Alright, time for the next installment of cards for Commander Cube. Wilds of Eldraine is shaping up to be a solid set for constructed commander but for Commander cube, it is looking a little rough. Adventures are typically great in cube as they are both an instant/sorcery and a creature (and now enchantment). The versatility and multiple types lend them to adding support for stricter archetypes strategies with spellsmatter being a perfect example. With off-color adventures, they are a boon in non color identity formats as they fit into more decks. This is not the case with commander cube as their color identity locks them into the gold color slots.
For these posts, I will be having 2 list: One for the cards I think are best for commander cube and one for the best commander options. Commanders are a fundamental aspect of this cube and what the foundation of all the decks drafted will be based on. The dedicated slots for the commander allow cubes to have more multicolored options like Ramos or Saskia, which are not normally viable in traditional cube.
The cards that exist on the 1st list will primarily be comprised of cards that are solid on their own or develop underdeveloped playstyles/ archetypes.
On the commander only list, I place a bigger emphasis on how well they support various archetypes. Commanders that support multiple archetypes well will generally be ranked higher than commanders. Narrow commander do occasionally show up when they are the best option for a particular deck.
Their may be some overlap between the two list and is because the commander is amazing enough to warrant its own slot as part of the deck.
Overall List
Moonshaker Cavalry might actually be stronger here than it would be in a traditional cube. While often compared to Craterhoof Behemoth, not being in green and lacking haste alters when the card can be played and its frequency of play. The card is difficult to play as Natural Order and Green Sun's Zenith, which are used to find Craterhoof cannot fetch this one out. In addition with being a mana cost of 8 is prohibitive when considering white's ability to generate mana outisde of Smothering Tithes. The card still has its uses as a finisher for white creature decks but needs more set up to be successful. In situations when this card does land, someone or someones is going to die. Though white is the anthem color, the other options don't quite stack up against this one, making it the best option available.
Agatha's Soul Cauldron is wild in commander cube. It turns all of your creatures into Necrotic Ooze, a card of infamy in commander's history. This effect is extremely rare found only on Necrotic Ooze, this historically means only black decks were allowed to play it. With Necrotic Ooze not having a solid baseline, you rarely will see this card being played in cubes for this reason. For the uninitated, this card opens up and creates more combo routes to all of your creatures. Imagine a nonlegendary having Kiki Jiki's ability to create copies.For this reason alone, it will age really well as the card pool grows with time. For the concerned, the baseline for the card is fairly okay as it also functions as a piece of graveyard hate and a source of +1/+1 counters. Factor in that it is fairly cheap to play and colorless, you have yourself an amazing cube staple that the kids and adults can enjoy.
The Court Cycle . They fit in exactly with what I want from cards in my commander cube. They generate value, encourage players to interact with one another, and move the game towards closing up if left unchecked. Monarch has been a mechanic that WotC has gotten better at implementing with every iteration being enjoyable and better since Conspiracy 2. Aside from the blue one, the design of these ones are open ended making them viable in all decks even without the monarch clause. These aren't must runs if you aren't looking for monarch cards, but this is the most playable we've seen (aside from the blue one). The blue one is the odd one out of the group because it demands that you play with artifacts or enchantments, however commander cube typically affords more space for these things in addition to blue typically being the artifact color. If properly supported, this could be the strongest one of the bunch without question.
Collector's Vault reminds me a lot of Currency Converter, which has been a solid value generator in traditional cubes. The combination of being both a looter and a source of treasure generation is something that all decks can get behind. With commander being inherently longer than traditional, the abilities on this card are important as it smooths out the early turn of the game and setting up big turns for the future.
Discerning Financier might be a sign that WotC's attempts at salvaging white in commander are coming to an end. Many of the cardsthey have been putting out , including this one, have been addressing white's deficiency in generating mana and drawing. What I like about this one is the ability to donate a treasure to an opponent. Politics is something there still isn't enough of and it plays less obnoxious than Smothering Tithes. Beng a creature does make it vulnerable to removal, but depending on how your play group views the card, I can see it being a bargaining tool for the talkative players.
Rankle's Prank is an upgraded versatile Barter in Blood and I am here for it. The card's ability are not anything new or groundbreaking, they're just powerful. This is basically black's version of Wildfires, a card adore for traditional cube. The symmetrical cards are always fun to play as when played in a vaccuum, they seem fair, however this card is almost never being played into a vaccuum. When built around properly with any graveyard shenanigans, this card suddenly becomes card advantage as the caster can use it to put himself ahead of the table. Even outside of this scenario, black decks already have an affinity to interacting with cards from the graveyard with this only assisting in that goal. For player who enjoy puzzles, this could be a card to build around.
Top Commander
Kellan, the Fae Blooded is another entry into the many choices of Boros equipment/aura stacker. But what makes this one different? For me, this one is the most versatile and easiest one to play. It sets itself up with the adventure, which is just Open the Armory, and the actual creature lends itself to go wide and go tall strategies. With the low cost, the card is almost good to play at any point. In regards to a commander with adventure, this is where it gets interesting. The additional cost only applies when it is in the command zone. In practice, this would mean Kellan costs 3 mana always if you cast the adventure part first. Where it gets more interesting is that you can keep Kellan in the command zone to constantly cast just the adventure (Oathbreaker????) if you don't want to play the creature part, though it still gets taxed with each cast. For the designer looking for the most flexible option for Boros equipment/aura bot, this could be it.
Alela, Cunning Conqueror is the reward for wanting to include a Dimir flash strategy into your cube. The color combination is one of the best suited for this archetype with their abundance of creatures, even outside of faeries, and the fact that they have some of the best instants in the game. Though the faeries will make the deck smoother to play, I can't imagine a scenario where the power of this card is weakened significantly if you opt to not run them. Token generation on any given card is great due to their versatility and with enough of a presence, they become an eventual wincon. The goad ability on the card isn't commonly found in the dimir colors. Of those cards, many won't have the power level for commander cubem making this card a solid choice if you're for political multiplayer cards.
Rowan, Scion of War is a different take on the playstyle that we saw with Greven a couple years back. For players looking for a lifeloss strategy, I'm pretty certain this is the best one. Reducing the cost of spells is universally good. Life loss is not that difficult in these colors at all. Black is known for all of their life loss effects like Phyrexian Arena and Dark Confidant. Red has symmetrical burn effects that you can take advantage of to maximize the cast reduction. This is not even mentioning the addition of Mount Doom from LotR gave the colors another land that causes life loss. Big mana strategies are no stranger to these colors and this fits right in. Specifically for me, she strengthens the consistency of Storm in Rakdos and gives them a commander to use. With how universally easy she is to be built around, I can imagine being a a permanent addition to commander cubes.
Closing
From the look of things, WOE isn't groundbreaking levels of exciting when it comes to the commander cube format, however what they do offer is significant power ups and sidegrades to existing strategies. The new commanders introduced peak my interest the most and I'm planning to attain them when the opportunity presents itself.
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