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Howdy, gamers!
New year, new Vintage Cube updates. For anyone newer to these updates, my name’s Carmen Handy. I’m on the Play Design team here at Wizards of the Coast, and for about a year now, I’ve had my fingers in the changes being made to Vintage Cube. Some of the changes have been great, and some have been
There are a ton of changes with this iteration of Vintage Cube, so let’s go ahead and dive into what you can expect, what to be looking for, and the direction in which things are headed.
It’s no secret that the strongest things to do in Vintage Cube are generally blue cards and artifacts, with monocolor aggro frequently being open enough for each table to have one or two strong aggro drafters. This is a symptom of a couple of things, with some being more actionable than others.
To put it bluntly: the strongest cards in the history of the game are largely blue or artifacts. There isn’t much that can be done to address this on the side of cube design. Cubes are largely built out of cards that already exist, and there simply aren’t ever going to be green or white cards that compete with Sol Ring and Ancestral Recall.
On top of being strong, a lot of these cards are also “generically” strong. This means that no matter what archetype you’re playing, your blue deck is probably interested in playing Mana Drain, Ancestral Recall, and so on. Take green on the other hand; looking at the stronger cards in the cube, they aren’t going to work in every single green deck:
This is because to compete with some of the stronger things in the cube, other colors lean more into synergy rather than leaning on raw rate. That’s okay, but it means that some slots are going to have to be committed to more synergy-based cards for the sake of making a color combination more likely to hang against the stronger stuff that shows up in Vintage.
I use green as an example because it’s the color seeing the largest update, and that’s largely motivated by a desire to have more reasonably strong gold cards for the color.
With the last few cube updates, there’s been a bit of dancing around the fact that the pool of generically stronger cards that Gruul and Selesnya have access to are comparatively weak when stacked against Izzet and Azorius. Some of the power in the latter pairs are rooted in the fact that the infrastructure is there for cards like Thousand-Year Storm and Dack Fayden to really shine, which brings me to the big change coming to Vintage Cube:
Something we saw last year in a spotlight cube was the inclusion of Dark Depths as a combo piece. It isn’t always perfect, but it does give a bunch of cards a chance to shine. Knight of the Reliquary, for example, is a card that ain’t what it used to be. But now there are more spell lands in the cube, a land-based combo, and more than just power and toughness that incentivize people to play with Knight of the Reliquary.
Enabling this sort of archetype isn’t free and does come with a handful of new additions to the cube that are for the sake of trying to lift non-blue cards, some of which can slot into some more midrange-y strategies. This includes some obvious stuff in the vein of Life from the Loam and The Gitrog Monster, but also some more subtle shifts, like the Horizon lands from Future Sight and Modern Horizons:
These are cards that are going to be able to slot into more decks while allowing more land-centric cards like Wrenn and Six and Crop Rotation to have more utility in decks that might not quite be going as far as being a lands deck. These cards are ultimately unexciting on the whole when only used with basic lands, so my hope is that finding ways to slot in some normal cards that synergize with these pieces will give them that extra push to get them into people’s decks more frequently.
To be entirely frank, I don’t believe that every single piece of the lands package is going to stand the test of time, but something this large warrants a bit of flexibility for the sake of discovering what does work. It’s entirely possible the package itself doesn’t play out as well as it does on paper, and I’m prepared to keep searching for ways to raise the stock of non-blue cards, even if it means continuing to play whack-a-mole with the rest of the reasonable-ish Selesnya Cards.
Over time, the other color that sticks out a bit to me as waning in utility is black. Outside of Reanimator, it’s become harder and harder to have a successful black-based deck. This update to the cube is an attempt to get back to having more creatures in the early game and testing out which directions those cards can slot into other archetypes.
