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
Botanical Brawler 3
This can get out of hand very fast! Ideal beater in those Hardened Scales sorts of deck. Turn 1 Scales, turn 2 this as a 3/3, turn 3 make any dork that puts a counter on itself and have a 5/5 Brawler swinging in! Too narrow for cubes that are not directly supporting counters synergies but a house in places that are.
Archpriest of Shadows 6
I don't like this card, it seems situational and a bit win more. That being said it is pretty powerful. If you have any dork that can connect, or that can only trade up really effectively, and also a half reasonable recursion target in the bin then Archpriest is awesome. If you have no such dork it is just a five mana 5/5 slow crappy dork. The former is not that unlikely. This reminds me of Fallen Shinobi which wasn't a very fun card to play against. So, even if this is good it will be very polar and so I hope it isn't.
Boon-Bringer Valkyrie 6
Nice clean simple card. You get a bit of a Baneslayer at worst and a useful one off cheeky attack in addition to that at best. This is good for stabilizing, it is good at planewalker and battle control. It is a fine card with decent utility given how simple it looks. Backup is an interesting and impressive mechanic. I want this to succeed a lot more than Archpriest of Shadows but I fear it might be the lower power of the two even if it is a much better designed card.
Invasion of Ergamon 3
A treasure and a loot for two mana is cute. A nice amount of setup for a turn three. Very combo looking all told. I have used Wily Goblin, Strike it Rich, and a number of two mana red and green spells that help put stuff in the bin. It is very likely a bunch of exotic builds will play this as a support card with zero intent to ever flip it. The dork is certainly powerful for two mana but it isn't two mana. It is that, and a long delay and five lost damage. There are plenty of situations I would much rather not have this and have a card, 5 damage, and two mana. That is obviously not the most reasonable comparison however it does somewhat highlight the issue some of these battles are going to have in terms of suitability. I am certainly more interested in the second discard trigger than I am the 3/4 dork! For cube this is way too niche and low powered. Yes, all decks want treasure and loots and the option on bonus dorks. In practice no one wants to pay the combined card and mana cost for this.
Invasion of Ikoria 2
Finale of Devastation is not in my cube and nor is Chord of Calling and both would make it in before this. The flip is quite cool, it gives you a thing to work towards if needed but it doesn't much matter as you don't want the front half which is the absolute bulk of the deal. Tempo is too important to be paying two mana over the rate for any dork when it isn't a game winning combo you are finding.
Invasion of Fiora 7
Six is rather too much mana for a Wrath, even five is a real stretch. I can get behind a flickering Wrath a bit more, especially one with a bit of modality on it that can allow me to keep some things in play potentially. In a deck built around this effect somewhat, say an EDH deck, I can see it being potent. Marchesa is outstanding. She flips battles, kills walkers, draws cards, and is generally quite beefy. Taking her out in combat is costing you 2 dorks minimum and is generally pretty scary. There is probably a bit too much card here for it not to work out in cube. A bit like Massacre Wurm. Just a powerful effect right away with some pretty high powered residual. This is a much more potent Wrath effect but a less assured residue! Four "loyalty" is at least pretty low and easy to handle, especially if you manage to get anything resembling a one sided Wrath with the front side! There are a lot of legends in cube and so there is some legitimate modality here that could well allow for some same turn Wrath and flip affairs.
Invasion of New Phyrexia 6
This is certainly one of the best balanced in terms of the mechanic. You make dorks to help you flip it then you get a planeswalker so that you have not over extended. The walker isn't amazing but if all it cost was three of your knights getting through then it is amazing. Invasion is passable at X = 2, OK at 3, and getting good beyond that point. If you ever get the walker on top of that then you have had a very good deal. This is a flexible and versatile card that scales vey nicely indeed. It is a bit dull but it is to the point! Power wise this card seems decent enough for cube. The issue is it being gold and how much narrower and less well suited it make the overall package. I fear this just isn't getting the play it needs to last even if it is performing OK.
Traumatic Revelation 1
Bad hand disruption both in terms of cost and low target range. Hill Giant levels of compensation when it misses do not offset this shoddy suitability to purpose.
Seal from Existence 2
Cool upgrade to Oblivion Ring and yet still so far from Council's Judgement! A card which itself is on the edge of cube playability these days. Three mana sorcery speed removal is just real hard to use in such a way that leaves you ahead.
Etali, Primal Conqueror 5
This is pretty impressive all told. Certainly looking great for those multiplayer tables. This is reasonably value when you make it and a lot of threat while in play. Seven is too steep for this in cube practically but I think this would play pretty well considering. Lots of threat and not unreasonable value.
Elspeth's Smite 7
This is probably efficient enough given that narrower cards like Lay Down Arms and less powerful cards like Cut Down have all stuck around in cube against my expectations. Turns out removal is super key in this world of powerful dorks, and in a world of tempo those cheaper spells have legs. This is certainly a much better defensive card but I expect we will still see aggressive decks playing it.
Quintorius Loremaster 5
Sure, this is sufficiently powerful but it is a little bit slow and a little bit needy. Mostly it is a midrange gold card in an uncommonly played colour combo that is least often seen in midrange form. I might try this if my meta ever leans that way but it isn't an exciting or enticing card. Power is obviously enough but for this much opportunity cost we need more than just enough power.
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