Dominaria United and Brothers' War Considerations for Pauper Twobert

It is finally time to talk pauper cube and to look at some of the cards from the last couple sets I've been considering for the format!

In this post I will be writing about all the cards people may be considering for a pauper cube environment. While I'll be drawing a lot of context from my own  Pauper Twobert, I'll be less focused on whether these cards make it into my own cube and more on whether I think they're worth testing in most environments. Let's get started!

Argivian Cavalier

The Good: I've ran Attended Knight fairly happily for awhile and this trades the largely defensive First Strike keyword with DMU's more offensive Enlist keyword. Considering there are way more ways in pauper cube to stall out the board than to push damage through, that's a change I'm all for.

The Bad: Attended Knight has actually been getting pushed out for me since I have such a tight list at 240, the Inspiring Overseers of the world are powercreeping it out. That being said, if you're even a step above my cube size, I don't see this failing to make the cut.

The Verdict: I only run 2 white 3-drops and I'm not cutting Inspiring Overseer so it's either this or Priest of Ancient Lore. I honestly think I'll go with this just because it's a little more interesting.

Airlift Chaplain

The Good: Wind Drake use to be a classic creature in pauper cube so you could certainly do worse when you miss with this. When you do get a card off of this it's well worth it. White really has just been getting Phyrexian Rager after Phyrexian Rager and they're almost always going to be playable.

The Bad: 3 cards is not a lot to look at when you're looking for a or a couple specific card types. I really don't know if you want to be casting a card where you don't know if you're getting a Phyrexian Rager or a Wind Drake.

The Verdict: This card certainly has play to it, I think it's a little too inconsistent for my cube but I'd totally draft it if I see it elsewhere.

Loran's Escape

The Good: So in pauper cubes, protection spells see a lot more play than they do in unrestricted ones. God's Willing is my 1-mana protection spell of choice and this is essentially just as good.

The Bad: Really nothing bad to say about this, it does what it does well.

The Verdict: If you're in the market for a 1-mana protection spell this would be my first pick tied with God's Willing.

Recommission

The Good: Pauper cube can be a very grindy format and is often filled with creatures that have good ETB abilities. Reanimating any of these creatures with a stat boost on the cheap is going to feel very good. Unearth plays really well in my cube and even at double the mana this is probably good enough.

The Bad: It is double the mana of what we're use to spending when playing this effect. Even with the stat boost to the creature, it is possible this just doesn't play as well as one would think although I find it unlikely.

The Verdict: I'm so down for this card in my cube, I'm hoping it feels as good to play with as Unearth does.

Shore Up

The Good: This is a nice little protection spell and combat trick, certainly nice to have up your sleeve. I think this is the best blue protection spell variant and you'll definitely get people with that surprise blocker.

The Bad: In smaller environments this may be a bit redundant and unneeded considering blue has actual counter spells to protect their creatures.

The Verdict: I think this should play great and if you're playing anything akin to Dive Down, this will just be a better version.

Talas Lookout

The Good: A 3/2 flier is a nice body to have on your 4-drop that draws you a card. 3 power in the air means your opponent will have to kill this and you'll make out with a nice 3 for 2. Of course the selection and graveyard fueling aspect is always going to be nice.

The Bad: Less splashable than something like Organ Hoarder and doesn't work well with the popular blink theme in a lot of pauper cubes.

The Verdict: Certainly playable, but there are a lot of blue 4-drops I'd run before it.

Tolarian Terror

The Good: If you've played any amount of DMU limited you know how great this card is in a limited environment. In most environments this will quickly become a 1-mana 5/5.

The Bad: I have found Ward to be a lot less impressive in cube than it is in retail limited, games often advance a lot quicker to the point where the Ward doesn't matter anymore. 

The Verdict: Despite it tearing it up for me in my DMU drafts, I'm probably going to pass on this one for my twobert, I really would rather pay a little more and get a big creature that's a 2 for 1 or has actual hexproof. That being said I'd probably run it at a larger cube size.

