Warning: long article incoming. I'll start off with a review of the most interesting cards per color, and end with my top 5.
First, let's look at the new mechanics:
Embalm X (X, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie <original creature types> with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery)
So, flashback for creatures. That's bound to be nice, since flashback is one of the better mechanics in the history of Magic. (speaking of great mechanics, cycling's back as well!)
It also looks like a very good glue mechanic, as it synergizes with multiple things: graveyard, sacrifice, tokens.
Exert (An exerted creature won't untap during you next untap step)
Some creatures have the ability to 'exert' them as they attack, to get an effect. I do wonder if this causes memory issues. The mechanic itself doesn't really lend itself to anything specific other then attacking, so we'll see what kinds of effects it brings with it.
White
Cast Out (3W, Enchantment, Flash, When EtB, exile target non land permanent an opponent controls until this LtB. Cycling W)
Looks like good removal. But, we don't have a shortage of good removal in white and cycling is least useful on cards that are likely always to be useful.
Devoted Crop-Mate (2W, Creature - Human Warrior, 3/2, You may exert this as it attacks. If you do, return a creature with cmc 2 or less from your grave to the battlefield)
We've seen a handful of cards like this in white, each of them with different restrictions. A 3/2 for 2W isn't the worst floor, but I wonder if I ever want to trade my 3/2 for a 1- or 2-drop. I guess if I'm about to suicide this in, I might as well exert it. And if my opponent doesn't block, I'm not down in board presence because I gained a creature.
Forsake the Worldly (2W, Instant, Exile target artifact or enchantment. Cycling 2)
Now this is a cycling card! Disenchant has always been fringe mainboard material, but could sometimes be a little awkward. Most decks will gladly trade an increase in mana cost for the ability to cycle it when needed. Interesting. It still has to compete with the likes of Oblivion Ring for versatility, a battle it will lose most of the time. Also, if we're talking about adding mana, you might as well include Cast Out in your list.
We've seen a handful of cards like this in white, each of them with different restrictions. A 3/2 for 2W isn't the worst floor, but I wonder if I ever want to trade my 3/2 for a 1- or 2-drop. I guess if I'm about to suicide this in, I might as well exert it. And if my opponent doesn't block, I'm not down in board presence because I gained a creature.
Forsake the Worldly (2W, Instant, Exile target artifact or enchantment. Cycling 2)
Now this is a cycling card! Disenchant has always been fringe mainboard material, but could sometimes be a little awkward. Most decks will gladly trade an increase in mana cost for the ability to cycle it when needed. Interesting. It still has to compete with the likes of Oblivion Ring for versatility, a battle it will lose most of the time. Also, if we're talking about adding mana, you might as well include Cast Out in your list.
Not exactly peasant's Eternal Dragon. Thing is, Eternal Dragon's a 5/5 that keeps coming back, which is exactly what a control finisher wants. This still dies to a bolt and is a 7 turn clock on its own.
Protection of the Hekma (4W, Enchantment, If a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, prevent 1 of it)
This is really expensive, and will not do anything in most decks/cubes. But if you support pillow fort style control decks, it might be worth a spin.
Seraph of the Suns (5WW, Creature - Angel, 4/4, Flying, Indestructible)
I really want to like this, because we don't get big indestructible creatures every day. As is, it's probably too expensive.
Truehart Duelist (1W, Creature - Human Warrior, 2/2, Can block an additional creature, Embalm 2W)
It's a bear with flashback, so it can't be the worst. Most likely place is as a defensive speed bump, basically a white Moment's Peace.Vizier of Deferment (2W, Creature - Human Cleric, 2/2 Flash, When EtB you may exile target creature if it attacked or blocked this turn. Return it at eot.)
You can flash it in to save an otherwise dying attacker while you keep attacking, you can prevent some damage by blinking one attacker and blocker the other. Oh, and if you have something with a sweet EtB effect it's even better. I think I like this a decent amount, even though I'm not over the moon about it.
