New Capenna for EDH Cube

  With Streets of New Capenna being fully spoiled, here are the cards that piqued my interest for my EDH cube. I will be including cards from the commander decks, however it is possible for my to miss some. Included in my impressions will be the pros, cons, what archetypes the cards fit in, and what they replace in my cube if I choose to add them. As a reminder, here's a link to my EDHcube.

The Grixis section of my cube felt lacking as I only had Marchesa on hand when building my cube.  Anhelo offers Grixis a spells matter commander and an additional sacrifice outlet if needed. His ability to copy spells for the cost of a two power creature is good. The addition of casualty as a mechanic also means that Anhelo offers a discount on the casualty cost of these cards.  Touching on his bad side, I only took interest in Anhelo because he was legendary. Often, he will do nothing for the turn he is played, so he needs protection to make sure he stays around. His ability only works on the first spell rather than once each turn, so sequencing big plays might be clunky. His power is low and makes him a poor attacker, but deathtouch keeps him a threat to a lot of creatures.

Pros: Essentially Free Spell Copies every turn, low cost

Cons: Does Nothing Immediately, Low Power, Clunky Sequencing

Archetypes: Spells Matter, Sacrifice, Big Spells

Replaces: Cruel Ultimatum

 Fact or Fiction has been a card I enjoy quite a bit as it forces you and your opponents to play mind games with one another creating interesting interactions between players. Similarly, I enjoy Cataclysm-esque effects for this same reason. This card combines the best of both worlds in forcing your opponents to try and make a read that benefits them the most. This card also sacrifices creatures which gets around the hexproof and indestructible at the cost of 4MV. Unfortunately, this card is not the board wipe you're looking for especially with the existence of Damnation and Toxic Deluge. Furthermore, the added complexity might not be for all players. So take into account your players when adding this in. With all this being said, I will dub this card "Sac or Fiction"

Pros: Interesting Multiplayer Dynamic, 4 MV, Easy Splash

Cons: Does not kill all creatures, Complexity, Competes with Damnation and Toxic Deluge

Archetypes: Control, Sacrifice

Replaces: Necrotic Hex/ Capital Punishment

For my Jund Section, Henzie is better and more interesting than Gyrus. While Gyrus supports strictly reanimator, Henzie's versatility while fitting into that same play style makes him an upgrade. Henzie enables Fatty Cheat/ Sneak Attack/ Reanimator/ Fires. His ability scales well as the game goes on and at minimum turns all your MV 4+ cards into cantrips. The icing on top is the cost reduction, which puts this card as a commander over the top. The biggest downside is that he more than likely will be a sitting duck the turn he's played similar to Anhelo, but past that he should be fine.

Pros: Versatile, Ability is always relevant and scales well, Reduces its own ability cost

Cons: Does Nothing Immediately, Fragile

Archetypes: Fatty Cheat, Sneak Attack, Reanimate, Fires, Sacrifice

Replaces: Gyrus

The card strongly reminds me of Sunbird's Invocation. It trades the ability to top deck nonlands for a chance to hit any creature. This card functions the turn it enters the battlefield and will always be relevant as a sacrifice outlet at minimum afterwards. The card slots nicely into any of the creature cheat decks especially Sneak Attack. Also because of this the decks with this card will need to be built slightly more creature heavy. On a stagnant board state, this card can make or break the player using it.

Pros: Immediately Active, Potentially Explosive

Cons: Creature Dependent, High Risk on certain board states

Archetypes: Fatty Cheat, Sneak Attack, Sacrifice

Replaces: Gadrak

This card seems goofy in a multiplayer setting and sets up for interesting interactions. This has a similar feel to Treasure Nabber, however that card discourages players from playing cards. Turf War creates scenarios where a player has to evaluate the value of the contested lands. For some players, they'll get more aggressive when originally they were playing draw go and vice versa. Additionally the value of creatures go up now as they will now read "When this creature does damage, take control of contested lands". On the flip side, this card is essentially a 5 MV do nothing spell and might possibly only hurt you the entire game. The added complexity should be taken into account when including this card.