Fallaji Archaeologist

The Good: A 2-mana 1/4 is crazy annoying if you at all support aggro. An 0/3 that draws you a card and fuels the graveyard is very good at 2-mana as well.

The Bad: Alright, I might be a bit jaded since I don't think I've ever hit off Augur of Bolas ever, but wow does Augur Bolas suck. I literally think I have a 0% success rate off Augur of Bolas, 3 looks is just not a lot to try to hit off of. Upgrading to noncreature in a pauper environment doesn't actually help that much as there are generally no planeswalkers and few artifacts, the biggest thing it will hit is actually enchantments but those are generally replacing the good instants/sorceries you get in unrestricted environments so it's not really increasing the hit rate.

The Verdict: I'm not a fan of this card and I won't be running it. If you want to make your aggro drafters angry though, this one's for you.

Weakstone's Subjugation

The Good: I'm a huge fan of Bubble Snare in my cube and this to me is just better in every conceivable way. It's easier to splash and you don't waste 3 mana if it gets countered. It can even hit an artifact if that comes up.

The Bad: Nothing to say here.

The Verdict: I'm a huge fan and will be running this alongside Bubble Snare. I'd be happy to pick one of these up in most pauper environments.

Shadow Prophecy

The Good: Now I'm not usually too excited about these black Divination spells with the set mechanic, but wow has this proved to be more of a Dig Through Time in DMU draft. Fueling the graveyard is always great too.

The Bad: This one is going to be all about how easily supported domain is in your cube. If this is just an instant speed Divination (that's sometimes just a cantrip), then this is likely not good enough.

The Verdict: This would not be worthy of consideration in the past, but as of DMU we have 20 dual lands with land types. If your manabase can support it, I'd love to see it in some pauper cubes.

Urborg Repossession

The Good: Good Raise Dead effects are often more than good in pauper cubes and this one is good. I'm very down for Divination if I know I'm getting 2 threats. 

The Bad: Maybe you want something more exciting for what's essentially a multicolored card, but I'm grasping here. The only thing holding this back from my tight list is that I have a lot of good Raise Dead cards already.

The Verdict: I expect this will play great in most pauper cubes, I'd almost always be looking to draft it if I was in the colors.

Emergency Weld

The Good: Remember what I said about good Raise Dead effects? A 2-mana gravedigger is great, even while losing out on the upsides of actually being a creature.

The Bad: I can't imagine this being a bad card in just about any environment.

The Verdict: Card's great, I'll have to find room for it.

Overwhelming Remorse

The Good: Ob Nixilis's Cruelty is the best unconditional removal spell in my cube and this is that if you have 2 creatures in your graveyard. If it's at all consistently that or better I'm interested.

The Bad: You don't feel good when you spend 5 mana on this and you feel even worse when it's stuck in your hand because you don't have 5-mana to spend.

The Verdict: I think this has to be good enough in larger environments and in mine I'm just going to have to test it.

Viashino Branchrider

The Good: Low to the ground red aggro decks have always been a little sad to me just because Raging Goblins are just really bad. This however, is probably the best I've seen of them at common. Doubling as a 4-mana 3/3 haste is nice but what really makes it for me is the pump ability. This will be able to actually threaten finishing off your opponent later in the game.

The Bad: I think this is exactly what you want if you're trying to support a typical low to the ground red aggro deck so I don't have much bad to say about it in that role.

The Verdict: My particular environment really doesn't lend itself to a monored aggro deck so I don't think I'm going for this one. It's a great option for your red 1-drop though.

Bitter Reunion

The Good: Thrill of Possibility getting countered has always sucked, paying 2-mana to 2-for-1 yourself is not a good feeling and I'll gladly trade that away for a sorcery speed version. From the turn you cast it, any creature in your hand can gain kicker 1 to add haste which is really awesome.

The Bad: Nothing particularly bad about this one.

The Verdict: I think this card is a great roleplayer, I'll be happy to find room for it and I imagine others will be too.

