Set Preview: Born of the Gods

Since I started cubing about a year ago, I have realized that the most exciting time to have a cube is during the launch of a new set and just before it (“Preview Season”). After seeing how the community responds to some of the cards initially, I thought I would take down some of my own thoughts and see how they hold up upon later scrutiny.

Mechanics

Each news set will normally carry a few new mechanics for cube designers to think about. The Devotion mechanic from Theros is the only one that I have seen up to this point in my cubing that has caused me to shift some of the direction of my cube. Here, we have the new mechanics for “Born of the Gods.”

Inspired

Whenever “creature” becomes untapped, “effect.”

So, this ability looks like it has promise. Creatures are going to get tapped for various reasons in my cube (obviously attacking becomes the most dominant reason). I think that this ability strapped to an aggro creature could be pretty powerful since you’ll get use out of it more often than not. That said, blue creatures with this ability could be pretty crazy when you consider the presence of Opposition.

Tribute

Tribute X (As this creature enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may place X +1/+1 counters on it).
When “creature” enters the battlefield, if tribute wasn’t paid, “effect.”

Tribute is an ability that probably won’t make huge waves in my cube. I don’t care a whole lot for abilities that give my opponent control of how it works out. Not only that, but the removal in my cube (and most other cubes for that matter) is good enough that paying the tribute and then simply killing the card is often going to be the best bet. The obvious caveat here being that a creature with Haste or Trample would take serious consideration on the part of your opponent. Since Tribute appears on both Red and Green cards, I think both of these scenarios are worth considering.

Part of the problem I see with this mechanic, is that the card is going to have to be a standout before the tribute is paid and after the tribute is factored in. Otherwise, it will be similar to Breaking Point (that basically doesn’t do anything, ever). Don’t get me wrong, Breaking Point is fun to play, but it is rarely difficult to decide if one takes the damage or sweeps the creatures. If the cards with Tribute on them make the choice difficult, then those specific cards will be worth consideration.

Cards

Here, I’ll take a look at some specific cards from the set and how I feel about them. I won’t be commenting on all 165 cards from this set (that would get a little long). So below are the cards that struck me as having some potential for my cube (and maybe cubing in general).

“Minor Gods”

As was expected, Born of the Gods is going to expand on the Gods from Theros. These ones carry a 7 devotion requirement in order to become creatures, but they are all two colors. Getting to 5 devotion in a single color is difficult, but can be done with enough reliability that I evaluate those gods as creatures and enchantments. There simply aren’t enough permanents on the battlefield at any given time to consider the creature aspect of these gods in my evaluation. Being that they are all going to be gold cards, these gods are going to have a tough time getting into my cube.

White

• Brimaz, King of Oreskos: I was beginning to worry that white wasn’t going to get anything when this card was revealed… Now I am trying to figure out where I am going to put this card in my white section. For me, a card like this almost needs to be in my cube, it is arguably the best 3cc white creature ever printed. I do lots of token support and aggro is a thing so this goes well with both of those things. Oh… this card also pretty much nullifies any red removal other than Fireblast or Flame Javelin (but most people really want to hit a player with those spells anyway). The only drawback here is that Brimaz is likely going to ‘be a thing’ in standard. I’ll have to hope that I pull one randomly or I’ll be waiting to buy it until after it rotates out of standard. Of course, I’ll have to hope that it doesn’t turn out to be awesome in Modern or Legacy.
• Archetype of Courage: When I initially saw this card, I liked it a lot. But, as I’ve had more time to think about it, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t really do much. Most, if not all, of the first strike creatures in my cube are in white. So, if I run this card out there, then the fact that it removes first strike will basically do nothing. That means that when I put my cards in my deck, I probably won’t have room to put this one in.
• Revoke Existence: So, I have been running a few of the gods in my cube and this card would be just the answer to the difficulty in removing them. I’m not totally sure I want to run it though. I feel like I would have to cut Disenchant for this (since there isn’t really much room elsewhere) and the Sorcery speed of Revoke Existence is a big drawback there. This one will take some more time to think about before I really settle on it.

