Welcome to my 17th HOT TAKES article on CubeCobra! Can Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth live up to the hype of the iconic LOTR franchise's history? Will a straight to Modern set ruin every other format for the third time in a row? How many comments will this article get regarding players complaining how much they despise universe's beyond and the Ring mechanic? Let's find out!
DISCLAIMER
These takes are just my opinion and I am generally viewing the cards on how I think they would perform in traditional, singleton cubes that are in the style of the MTGO Vintage / Legacy cube lists.
The RingHere's a breakdown of how The Ring mechanic works because we'll be talking about it a good amount:
A new Figure of Destiny type of creature. Frodo trades the ceiling of Figure of Destiny / Student of Warfare for a generally better floor and being a Ring enabler. A cheap 2/3 with lifelink is great in the aggro mirror. I think this is decent by itself as an aggressive Orzhov threat and this is pretty attractive for legendary matters critical mass and being a Ring enabler / payoff.
Samwise the StoutheartedThis seems like a versatile 2-cmc creature that does a decent amount of things. Being able to Nature's Spiral any permanent that was put into the graveyard this turn is pretty versatile and works well with fetchlands. This is also one of the better Ring enablers. A 2/1 with flash that's able to give itself or something else skulk (and potentially more) is a pretty decent floor considering how high the ceiling is of its recursion effect. Samwise the Stouthearted seems pretty strong on its own and is a great roleplayer for legendary and / or Ring matters themes.
Westfold RiderA new Cathar Commando variant. I generally like Westfold Rider more in a powered cube since the activated ability being free makes this more efficient for aggro to disrupt your opponent. I think a good way to gauge this vs Cathar Commando is the more valuable Disenchant is in your cube, the better Westfold Rider will be than Cathar Commando.
Dawn of a New AgeWhite's take on Phyrexian Arena. This card being cheap is nice, but it's pretty horrible on curve as a bad Renewed Faith that gains you more life. Gaining life is nice when this is all used up, but I think this is slow for the decks that would want this and seems like a win more card in a lot of scenarios.
Flowering of the White TreePower crept Glorious Anthem. This is an extremely good rate for a strictly better effect. White has a good amount of legendary creatures and ways to go wide to really take advantage of this. While I do think this is a solid card in its own right, I've said for a while now that threats are so strong these days that pure anthems really aren't needed in my cube. Being aggressive and going wide is generally its own payoff. A standalone anthem that's not a threat by itself can be a liability in a lot of scenarios, especially when monarch / initiative are involved. While equipment can generally fall into this category, those are generally colorless and contribute a lot of artifact synergies / Stoneforge Mystic. I'm personally not too interested in this at the moment since white aggro is strong enough on its own, but I think this'll see a good amount of play in plenty of Vintage cubes, especially for those that want a strong legendary matters signpost.
Lost to LegendA new take on Unexpectedly Absent. This is more efficient at banishing cards deep into to the shadow realm, but costing and not being able to hit non-legendadry creatures is a huge miss for me. White has a lot of flexible removal spells that hit multiple permanent types for / like Portable Hole / Prismatic Ending / Soul Partition / Fateful Absence / Planar Disruption / etc, which I like much more than this.
ReprieveStrictly better Remand from a functional standpoint. Unlike Remand, Reprieve doesn't actually counter the spell, but simply puts the spell into your opponent's hand like Venser, Shaper Savant. This means that Reprieve can bounce something like Abrupt Decay / Thrun, the Last Troll from the stack to hand where Remand cannot. I'd argue that this effect is also better in white than blue since white is more aggressive and can better capitalize on the tempo gain. From what I can tell, Remand is quite universally loved by cubes of all shapes and sizes, so I'd imagine that Reprieve will be just as loved (once they get an in-universe version to satisfy the Universes Beyond haters).
Slip on the RingThis is a cool blink effect if you're pushing blink / Ring / legendary themes. As is though I think this is generally worse than other blink spells like Ephemerate / Touch the Spirit Realm.
Minas TirithA white utility land that offers aggro decks card draw seems promising with a good amount of legendary creatures / Ring enablers. Without heavy legendary support, I feel like this is going to be a burden more often than not. Aggro decks aren't going to like this ETB-ing tapped a majority of the time. Even when you can use its ability, there's a good chance they'd rather just be curving out anyways.