Dwarven Forge-Chanter

The Good: Burning Prophet has played very well for me and while the scry is really nice, guaranteeing damage with Ward and getting the toughness boost to push through damage is pretty sweet. 

The Bad: If your cube tends more towards midrange and control battles like mine, this could get outclassed pretty quick and you'd probably rather have a scry engine.

The Verdict: This is a cool option to have and worth considering if you're pushing aggro.

Scrapwork Mutt

The Good: I've never been particularly impressed by Fissure Wizard but it's okay and this is a colorless Fissure Wizard that has unearth if you're in red.

The Bad: It's nothing exciting, just kind of filler in most pauper environments. 

The Verdict: I was looking to cut Fissure Wizard, I suppose I can just make the swap.

Sunbathing Rootwalla

The Good: As mentioned earlier, we now have pretty good domain support if we want it and this thing is a bear that can threaten to become a really big stats monster.

The Bad: Definitely not for everyone, I'm unsure just how many decks of various colors this will make it into.

The Verdict: I loved playing with this in retail draft and I've always had a sweet spot for rootwallas, this is a nice option to have.

Gaea's Gift

The Good: If there's a place for blowout tricks it's got to be pauper cube. This card is every trick in one and needless to say that makes it very flexible. It's also nice that a counter sticks around.

The Bad: Generally, whichever situation you're choosing to cast this spell in, it's a little over-costed for the effect.

The Verdict: This card is hilarious to me so I want to run it, they can't play around everything right? I also think the flexibility probably makes it good, this will likely just need to be tested to see if it's actually good.

Rust Goliath

The Good: Eldrazi Devastator is a very playable card in pauper cube and is one of the only finishers that can just plow through a gummed up board. This is 2 more mana, but you do get  2 more power and another toughness for the trouble. The main thing though is that this doubles as a 5-mana green stats monster and that mode is nothing to scoff at either. 5 toughness is really great in my cube and combined with reach it blocks a lot of things.

The Bad: The 3-power on the 5-mana mode in a little underwhelming, but if you're fine defensively and are looking for a way to end the game you could just hold this.

The Verdict:  I think this card is just straight up good enough with it's giant 10-mana mode. It will generally slot into the green deck anyway because it really wants to be ramped into.

Common Typed Duals

The Good: With these and the snow ones from Kaldheim, we have 20 typed duals at common rarity now. Aside from the obvious domain support, there are also a few cards such as Farseek and Nature's Lore that get better with these in your deck.

The Bad: If  you don't care about the typing, these are just tapped duals.

The Verdict: Great options to have if you want to keep your lands at common.

Tocasia's Dig Site

The Good: This seems like a great utility land if you want one. I've been loving the campuses from strixhaven and have had multiple instances of people running an off-color one just for the scry ability.

The Bad: Nothing bad here.

The Verdict: Card seems great, it's pretty free to draft in most decks.

And that's a wrap for Dominaria United and Brothers' War for pauper cube! These sets had less to offer than others mostly due to some set mechanics such as domain and powerstones not quite working sufficiently outside their own limited environments. I ended up combining these two sets into one post just because I've been really busy with my new job, but it actually worked out nice since there was less to cover. I may do this again as there are sometimes few cards and little to say about them, commons can be rather simple. As always let me know if you think I missed anything! Thanks for reading and happy cubing!

Brothers' War Considerations for Possibility Cube

Brothers' War full spoilers are out and that means it's time to go over all the cards I'm considering for my Possibility Cube! 

In this post I'll be writing about all the cards from Brothers' War that people are talking about or should be talking about for an unpowered unrestricted cube environment in the context of my personal cube, the Possibility Cube. I know I missed my pauper cube post for Dominaria United, but I've just been a little busy due to landing a new game design job! For now the plan is to do a double pauper post for DMU and BRO. Let's get started.

Lay Down Arms

The Good: Oust has proven to be a great removal spell in my environment and Lay Down Arms has the potential to be that but better in some situations, that's certainly enough to get me intrigued. The prevalence of tokens nowadays also factors into this card's power, just as we see it do so with cards like Oust and Prismatic Ending.