Some of the new inclusions are meant to be clear in their application. Vampire Hexmage works with Dark Depths and punches planeswalkers; Cryptbreaker is another fine-ish Reanimator enabler. The ones that I’m the least confident in are some of the recursive cards, a la Skyclave Shade and Bloodghast. In conjunction with some token makers, these cards can enable some archetypes that weren’t quite there before or were at least somewhat close.
New additions Braids, Cabal Minion and Goblin Bombardment ideally give enough redundancy in meaningful sacrifice outlets with Smokestack and Recurring Nightmare for a new deck to be viable. A couple of slots can completely change what decks are possible in a cube, and I’m working harder than ever to try and let people play Vintage Cube in the way that’s the most fun to them.
This round of changes has some cards that are easier to build around than others at all kinds of different power levels. I’m going to keep my eye on what people are building around and what isn’t making it onto the battlefield.
As always, I’m open to feedback on what is or isn’t working, what’s missing to help something clear the bar, and what you don’t think will ever cut it. Some of the changes this time around are a bit more radical, but updating the cube is a constant balancing act. In a lot of ways, the cube is a love letter to the community, from the community, and I’m hoping it’s well received this time around.
I’m looking forward to what comes out of this season and can’t wait to see y’all in the queues.
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Card Name Color Giver of Runes White Esper Sentinel White Lion Sash White Mother of Runes White Student of Warfare White Thraben Inspector White Containment Priest White Selfless Spirit White Soulfire Grand Master White Stoneforge Mystic White Thalia, Guardian of Thraben White The Restoration of Eiganjo White Wall of Omens White Leonin Relic-Warder White Blade Splicer White Skyclave Apparition White Monastery Mentor White Recruiter of the Guard White Intrepid Adversary White Adline, Replendent Cathar White Flickerwisp White Vryn Wingmare White Silverblade Paladin White Restoration Angel White Hero of Bladehold White The Wandering Emperor White Karmic Guide White Elspeth Conquers Death White Baneslayer Angel White Lyra Dawnbringer White Sun Titan White Spectral Procession White Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite White Karakas White Mox Pearl White Condemn White Palace Jailer White Land Tax White Mana Tithe White Path to Exile White Swords to Plowshares White Balance White Disenchant White Spear of Heliod White Oust White Banishing Light White Cathar Commando White Council’s Judgment White Gideon Blackblade White Ephemerate White Armageddon White Usher of the Fallen White Ravages of War White Damn White Elspeth, Knight-Errant White Gideon, Ally of Zendikar White Elite Spellbinder White Parallax Wave White Wrath of God White Elspeth, Sun’s Champion White Solitude White Gideon Jura White Adanto Vanguard White Archangel Avacyn White Iona, Shield of Emeria White Thassa’s Oracle Blue Spell Pierce Blue Baral, Chief of Compliance Blue Daze Blue Mana Leak Blue Phantasmal Image Blue Remand Blue Snapcaster Mage Blue Thieving Skydiver Blue Counterspell Blue Mana Drain Blue Deceiver Exarch Blue Pestermite Blue Spellseeker Blue Trinket Mage Blue Shark Typhoon Blue Force of Negation Blue Narset, Parter of Veils Blue Vendilion Clique Blue Memory Deluge Blue Gilded Drake Blue Glen Elendra Archmage Blue Jace, the Mind Sculptor Blue Sower of Temptation