BLUE Stern ScoldingBlue's take on Cut Down. I've always said that I like Negate effects >>> Remove Soul effects since there are more ways to deal with creatures than any other card type. However, hitting every relevant creature early game and most midrange value creatures all for just a single mana may be just exactly what blue control needs in my cube right now. This is a great tool to buy time against the aggressive decks in the early game so that you can stabilize and dominate in the late game. Being able to hit a creature with power OR toughness 2 or less casts quite a wide net, hitting all sorts of creatures. Hitting things like Palace Jailer / Solitude / Grief / Deep Forest Hermit is especially huge. My one big complaint is that it can't hit any of the best initiative enablers.
Stern Scolding currently hits 129 / 190 creatures (67.3% rate), and can always counter things like Mawloc / Stonecoil Serpent / etc. I like how this compliments Control Magic / Treachery effects as this deals with the creatures that aren't worth stealing while Control Magic / Treachery are prime answers for what Stern Scolding misses on. This has a good amount of relevant hits against a lot of combo matchups, being able to counter Baral, Chief of Compliance / Goblin Electromancer in storm, Thassa's Oracle / Laboratory Maniac in Doomsday / Demonic Consultation decks, and pretty much every significant Kiki-Twin creature that isn't Restoration Angel / Zealous Conscripts. While this can be fairly matchup dependent, cheaty face is the only real matchup I can think of where it's completely useless (outside of countering a hardcast Hornet Queen). That being said, cheaty face is usually a good matchup for control, and this is fairly strong against the aggressive midrange decks that control can struggle against since it can be difficult to deal with their pressure and keep up with their grindy card advantage. This is a great option for the right meta, especially if your control decks have been struggling to keep up with the increasing amount of aggressive threats.
Fealty to the RealmBigger Fall from Favor. Control Magic that's also a monarch enabler is a powerful combination of effects, but it does come with some caveats. The enchanted creature being controlled by whoever the monarch is makes this much less reliable than Control Magic / Treachery, and monarch in general always comes with some risk. The enchanted creature not being able to attack Fealty to the Realm's owner is a nice way to mitigate the risk of monarch since it acts as a pseudo Pacifism against you. I'm not a fan of the enchanted creature being forced to attack each combat if able though, a lot of times it's best to sit back and protect the monarch.
Fall from Favor surprisingly fell flat for me in testing and never came close to its expectations as the cheapest monarch enabler / second coming of Palace Jailer. This being more expensive in the color that's probably the worst at playing the monarch game really isn't doing this any favors. The ceiling of Control Magic + monarch is extraordinarily high, but the floor is quite low, and I'd imagine its average case scenario might be lower than I'd like it to be. Feywild Caretaker has a better floor / average case scenario, doesn't rely on your opponent having something to steal, and adds flyers to the board to hedge against the risks of initiative. Bribery also guarantees you get your opponent's best creature in their library and gives you the ETB trigger of the stolen creature. I might give this a test just because I'm a sucker for both monarch + Control Magic effects, but I won't be surprised at all if this ends up being an inconsistent performer.
BLACK Gollum's BiteStrictly better Disfigure if you're into Universes Beyond / the Ring mechanic. Assuming it's the only Ring matters card you'd run, I don't think this is better enough than Disfigure to justify playing this if you weren't already running Disfigure. That being said, this is a pretty attractive option if you are looking to support the Ring mechanic.
Gollum, Patient PlotterA recursive 3/1 that is also a Ring enabler when it dies. This seems like a solid option if you're supporting aristocrats, legendary matters, and the Ring. As a generic beater it's not bad either, but might fall short compared to the other black 3-powered recursive beaters like Scrapheap Scrounger / Tenacious Underdog / Skyclave Shade / etc.
Gollum, Scheming GuideA new take on Pain Seer / Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. This may not draw a card every turn, but being able to always re-order the top two cards of your library is useful on its own. There's no real risk to attacking with this other than not being able to block since it either can't be blocked or is removed from combat. Unlike most other 2-drop beaters, this holds its value more in the late game since you can't wall this. This seems like an interesting option to test if you support black aggro and are looking for more mini-games to play with your opponent.
