Howdy, gamers, and welcome to another three-week run of the Magic Online (MTGO) Vintage Cube! The Cube is getting a pretty significant update this time with new Modern Horizons 3 goodies entering, as well as some “package” rotations. Let’s dig in!
Chris Wolf and Ryan Spain have broken down the update as per usual on the mothership, and I have ported the updated list over to Cube Cobra for ease of access. We’re not seeing any new “packages” this time around, just some new spins on things we’ve seen before, though cutting more support for green ramp is novel with this iteration. There are some more impactful changes being made on an individual card level, which is what you would expect after the release of a Horizons set, and there’s plenty to talk about today! Here’s my breakdown of the changelog by color and my thoughts on the current state of the environment.
White
Out:
In:
I like most of the cuts from white, though cutting a workhorse like Student of Warfare over dregs like Benevolent Bodyguard is weird, and it is sad to see Enlightened Tutor go, even if I personally basically never play it in this Cube. More of the cards coming in are excellent or at least very worth trying, though. Slops to Eagles of the North, but everything else is at least intriguing!
Ocelot Pride is mostly good for being a one, and its ability to juice up Skullclamp is among the bigger draws to it. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah also looks quite strong with Skullclamp! These cards are solid curve-filler, with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd being the most individually powerful card entering for white. Blinking their things, blinking your things, being a flash threat, that Dog does it all!
White Orchid Phantom can interact with some cards that generally make it difficult, but it’s less significant than cards like Containment Priest and Cathar Commander that come up more in the average game and that other players are more likely to fight over for their splashability. I imagine I’ll play White Orchid Phantom in most of my white aggro decks, but I’ll be relying on the ability to wheel it in the draft.
These updates leave white in more or less the same shape it was in before, so I’m still pretty big on white-based aggro decks, often with a small red splash for Forth Eorlingas!
Blue
Out:
In:
In the midst of recent debates on Karakas’s place in the MTGO Vintage Cube on social media, Akal Pakal, First Among Equals stands out as one of the worst cards to be featured in the Cube recently. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, except for my darling Mind’s Desire, these are good cuts! I will personally miss Jace Reawakened, as I thought the interaction with Valki, God of Lies was sick and worth building around, and it also stands out to me as one of the better cards to pair with Doomsday, but barring those interactions, I get how it’s not a Vintage Cube mainstay.
Those positive interactions add a lot more fun to the Cube than the negative interaction that is used to justify adding Dress Down. Citing specifically shutting down Thassa’s Oracle as the reason to add the card is bizarre, and I find that enabling players to do what they want proactively is far more valuable than shoving in answers for every conceivable situation.
This is less an indictment of Dress Down, which does have some cool applications, than the mentality to try to “balance” things with a heavy hand instead of just offering players cool things to do and seeing how they play out. Early on in my journey as a Cube curator, I valued these oddball answers highly, and it stands out as a bad habit that I’m glad to have moved away from.
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is a really solid addition as both a standalone powerful card and a somewhat subtle way to push artifact synergies, so I love that call. I also believe that Jace, Wielder of Mysteries is strong in any heavily blue deck, so I like seeing that one return, too. Gush is pretty weak these days, even if you’re supporting Storm, so I don’t like that call, but blue will be fine because blue is blue.
Black
Out:
In:
I won’t miss a single card on the outs here, and there are a few neat ones on the way in. Barrowgoyf, Nethergoyf, and Emperor of Bones are all fine cards that I could take or leave, but they do at least come at solid rates with something desirable beyond just attacking and blocking stapled on. That was the goal of cards like Hostile Investigator and Kaervek, the Punisher, but these cards all do a better job of delivering.
Doomsday is a fun card to have around, though it has never really worked out for me. I also generally like the Survival of the Fittest package. Crabomination looks like one of those cards that won’t even be that good in the decks that it’s good in, but it should lead to some nice stories, so I like that well enough.
I’m a bit disappointed to not see Mutated Cultist attempted with Dark Depths, though it is at least somewhat consistent with the previous removal of Vampire Hexmage. I have a hard time believing that Evolved Sleeper and Preacher of the Schism add more to the Cube than these cards, but alas.
Black remains a little confused with a bit too much midrange stuff going on, but the additional graveyard support does give the color something big to care about. I like the Survival decks pretty well, and Reanimator is still busted.
Red
Out:
In:
It was funny to me when “Name Sticker” Goblin (aka ________ Goblin in paper) stayed in the Cube after the last “Polish Update”, given that the card has now been banned in everything. It’s a great cut considering how many people build copies of this Cube in paper, and I don’t understand why the changelog reflects that it might be reintroduced to the Cube at a later time.