White is allright, nothing to write home about. It gets some decent removal options (which we didn't really need), a couple of unexciting Embalm creatures and some value 3-drops.
Going to try and find room for: Devoted Crop-Mate and Vizier of Deferment, maybe Forsake the Worldly.
--
Blue
Angler Drake (4UU, Creature - Drake, 4/4, Flying, When EtB return target creature to its owner's hand)I like this one quite a bit. It's a big flying finisher for control decks, that can help stabilize the board when it comes down. However, we also have Phyrexian Ingester, which I didn't really like. I'm not sure if this is better.
Censor (1U, Instant, Cycling U, Counter target spell unless caster pays 1)
This is obviously a toned down Miscalculation, with a lower cycling cost to make up for it. Even though the power level is way lower, I still like it. If my opponent isn't curving out in the first couple of turns (blanking the counter option) I'm quite happy, and even so the cycling is almost free.
Cryptic Serpent (5UU, Creature - Serpent, 6/5, costs 1 less for each instant or sorcery in your grave)
Nothing amazing, but it looks like a solid archetype anchor. If I'm able to reduce the cost to less then 5 (which sounds doable with the amount of self-milling my cube is capable of), I'm pretty happy. Playing this for 2-4 mana as a finisher in control decks, while keeping up mana for removal or counters doesn't sound terrible either.
Galestrike (2U, Instant, Return target tapped creature to its owner's hand. Draw a card)
Again a card that resembles an old standby: Repulse. If you want another of this effect, Galestrike is not bad at all.
Hieroglyphic Illumination (3U, Instant, Draw 2, Cycling U)
Somehow, this card looks really interesting to me. Neither option is terribly good, but it smooths the draw very well. I think I won't include it (I have Think Twice as a similar card, but with better synergy with my cube), but I wouldn't fault anyone for trying it.
Labyrinth Guardian (1U, Creature - Illusion Warrior, 2/3, When becomes the target of a spell, sac it. Embalm 3U)
Again with the unexciting but playable curve fillers. A 2/3 for 2 will probably trade with any 2-drop, making it a decent blocker. At 4 mana, the 2/3 will probably not do a lot of trading so this is closer to 1.5 card than 2 cards. The drawback is close to irrelevant, because most removal already kills this. If it's not removal than I think I'd gladly trade my random 2-drop with flashback for it.
Lay Claim (5UU, Enchant Permanent, Gain control of enchanted permanent. Cycling 2)
So far, nobody seems in a hurry to cube with Confiscate. But that's not because Confiscate is not powerful; it's because it's slow and doesn't do anything in the early turns. This might be even more expensive than Confiscate is, but it also helps smoothing the early game.
Open into Wonder (XUU, Sorcery, X target creatures can't be blocked this turn. Until eot, they gain: draw a card when this deals combat damage)
I remember playing this option on Profane Command a lot. While it's not Command, it's still interesting: either you finish off your opponent with a couple unblockables, or you deal a couple of damage while drawing a couple of cards. I can see this being pretty sweet in U/G ramp decks, mostly.
Nothing amazing, but it looks like a solid archetype anchor. If I'm able to reduce the cost to less then 5 (which sounds doable with the amount of self-milling my cube is capable of), I'm pretty happy. Playing this for 2-4 mana as a finisher in control decks, while keeping up mana for removal or counters doesn't sound terrible either.
Galestrike (2U, Instant, Return target tapped creature to its owner's hand. Draw a card)
Again a card that resembles an old standby: Repulse. If you want another of this effect, Galestrike is not bad at all.
Hieroglyphic Illumination (3U, Instant, Draw 2, Cycling U)
Somehow, this card looks really interesting to me. Neither option is terribly good, but it smooths the draw very well. I think I won't include it (I have Think Twice as a similar card, but with better synergy with my cube), but I wouldn't fault anyone for trying it.