Blue Urza, Lord High Artificer Blue Venser, Shaper Savant Blue Mulldrifter Blue Bribery Blue Echo of Eons Blue Tezzeret the Seeker Blue Treachery Blue Consecrated Sphinx Blue Hullbreaker Horror Blue Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant Blue Upheaval Blue Inkwell Leviathan Blue Shelldock Isle Blue Ancestral Vision Blue Mox Sapphire Blue Gitaxian Probe Blue Ancestral Recall Blue Brainstorm Blue Mystical Tutor Blue Ponder Blue Preordain Blue Brain Freeze Blue Chart a Course Blue Portent Blue Miscalculation Blue Time Walk Blue Emry, Lurker of the Loch Blue Frantic Search Blue Show and Tell Blue Thirst for Discovery Blue Timetwister Blue Tinker Blue Fact or Fiction Blue Mystic Confluence Blue Turnabout Blue Cryptic Command Blue Gush Blue Force of Will Blue Mind’s Desire Blue Time Spiral Blue Palinchron Blue Treasure Cruise Blue Dig Through Time Blue Repeal Blue Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy Blue Murktide Regent Blue Sea Gate Stormcaller Blue Suspicious Stowaway Blue Brazen Borrower Blue Time Warp Blue High Tide Blue Opposition Blue Duress Black Fatal Push Black Inquisition of Kozilek Black Thoughtseize Black Cabal Ritual Black Collective Brutality Black Dark Confidant Black Bloodchief’s Thirst Black Skyclave Shade Black Custodi Lich Black Mesmeric Fiend Black Night’s Whisper Black Snuff Out Black Wishclaw Talisman Black Hymn to Tourach Black Scrapheap Scrounger Black Bone Shredder Black Ophiomancer Black Rotting Regisaur Black Toxic Deluge Black Hero’s Downfall Black Woe Strider Black Murderous Rider Black Nighthawk Scavenger Black Damnation Black Gonti, Lord of Luxury Black Sedgemoor Witch Black Liliana, the Last Hope Black Ravenous Chupacabra Black Braids, Cabal Minion Black Shriekmaw Black Bloodghast Black Dauthi Voidwalker Black Grief Black Bazaar of Baghdad Black Rishadan Port Black Mox Jet Black Dark Ritual Black Entomb Black Imperial Seal Black Putrid Imp Black Reanimate Black Vampiric Tutor Black Animate Dead Black Demonic Tutor Black Exhume Black Oona’s Prowler Black Pack Rat Black Shallow Grave Black Infernal Grasp Black Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion Black Necromancy Black Recurring Nightmare Black Yawgmoth’s Will Black Liliana of the Veil Black Makeshift Mannequin Black Tendrils of Agony Black Unburial Rites Black Living Death Black Grave Titan Black Yawgmoth’s Bargain Black Massacre Wurm Black Vampire Hexmage Black Griselbrand Black Mind Twist Black Bitterblossom Black Archon of Cruelty Black Volrath’s Stronghold Black Bolas’s Citadel Black Goblin Guide Red Goblin Welder Red Grim Lavamancer Red Monastery Swiftspear Red Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer Red Bomat Courier Red Abbot of Keral Keep Red Dire Fleet Daredevil Red Bloodthirsty Adversary Red Embereth Shieldbreaker Red Runaway Steam-Kin Red Young Pyromancer Red Eidolon of the Great Revel Red Char Red Goblin Rabblemaster Red Imperial Recruiter Red Dockside Extortionist Red Seething Song Red Wheel of Fortune Red Seasoned Pyromancer Red Sulfuric Vortex Red Avalanche Riders Red Bonecrusher Giant Red Hazoret the Fervent Red Hellrider Red Pia and Kiran Nalaar Red Fable of the Mirror-Breaker Red Fury Red Thundermaw Hellkite Red Destructive Force Red Goldspan Dragon Red Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker Red Inferno Titan Red Strip Mine Red Wasteland Red Mox Ruby Red Burst Lightning Red Chain Lightning Red Firebolt Red Unholy Heat Red Lightning Bolt Red Abrade Red Voltaic Visionary Red Desperate Ritual Red Incinerate Red Red Elemental Blast Red Goblin