The Bad: Unless your cube has great dual fixing, I don't see this card being very good in a non-monowhite deck. While Fatal Push has a good number of targets, it turns up a dead draw more than I'd like and I think turning it into a sorcery knocks it out of contention.

The Verdict: I think I'm good on 1-mana white removal spells and this is less appealing than the others I run. A pass for me but I can see this card being very good in some environments and I may just come back to it if I see it perform in other cubes.

Loran of the Third Path

The Good: White finally has Reclamation Sage and it comes with upside! The vigilance is actually quite the nice bonus as your opponent really doesn't want to trade with this in combat. The activated ability is also very intriguing. You get first crack at having the card on a fresh turn, but I'm honestly unsure when exactly it will be correct to activate. There are also some sweet synergies if you have the chance to draft Karakas or a Leovold variant. In any case, Reclamation Sage is an all-timer in cube, this rate for a 2/1 that kills a mana rock or something better on ETB is just rock solid.

The Bad: It is true that white has other good options that green doesn't necessarily have, cards like Skyclave Apparition for example. White 3s are also getting very crowded and a lot of people want the most aggressive/disruptive 3-drops for the white aggro deck.

The Verdict: I will be running this, I've been looking to cut 3-mana Thalia for awhile and I think this is a great addition. Overall I'm very glad we have this option for cubes.

Recruitment Officer

The Good: Savannah Lions with card advantage upside, this will surely see play somewhere in cube. It has good typing too which can be important in the right environment.

The Bad: So there's actually quite a bit I don't like about this card. Ideally, you want this to just be a Savannah Lions because the game you're activating it isn't going to be a game going well for you. That isn't necessarily a bad thing but the ability also just isn't very good at catching you up and at that mana cost it's highly likely to be your whole turn. Looking at only 4 cards means you will definitely sometimes whiff and even when you hit, a random cmc 3 or less creature isn't generally what you need to catch up.

The Verdict: I know some people are very high on this card, but I'm a little more lukewarm on it. I will be replacing Skymarcher Aspirant for it, but to me that's simply taking the place of the worst Savannah Lions I'm running and I'll actively be looking to replace it in the future.

Siege Veteran

The Good: Luminarch Aspirant has proven to be one of the best white 2-drops in my cube, often compared to a 2-mana planeswalker. The same ability on a 3-drop with an additional p/t may just be good enough. Nearly 40% of my cmc 3 or less creatures are soldiers as well, so the other ability can certainly be relevant.

The Bad: I'm unsure if this effect is worth a 50% increase in mana. While the baseline is a 3-mana 4-power threat, aggro decks value those a lot less than a 1-mana 2-power or 2-mana 3-power threat. Mirran Crusader is by no means unplayable, but it has definitely been well pushed out of my cube. Even Gideon Blackblade has become a lower pick than it use to be.

The Verdict: I would not scoff at seeing this in a cube and would certainly draft it in my white aggro deck, but it doesn't quite make it for my cube. This is a nice option to have and may even be good enough for my cube, but I think with this set we've finally gotten to the point where you can't possibly run every good enough 3-mana white card without the slot being too glutted. Honestly, I think it's glutted in my cube already.

Soul Partition

The Good: I know a lot of people happily run Fateful Absence and this is arguably on the same level. A 2-mana instant speed answer for any permanent is awfully efficient, even if it's only a tempo advantage rather than hard removal. I honestly think it will be a toss up how often it will be better to give your opponent a clue or their card back with a 2-mana tax, this is certainly better at hitting a token. Interestingly this also serves as a "bounce" for your own creatures as the tax won't apply to you.

The Bad: I personally don't quite run Fateful Absence as happily as others. With the amount of planeswalkers in my environment I really need cheap ways to answer them and that's where I run Fateful Absence, I don't really value it as non-planeswalker removal very highly. I only run a handful of doomblades nowadays, with all the efficient options I'm really only interested in the absolute best 2-mana 1-for-1s. Unexpectedly Absent does what this does way better in my opinion and this is unfortunately much more akin to Fateful Absence.

