For cube designers looking to stay up to date with the latest cards, new sets can cause a financial strain. Wanting to test out the newest value spell, bomb creature, or Planeswalker in your cube can be quite expensive when the card is concurrently in standard. No one enjoys buying an expensive card just to find out it isn’t what they expected in their cube.
With the release of Zendikar Rising, cards from Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, War of the Spark, and Core Set 2020 rotated out of standard. With the exception of those playable in eternal formats, many cards from these sets can be picked up for cheap. In addition, we’ve now had over a year to test and discuss these sets.
This article picks the best budget-friendly upgrades rotating out of standard for your high-powered cube. At the time that I write this, the 15 cards suggested below can be purchased for $21.05 (TCG market), and will instantly inject new life into your cube. Part two of this article series will cover medium-powered cubes, and part three will cover rarity-restricted cubes – so stay tuned!
High-Power Upgrade Module
For just three mana, Narset provides two Impulses and sticks around with an annoyingly-relevant static ability. While it is uncommon to squeeze a third activation out of her, the low mana cost – paired with the ability to dig deep and disrupt your opponent’s ability to draw cards – makes Narset the perfect turn-three play in blue decks.
Gutterbones ($0.78)Black aggro gets another boost with this recursive one-drop. Akin to Bloodsoaked Champion and Dread Wanderer, Gutterbones is incredibly resilient and very easy to trigger. Much more powerful than the days of Diregraf Ghoul.
Like Gutterbones above, black one-drops have gotten several powerful recursive one-drops in recent memory. Knight of the Ebon Legion deviates from this template, but packs a scalable punch. Knight can pump itself for just three mana, giving it excellent versatility as an on-board combat trick. His triggered ability (getting a +1/+1 counter if an opponent lost four or more life on your turn) works both synchronously with his activated ability (which makes him a 4/5) – and inherently in aggro decks, which often deal 4 or more at a time. Knight can also slot into midrange as an efficient and scalable threat.
Spawn of Mayhem ($1.97)At its base, a 4/4 flying trample for 4 is a solid rate. Aggro decks are pushing damage every turn and can frequently cast this ahead-of-curve at three mana. In addition, the mini Sulfuric Vortex-esque ping puts a ton of pressure on your opponent as you close out the game.
There are very few red decks where I would not play Goblin Cratermaker. He is an on-rate attacker that can also clear blockers so that things like Hellrider can survive. He threatens on-board damage to finish off a Planeswalker or blocking creature. He can destroy a game-warping permanent like Karn Liberated or Grim Monolith. Flexible and powerful, Cratermaker is the perfect utility creature and gives red two-drops some much needed diversity.
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin ($0.62)Since the printing of Goblin Rabblemaster, many variants have been printed – from Hanweir Garrison to Legion Warboss to Najeela, the Blade-Blossom. Krenko is the best since the original – he buffs himself and produces a multiplying army of goblins with every attack. Since his tokens don’t enter attacking, Krenko is initially a bit slower than Rabblemaster or Garrison, but he snowballs much quicker.
Chandra is one of the least expensive and most explosive Planeswalkers. Producing two tokens with haste, she synergizes with Carrion Feeder, Blood Artist, Hellrider, Judith, the Scourge Diva, and other cards which benefit from sacrificing or dying creatures. She can also flash back that Lightning Bolt or Char to end the game.
Nightpack Ambusher ($0.22)Nightpack Ambusher is a steal at under a quarter. Flash gives great gameplay upside and deckbuilding versatility, allowing you to hold up removal,. counterspells, or other instants. The 4/4 body both attacks and blocks very well. If allowed to trigger even once, Ambusher puts another 3/3 body on to the board – and if left alone, it can run away with a game.
Often overlooked, this uncommon is an excellent two-mana dork. While other two-mana ramp creatures like Lotus Cobra and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary create multiple mana in explosive turns, Paradise Druid slots in somewhere with the likes of Sylvan Caryatid. Hexproof makes it impossible for your opponent to “bolt the bird,” protecting your investment in mana advantage.
Nissa, Who Shakes the World ($4.89)Despite being the most expensive card on this list by a wide margin, Nissa is worth every penny. She doubles mana, enabling a quick ramp to 10+ mana per turn. Her mana doubling combined with her land animate/untap leads to sequencing more powerful than Garruk Wildspeaker’s, where you can play Nissa plus another three- or four-drop off of just six mana. On the subject of her animate, vigilant 3/3s serve as great attackers and blockers. Coming in at 5 loyalty and immediately ticking up to 6, Nissa is hard to remove through combat. Her ultimate is rare, but ends the game.
Knight of Autumn is an excellent utility creature. Its Reclamation Sage mode is helpful in picking off an Oblivion Ring or Dimir Signet. It’s lifegain mode is good to offset a Searing Spear and block a Kytheon, Hero of Akros. I use the +1/+1 counters mode the least, but when needed, it creates a serviceable 4/3 midrange creature. Knight of Autumn synergizes well with Restoration Angel, Recurring Nightmare, and other value engines that take advantage of its ETBs.
Trostani Discordant ($1.56)Comparable to Angel of Invention, Trostani is an army-in-a-can with a built-in anthem. Much like Knight of Autumn, Trostani benefits from blink and value like Flickerwisp and Reveillark. She adds an impressive 5/8 worth of power and toughness to the board across three creatures, and leaves behind lifelink bodies even if she is removed. In addition to dodging Control Magic, Trostani frequently returns permanents captured by Vedalken Shackles or Sower of Temptation.
Saheeli is a spells-matter archetype enabler. While Young Pyromancer only triggers on instants and sorceries, Saheeli triggers off of any non-creature spell like Search for Azcanta or Chandra, Torch of Defiance. I’ve found her ability to be situationally-relevant, but you can occasionally copy things like Solemn Simulacrum, Smuggler's Copter, or even a Sword of Fire and Ice for some unique gameplay lines.
Vraska, Golgari Queen ($2.20)Vraska might be on the lower end of the power scale on this list, but I have really enjoyed her in GB value decks. She’s a 4-mana walker that ticks up to 6 loyalty immediately (her +2 ability is a may, in case you don’t want to sacrifice anything). Her +2 synergizes well with graveyard-matters cards like Flesh Carver, token generators, and can squeeze some value out of the mana dork used to accelerate her out. Her -3 can protect her or remove impact permanents.
Blast Zone is a design space I am excited to see utilized. While Engineered Explosives and Ratchet Bomb aren’t good enough to main board, stapling the effect onto a land allows you to play an additional spell in the land slot. It comes into play untapped, meaning the only downside to playing it over a basic is that Blast Zone generates 
instead of a color. It enters with one counter already on it, which gets you that much closer to sweeping away a host of four or five drops. Both adding counters and activating to destroy permanents are efficiently-but-fairly costed.
Looking for budget-friendly upgrades for your high-powered cube? Now that standard has rotated, the 15-card module suggested above can be purchased for $21.05. The next installment of this series will cover a budget-friendly module for medium-powered cubes. The final installment will cover rarity-restricted cubes. Join me again!
@thesidestepkids | thesidestepkids#7403 | /u/thesidestepkids