Bombardment Red Pyretic Ritual Red Underworld Breach Red Light Up the Stage Red Birgi, God of Storytelling Red Daretti, Scrap Savant Red Past in Flames Red Sneak Attack Red Chandra, Torch of Defiance Red Laelia, the Blade Reforged Red Koth of the Hammer Red Splinter Twin Red Through the Breach Red Dragon’s Rage Channeler Red Fireblast Red Wheel of Misfortune Red Jokulhaups Red Zealous Conscripts Red Empty the Warrens Red Faithless Looting Red Mana Flare Red Boseiju, Who Endures Green Arbor Elf Green Crop Rotation Green Birds of Paradise Green Ignoble Hierarch Green Elvish Mystic Green Fastbond Green Fyndhorn Elves Green Joraga Treespeaker Green Llanowar Elves Green Noble Hierarch Green Birthing Pod Green Oath of Druids Green Regrowth Green Sakura-Tribe Elder Green Survival of the Fittest Green Sylvan Caryatid Green Sylvan Library Green Wall of Roots Green Channel Green Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary Green Cultivate Green Utopia Sprawl Green Worldly Tutor Green Courser of Kruphix Green Circle of Dreams Druid Green Oracle of Mul Daya Green Eureka Green Life from the Loam Green Natural Order Green Kogla, the Titan Ape Green Tovolar’s Huntmaster Green Primeval Titan Green Augur of Autumn Green Green Sun’s Zenith Green Finale of Devastation Green Gaea’s Cradle Green Mox Emerald Green Pest Infestation Green Nissa, Vastwood Seer Green Devoted Druid Green Fauna Shaman Green Elvish Reclaimer Green Scavenging Ooze Green Endurance Green Whisperwood Elemental Green Ramunap Excavator Green Reclamation Sage Green Eternal Witness Green Garruk Relentless Green Elder Gargaroth Green Garruk Wildspeaker Green Hexdrinker Green Polukranos, World Eater Green Questing Beast Green Thragtusk Green Acidic Slime Green Hornet Queen Green Deranged Hermit Green Nissa, Who Shakes the World Green Toski, Bearer of Secrets Green Magus of the Order Green Avenger of Zendikar Green Craterhoof Behemoth Green Woodfall Primus Green Tireless Tracker Green Heartbeat of Spring Green Terastodon Green Plow Under Green Bloodtithe Harvester Black-Red Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger Black-Red Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast Black-Red Kolaghan’s Command Black-Red Olivia, Crimson Bride Black-Red Yorion, Sky Nomad White-Blue Teferi, Time Raveler White-Blue Fractured Identity White-Blue Teferi, Hero of Dominaria White-Blue Geist of Saint Traft White-Blue Figure of Destiny Red-White Lightning Helix Red-White Showdown of the Skalds Red-White Nahiri, the Harbinger Red-White Wear // Tear Red-White Tamiyo, Compleated Sage Green-Blue Oko, Thief of Crowns Green-Blue Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Green-Blue Edric, Spymaster of Trest Green-Blue Hydroid Krasis Green-Blue Spirit-Sister’s Call White-Black Tidehollow Sculler White-Black Lurrus of the Dream-Den White-Black Vindicate White-Black Ashen Rider White-Black Manamorphose Red-Green Wrenn and Six Red-Green Halana and Alena, Partners Red-Green Huntmaster of the Fells Red-Green Escape to the Wilds Red-Green Baleful Strix Blue-Black Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver Blue-Black Satoru Umezawa Blue-Black Fallen Shinobi Blue-Black The Scarab God Blue-Black Kitchen Finks Green-White Knight of Autumn Green-White Knight of the Reliquary Green-White Archon of Valor’s Reach Green-White Mirari’s Wake Green-White Goblin Electromancer Blue-Red Dack Fayden Blue-Red Expressive Iteration Blue-Red Thousand-Year Storm Blue-Red Expansion // Explosion Blue-Red Assassin’s Trophy Black-Green Maelstrom Pulse Black-Green The Gitrog Monster