Librarians of Kamigawa
A set cube for Saviors of Kamigawa!?! One of Magics most reviled sets gets a supercharge in this set cube with the addition of a free Library of Alexandria for each player at the start of the game. Given SoK’s unique hand size matters theme, this poses a powerful trade off: keep drawing cards or use the extra mana to accelerate out powerful plays?
Rather than focus on archetypes, here are some key cards to look out for.
White:>>>
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With four copies of each common, you can quickly splice multiple Visits onto copies of itself to assemble an army of 1/1s really quickly. Then follow it up with a massive Charge Across the Araba for lethal!
Blue:
One of the worst cards in the set becomes one of the best when you can trade your basic land for a Library of Alexandria! And keep a look out for Oboro Breezecaller, which can both protect your library while also drawing extra cards.
Black:
Rats attack! Deathmask is an unblockable 4/3 against nonblack opponents that threatens to make short work of players who can’t find removal. But the real power is the Gnat Miser, a brutal effect to draft multiple copies of in a format where hand size is so important.
Red:
Speaking of cheap threats, how does a 4/2 first striker on turn 1 sound? This fast clock gets even more brutal when you can quickly close out the game by pointing 8 damage Spiraling Embers at an opponent’s face.
Green:
Green plays a slower midrange role in the cube, but don’t be fooled! This color has plenty of ways to accelerate out massive creatures of its own while also gaining a ton of card advantage. Don’t be afraid to use your Library as mana acceleration in green, because this is a color that can quickly refill its hand so long as it can answer early threats.
Damn. This is great.