Labyrinth Guardian (1U, Creature - Illusion Warrior, 2/3, When becomes the target of a spell, sac it. Embalm 3U)
Again with the unexciting but playable curve fillers. A 2/3 for 2 will probably trade with any 2-drop, making it a decent blocker. At 4 mana, the 2/3 will probably not do a lot of trading so this is closer to 1.5 card than 2 cards. The drawback is close to irrelevant, because most removal already kills this. If it's not removal than I think I'd gladly trade my random 2-drop with flashback for it.
Lay Claim (5UU, Enchant Permanent, Gain control of enchanted permanent. Cycling 2)
So far, nobody seems in a hurry to cube with Confiscate. But that's not because Confiscate is not powerful; it's because it's slow and doesn't do anything in the early turns. This might be even more expensive than Confiscate is, but it also helps smoothing the early game.
Open into Wonder (XUU, Sorcery, X target creatures can't be blocked this turn. Until eot, they gain: draw a card when this deals combat damage)
I remember playing this option on Profane Command a lot. While it's not Command, it's still interesting: either you finish off your opponent with a couple unblockables, or you deal a couple of damage while drawing a couple of cards. I can see this being pretty sweet in U/G ramp decks, mostly.
Blue, like white, has some decent cards but nothing that really gets me going.
I'll probably find room to try: Censor and Cryptic Serpent, maybe Angler Drake and Open into Wonder.
--
Black
Baleful Ammit (2B, Creature - Crocodile Demon, 4/3, Lifelink, When EtB put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control)
Right, well this is one beefy croc. If you can find some fodder to put the counter on (not the hardest in black), you get yourself a 4/3 lifelinker for 3 mana, which is a ridiculous rate. Even as a 3/2 lifelinker for 3, it's not the worst ever.
Bone Picker (3B, Creature - Bird, 3/2, Flying, Deathtouch, costs 3 less when a creature died this turn)
Talking about ridiculous rates, a 3/2 Flying Deathtoucher for B is bananas. Of course, something has to have died. I look at it like this: Did I lose a creature this turn? Great, Bone Picker gets cheaper. No? Great, then I still have my creatures in play. Plus, I can always go turn 2 Bolt you guy+this. Seems like a great card.
Cursed Minotaur (2B, Creature - Zombie Minotaur, 3/2, Menace)
Unexciting, but good. Boggart Brute has been good enough, and my black can similarly aggressive. It's also a zombie, which is something that might start mattering.
Doomed Dissenter (1B, Creature - Human, 1/1, When dies create a 2/2 black Zombie token)
Butcher Ghoul, Carrier Thrall and Myr Sire are already in my cube, and get played. I'm not sure if my cube wants another copy, but depending on what I want them to have synergy with I they're somewhat interchangeable.
Festering Mummy (B, Creature - Zombie, 1/1, When dies you may put a -1/-1 counter on a creature)
Not bad, strictly better than the 2 guys that only give -1/-1 until eot when they die.
Lay Bare the Heart (1B, Sorcery, Target player reveals his hand, discard a non-legendary, non-land card from it)
Looks good, but boring. I always seem to have trouble finding room in my decks for the 1 mana versions, let alone 2 mana ones. Still, it's probably good.
Lord of the Accursed (2B, Creature - Zombie, 2/3, Other zombies you control have +1/+1, 1BT: Zombies get Menace until eot)
Yay, a tribal lord. +1/+1 And potential menace looks like a good deal to me, even though this is super mediocre on its own. Time to do a zombie check: 9 zombies in mono black, and 5 more that make zombie tokens. But, I can probably work in some more of both. I've really liked minor tribal support in my cube so far and I will definitely see if I can support this one. Will be continued..
Ruthless Sniper (B, Creature - Human Archer, 1/2, When you discard or cycle a card, pay 1, if you do put a -1/-1 counter on target creature)
I really like the look of this one. I run a decent number of discard effects in my cube, this might be a fun way to use those effects a bit differently aside from using it just to put stuff in my graveyard. Turn 1 Sniper, turn 2 Looter is the dream, but even a turn 2 Wild Mongrel sounds like a lot of fun.
