We're back at it with spoiler season and Wilds of Eldraine has finished. The first Edraine set was remembered as the set that broke every format and marked the beginning of FIRE design (maybe I'm wrong on this). We fondly are reminded that this set had banger cards like Oko, Thief of Crown, Once Upon A Time, and Fires of Invention. This set is fortunately not looking to replicate the impact of its predecessor, but this doesn't mean its been defanged. We're introduced to aura tokens in the form of Roles which are going to look spicy alongside the recent enchantment support.
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The hardest cards to evaluate have been the off color adventure cards as they have a lot of information on them that changes how players will perceive them. For some cards, they are better if you treat them as a multicolor card while others are amazing even if you do not play every facet of the card. These nuances will be mentioned on cards that make the list. The cards are not ranked in any particular order, but these are the 10 I think will create the best experience.
The List
Virtue of Persistence might seem too over the top for powered up cubes, but there's a lot to like. The baseline for the card is where it shines the most. Paying 2 mana for removal and gaining life is back breaking for aggressive decks. For them, every attack matters with any loss in momentum could be the end of the line for these decks. Losing an attacker and gaining back life sets them back two turn. Outisde of the aggro matchup, most creatures that are suspectible to Lightning Bolt are suspectible to this card. Should you be able survive to cast this card, the effect will be similar to Portal to Phyrexia Sheoldred, Whispering One: a game ending value engine that will take over the game quickly.
On the opposite spectrum of Virtue of Persistence is Virtue of Loyalty. I originally wrote off the card as a midrange value win more card until I realized how strong the baseline was. Though it shouldn't be that exciting, the adventure component of the card is a 2/2 knight token with vigilance at instant speed. The instant speed flexbility is always amazing to have available especially in slower colors that generally have to commit to what they are playing. This makes for an excellent scalling cards that can be played as a 2 drop but also as a 5 mana game ender when the time calls. Though not shattering any cubes, I can't envision a scenario where this card feels bad to play.
Werefox Bodyguard is a Banisher Priest with flash and might be the best variant of this card to date, it even comes with life gain now. The flash adds utility to the card that helps it standout amongst the other options as it opens up more opportunities for when and how the card can be played. In most situations, you will be using it to remove blockers and problematic cards from your opponent's board to push your damage. The flash allows it to be used as a pseudo fog effect that might kill a creature. It's definitely worth noting that you can target your own stuff as well allowing you to use it as Wrath/Removal protection. I'm not sure if white needed more of this card, but this will defintitely hold its own.
Rowan's Grim Search has a lot of what I felt missing with Hostile Negotiations. It fills the role of black card draw with conditional card selection that is also a graveyard filler. At a baseline, this is an sidegrade to Read the Bones where you trade the scry 2 for instant speed. You can essentially get it back if you bargain. The bargain plays nicely with black centric artifact decks. This card will thrive in synergy based cubes.
All of the enemy manlands are looking to be great additions to your cube especially if you are running the BFZ ones it and even if you are not, they are definitely worth considering. These are better costed than the one from BFZ and come with more interesting abilities and utility. In terms of best one, the Izzet and Simic ones are what I recommend most. The Izzet is is the cheapest one to activate allowing it to fit in more decks and actually see use. It comes with first strike making it great on both defense and offense depending on situation. The Simic one is able to turn any of your smaller creatures into larger creature to push through more damage fitting snuggly in any green/blue ramp or just be a midrange value card.
Charming Scoundrel is a banger of a red two drop being a 2/2 1/1 with haste was already good enough for lower power cubes but this one comes with 3 abilities that are relevant to any red deck. Each of these abilities assist in either smoothening the next play or ramping you into your 4 drop (this one is a little weird since red really likes it 3 drops). If you opt to take the role, this will become a 2/2 or pump another one of your creacan ping your opponent for 1 damage should it be removed. Something tells me this was supposed to be a three drop, which would have put it in line with other cards that we've seen previously like Callous Blood Mage or Aether Channeler. At its current rate, this could be the best 2 drop in red.
Twining Twins is really pushed for a creature, though somehow is technically a "fair" card. It is a pushed Serra Angel in blue that has Ward. At the same slot, most cubes tend to run more utility creatures and noncreature tools. This is by far the best creature in the slot to serve as an evasive beater since as well as an able bodied defender. The adventure component of the card only adds to its playability. It services well when you want the blink effect, but its not a deciding factor on the card and would treat it as a blue card during evaluations.
Gruff Triplet is solid Green 6 drop is what was a traditionally weakspot until recently. This card plays well with almost any strategy available in green and makes for an amazing beater. This is essentially a 6 drop 9/9 with trample over the course of 3 bodiesthat get bigger when one dies. Sneak Attack easily maximize the potential damage on the card laying the smack down on the unwary as the card is okay with dying since it leaves bodies behind. What's more is how well the card plays alongside Natural Order. Not only can you pull it into play with the card, it is also a reasonable fodder to use to play. The die trigger is also impacted by anthems and counters turning these into an exponentially growing threat.
Mosswood Dreadknight is the Golgari value engine that could. Unlike our previous off color adventure, this is a card that is played best when you are able to use every aspect of the card. It has strong recursion being able to be adventured from the graveyard making it the perfect candidate in the graveyard decks to accidentally mill, discard, or sacrificed. The creature portion is strong since it is an overstatted creature that has trample. Being monogreen adds the flexibility to just play the card in green decks as well if you need to fill the slot. The adventure is respectable once your start using it to return the knight from graveyard to exile as it is essentially a draw two cards for 2 mana. In the current Golgari environment, there isn't really a solid two drop staple and this might be able to fill that spot. This card is going to be great and I'm excited to watch this in game.
Regal Bunnicorn is a card that impresses me and has been called the Tarmogoyf of white and for good reason. The card is a scaling two drop that becomes stronger as you play more cards and though it is dependent on your board state, it counts all nonland permanents. This lends it to synergizing well with enchantment, artifacts, tokens, etc. Things white is already doing. This card will easily be the biggest thing on board in the early stages and will become a menace if left unchallenged. As an otherwise vanilla creature, there's not much more you can ask for since any buff will push it over the top. This is a card I'm looking forward to playing with more especially since it has strong overlap in archetypes like stax.
Flick a Coin is probably the most exciting card for me and no one else for very good reasons: it's just short from being considered absurd. The card is appropriately costed for the 3 things it does and the 3 things it does are very good. Had this card been any cheaper in terms of mana cost or did just a little bit more, it would be absurd. In its current state, it is actually clunky to play since it is 3 mana and red's 3 mana cards are generally god tier. This card is easily skippable unless you have a deep tempo/ spells matter theme in your environment as it does the things you want it to do.
The End Step
I'm definitely looking forward to playing this set when it releases on paper and Arena. The limited environment looks strong and resembles Dominaria United, which was favorite set to draft in 2022. This power will definitely leak into cubes. The biggest innovation for cube will definitely be the enchantment tokens as this might be what is needed to allow enchantress to be less parasitic. These cards didn't really show up in my list, but it's possible I'm underestimating the power. They're essentially free buffs for your creature that add extra stats and abilities to them. The most exciting part of this set for me is the return of Faeries. I've been wanting to play more Tempo decks on Arena and this grants me the opportunity.
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