Blue

• Arbiter of the Ideal: This was the first card spoiled with the new “Inspired” mechanic. Taking that mechanic out of the equation, it is a 4/5 Flyer for 6. Right now, I am running two creatures with a 6cc (Frost Titan and Aetherling). I’m not sure that this card will be enough to really want to run it right now. That said, there is some potential for this card along side a card like Opposition or Hidden Strings. Even Ral Zarek could benefit from a card with a mechanic like this. As it is though, I don’t think paying 6 mana for potential combo advantage is good math… By the time you get to the point that you are able to cast a 6 drop, you probably don’t really care all that much about the card advantage this card generates.
• Thassa’s Rebuff: This is a counter that I am trying to decide on. I am pushing a blue devotion theme in my blue section. That said, I don’t know if the flexible casting cost on this card is going to work out well since it also requires lots of blue things to be out. That implies that the flexible cost of the spell isn’t going to be all that important. I am going to give this card a shot (probably in place of Remand or Memory Lapse), and see how it plays, but I’m not sure how I feel about it just yet.

Black

• Pain Seer: Another ‘inspired’ card. This one is most likely going to get compared to Dark Confidant as it generates a similar effect. I think that this card works out to be less powerful by a long shot. The Pain Seer would have to get through a blocker or be tapped through some other means before the ability would trigger. Also, you would not get to draw a card off of it until T4 in most cases. This seems pretty slow for this type of ability. I am not running Dark Confidant in my cube and I will also not be running this card. I imagine that there will be people out there that will run this but I don’t think this is a cube card for me. Constructed players will probably get some use out of it (constructed players are always greedy for card drawing) though.
• Herald of Torment: A 3/3 flyer for 3 that also loses you a point of life each turn isn’t something that I would look for in any color other than black. As of writing this, I only have 3 creatures in the 3 spot for black. I could obviously use something in that place. The bestow on this card is somewhat expensive, but it adds a little flexibility to the card that could be just enough to put it over the edge.

Red

• Forgestoker Dragon:  This seems like a card that is going to be amazing in regular limited play. Unfortunately, I don’t think it does enough at the six spot to get into my cube. My previous experience with 6cc cards is that I want them to impact the game the turn they are cast. I don’t think this card does it for my cube. I am only running one card at that spot right now (Inferno Titan) and I think that is about enough. Another consideration is that Thundermaw Hellkite costs less mana, has haste, removes blockers, and has an additional point of toughness (the benefits of being mythic I guess).
• Flame-Wreathed Phoenix: This is exactly the kind of card that I would like to see with the tribute mechanic. A 3/3 haste with recursion is pretty good (although not game breaking). A 5/5 flyer is also not bad at a four mana cost. If my opponent casts a card like this I will have to consider what I have on the table and in my hand at the time. It won’t be a clear cut decision in a lot of cases and those types of decision points are nice. The main problem this card is going to have among cubers is that it is at a spot that is very competitive in most cubes. Red has a lot of really good 4 drops. I don’t know if this card is good enough to make that cut.
• Reckless Reveler: This is basically another copy of Torch Fiend. My cube doesn’t really need another copy of this effect, but some larger cubes might like it. That said, I do like the art on this better so if I happen to pull a copy of it, I’ll switch it out.
• Satyr Firedancer: The effect on this card is so cool. It will make every red spell so much better… That said, this creature will normally die on sight as it is a 1/1. Which makes me wonder… why is this a creature at all? There is no scenario that I would actually attack with this thing so basically it is a really easy to remove enchantment. I know that Wizards is trying to push this enchantment/whatever thing, but this is silly.
• Epiphany Storm: Terrible card, but the artwork is amazing. The foil version will probably by fantastic as well.