Stir the Sands (4BB, Sorcery, Create 3 2/2 zombie tokens. Cycling 3B. When you cycle this, create a 2/2 Zombie token)
6 Mana for 6 power is not a super good rate, but when you factor in different synergies (mass pump, sacrifice, maybe zombies) it's quite allright. The cycling is decent as well, and likely to catch some people off guard when they attack.
Supernatural Stamina (B, Instant, Until eot target creature gets +2/+0 and: when this dies, put it into play tapped)
A more aggressive Undying Evil that lets the creature trade up on the front side. Looks like a good card.
Wander in Death (2B, Sorcery, Return 2 creatures from you grave to your hand. Cycling 2)
Death's Duet with upside. Probably decent, but like with Cast Out you're probably better off holding this for full value instead of cycling it.Black has a little more interesting cards than White and Blue so far. Amonkhet is not looking to be the most ridiculous set for peasant cube ever. It's fun, because I can see myself trying out almost all of the above, but still there's not a lot that gets me super excited (well except maybe for the zombie lord if I can get it going).
Looking to find room to test: Baleful Ammit, Bone Picker, Cursed Minotaur, Ruthless Sniper, Lord of the Accursed, Stir the Sands and Supernatural Stamina.
--
Red
Ahn-Crop Crasher (2R, Creature - Minotaur Warrior, 3/2, Haste. Exert: target creature can't block this turn)
Um, sure, I'd play this. It's got decent base stats, a relevant creature type, haste and a very relevant exert ability. I quite like having the 'can't block' ability on something other than entering the battlefield. Sometimes you just want the body but would rather save the ability for later. This does that. Exerting your guy is not the best though, but you'd probably exert it on an alpha strike or suicide mission most of the time anyway. And if it lives, great, take a turn off to rebuild and finish the job a couple turns later.
Bloodlust Inciter (R, Creature - Human Warrior, 1/1, T: target creature gets haste until eot)
Another solid little red guy. I can see this going into red decks of all sizes, from aggressively slanted decks to midrange Fires of Yavimaya style decks to Rakdos Reanimate. It's not the best topdeck, but most 1-drops aren't and this at least can threaten damage on the turn after.
Bloodrage Brawler (1R, Creature - Minotaur Warrior, 4/3, When EtB discard a card)
So far, red is looking great. I really really like this one. It's a very beefy 2-drop, has the Warrior sub-type, and gives red something I've been pushing: discard. This card is a perfect fit for both Rakdos Reanimate and Gruul midrange graveyard. It also gives Izzet with flashback and delve an aggressive option to create a different speed of Izzet deck than usual. Love it, perfect fit for my cube.
Consuming Fervor (Red Unstable Mutation)
When unchecked, this can deal an extra 6 damage before it starts to shrink the creature from its original size. That's a lot of damage for a single mana. With all the double strike in my cube, I can't not try this. Heck, I even run actual Unstable Mutation in my cube.
Nimble-Blade Khenra (1R, Creature - Jackal Warrior, 1/3, Prowess)
Well, Sanguinary Mage hasn't been making any waves, and Kiln Fiend isn't seeing that much play either. However, I can see a critical mass of similar guys doing some work in the right cube.
Warfire Javelineer (3R, Creature - Minotaur Warrior, 2/3, When EtB deal damage to target creature opponent controls equal to the number of instants and sorceries in your graveyard)
This card was bound to see print one day, and I'm not unhappy it did. Flametongue Kavu is a ridiculous card, even when it's smaller and you have to do more work for it. Plus, this is quite load in communicating archetypes, which I like.
Red may have less cards that caught my eye, the cards that did are also some of the best I've seen yet from Amonkhet.
Will find room to test: Ahn-Crop Crasher, Bloodlust Inciter, Bloodrage Brawler, Consuming Fervor and Warfire Javelineer.