There’s a bit of a branding issue with red in this update, because the communication states that Prowess is rotating out, but it’s actually base-red aggressive decks being removed. Soul-Scar Mage supported a specific Prowess archetype, but Monastery Swiftspear and Grim Lavamancer are simply two of the most powerful one-drops for Mono-Red Aggro of all time. The death of one-drops in red makes the experiment with Ghostfire Slice much less appealing, though it is a fine removal spell with the ability to close games. I really don’t know how the Flare of Duplication experiment is supposed to work with the curve of red creatures looking the way that it does.
Obsidian Charmaw speaks to the same aspect of curation that I took issue with in Dress Down. I like having answers to powerful lands, but having a five-drop kill Tolarian Academy isn’t really anything. Putting in Charmaw at the same time as bouncelands, which are fairly weak relative to the environment and which require heavy subsidization, is an odd choice. Harsh Mentor is more of the same in this regard, with the card only being good if your opponent plays ball.
Detective’s Phoenix is a cool card that I expect to play well with all of the graveyard support, and Pyrogoyf is a banger, but I’ve gotta say, red looks like a mess right now. I don’t believe Tribal Flames is particularly powerful in this Cube, but it does send a clear and correct message that you should not play many basic Mountains during this run.
Green
Out:
In:
I definitely agree that it has been some time since green ramp was good in this Cube, though I would point to a reluctance to remove cards particularly punishing to the archetype, like Pyrokinesis and Delayed Blast Fireball, more than any green card. Tough Cookie, Mutagenic Growth, and Legolas’s Quick Reflexes are great cuts at least, and there are some good things coming in for green in this update.
Lands and Survival of the Fittest are both strong green archetypes, though Prismatic Omen is kind of a dud for being redundant with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and much weaker than that card which is already very specific. I also love the Springheart Nantuko call, and it’s going to open up all kinds of weird lines.
Arboreal Grazer was more or less unplayable last time around, so it’s weird to see that one get the nod over the superior Sakura-Tribe Scout. This is an oddball combo, but I would have at least liked to have seen Spelunking in alongside the Grazer, because if you bestow Springheart Nantuko onto Grazer and control Spelunking, you can play the same green bounceland over and over and make infinite Arboreal Grazers. Arguably the landfall triggers are more significant with that combo, but either way, you won’t be able to assemble it here!
I would expect green value piles, typically with a focus on graveyard and/or land synergies, to be one of the better-performing decks during this run.
Gold
Out:
In:
The only card on the outs here that I don’t understand is Leovold, Emissary of Trest, but as usual, most of the gold cards cycling in and out are somewhere in the middle or bottom of the power band and don’t impact the Cube at large all that much. There are a couple of exceptions here, though.
Psychic Frog is a massive update, and is possibly the best Dimir card of all time. Not only is it just an efficient standalone draw engine, it can size really well using its discard ability while also being a role-player in Reanimator decks. That one will be a high pick for sure.
I’m less certain where Nadu, Winged Wisdom lands in Vintage Cube, but I’m trying it in my own build and am happy to see here. The dream is to assemble it with Springheart Nantuko and Bristly Bill to just go off, and Lightning Greaves is pretty strong in that regard as well. I’m excited to see how consistently Nadu can perform!
Colorless
Out:
In:
More good swaps here, mostly situational cards leaving the Cube for some stuff that is a bit more efficient. Expedition Map is great for supporting specific lands, and Lightning Greaves is one of the better ways to push Nadu. Technically some artifact stuff is leaving, but these were pretty mid artifact support cards, with Nexus of Becoming being the most notable card on the outs. I personally like having that additional support for Mishra’s Workshop and cheaty strategies, but it’s not essential.
Lands
Out:
In:
I’m just generally convinced that Dark Depths Combo should be a mainstay of Vintage Cube, so I’m always happy to see it here. I don’t buy Shifting Woodland as an effective enabler, but the low opportunity cost does make it worth trying out. Arena of Glory also seems fine for the similarly low opportunity cost, but it stands to add less to the Cube.
Honestly, the biggest note I have about lands is that I have to give the Daybreak team a shout-out for not reaching for Sunken Ruins again when they reintroduced Doomsday. Darkslick Shores is just a better card, and a move away from those incredibly specific shifts is great to see!
I like a lot of the changelog for this run of the Cube. The curation of red and green stands out to me as being a bit confused, though green does at least support a couple of very appealing archetypes. I’ll own that, from what I’ve seen, I’ll absolutely have a bias in favor of updates like the previous “return to center” update over these “package” swaps, which I have had a difficult time not being critical of to this point. Perhaps my bar for the execution is too high, but it doesn’t help that I can’t see the vision. At any rate, I’ll definitely be drafting this month. See you in the queues!
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