Orcish BowmastersBlack Resolute Reinforcements on steroids. This does A LOT for 2 mana: has flash, pings for 1, clogs up the board / creates sac fodder for aristocrats, potential payoff for +1/+1 counters matters, hate bear, and is the cheapest Hullbreacher type creature for the draw 7 combo. Curving this into a Timetwister / Wheel of Fortune is potentially 17 damage on turn 3 (8 ping + 9 combat damage). The hate bear aspect makes this extremely powerful against certain matchups, especially Skullclamp decks. For every Skullclamp trigger your opponent gets, you can ping anything twice (especially their other Skullclamp fodder) while also getting to amass for 2.
In my own environment, I think it's pretty safe to say that this is just the best cheap black creature (3-cmc or less), and might just be the best 2-cmc creature regardless of color, period. I can't think of a single creature at this cost that can fill half the amount of roles that this can. Unlike Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, this is an asymmetrical hatebear. As a value spell, this is good on its own and isn't 100% dependent on the contents of your deck like Stoneforge Mystic is. Honestly the only 1-2 cmc creatures that I think are above this are Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Hexdrinker. While Orcish Bowmasters can't just win the game on its own if it's in your opening hand like those two can, the value / hate bear / combo aspect of this can make this much scarier in the right decks / matchups.
Call of the RingKind of sort of black Sylvan Library for creature decks. This is probably the best overall Ring enabler / payoff. It's the best enabler since it always goes off on your upkeep and levels up your Ring. As a payoff, the draw is optional and triggers off your other Ring enablers. The draw trigger in combination with the Ring's second ability to turn your Ring-bearer into a Merfolk Looter makes it fairly easy to draw a good amount of cards off this over time. You always have the option to draw a card as long as you have one creature, even if that creature is already your Ring-bearer. This card seems strong on its own even if it's your only Ring enabler, and potentially broken with other enablers and life gain to mitigate the life loss. This is essentially a cheaper Phyrexian Arena for creature decks that can turn any of your creatures into a reasonable threat. Because of the unpopularity of things like Universes Beyond and the Ring mechanic, I think this card is currently being slept on.
RED Ranger's FirebrandSorcery speed Shock that's also a Ring enabler. The first ability of the Ring giving a creature skulk is best utilized in aggro decks, and skulk is best on smaller creatures. This seems like a shoe-in if you want to go deep in the Ring mechanic, especially since the floor ain't bad and the synergy with red aggro is a good combination to have.
Cast into the FireA new Abrade variant. This has a strictly better Shatter mode since it exiles, but the damage mode is much more situational. Being forced to divide the damage is a bit of a bummer, as is not being able to hit planeswalkers / players. This is a strong option if you're really looking to keep X/1s under control. As is, I think the limitation of its burn mode makes it a bit worse than Abrade in a lot of scenarios.
Rally at the HornburgPower crept Forbidden Friendship. 2 power worth of haste damage is always a good place to start with a spell. This has a lot of synergy going for it with humans matters / fodder for aristocrats and Skullclamp / triggers spells matters stuff like Young Pyromancer / haste synergy with Ardoz, Cobbler of War, all while being just decently aggressive by itself.
Fiery InscriptionSturdier Guttersnipe if you don't mind Ring shenanigans. Great replacement / supplement to Guttersnipe for storm support.
Fear, Fire, Foes!A more flexible Seismic Wave. This has the same damage output as Seismic Wave at , although this trades being able to hit every creature with its splash damage in exchange for not being an instant and not being able to target anything it wants. The “damage can't be prevented this turn” clause being able to kill a True-Name Nemesis with the splash damage is huge for red which otherwise really can't deal with it. This is a good option if you're looking for more ways to deal with aggro / tokens / True-Name Nemesis.
Spiteful BanditryRed's take on The Meathook Massacre. A pseudo Blood Artist effect that makes treasures is pretty cool. Triggering once per turn is quite the bummer, but understandable since it'd probably be too good if it wasn't. Sweepers that cost XCC have always underperformed for me since their inefficiency generally makes them a step too slow.
