being more of a 5-6 mana card, which makes sense and makes it a lot easier to cast off-curve - and being able to trigger off of any spell is a big help on making the copy mode more live than not.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3.5, Vibes: 4.5
I don’t know if this is better than Mantis Rider, but I think it would have more style points if they were both brand new cards. Copying a Lightning Bolt with this seems great!
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4, Vibes: 4
I liked this a lot more when I thought this was a Banisher Priest. As-is it’s sort of a big creature that puts Splinter Twin on one of your other guys for free. I think it’s probably pretty good?
Usman:
Power: 3.75, Vibes: 4
Since this lacks blue and green, it is arguably the worst tricolor combination for splashing but it still has a fine base rate as a 4/4 flying dragon if it has nothing good to copy, although it’s obviously absurd with anything with an ETB trigger. I could see this doing work in decks like Orzhov that splash it.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2.5, Vibes: 5
This is pretty close to Siege Rhino and Kolaghan’s Command, stapled together in Dragon form. I like both of those cards, and Sonic Shrieker embodies them both. This is definitely on the lower end of cards we’re talking about, but I really wanted to shout it out because most of the dragons in the set aren’t this cool in my view.
Usman:
Power: 4.5, Vibes: 4
Potentially from overatoning from my sin of underrating Stock Up, but I tried this out and it was… pretty close to Stock Up? You can’t just splash this but this may just be my favorite Sultai card of the set.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4.5, Vibes: 4.5
Twobrid mana is very stylish. I like all ten of these cards for various use-cases, but this one is by far my favorite.
The Spirit Dragon Cycle
Usman:
Shiko, Paragon of the Way: Power: 4, Vibes: 4.5
Ureni, the Song Unending, Teval, Arbiter of Virtue: Power: 3.75, Vibes: 4.5
Shiko has a very good rate if you can consistently get a small spell into the graveyard - it’s a broken record but not being limited to instants and sorceries really helps to make this live more often.
I don’t have particularly strong feelings about the others, aside from seeing Teval do some work as a Baneslayer Angel riff that could potentially cheat things out (but usually was more a drawback - but one negated via a 6/6 flying lifelinker) and Ureni, the Song Unending as another Dragonlord Atarka riff that has some form of protection built in, even it’s worse when cheated out (but still fine for killing a thing or two.)
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 1
These cards are almost universally bad. Not weak. Bad designs… at least for 1v1 formats. Why? Because they weren’t made with the normal fundamentals of Magic in mind. The vast majority of these cards seem like they were made for Commander first and foremost, which has different needs than normal Magic. There are a couple that are fine cards, like Shiko, Paragon of the Way and (to a lesser extent) Neriv, Heart of the Storm. But I have to be honest: Teval, Arbiter of Virtue is probably the single worst design in this set. The drawback here is too steep for any format where you’re going to be starting with the usual 20-life total. The sad part is: all of these characters also have cards in the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander decks. I genuinely think the Commander deck versions are almost all closer to what a 1v1 format would want than the main set versions. What a shame.
Jeskai Revelation, Rediscover the Way
Usman:
Power: 4 (Rediscover), Jeskai Revelation (3.75), Vibes: 4
I noted good feelings about Rediscover the Way in my early impressions article as a Narset riff that can just burst damage people out of the game. There were some Jeskai control decks that utilized that and Jeskai Revelation as finishers, and I did like how Revelation represented board/stack interaction, which is something I’d not seen discussed that often, since cards like Magma Opus and Cruel Ultimatum didn’t usually impact the board/stack that much. Since they’re tri-color and I don’t know how much room I realistically have for tri-color cards in my cube, I’m likely going to play Rediscover over Revelation but both seem currently underrated and solid.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 4 (Rediscover), Jeskai Revelation (3), Vibes: 5 (Rediscover) 3.5 (Jeskai Revelation)
I love Sagas! Rediscover the Way feels like Jeskai’s take on Dig Through Time in Saga form. I think its easily the coolest of the Sagas, and probably the most powerful, too! I don’t have much to say here other than I enjoy this card and hope people find a reason to put it in their Cubes!
I’m a little bit less high on Jeskai Revelation. It did some cool things in the Streamer event, and it provides a nice Smörgåsbord of effects for a single card. However, I feel like it’s oblique enough that people might not recognize its power unless it becomes a known card. Having said that, I think this is mostly an upgrade over something like Magma Opus, a card which was always cool but never did much.
MISC (Colorless, lands, etc.)
Usman:
Power: 4.25, Vibes: 5
It’s an artifact payoff that does something even if countered, although it’s a nombo with artifacts like Esper Sentinel which have a color - but I like what it can represent for rampy decks that just want to spam its + ability to draw cards, as I could see it potentially ending games where the card advantage and life claws the game out of reach (and where its mana ability is used to double spell.) It’s a high cost to buy in but if it exiles 2 things via another colorless spell, it’s almost assuredly worth the high 7 mana investment. Another “cautiously optimistic” one from me.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 3, Vibes: 4
I feel like this card is probably more for Tron decks in Modern than the vast majority of Cubes. That said, I think it is a unique finisher for ramp decks! And hey, maybe a Cube with the tron lands could also make use of this!
The Wedge Lands
Usman:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
I’m really not a fan of the whole “this is bad for a land slot” since it assumes some kind of status quo where a cube can only have a certain number of land slots and can’t dynamically change its environment. That said, the only ones I really cared about were the white ones (as a more offensive “dude ranch”,) red and green ones. I guess the black one’s not bad as a kinda Moorland Haunt effect either. The drawback of entering tapped was annoying, though.
TrainmasterGT:
Power: 2, Vibes: 2
I am not too inspired by these cards, but I think the Black, Red, and Green ones seem fun. It’s too bad the Blue one is a narrow hate card that basically only works against other Blue decks, otherwise I could see Cubing this whole cycle!
Usman: Thanks for reading! You can find more of my Cube thoughts and my recently updated cube list on my Linktree. If you would like to hear more from TrainmasterGT, you can read about his Cube on Riptdelab, view the list on CubeCobra and his podcast Cube Engineers on Substack. You can also follow him on Bluesky!