The Verdict: Pass for me. If I did run it, it'd be in lieu of Fateful Absence, but for the role of planeswalker removal I'd rather them get a clue. I expect this to see play in some cubes so I may reevaluate if I see it play well elsewhere.

Combat Thresher

The Good: And yet another white Phyrexian Rager with upside. While double strike synergies aren't nearly as good as the advantage flying gets you with Inspiring Overseer, this card absolutely slaps if you blink it. A 3/3 with double strike is no joke and blinking is something you'd actively be trying to do to your Phyrexian Rager anyway.

The Bad: It's quite underwhelming if you're not blinking it and without evasion you'd most certainly want to be doing something else in the white aggro deck. 

The Verdict: Phyrexian Ragers are rarely straight up bad in any environment and there are some fun and powerful things to do with this one. Unfortunately I doubt I can find room to test this, my white 3s are too many already and I really want to run this next one.

Steel Seraph

The Good: A 3-mana 3/3 that pushes its and another creature's damage through is absolute gas. The fact that it can give itself vigilance or lifelink when it's alone on the battlefield or if the extra evasion isn't needed is also great. With the non-prototype cost being as low as 6-mana, Baneslayer mode will definitely come up here and there.

The Bad: Just about all my current white 3s pass the Vindicate Test and this does not, but honestly being a bit of a Baneslayer matters a lot less at low cmcs, this thing will start taking over the game fast enough that I really don't mind this downside. You can't blink this with Restoration Angel which is probably the saddest thing about the card.

The Verdict: I think this is a slam dunk for me, I'll definitely be playing this. Even with no other creatures this is a 3-mana creature attacking with evasion for a 6 point life swing, I'm down for that floor. The 6-mana mode, the artifact synergies, and the blink synergies are all relevant gravy on top as well.

Skystrike Officer

The Good: So blue gets its own Rabblemaster, a bit slower, more evasive, and the option to draw cards at some point. If you're supporting the blue tempo deck, this is the kind of 3-drop you want to see.

The Bad: While I love blue creature-based tempo decks, they're a little too fair and slow to get going in my cube and that sums this card up as well.

The Verdict: A pass for me but I'd love to see this in a lower powered environment where the cube is specifically supporting a deck for it.

Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim

The Good: This card is sweet. While the token the -2 makes may not be super impressive if you don't have immediate card draw, it can potentially be a 4/4 with vigilance the next turn and it threatens to only get bigger. A pair of these tokens for 5-mana is some nasty pressure, anything more out of this and you're looking to snowball fast towards a victory. Curving into this after a Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the absolute dream but there are plenty of ways to quickly get Teferi out of combat range and buff the token into a big threat.

The Bad: It's hard to be upset with this card but it is a bit expensive I suppose. It's not the most powerful planeswalker, but I have trouble thinking of any buff that wouldn't immediately push it to broken. I will say I've not been impressed with 5-mana walkers who have a simple "Draw a card." as a loyalty ability, but I feel like you're here for the -2 and static ability in this case.

The Verdict: I see this getting pushed out at some point, but Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer has not been performing well in my cube so I think I'll make the swap. I imagine this being very good in a lot of environments.

Arcane Proxy

The Good: A lot of people like Sea Gate Stormcaller in their vintage cube but I've always hated that you had to cast both Stormcaller and your spell in the same turn. Arcane Proxy lets you split up its mana cost and that of the spell you're copying and that's well worth the extra mana. Cast your spell on curve or whenever you need it and forever have the option to cast it again with Arcane Proxy later. It should also be noted that it works well with any suspend cards with a mana value of 0.

The Bad: Like Stormcaller, this is a proactive card that relies a lot on the cards you draw around it. While your options will increase as the game goes on, I wonder how often you'd rather just have an Aether Channeler instead.