GREEN Delighted HalflingA new mana dork for . A second toughness is a decent upgrade to your typical Llanowar Elves, but the mana ability is generally worse unless you're supporting a good amount of legendary and / or colorless matters. That being said, the floor of a typical mana dork for is very reasonable, and this creature's upsides are really good in the scenarios where they really matter. Mana fixing for an uncounterable Grist, the Hunger Tide / Oko, Thief of Crowns / Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes is huge when facing an opponent with a fist full of counterspells. This is also a decent roleplayer if legendary matters ends up being 3-4 color goodstuff piles. I see this being less likely though without heavy Ring support since green really doesn't have a lot of cheap (1-2 cmc) legendary creatures. I've played Boreal Druid in my cube that doesn't care about snow mana, so this should fit the bill if you're looking for more mana dorks for a single .
OTHER Merry, Esquire of RohanA 2/2 with haste is a solid floor for any aggressive creature. Giving this first strike with any equipment makes this pretty hard to deal with in combat (assuming you get a reasonable power boost). The real kicker though is drawing a card when this attacks with another legendary creature, which is extremely powerful for 2 mana. Luckily red and white has the highest concentration of aggressive legendary creatures that makes this fairly viable, here are all the good ones I can think of off the top of my head:
WHITE
RED
BOROS
If all these cards were in my cube right now, Merry would be a shoe-in. As is, I'm going to pass on this for now unless I go deep into supporting the Ring. Red already has a lot of great 2/2s with haste + additional upside, but this is definitely something I'm going to keep my eye on as we get more playable legendary creatures.
Pippin, Guard of the CitadelBigger Giver of Runes. Ward 1 is nice to have on Mother of Runes type of cards, especially since it can't protect itself with its activated ability. Being a 2/2 with vigilance also lets this play offense and defense at the same time, which is unique for these type of creatures. Granting protection from a card type of your choice instead of color might be an overall upgrade. Choosing creatures makes the target creature straight up unblockable. Protection from a single color can only achieve this if your opponent has no other colors or colorless creatures around. This especially works well with Geist of Saint Traft. This seems like a solid option if you're looking to push tempo and are looking for a new Mother of Runes variant that isn't Skrelv, Defector Mite.
Prince Imrahil the FairIf you're into drawing 2 cards matters theme, this isn't a bad signpost / payoff. Seems generally worse than Clarion Spirit though which is less narrow and generates flyers. Second spell matters are generally best with cantrips anyways since they replace themselves.
Arwen, Mortal QueenThis is an interesting indestructible roadblock against non-white aggro decks in the early game and life gain potential in the mid / late game. White doesn't care too much about indestructible since pretty much all of its best targeted creature removal exiles anyways. This does look like an extremely good role player for counters matters. Lifelink / indestructible counters are hard to come by and work extremely well with The Ozolith type effects. My concern with this card in most Vintage cubes is that it doesn't seem too hot outside of the non-white aggro matchup, and Kitchen Finks already fills that role extremely well.
Flame of AnorIzzet's take on Archmage's Charm. Counsel of the Soratami is a good mode to have on a 3-cmc charm, but Shatter and bigger Flame Slash are a bit overcosted at 3 mana by themselves. This is a potential 3 for 1 if you control a wizard, but I was quite shocked when I ran a filter on my CubeCobra and discovered that I'm currently only cubing with 10 wizards + Mutavault. This is a huge bomb if you have the wizard count, but for me I think this is much worse than other modal Izzet options like Izzet Charm / Prismari Command. Fire // Ice / Electrolyze don't help this card's case either, and those are on the outside looking in for me.
Sauron's RansomAtris, Oracle of Half-Truths x Shadow Prophecy. A mini Fact or Fiction for 3 mana is always tempting. This being instant speed, fueling the graveyard, providing a cool mini-game, and not having a single drawback (other than not knowing what's in the face down pile) makes this the best 3-cmc instant speed draw effect in my book. The Ring tempting you is a decent bonus, although I'd imagine black and blue are the two worst colors for the mechanic in most cubes. I'm always looking for more Fact or Fiction / Shadow Prophecy type cards for 3 mana, and this not causing me to lose life or force me into a domain strategy makes this very flexible for a lot of decks. I'm also testing out Dream Halls right now for reanimator / cheaty face shenanigans, so a new multicolored value spell will help that out a lot. Dimir doesn't exactly have a ton of bombs compared to other color combinations. This is a good option if you're looking for more utility multicolored cards that fill multiple roles.
