Saturday 8 April 2023

March of the Machines Preliminary Review: Part 5

 

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 



Rankle and Torbran 2

Cute but a bit heavy on the costs, both colour intensity and total. Mostly I like this for the Torbran mode, the treasure seems weak and the edict is a bit narrow. This is just a worse Rankle or a worse Torbran which is double disappointment. 





Baral and Kari Zev 6

This is a fair old pile of card. Mostly it is just making a 2/1 on casts but it can save you a bit of mana every now and again instead. This token sticks around but it doesn't stack up so there is some nice tension on holding spells or wasting triggers. Overall this card is hard to answer, applies damage fairly effectively, and offers the chance at some value in pseudo card and/or mana form! Despite all this I doubt there is the space for this. A little narrow generally and a bit top end for the places that might want it. 




Voldaren Thrillseeker 7

Fascinating card that seems to have too high of a floor and too many options to not be a good cube tool. The power doesn't seem insane or anything but the card seems very well suited to cube play. By itself we have a 3/3 for 3 that you can toss to Bolt things for just 1 mana. Cratermaker and Emberhauler are both fine cards and performed well in cube. Those two drops would still perform fine but slightly better suited things have supplanted them such as Heartfire Immolator. Thrillseeker is obviously shifted up the curve a little so it is less of a support and curve card and will typically be fighting with much more potent cards for spaces in decks. It is at least better suited to the meatier meta I am experiencing at the moment. This is just the floor of Thrillseeker too! The ceiling gets a lot juicier when you can do all sorts of clever stuff to generate value and synergy etc. It does literally sound thrilling to use this to throw a Hangarback Walker at something and get an extra pair of thopters back for my efforts. You also still get to keep a nice 1/1 Thrillseeker to buff and be tricksy with if you do get to use the backup ability effectively. Anax another scary looking pairing for this. Super keen to play with this card and see what naughtiness I can get upto with it. 




Chrome Host Seedshark 7

Shocking that Shark Typhoon is the card that is getting a call back here... Seems like a more powerful Bygone Bishop, indeed a whiter feeling one that makes dorks rather than drawing cards! Overall this looks like too much card not to muscle into cube. A 2/4 flier for 3 is a really significant board presence. That is hard to kill, blocks like a champ, and can comfortably swing most of the time if it fancies. The fact that it gives ongoing value in a reasonably tempo orientated way that blue supports well is all a little eye opening. I can see a lot of games stabilizing where this is made with five mana total so that countermagic can protect it and provide instant incubation tokens. Once you untap with this badboy and start to cast the odd Confluence or Command the game is pretty over and that seems real easy to do. This is the kind of card blue needs to be packing these days to keep up with the sheer might of dorks in other colours. This isn't a bomb, it might well not even get play it other colours, it is just what blue lacks presently and should help keep the colour viable. 




Grafted Butcher 2

Cool lord but obviously under powered without support and not enough of that in cubes so a build around only card. 




Invasion of Dominaria 3

Assuming that this isn't going to make the cut although it is one of the battles I like a bit more for reasons unknown to me. Obviously the total package of Serra Angel, 4 life and a card for 3 mana is a joke good, even if you consider giving at least 5 life to the opponent. The issue is when this is just some life and a card and you slowly fall more behind. Or perhaps the issue is when you over extend to flip it. Perhaps there is no issue at all and the power level of the whole is so immense that you are OK with it being quite below par half of the time. That is possible although it probably would mean it didn't play all that well. Certainly interested to see how this does play as it is not all that clear. If we go on the potentially generous basis of a 50% flip we can think of this as a near Inspiring Overseer, a kind of 3 mana 2/2 flier that gives some life (to everyone) and cantrips. That would be good if it wasn't scaling entirely the wrong way, as in more dork when ahead, and less dork when behind. On top of that there is the likely delay in the body, the reduced flicker utility, the lowered reliability etc. All resulting in what looks to be a whole lot worse than Overseer. 




Terror of Towashi 2

While we are seeing more dorks that are bad against spot removal getting play (the reason for which is kind of interesting and probably merits an little article on) it does still require those kinds of dorks to have an obscene power level that Terror of Towashi simply lacks. This is too vulnerable, too much mana, and too situational in the payoff. 




Interdisciplinary Mascot 5

Delightful body and EtB trigger. Ward 5/5s are big game in cube. I think this lives and dies by the meta and support on offer. In a meta where your blue reliably has dorks in play and in reasonable number this card is outstanding. If not then you have far better options. I do think I am going to dump some token and cheap utility dork cards into blue and try and push the convoke mechanic a bit for this set. I do not expect it to last but it is fun and will help with testing! You want to be consistently and conveneiently casting Mascot for 5 mana meaning you need 3 reasonably spare dorks consistently. That is a lot, a lot less in cube than in most other formats, but none the less not something I would say any colour is assured or or too happy about needing, and hardest for blue. The result is a card that feels a bit win more. I want this to be good but doubt it will be in any where near enough places. 




 Axgard Artisan 2

This will make a great support card for some constructed synergy decks but it is too low powered to be getting into cubes. I really want turn one Llanowar Reborn (graft land) into this! It isn't bomblike, it is just neat and cute! 




Essence of Orthodoxy 1

Narrow and low power. Odds on you just get the one trigger from this. Give me a Cloudgoat Ranger over this all day long. Add to that list most five mana creature token generating cards in white since Lorwyn.  




Hoarding Broodlord 7

Love this card but fear it is a bit win more. Big dorks with convoke just ask to walk into mass removal. Even so, you do not need much of a discount on this before it looks good and there is enough little chaffy things floating around that casting this without over extending is going to relatively easy. Helped massively by this having a value EtB trigger. At six mana this is OK and starts to look increasingly impressive with each further reduction. If you know you are not facing mass removal the ceiling on this is pretty off the chart. If you are then a must kill threat with a Demonic Tutor is still a good card, just one with a bit more patience required. My cube is just too dork heavy for this not to shine. It is quite a different card but it is doing all the right kinds of things with a lot of power and utility to boot. 




Into the Fire 2

Modal mass removal in red has proven very powerful however this seems worse than both Brotherhood's End and Sweltering Sun and so is very unlikely to get a look in. The card is fine but low in power and not short on superior competition. 




Elegant Denial 5

A nice antidote to over extending! This is looking amazing at three mana and bearable at four. The more we see blue in dork and token heavy setting the better this looks. Imagine how good it will be flopping out Whirler Rogue and having the capacity to cast this as well! Right now I don't think it is quite there but is very close and gaining in suitability and support all the while. Much as I would like this to be cube worthy it is of course wishful thinking, overall this is too win more. You will more often lose from not being able to play this than you will win from getting a good rate on this.





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