 

Pros: Encourages players to take action

Cons: Potentially only detrimental, adds complexity 

Archetypes: Group Hug, Chaos, Group Slug, Politics

Replaces: Scrap Mastery

This is an upgrade to the black removal I am already running. Aside from removal, this card acts as a discard/looting outlet, which has been pretty light in my cube. 

Pros: Highly Versatile and Flexible

Cons: 4 MV is high in a vacuum 

Archetypes: Universal Removal, Tokens, Reanimator, Discard

Replaces: Ruinous Path/ Eat to Extinction

As mentioned previously, I like cards that create interactions between players. All of the options present are solid for Master of Ceremonies' controller. White on its own is notorious for struggling with card draw and ramp; this potentially solves both of these problems. The body is solid as a blocker and attacker, though understatted for its MV. The glaring problem is that the player cannot control which options are selected and their opponent will choose what benefits them the most. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the card's ability won't activate until the next turn. Despite this, the card's ability is unique and the interplayer interactions warrant a spot within my cube.

Pros: Each of the modes are always relevant

Cons: Dependent on opponents, Helps Opponents, Add Complexity, Does nothing on entry

Archetypes: Group Hug, Politics

Replaces: Alms Collector

In my Naya section, I am not a fan of Gahiji as he does not add anything exciting by being another anthem. I got excited by the announcement of this card as it opens Naya to the path of being a toolbox deck. His first cast will scale well into any point of the game, which keeps him as a threat as long as he is in the command zone. Similar to Anhelo, the big selling point of this card is its legendary status. Without the status, this becomes a sorcery speed Chord of Calling without convoke, making this less than optimal.  His ability also means that you will normally not be playing Rocco until you have a minimum of 4 mana, but more likely 6 mana. His clunkiness is exacerbated by each additional cast from the command zone. These scale poorly almost immediately due to the commander tax. The poorly statted body means this card will die to anything.

Pros: Toolbox, 1st Cast Scales Well

Cons: Mana Inefficient, Clunky to cast if he dies, Poor Stats

Archetypes: Birthing Pod, Toolbox, Ramp, Elves, Kiki Twin

Replaces: Gahiji

This card inches my Rakdos Section into supporting burn as an archetype. The +1 helps with applying pressure onto your opponents by either attacking their hand or their life, while you're gaining life since you should have a devil token. The -2 seems excessive for creating a 1/1 and the -7  can be used to burn someone for 7 or refresh your hand at the cost of 7 life. What puts this card over the top is the casualty X. This allows the card to scale into any point of the game. The copy allows the lifegain trigger on the +1 to almost always be active. Having two copies +1 potentially deals 4 damage per turn or crush their hand. I normally disregard planeswalker's ultimates because they're difficult to reach, however depending what was sacrifice Ob Nixilis' ult is a legitimate threat especially with 2 of them. This card isn't without its struggles. On an empty board, this card without its copy is terrible. 3 mana for a discard one/ lose 2 life is inconsequential. Your opponent also has the option to not discard or turn around and use your +1 as a discard outlet. Despite these things, the average case scenario of even sacrificing a 1/x makes this card strong.

Pros: Scales well, Creates intense pressure, Casualty means the ult is realistic

Cons: Opponents choose to discard

Archetypes: Burn, Sacrifice, Discard, Life Gain

Replaces: Grenzo, Dungeon Warden

Being able to cast free things from my graveyard for free should excite everyone. The body is well statted and it has a relevant keyword in flying that would enable this. The major problem with this card is setting it up to do these things. Until you escape it, this card reads 4MV 3/3 Flier. There's nothing exciting about that at all. This means you would have to find a way to put artifacts, sorcery, instants, AND Skyway Robber into the graveyard first. Once you escape, now you hope that nothing stops it from attack and that you hit a player. Once you jump through all those hoops, then it can be devastating depending on what was exiled. If you're able to manage all that then this card will be relevant at any point in the game and will lead to crazy plays.

Pros: Ability and Body Scales Wells, Well Statted Body

Cons: Needs Setup, Need to hit players, Not good until escape

Archetypes: Fliers, Spells Matter, Artifacts, Discard

Replaces: Faerie Artisan, Mulldrifter

This concludes my thoughts on the set. Thanks for reading and play crazy things.