Aragorn, King of GondorThis is a pretty attractive monarch enabler with Baneslayer Angel type stats. This playing both offense and defense well with vigilance / lifelink while being a monarch enabler is pretty unheard of and extremely powerful for 4 mana.. Its attack trigger is pretty good at hedging your risk of fighting over monarch. While this looks awfully a lot like Queen Marchesa as a 3-color monarch enabler for 4 mana, this also reminds me a lot of Seasoned Dungeoneer with its beefier stats and evasive attack triggers. Seasoned Dungeoneer is more offensive and is mono colored, but this plays defense much better and is better suited at stabilizing the board and mounting a comeback. While this is arguably less powerful and more narrow than Seasoned Dungeoneer, a lesser Seasoned Dungeoneer is still one hell of a card, even if it's 3 colors.
Eowyn, Fearless KnightA powerful Ravenous Chupacabra effect when you actually have a hit. Unfortunately, the “greater power” clause makes this a narrow removal spell and is essentially a worse Hellrider in most scenarios. Currently in my cube, there are 54 creatures with power 4 or more, but most of them are really expensive. 13 of them are 4 cmc or less, and only Bonecrusher Giant / Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath have 4 or more power a 3-cmc (and Uro really doesn't count on curve). The floor of Eowyn isn't completely awful, but both white and red have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to aggressive 4-cmc options.
Faramir, Prince of IthilienThis is an interesting creature from a design perspective. Setting up a delayed triggered ability on your end step that goes off on your opponent's end step with a varying effect depending on whether or not your opponent attacked you that turn is quite a unique effect. If your opponent doesn't attack you, this acts as a delayed monarch trigger, which ain't bad over time. Creating three 1/1 creatures is quite the trigger though and is a bargain for . It comes at the cost of time and your opponent attacking you, but this can add up a lot if Faramir, Prince of Ithilien sticks around. This really feels like a planeswalker / monarch enabler without actually being either of those. While this passes the Vindicate test fairly well since you'll get the delayed triggered ability, you get zero value if this dies before your end step and is vulnerable to every instant speed Lightning Bolt / Incinerate effect. Seems like an interesting to at least test if you're looking for a new Azorius card to mix things up a bit.
Sail Into the WestAn instant speed draw 7 for (that can potentially do something else if you're a multiplayer game I guess). This isn't exactly a combo with Hullbreacher and friends since the draw 7 is optional, but it at least forces your opponent to opt out of the wheel effect. This still works well with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse since it still triggers off your own draws. Sail Into the West seems best suited for Fastbond / storm decks. Being instant speed means you get to untap first, making it feel like a pseudo Time Spiral for 4 mana.
Eomer, King of RohanKind of sort of a humans matters Flametongue Kavu that is also an initiative enabler? It only takes 1 or 2 other humans to make this a big threat with its combination of double strike and +1/+1 counters. This is also one of the better humans to cheat out with Winota, Joiner of Forces. That being said, the main draw of this card is being an initiative enabler that can deal damage equal to its power to any target. This seems closer to Custodi Lich than Palace Jailer to me based on its mana cost and lack of ability to straight up exile any creature it wants to. Being able to hit things that aren't creatures is nice, as is the potential to be a powerful finisher on its own as either a burn spell or a giant double striking threat. While this is a strong card in its own right, red and white have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Flametongue Kavus / monarch / initiative enablers, and I think this falls short compared to those.
Riders of RohanA 5-cmc creature that has a mix of Deep Forest Hermit's value with the immediate damage output of Thundermaw Hellkite. Being inherently more aggressive than Deep Forest Hermit, and guaranteed value over Thundermaw Hellkite is a good combination to have, and the 6 mana dash option makes this a great topdeck in the late game. While being compared to Deep Forest Hermit is a very good thing in my book, green values 5 drops more than red / white, and green has more in-color synergies to really abuse Deep Forest Hermit type creatures. Like with Eomer, King of Rohan, aggressive red and white 4-drops are just so damn strong that I don't feel like I need this in Boros colors. Forth Eorlingas! eating this card's lunch also isn't doing this card much favors. Good card overall, but I think this is a huge victim of steep competition for its role.