--
Green
Benefaction of Rhonas (2G, Sorcery, Reveal the top 5 cards and put a creature and/or an enchantment into your hand and the rest in your grave)
Commune with the Gods with 'and/' added to the text. Sweet! Commune is very good in my cube as a way to fill the graveyard OR tutor for a key enchantment. I do think, however, that the extra mana makes Benefaction a lot worse. I love my self mill in green, but I think we've gotten to a point where enough is enough. I might still try this though, because it's such a good pivot card between multiple archetypes, but finding room is getting real hard.
Crocodile of the Crossing (3G, Creature - Crocodile, 5/4, Haste, When EtB put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control)
Awesome, more beefy crocs. It's a good one, as well. The drawback seems very easy to mitigate by nixing a token or a random mana elf. But, while I think this is pretty good, I don't think I'll be including it. First off, the 4 mana spot is very crowded in general with green being particularly competitive. Second, it supports not a lot of the themes I run in green, not even the minor ones: graveyard, enchantments, tokens, warriors, +1/+1 counters, tokens. It would be great in Fires decks, but that's about it. I like it, but I don't think I personally have room for it.
Defiant Greatmaw (2G, Creature - Hippo, 4/5, When EtB put 2 -1/-1 counters on a creature you control. When you put one or more -1/-1 counters on this, remove a -1/-1 counter from another creature you control)Crocodile of the Crossing (3G, Creature - Crocodile, 5/4, Haste, When EtB put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control)
Awesome, more beefy crocs. It's a good one, as well. The drawback seems very easy to mitigate by nixing a token or a random mana elf. But, while I think this is pretty good, I don't think I'll be including it. First off, the 4 mana spot is very crowded in general with green being particularly competitive. Second, it supports not a lot of the themes I run in green, not even the minor ones: graveyard, enchantments, tokens, warriors, +1/+1 counters, tokens. It would be great in Fires decks, but that's about it. I like it, but I don't think I personally have room for it.
These river-dwellers look fun. Everybody in the jungle is like 'Amonkhet my ass out of the water!' Most everything I've said about Crocodile of the Crossing applies here though, and I think I like the croc better on its own.
Exemplar of Strength (1G, Creature - Human Warrior, 4/4, When EtB put 3 -1/-1 counters on a creature you control. When this attacks, remove a -1/-1 counter from it and gain 1 life)
This, however, looks too good not to add. It's a reverse Slith with a 4/4 ceiling at the worst, attacking as a 2/2 on the first swing. If you have a random creature you could do without, it's a straight up 2 mana 4/4.
Greater Sandwurm (5GG, Creature - Wurm, 7/7, Can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less. Cycling 2)
This is a pretty good reanimator card, and the best cycling fatty for this purpose. I personally run none of them, but I know some do run a couple fatties with cycling or landcycling.
Gift of Paradise (2G, Enchant Land, When EtB gain 3 life. Land has: T: add 2 mana of any one color to your pool)
Nice multicolor ramp. I already cut most of my non-creature based ramp for cards like Utopia Sprawl and Fertile Ground, and I'll likely remove Kodama's Reach for this. It may not help me get to my 5th mana like Reach does, but the lifegain is very welcome against aggro decks. Not sure if I would recommend making this swap to everyone, but with all my enchantment-matters cards in green it sounds like a no-brainer. Bonus points for synergizing with effects that untap lands.
Quarry Hauler (3G, Creature - Camel, 4/3, When EtB, for each kind of counter on target permanent, put another one of that counter on it or remove one from it)
A while ago I might have tried this as part of my +1/+1 counters package, but today I feel I don't need to play otherwise underwhelming cards anymore. It's not bad, just that we've gotten spoiled lately.
Scaled Behemoth (4GG, Creature - Crocodile, 6/7, Hexproof)
A cheaper, less tramply, p/t inverted Plated Crusher. This is even harder to remove than Crusher is. Not that the difference between 6 and 7 matters in most games where you ramp or reanimate this out, but still. Losing trample is a shame, but being easier to hard-cast is pretty good. I want to run this. Reanimate can always use another premium target, and ramp doesn't mind either.