The Verdict: I wouldn't think twice about including it in a powered cube, but I'm not sure it's good enough if you're not rebuying Time Walk or Ancestral. You really want this to be a 3-mana Ravenous Chupacabra but I think it will most often be a more selective Phyrexian Rager. I have some easy cuts in blue currently so if I pick one of these up I might just test it.

Surge Engine

The Good: A 3-power unblockable for 3 is a rate we don't often get. Your opponent passes the turn and you didn't need to counter anything? Spend your 3 mana and now you've got a 4-turn (very likely 3-turn) unblockable clock. The 6-mana activation can also be very good if the game's gone grindy, although to be fair I wonder how grindy it can be with a 5/4 unblockable on the loose.

The Bad: You don't get much for the upfront cost and investing in it is quite risky for just life total pressure. This card is quite bad in the face of removal.

The Verdict: I'm not really looking for a tempo blue beater like this, but if your cube is, I think this is one of the better ones. 

Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor

The Good: Edric, Spymaster of Trest has shown this effect to potentially be very powerful, however being both blue and green made his deck come together none too often. Gix, however, comes in only black and even has an extra p/t giving him a better chance of connecting with your opponent himself. Black has a lot of low in the curve creatures and really all they do is get in there, now each one that can is a card off the top of your deck. If you can draw 2 cards off of Gix, you've more than gotten your money's worth.

The Bad: The floor of this effect is quite low, there will be times where this simply doesn't do anything. I'm optimistic with the suite of creatures I run in black, but it will need some testing to see how often this is a dud.

The Verdict: Like I said you really need to test this card to see how consistent it is in your environment and I plan on doing just that. Opposition Agent has been quite underwhelming for me so there will be an easy goodbye to that.

Hostile Negotiations

The Good: This may just be a black Fact or Fiction and I'm not saying that because of the little piles game you get to play. Instant speed, splashable, draws you 3 cards, and fuels the graveyard? That's a recipe for success, the only thing it misses from Fact or Fiction is the guaranteed answer when you need something specific.

The Bad: If you do need that one answer off the top of your deck, it is true that you'll never get it with this card unless your opponent screws up. It will basically always be correct for your opponent to give you known information unless that known information is the answer you need. Really there's no selection at all and this will play mostly as "Draw 3 cards. Mill 3 cards."

The Verdict: This is a strong card advantage spell, you don't get the selection I'd want but 3 cards at instant speed for 4-mana is certainly good enough in a lot of cube environments. I think I'll find room to at least test this one.

Misery's Shadow

The Good: I think this is the best Shade ever printed, +1/+1 is a hell of a repeatable buff for a single mana investment and I don't recall it ever being a generic cost. The threat of activation will give this pseudo-unblockable and any mana you know you're not going to use converts to extra damage. If your opponent is forced to block, you can spend some mana for some good ol' 1-for-none removal. A Fireball on a stick will also just sometimes be lethal. Oh yeah, the random graveyard hate will be very annoying on occasion too.

The Bad: Honestly I think this card is great, I can't really think of environments where it would be bad. It can be punished with removal, but that's going to generally be a you mistake.

The Verdict: I think Nantuko Shade's power has been lost to history and people are underestimating this card. Just writing this I'm convinced that this is simply a slam dunk in most any cube and I will be running it.

Phyrexian Fleshgorger

The Good: On rate stats with evasion and lifelink is a nice start to a 3-mana beater. The fact that it's almost always going to get in a "hit" with its ward ability makes this very appealing. I've been fairly okay with Sedgemoor Witch's floor and I think this card's floor is quite a bit higher. While not the first choice, this also serves as an acceptable reanimation/tinker target and it's always nice to fill multiple roles.

The Bad: It feels rather average wherever you play it. I can see this getting cut from many decks for simply not working towards a specific game plan, it's just a generically good beater.

The Verdict: I don't know, I'm feeling a little lukewarm on this but I think it would be good. I think I'll just have to test this one.