The Balrog of MoriaA cycling super fattie. The cycling ability is actually quite strong, acting as a pseudo Explosive Vegetation that also draws you a card and puts a super fattie in the graveyard. I like this effect much more than Kogla and Yidaro since it actually stays in the graveyard and helps ramp me to Incarnation Technique / Through the Breach / Selvala's Stampede, or just hard cast my super fatties at that point. This can close out a game fast if cheated out early, but the death trigger really isn't getting you much early in the game. As a super fattie I think this is a bit lackluster. Its ability to bin itself for a reanimation spell late in the game is pretty slow by today's standards. It's also pretty poor with Flash compared to other ETB / death triggers. I'd only be playing this in my deck if I were getting cut on super fatties during the draft because I think this is generally worse than my current options.
Forth Eorlingas!Asymmetrical Eiganjo Uprising that is also a monarch enabler. Eiganjo Uprising without the downside would already be a very playable card on its own. Add monarch to the mix and the fact that you can curve a creature into this and potentially enable monarch on turn 2 is very insane. This card scales well throughout the game, is strong at any point of the curve, and is perfect for any aggro / aggressive midrange deck. Lurrus of the Dream-Den companion decks always appreciate a good army in a can spell to get around the companion restriction.
This is easily up there with Orcish Bowmasters as the best card in LTR / LTC. As an army in a can spell, this is at least as good as Pest Infestation / Occult Epiphany, and is much more powerful than them in a lot of scenarios. This is definitely a top 2 Boros card in my book alongside Comet, Stellar Pup and is pretty up there with the upper echelon of multicolored spells that I'm actually willing to take P1P1. Monarch / Universes Beyond aside, this is the type of spell that is going to be banned from a lot of cubes based on power level alone in the same vein as Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes / Oko, Thief of Crowns / White Plume Adventurer / etc.
Mount DoomAnother grim reminder that they still haven't printed the version of Horizon Canopy. The Shivan Gorge ability is cool for aggro as a way to finish off your opponent in the late game. The ability to sweep all but up to two creatures is extremely fringe and might as well be flavor text outside of a Golos, Tireless Pilgrim deck. This land is definitely serviceable, but it's going to be worse Sulfurous Springs every time you don't activate one of its non-mana abilities, which is probably going to be a vast majority of the time.
Wizard's RocketsA new Chromatic Sphere / Chromatic Star variant. This ETBing tapped generally makes this worse than Chromatic Star, but it's not strictly worse since this can cantrip for a single total mana and provide more mana fixing. This also lets you cast whatever you want with Channel, but I wouldn't put a lot of weight on that based on my experience with Quicksilver Amulet being able to do something similar. This ain't a bad option as a supplement to Chromatic Sphere / Chromatic Star, but I don't think this replaces any of those and isn't appealing if you're already not playing those cards.
Anduril, Flame of the WestA new take on the Sword of Fire and Ice cycle. From a design perspective, I like this a lot more since it doesn't grant protection and triggers on attack rather than on dealing combat damage to your opponent. Giving +3/+1 is inherently more aggressive than your average sword, especially since this generates two 1/1 flyers. The spirits entering the battlefield tapped and attacking is a nice bonus if your creature is legendary.
This reminds me a lot of Sword of Body and Mind since they both generate bodies, always giving you something to equip this to. I generally like this more than most swords / Heirloom Blade / Grafted Wargear / etc. Relevant protections aside, this will generally perform better than most swords due to its damage output and guaranteed value on attack trigger that doesn't rely on connecting with your opponent. In my book I think this is AT LEAST a top 3 sword alongside Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Body and Mind.
Palantir of OrthancKind of sort of a colorless Phyrexian Arena x one-sided Sulfuric Vortex. This triggering on your end step and always getting to scry 2 is nice and makes it less vulnerable to the Vindicate test. On curve, your opponent will probably let you mill the first couple of times, which is a good way to filter your draws / fuel your graveyard. This can be really scary in reanimator / cheaty face decks where revealing 2-3 super fatties can just kill your opponent. This is also one of the more interesting cards to play on turn 1 with Mishra's Workshop. This is one of the harder cards for me to evaluate since I don't think this has much of a home outside of a Mishra's Workshop deck. It doesn't seem particularly great in a stereotypical aggro / midrange / control deck, and it seems like filler at best for reanimator / cheaty face to me. I might give this a spin just to try it out and push Mishra's Workshop a bit more, but my expectations are quite low.
