0 - unplayable in 40 card singleton
1 - effectively unplayable
2 - has low tier constructed decks it might go in
3 - has mid tier constructed decks it does go in
4 - pretty powerful stuff with several potential homes, able to perform well in lower powered cubes
5 - powerful stuff that is either just too narrow or has too many superior alternatives
6 - fringe cube worthy
7 - cube worthy
8 - cube staple
9 - unpowered cube bomb
10 - powered cube bomb
City on Fire 7
This is Fiery Emancipation but given the convoke treatment. Overall I think that makes this better. Six is a bit much for most decks but four or five isn't. The dynamic means by which you can play this and how it isn't likely to be an over extension is all very appealing. Things like Seasoned Pyromancer and Anax make it super viable to play this 8 mana card in decks with curves ending at 4, even 3. It is a lot of potential reach and value. Should ever the game stall you get to pause, flop this out, and then threaten lethal on the board and from hand with a lot more conviction! One of many very powerful cards in this set that do nothing by themselves. It will be interesting to see where the new mark lies for such cards. All the older less powerful cards of this nature have been crept out of the cube over the last few years such that most decks are just removal/answers and threats now. All these new cards like City on Fire would have made the cube recently but if they still can will be interesting to see.
Tribute to the World Tree 6.5
Another GGG card I see. Garruk's Uprising was decent in cube but a little unpredictable. This is a lot more reliable but pays for it by having a much more demanding cost. You were only really playing either in green based decks anyway but still... These are also both still cards that do nothing by themselves and that is, as just mentioned an issue. As such they need to go above and beyond. Tribute probably manages that although I am not sure if I wouldn't just rather have Guardian Project. I have found I come close to decking myself with Project and so the counters on small guys might be a buff. Equally, these being very green things perhaps GGG is a better cost than 3G. It is all very close and worth a test that is for sure. Power here is good but it is a hard card to play and those kinds of cards usually fail to get the numbers. It might well just be supplanted by the new Ozolith from the get go before getting much of a chance to prove itself.
Kolga and Yidaro 7
This is a lot of card. Options and power up the wazoo. It may be gold and it might be competing with the likes of Inferno Titan and Dragonlord Atarka but utility and potentially lower cost usages should carry this to cube. Four mana to Naturalize is poor but stick a cantrip on it and you are a bit happier. Especially if you get to shuffle your massive threat back into the deck. And this is a big fuck-off threat with an insurance policy built in. The actual card is great, somewhere between Glorybringer and Voracious Hydra. Either you slap them hard for 7 trample or you swat out their dork and leave your big fat one sitting there staring them down. Much as this is an auto include as of right now there is so much top end from this set looking to go into and dominate the cube that perhaps this is looking too slow, gold, and fair all of a sudden.
Render Inert 3
Likely too narrow but you can at least always cycle this! In a world with a lot more battles and planeswalkers this might pack the required utility but in a dork and tempo dominated meta this is just doing too little too infrequently.
Invasion of Muruganda 1
A five mana sorcery speed fight card you say? Moving on.
Invasion of Arcavios 1
I'm not sure you could play this at three mana. This is appalling tempo and dubious utility. I certainly wouldn't play this in combo. Or in control. I struggle to see the place where this is anything more than a fun card.
Invasion of Shandalar 4
Now this is more of the kind of invasion we are looking for. Five mana to get back three things is a reasonable deal. Flipping into personal Show and Tell every turn is cute too. Quite cheaply too for such a big invasion. Much as I like this card I cannot see it making the cut. Three is a lot, not many bins have three things you want in them. There is too much exile removal, graveyard removal, and often just too much stuff sitting in play staring at each other. Getting a good triple Regrowth will be hard, even getting two things you want and like a land will be less than common. Equally, by the time you do that then flip this, how useful is the Show and Tell? Feels like not at all. I might play this in a kind of super big deck, some kind of Tooth and Nail mashup. Beyond that I cannot see 40 card decks having the wiggle room to sensibly use this very well. Play another big threat or more low end and reliable value, don't play this silly situational half mast card. Not in 40 card decks at least, the bigger they get the more accommodating they can be to these tools
Invasion of Lorwyn 1
A six mana sorcery speed conditional removal spell. This would need Emrakul levels of back end to even start a conversation about playability in formats of cube power level.
Ayara, Widow of the Realm 7
The front end is fine. It offers some reach, some lifegain, and some utility. Sure, it is weak to removal but at 3/3 size and just three mana I am OK with that for the most part. The transform is decent too adding threat, value, and more utility to the card. I think two things will give this a chance in cube. The first is suitability, black loves a sac outlet. The second is the capacity for some fun scaling with a variety of cards that have much higher mana values than you actually paid for them.
Invasion of Alara 1
Weeee! This is all rather fun. Front end is a bit of value at a mild tempo cost. Back end is a bit of everything. Much as this is fun it isn't all that powerful and is rather aimless. In a world where cards with the WUBRG cost, or anything close to it, are game breaking bombs this is not getting a look in.
Invasion of Xerex 1
A four mana sorcery speed Unsummon? Are you kidding me? The art on the back is cool but erm, struggling to see where I would get anywhere close to my manas worth here. Brazen Borrower literally just wet itself reading this....
Invasion of Mercadia 6
Front end is a fairly close to going rate for that kind of card filtering in red. The back end dork is decent utility as well. Just a 3/3 is meaty and feels good off the back of your 2 mana setup battle. The ability it has is also pretty strong and gives lots of utility, synergy, and angles of attack. This is a pretty fair looking card but it is interesting, reasonable value, and all seemingly quite suitable. My best guess is that this is a little too fair and a little too near the floor of its potential in cube to last but it is looking like one of the better battles. Certainly one of the more rounded and nicely designed ones.
Omen Hawker 7
So this is a Sol Ring on legs. Literally no way this isn't the centrepiece of some decks. This is too powerful not to find a way to abuse. Omen Hawker is comfortably legacy power level if you can find the right payoff to go with it. Hawker is a bit of a lock in for cube already without any real synergy and cube is one of the places it is going to underperform relative to the other formats. Silly silly card. Lets have a very quick gloss over some of the cards I think this will be most insane with. Arcum's Astroblame! Urza's Saga. Reckoner Bankbuster. Umezawa's Jitte. Any Signet. Shark Typoon. Cycling. Incubate? This card opens up blue very nicely and at very low cost. I do look forward to playing with it at least. Broken enablers with no obvious direction are at least fun and interesting to begin with. I would rather have broken cards like this than game ending threats and the self contained all rounder stuff we have been getting. I wonder if this is good enough to finally get Thran Turbine the love it has deserved for so long! Keep your 8 key and 8 cast decks, I'm all about that 8 ring!
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