Razorlash Transmogrant

The Good: Scrapheap Scrounger has been good for me as a 2-mana 3-power card that can slot into white or red aggro with some splashable upside. This could possibly serve the same role. It's recursion also reminds me of Skyclave Shade, a card I've been quite happy with. If you can be recurring this for BB your opponent is going to be having a rough time too.

The Bad: It hurts that it can't be cheaply recurred with any consistency and the extra toughness on Scrapheap Scrounger actually does a lot to push damage through.

The Verdict: I don't think this quite gets there in the face of the other options we have. If you support black aggro, you might happily run this just for the density.

Transmogrant's Crown

The Good: Bonesplitter is a great aggressive card and, in black, for one more mana Transmogrant's Crown is that but when your equipped threat dies you draw a card. That effect is very much worth the extra initial mana investment.

The Bad: I really don't think this gets there with an equip cost of 2 and I don't think I want an aggressive equipment that requires a color that's not white or red. It's one thing to double the mana cost, the effect should be pretty powerful to warrant that and I do think this does it. But to double the equip cost you'll be paying every single time you want to equip? The equip 1 is exactly what makes cards like Bonesplitter or Heirloom Blade so good.

The Verdict: I really like this card so I may try it out as a black equipment, but a word to the wise, I really wouldn't run this in any deck that wasn't base black.

Feldon, Ronom Excavator

The Good: So I've been rather down on 2/2 hasters, but I think this is my favorite of them. This is going to do its thing chipping in for 2 damage a turn and when your opponent lands their 3/3, it either continues to do its thing or they block and you get a card with selection. It's also not exactly a dead draw later in the game like the other 2-power hasters.

The Bad: I think I'd still rather have 3-power and a way to push that damage through than I would 2-power and haste, but like I said the replacing itself goes a long way.

The Verdict: I'll be testing this card, I think I'll cut Soul-Scar Mage for this as it has not been performing as well as my other red aggro creatures.

Mishra's Research Desk

The Good: I remember when I played Think Twice in modern so I have a soft spot for this effect, this is however Think Twice with bonus selection and the ability to split the first cost between turns. It's always good to be on the lookout for playable 1-mana artifacts nowadays too because they become a lot better with Urza's Saga.

The Bad: The selection probably isn't good enough to make Think Twice get there, you probably will be doing better things than this with your mana.

The Verdict: Doesn't make it for me but this is a nice bit of tech for lower powered environments that I haven't seen many people talking about.

Phyrexian Dragon Engine

The Good: Mirran Crusader is one of my favorite cards and while it was probably in my cube for too long, it was never embarrassing to play. Add on an unearth mode that draws you 3 cards and you've definitely got my attention.

The Bad: Again I don't think this is among the best options for aggressive 3s and you can only play so many. It's not even unique in nabbing value in the graveyard.

The Verdict: I will be passing on this for my cube but I think this would certainly do well in a number of environments.

Bushwhack

The Good: A 1-mana modal cantrip or removal spell is certainly worth considering. Fight effects are generally the worst kind of removal but 1-mana plus upside is generally where you want to be with them.

The Bad: If you regularly read my posts you know I value modality a lot less than raw power and it's no different here. While I think this would be very nice in lower powered midrangey cubes, I think it falls off pretty hard in higher powered environments.

The Verdict: Not for me but a good choice if you value modality.

Titania's Command

The Good: Now this is some modality I can get behind, there are some pretty powerful combinations here. 8 power and toughness split between 2 bodies is a decent floor for a 6-mana spell and tutoring lands can always be powerful depending on what you've drafted. The first option will only be for when you need it but it's nice to have and can potentially be a huge lifepoint swing.

The Bad: 6 mana is quite a lot, Primeval Titan has been pushed out of my cube and this probably isn't as good.

The Verdict: This is a nice option for some environments but doesn't quite make it for mine. I know I'll be picking this fairly highly when it shows up in Arena Cube.

Haywire Mite

The Good: This is just some really nice, cheap artifact/enchantment removal. It's the same total cost as Naturalize but you can split it up over multiple turns, it exiles, and it gains you to life. Of course you also get whatever utility having a creature grants you. 

