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
Arni Metalbrow 2
Not useless but plenty of better options. Good EDH build around card but in cube this is hard to get value with. Arni by himself is just giving haste to things really, I guess bypassing countermagic somewhat too. Even with high cost dorks Arni is only ever offering mana savings and not card advantage. I guess the gimmick is to flop out some Myr Enforcer type card and cheat out a six drop. All very clever and not worth doing outside of commander.
Plargg and Nassari 3
Not as good in heads up play as it is in multiplayer. Slow and vulnerable is my main issue here. This will draw and play the worse of two cards each turn. That is a card and a couple of mana. Decent. New compleated Omnath decent. But still not good enough.
Tazri, Stalwart Survivor 3
Another cool looking EDH build around card that is just a bit narrow for cube.
Jirina, Dauntless General 3
Sure, this is great in a tribal humans deck and not elsewhere.
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival 3
I like this one a lot. Easy to power up and lots of nice things it works with. Still however too narrow for most drafting cubes.
Danitha, New Benalia's Light 3
I almost didn't bother reviewing this, only really a sense of OCD completion compelled me. Like so many new cards this is great in the places that want it and narrow enough to not be wanted much elsewhere. That, and the name was tediously long to copy. Turns out I am happier writing a paragraph complaining about something than I am copying out a couple of words... Oh, and the other thing I am saying a lot, specifically with this set, great looking EDH card. Basically this Aftermath set is just an EDH primer set. Hasbro experimenting with new and exotic ways to milk their fattest of cows - the commander community.
Nashi, Moon's Legacy 5
I do rather like this one. Mostly for the ward. It is too many colours and a bit overly conditional to be a good cube card but there is something to this that I find appealing.
Sigarda, Font of Blessings 6
Plenty of power here but I fear it is just not enough. Much as I want to be playing angels and humans I imagine that aspect of the card is netting you about a fifth of a card per cast. That in turn makes me prefer the likes of tame old Yasharn. I would rather guarantee two basics in hand than wait around for the wiff of playing an angel of a human. Yes, hexproof to my stuff is great but it doesn't protect the high value Sigarda while Yasharn actually can protect himself. This will just under perform in cube, the best thing about it will be the 4/4 flying body and that is not where I am at with my gold cards. I would still probably chose to play Shalai, Voice of Plenty over this in cube and I cut that long ago.
Niv-Mizzet, Supreme 7
This is going to be pretty brutal in most cubes where colourless and gold answers to it will be in short supply. Just a flying hexproof 5/5 is winning a lot of games. The jump-start is cute but doesn't need to do much for this to be good. Sadly this is probably the wrong kind of good, I like cards to be interactive. If you support the mana and have a lot of five colour decks in your cube this is going to get play and results. Most cubes seem to be able to comfortably support five colour decks now with the full ten Triomes and with cards like Omnath kicking around they are pretty popular and powerful too. Whether you want to add this big True-Name Nemesis to that archetype it or not is another matter!
Nissa, Resurgent Animist 6
Big lotus cobra! Plucking elves and elementals out of the deck will be nice too, it should happen fairly often, lots of green dorks are elves and a couple of dorks in most colours are elementals. Good though this is it isn't really good enough. I would play Tireless Provisioner or just Lotus Cobra over this if I wanted mana. Llanowar Visionary if I wanted cards and mana. And like, a whole pile if cards if I am about the value. This Nissa just isn't quite powerful or reliable enough to be where it is at. Not good enough at any one role and not quite high enough raw power to ignore the previous shortcomings.
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep 2
Blah blah blah EDH.
Sarkhan, Soul of Aflame 3
Blah blah blah mostly EDH.
Samut, Vizier of Naktamun 6
If this draws you a card it is good. If it draws more than one it is great. If it draws removal from your opponent it is OK and the rest of the time it is likely bad. The keywords are a lot but they are paired with mediocre stats. I think the average cards drawn from this per cast will be close to 1 but assuredly below it. That means this isn't likely to be cube worthy despite being close.
Ob Nixilus, Captive Kingpin 6
Big powerful body with fairly impressive effects. The effects are however ones that really need supporting and that could well result in this being too narrow. If you play this and get no triggers it is pretty rubbish. This is situational and top end payoff for an archetype that really doesn't lack for those things at all. I am pretty sure I would be paying Falkenrath Aristocrat over this in my aristocrat builds.
Tyvar the Bellicose 1
Expensive and a bit aimless. Yes, this can go all sorts of wild with the likes of Priest of Titania but there are far better ways one can win when you have an active Priest in elves... This might appeal in 100 card elf decks but it isn't getting a look in at 40 card lists. The card isn't bad or anything, nice big statline and some deathtouch. It is just always going to have a long list of superior options regardless of the task at hand. Cards want to either be narrow synergy bombs or generic all round power houses. Having a bit of narrow synergy scaling and a solid high power level just tends to mean the card will miss out on both potential homes rather than appealing in multiple places.
Calix, Guided by Fate 3
All a bit wishy washy. This can line up to do powerful things but it can be a bit of a do nothing Grey Ogre. Enchantment decks, like aristocrat decks, do not want for payoff, what they want is support cards. Technically this is a bit of both and it is fun so it should get some play. Just manage ones expectations with this gimp.
Narset, Enlightened Exile 4
Fine card. Some perks, some value. Mostly this is a 3 colour 4 drop value card that needs to attack to be said value. That rules it out two or three times over. And yet it is still pretty clearly a very powerful card. You could put it in cubes and it would not seem out of place,
Nahiri, Forged in Fury 2
You can do some cool builds that drop the cost of this very quickly. Sadly the payoff then offered isn't really all that impressive. You might as well reduce down some Myr Enforcer and do so with better cards... I'll certainly play this in the right deck but it feels like that will be a 100 card one and not a 40 card one.
Karn, Legacy Reforged 2
Um, so, prolly another EDH card. Tolarian Academy trigger is great even if only colourless. Having to pony up the 5 mana first and have your dork survive the turn cycle however is less enticing.
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