Shefet Monitor (5G, Creature - Lizard, 6/5, Cycling 3G. When you cycle this, search your library for a basic land or Desert card and put it into play)
Another ramp target, reminiscent of Krosan Tusker. Depending on what you expect the main mode to be, this is better or worse than Tusk is. Tusk wasn't often hardcast, but 7 is more than 6 so I don't know. Again, it's a good card, but I don't think I can find the room.
Stinging Shot (G, Instant, Put 3 -1/-1 counters on target creature with flying. Cycling 2)
While it's not likely that I include this, I think it's a pretty neat card. Cycling is best on good-but-narrow cards. Would definitely test if my cube wasn't so synergy based
Trial of Strength (2G, Enchantment, When EtB create a green 4/2 beast token. Whenever a Cartouche EtB, return this to your hand)
Nice, the green Sarcomancy. Opposed to a couple of the other green cards, I wouldn't touch this card if I had a more mainstream cube, but think that it might be a very good fit for my cube. I run quite a lot of enchantment-matters cards, and the biggest drawback those cards have is that they require a critical mass of enchantments in your deck to be worthwhile. Sometimes, this means that those decks run lower on creatures than I would ideally want. It can be a hard balance to find. This card, however, ticks both boxes.
Green has some interesting cards for cubes that have less of a focus on archetypes than mine. Overall, it looks more or less similar to white and blue that there are a decent number of playable cards, but nothing 'OH MY GOD I WANTED A CARD LIKE THIS SINCE FOREVER'.
I'm going to try and include: Gift of Paradise and Trial of Strength, and probably Exemplar of Strength. Maybe Benefaction of Rhonas.
--
Multicolor
Ahn-Crop Champion (2WG, Creature - Human Warrior, 4/4. Exert: untap all other creatures you control)Interesting ability, good stats. I don't think most cubes can find the room for it, either because of a small guild section or because it doesn't fit in Selesnya's archetypes.
Aven Wind Guide (2WU, Creature - Bird Warrior, 2/3, Flying, Vigilance, Creature tokens you control have flying and vigilance. Embalm 4WU)
Well, 2/3 flying, vigilance for 4 is not the worst base, and Intangible Virtue that's not terrible when you happen to be out of tokens at the moment is nice deal. Azorius does also have a 'flying matters' theme available to it, which more or less overlaps with the token theme but hits more creatures. I'm going to have to think some more on this, because I do think it's fun. Amonkhet did make me want to reconsider Intangible Virtue, and this might be a nice addition as well. Another downside I see here is that blue has the least amount of token producers in my cube, so I might have to do something about that.
Enigma Drake (1UR, Creature - Drake, */4, power equal to number of instants and sorceries in your grave)
I actually don't mind this. Having 4 toughness means it survives way more than Spellheart Chimera, which is something I'd gladly trade for the trample. I do want to make room for this as a nice archetype pay-off card for Izzet, because I think that a 3 mana 4/4 flyer might just be a great fit for the spells decks.
Awesome aggressive card, will try. Boros isn't the deepest ever, so yeah (although I was actually relatively happy with my Boros section at the moment, lol).
Shadowstorm Vizier (UB, Creature - Human Cleric, 1/3, flying, when you cycle or discard a card: +1/+1 until eot)
This looks like fun, even though I probably won't play it. I think that if it would've been either in Rakdos or in Simic, I would.
Start // Finish (2W, Instant, create 2 1/1 soldiers with Vigilance. // 2B, Sorcery, sac a creature: destroy a creature)
Lingering Souls with a different flashback. Well, it's a lot worse than Souls, but I think it's still worth considering. It's quite unique in that it's both an enabler and a 'payoff' card for the same deck. I think I might try this one to see if it works out.