Black-Green Grist, the Hunger Tide Black-Green Vraska, Golgari Queen Black-Green Progenitus Multicolor Leovold, Emissary of Trest Multicolor Omnath, Locus of Creation Multicolor Sphinx of the Steel Wind Multicolor Niv-Mizzet, Reborn Multicolor Ancient Tomb Land Badlands Land Blackcleave Cliffs Land Blood Crypt Land Bloodstained Mire Land Celestial Colonnade Land Flooded Strand Land Hallowed Fountain Land Lavaclaw Reaches Land Library of Alexandria Land Urza’s Saga Land Mishra’s Workshop Land Prismatic Vista Land Seachrome Coast Land Tolarian Academy Land Tundra Land Arid Mesa Land Botanical Sanctum Land Breeding Pool Land Inspiring Vantage Land Waterlogged Grove Land Mishra’s Factory Land Misty Rainforest Land Mutavault Land Sunbaked Canyon Land Plateau Land Sacred Foundry Land Tropical Island Land Concealed Courtyard Land Copperline Gorge Land Godless Shrine Land Marsh Flats Land Field of the Dead Land Raging Ravine Land Scrubland Land Silent Clearing Land Stomping Ground Land Taiga Land Wooded Foothills Land Creeping Tar Pit Land Darkslick Shores Land Polluted Delta Land Razorverge Thicket Land Savannah Land Horizon Canopy Land Temple Garden Land Underground Sea Land Watery Grave Land Windswept Heath Land Bayou Land Blooming Marsh Land Nurturing Peatland Land Overgrown Tomb Land Scalding Tarn Land Spirebluff Canal Land Steam Vents Land Verdant Catacombs Land Volcanic Island Land Fiery Islet Land Deserted Beach Land Haunted Ridge Land Rockfall Vale Land Overgrown Farmland Land Shipwreck Marsh Land Stormcarved Coast Land Shattered Sanctum Land Dreamroot Cascade Land Sundown Pass Land Deathcap Glade Land Thespian’s Stage Land Dark Depths Land Academy Ruins Land Black Lotus Colorless Chrome Mox Colorless Everflowing Chalice Colorless Mana Crypt Colorless Mox Diamond Colorless Mana Vault Colorless Sol Ring Colorless Azorious Signet Colorless Rakdos Signet Colorless Boros Signet Colorless Simic Signet Colorless Winter Orb Colorless Crucible of Worlds Colorless Tangle Wire Colorless Lodestone Golem Colorless Smokestack Colorless Karn Liberated Colorless Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Colorless Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Colorless Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre Colorless Emrakul, the Aeons Torn Colorless Lotus Bloom Colorless Lion’s Eye Diamond Colorless Skullclamp Colorless Eater of Virtue Colorless Retrofitter Foundry Colorless Gruul Signet Colorless Lotus Petal Colorless Orzhov Signet Colorless Umezawa’s Jitte Colorless Coalition Relic Colorless Sword of Body and Mind Colorless Sword of Feast and Famine Colorless Sword of Fire and Ice Colorless Gilded Lotus Colorless Batterskull Colorless Wurmcoil Engine Colorless Relic of Progenitus Colorless Sensei’s Divining Top Colorless Dimir Signet Colorless Phyrexian Revoker Colorless Selesnya Signet Colorless Dismember Colorless Oblivion Stone Colorless Phyrexian Metamorph Colorless Memory Jar Colorless Mindslaver Colorless Cryptbreaker Colorless Hangarback Walker Colorless Walking Ballista Colorless Emrakul, the Promised End Colorless Golgari Signet Colorless Grim Monolith Colorless Izzet Signet Colorless Smuggler’s Copter Colorless Porcelain Legionnaire Colorless Basalt Monolith Colorless Metalworker Colorless Worn Powerstone Colorless Karn, Scion of Urza Colorless Thran Dynamo Colorless Golos, Tireless Pilgrim Colorless Kuldotha Forgemaster Colorless Myr Battlesphere Colorless Sundering Titan Colorless Blightsteel Colossus Colorless Coercive Portal Colorless
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