The One RingGreatness, at any cost! The One Ring is essentially Coercive Portal on crack that might kill you on occasion. This draws 3 cards for 1 life by the time Coercive Portal draws you 1 card, and a lot of the early life loss is mitigated by this giving you protection (assuming you cast it). Being indestructible makes this very difficult for colors other than blue and white to deal with this once it's on the battlefield. This feels very monarch / initiative to me, except the drawbacks are much more severe and harder to mitigate. Let's go over the various ways to help mitigate the drawback (other than just gaining a bunch of life).
Goblin Welder effects help cheat this in and out of play.
Bouncing this to your hand is a good way to soft lock your opponent from killing you, although the methods to do this aren't exactly efficient (Karakas + Venser, Shaper Savant).
There are a good number of ways to blink artifacts now with things like Flickerwisp / Yorion, Sky Nomad / Touch the Spirit Realm / Guardian of Ghirapur.
While this doesn't mitigate your drawback, effects that can untap The One Ring really help maximize the amount of cards you can draw with this. The One Ring seems like a shoe-in if you run Time Vault combo since it plays plenty of cards that can untap this like Voltaic Key / Manifold Key / Tezzeret the Seeker / Ral Zarek / etc. This also works well with Kiki-Twin combo since you can untap this with Pestermite / Deceiver Exarch / Zealous Conscripts to help find your Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker / Splinter Twin.
I recently added Mishra's Workshop to re-test in my cube alongside The One Ring. The One Ring itself has been pretty solid against non-aggro matchups and is just one of the more fun cards to play in general / off an early Mishra's Workshop.
Relic of SauronHedron Archive's 2023 glow up. Being able to tap for colored mana is nice when tapping out for this since you can still play a good amount of spells on curve. Seems like a good supplement / replacement]] to Hedron Archive if you're playing it, but I don't think it's enough of an upgrade to justify playing this if you're currently not on Hedron Archive in most scenarios.
Shire TerraceStrictly better Terminal Moraine / Warped Landscape. In a way this is like a hybrid between Ash Barrens and Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds. As a land, this is strictly better than Ash Barrens since you can still tutor for a land later. This having the option not interrupting your curve is a nice bonus over Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds. Where this card loses out is that it costs more mana for the fetch effect, not being able to get you a basic on curve until turn 3.
I think this is generally better than Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds, but probably worse than Ash Barrens. In my experience, Ash Barrens is cycled more often than it's played as a land. I'd imagine this is a solid option for pauper / peasant / budget / cubes, or cubes that are looking for more ways to trigger double landfall or something. In an MTGO style Vintage / Legacy cube, I'd consider this in a larger list. My personal hierarchy for these types of cards right now is Prismatic Vista >>> Ash Barrens >= Fabled Passage > Shire Terrace >= Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds.
HOT TAKES TIER LIST TIME!Criteria is based on the following:
Amount of cubes I think a card will see play, particularly in powered / high powered settings.
How long I predict they will last in cubes.
How cards compare to their competition in terms of function and cmc.
The cards within the tiers are unordered:
TOP HIGH HIGH-MID LOW-MID LOW NICHE FINAL THOUGHTSComplexity aside, I think the Ring is a well designed mechanic. It doesn't have the elegance of monarch, but it's also not broken in half like monarch / initiative are since the Ring is not self-perpetuating and doesn't quickly snowball your way to victory. That being said, I like how the Ring is easier to interact with since only one creature can be a Ring-bearer at a time.
Legendary matters are extremely viable now in with the amount of cheap legendary creatures this set has introduced + the Ring. Mox Amber and friends have waited a long time for this set. Flowering of the White Tree / Merry, Esquire of Rohan are especially great new legendary matters payoffs.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if there's a card that I missed and I'll respond back with the hottest of takes! Also, feel free to join the Online Cube Drafts Discord Group to discuss all things Cube plus use Xmage to host tournaments to draft / play with our own cubes!
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