The Bad: There are a lot of noncreature artifacts I want to blow up with my artifact removal and I imagine that is the case for a lot of cubes.

The Verdict: I fear this will never make the maindeck in my cube and that's something I specifically want to avoid for my includes. However, I expect this to play pretty well if you want a Naturalize effect.

Legions to Ashes

The Good: So in singleton cubes this might as well be a Maelstrom Pulse that exiles, although it's quite sad against clones. Being able to answer any permanent is generally worth 3 mana, I still like O-ring in my cube because people will draft it just so they know they have an answer somewhere in their maindeck or sideboard for anything they might encounter. I'll also say that I like this more than Anguished Unmaking, you generally play that on your turn anyway and the 3 life honestly hurts quite a bit.

The Bad: I recently cut Maelstrom Pulse because it's just so dang boring in a multicolor slot. Also while I explained why I value something like an O-ring, it is true it's less efficient than other removal and I might want something more from a card that commits you to 2 colors.

The Verdict: I'm going to pass on this but it's perfectly fine removal in most environments.

Third Path Iconoclast

The Good: Young Pyromancer finally got the upgrade to a noncreature trigger! Even if it required an extra color to get there it's well worth it. The 1/1s are even artifacts for some great incidental synergies. I think a lot of us have been waiting for this one for some time.

The Bad: It did require another colored pip, but Young Pyro was generally played with blue anyway so it's hard to complain.

The Verdict: Slam dunk of the set, I've been playing with Young Pyromancer since I first started playing magic and I'm excited to play with an upgraded version in my favorite format!

Bladecoil Serpent

The Good: There's a lot of value to be had out of this 6-drop. A 5/4 that draws you 3, or draws you 2 and gets in for 6 trample, or draws you 1 and mind rots your opponents, or just about any combination of effects is going to be really nice. Even in the worst case scenario where your mana isn't cooperating, a 5/4 that draws you 2 is still a 3-for-1.

The Bad: This is a 6-mana creature that really sucks to cheat into play. A 5/4 body for 6 also leaves a lot to be desired. I would almost always want to cast this for 6 blue and I don't know how realistic it is to do that consistently. 

The Verdict: I don't think I'll test it but this card is certainly funky. It's not as good as any 6-drop I currently run, but it's not far off and I think it it could be an absolute monster in the right environment.

Portal to Phyrexia

The Good: So at 9 mana this is most definitely a cheat target via Tinker, Show and Tell, and Goblin Welder in my cube. What I like about it with Show and Tell is that you don't get got by your opponent having something better than you and I like it with Welder because looping a triple edict is a powerful lock.

The Bad: This card doesn't win on its own and that's a bad sign for something you're jumping through hoops to cheat onto the battlefield.

The Verdict: This card seems like a lot of fun but it's not consistent enough for me to consider it for my cube.

Argoth, Sanctum of Nature

The Good: Castle Ardenvale had a good run in my cube before I cut it, upgrading the token to a 2/2 is definitely interesting. Field of the Dead doesn't need to produce more than a single 2/2 a turn to make an unending horde no control deck can deal with.

The Bad: A sorcery speed activation is rough but not the end of the world. This will also generally ETB tapped. Honestly the mill 3 gives me a bit of pause, of course graveyard synergies are a dime a dozen but on an active you want to do over and over.. you only got 40 cards in your deck.

The Verdict: I'm pretty happy with my suite of lands, but I might swap out Treetop Village for a bit just to test this. Like I said, a 2/2 every turn can be very powerful when it's on card type that has little interaction against it.

And that's a wrap for Brothers' War! This set seems to be great for cube in general and even has a good amount of testables for my personal cube. We also got some long awaited gems in Loran and Iconoclast. I'm quite happy with this set and can't wait to cube with all the new cards. Let me know if you think I missed anything worth talking about and stay tuned for considerations for my Pauper Twobert (I promise this time!). Thanks for reading!