Green

• Nessian Wilds Ravager: This is a good example of a card that I was worried about with the tribute mechanic. I don’t know that I have any scenario where I wouldn’t pay the tribute for this card. It doesn’t have trample, so it isn’t really going to be scary as a 12/12. The fact that not paying the tribute is essentially letting your opponent randomly kill one of your creatures means I will almost never let that happen. I guess I could choose not to pay the tribute when I had no creatures on the table, but if that is the case at that point in the game, I have other problems.
• Unravel the Aether: I really like this card. This is the first card I’ve seen that immediately made me look for space in my cube. I don’t know that it will be for every cube out there, but my cube has lots of enchantments in it (the Theros gods among them). Being able to get rid of those cards is a huge bonus.
• Courser of Kruphix: I am really looking forward to having this card in my cube. I’ve needed some stuff to replace my lackluster 3 drops for a while. This will fit the bill perfectly. It has a big body to help make sure that it sticks for a little while, and it generates card advantage with the fact that you can play lands off the top of your library. Even without the life-gain aspect of this card, it would be good enough, that part of it is just an added bonus.

Multi

• Kiora, the Crashing Wave:  This was the first card spoiled for this set back on Christmas. Each set carries a few new Planeswalkers but this one is especially exciting since it gives us the first ‘Simic’ walker. I don’t know for sure that this one will end up in my cube, but I do like Kiora a lot. Her +1 is something I don’t particularly care for, but her -1 seems pretty good. It ramps (like Green wants to do) and it draws cards (like Blue/magic players) want to do so that is nice. Her ultimate (-5) is completely ridiculous and would probably just result in scoop if you hit it. The main downside here is that she only has 2 Loyalty when she comes down so it might be hard to keep her on the table longer than one turn (even if you tick her up to 3 when she hits the table). My verdict for Kiora is that she will need testing to see how she fits in my cube, and I imagine this will be the case for most cubes. Also, the artwork on this card is amazing.
• Mogis, God of Slaughter: I couldn’t really judge this card as a creature, but as an enchantment, it will support a sort of sub-theme that I have running through my black section. Right now, I’m running Desecration Demon, Jinxed Idol (super fun card btw), Pestilence, etc… This card will run right into that type of strategy and essentially become a lesser version of Sulfuric Vortex. It isn’t terribly fast and I’m not certain how well it would work in other strategies, but this card is going to be one of the cards that I give a test run.
• Xenagos, God of Revels: If you read the forums you’ll read something like this: “Gruul Decks don’t want to do stuff other than Thundermaw Hellkite on T5.” Of course, you can exchange Thundermaw for something else that is a 5cc ‘finisher’ for the aggro decks. I will agree that this is probably true for most Gruul aggro decks. I don’t agree with that statement because I don’t think every Gruul deck is an aggro deck. I’ve seen more than a few Gruul ramp decks, mid-range decks, and even a few control decks in the form of Wildfire decks. I think I’ll be trying Xenagos out personally. I like cards that let you do things that aren’t possible through other means. This fits that bill perfectly. Maybe it will give my Gruul section some identity that will draw people into it.

Colorless

• Astral Cornucopia: This is a fantastic card to teach about card evaluation. At a glance, this card could technically generate crazy amounts of many. In reality though, it isn’t really like that. In most cases, it is only going to give you one mana of any color for a cost of 3. This means that you would have to compare it to Darksteel Ingot, Pristine Talisman, and Chromatic Lantern. I think all of those cards are better than this one. Any time you are dealing with getting more mana out of it than that, you are paying 6 for 2 mana (which is a much lesser version of Gilded Lotus), or 9 for 3 (still a lesser version of Gilded Lotus), or 12 for 4 (which why do you need more mana when you can generate 12 anyway?).

Re-Looks

The addition of new mechanics and cards should carry impact on older cards. Here are some random cards that I thought deserved a second look after seeing what is coming for my cube…

• Hidden Strings: If “Inspired” becomes  a thing in my cube, this card would be able to do a lot of work. It would still require you actually hit something with it, but the potential would make it a good addition.

Conclusion

Well there is the list of cards I thought were worth discussing from Born of the Gods. I’m sure that I missed some and perhaps miss-evaluated the ones I did list here. From the look of it, I have three cards that are almost sure to be in my cube. Green will get the biggest boost and hopefully this will help to give my Gruul section an identity to make it worth drafting into.