Spring // Mind (2G, Sorcery, Search for a basic land and put into play tapped. // 4UU, Instant, draw 2)
First off, I love the name. Using Spring in 2 different ways (the season and in 'Spring to Mind') is clever. The card actually isn't bad either. The ramp spell with card draw flashback, even though both parts are overcosted, is something Simic ramp could use very well. Another card I might try depending on the available cuts.
Not a lot of gold cards, but some fun ones.
I'm probably going to find room for: Aven Wind Guide, Enigma Drake, Honored Crop-Captain. Maaaaybe Start // Finish and Spring // Mind.
--
Colorless
Edifice of Authority (3, Artifact, 1T: Target creature can't attack and put a brick counter on this. 1T: Target creature can't attack, block or use activated abilities until your next turn. Activate only if 3 more brick counters on this)
Interesting riff on Icy Manipulator, a card that's old, good, but on the expensive side. Before you 'build' this up, it does the same that Icy does in most circumstances: prevent attacks. After you finished 'building' this, it's better than Icy in almost every way.
Gate to the Afterlife (3, Artifact, Whenever a non-token creature you control dies, gain 1 life and you may loot. Then some nonsense about searching for something called God-Pharaoh's Gift)
Seriously, what's God-Pharaoh's Gift. Is it something I care about? Probably in the next set. Anyway, this is probably just too durdly, even for me. The non-token clause is what pushes it from the maybe-pile into the meh-pile.
I got really excited when I read about Deserts being a thing in this set. After seeing the ones spoiled, I'm slightly disappointed, but at the same time I guess I didn't really expect the Deserts to be insane. This is the one I'd be most inclined to run of the new ones (although I might consider the one that makes a Zombie token if I include the Zombie lord). But, more realistically, I might just run good ol' Desert instead.
Rhonas's Monument (3, Artifact, Green creature spells cost 1 less. When you play a creature spell, target creature gets +2/+2 and trample until eot)
The best monument in my opinion. The white one (tokens) takes too long to get enough value from, especially since decks that care about/make tokens often use spells to do so, the blue one (tap for a turn) just looks worse than a colorless tapper, the black one's ability (1 point life steal) is too small. The red one (rummaging) looks decent, until you realize that it does nothing in the lategame when you actual need the rummaging. Not only do you have to draw a creature to use it, you also have draw a blank to be able to dig. Pass.
The green one is the one that's most likely to have its mana discount matter, and the +2/+2 and trample helps making mana elves relevant in the lategame or lets dumb monsters trample over for damage.
Colorless cards are a bit of a let-down (although this is nothing new, really).
Will try to fit in: Edifice of Authority, probably, but maybe nothing.
--
My top 5 cards from Amonkhet
(or: Top 5 cards Amonkhet for my cube, most likely)5. Censor
4. Bone Picker
3. Bloodlust Inciter2. Honored Crop-Captain
1. Bloodrage Brawler
Honorable Mentions: Ruthless Sniper and Gift of Paradise
Or something like it. On pure power level, Cast Out should probably be there, probably some other cards.
Overall though, I feel like Amonkhet is a lot lower in power level than other recent sets. I know they do this on purpose sometimes, to not let power creep get us too much. The set does look like a blast to draft.
For my cube, there are a couple of gems (Bloodrage Brawler being the best example) that fill out current archetypes. Sadly though, there are not a lot of new archetype impulses or things that revive underpowered ones, like with the recent influx of +1/+1 counters. Maybe this is a good thing, and a sign that my cube is in a good place right now.
Anyway, this long-ass article should come to an end. Amonkhet going now.
Overall though, I feel like Amonkhet is a lot lower in power level than other recent sets. I know they do this on purpose sometimes, to not let power creep get us too much. The set does look like a blast to draft.
For my cube, there are a couple of gems (Bloodrage Brawler being the best example) that fill out current archetypes. Sadly though, there are not a lot of new archetype impulses or things that revive underpowered ones, like with the recent influx of +1/+1 counters. Maybe this is a good thing, and a sign that my cube is in a good place right now.
Anyway, this long-ass article should come to an end. Amonkhet going now.
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