#20–hell yeah. Time to get crackin’!

[yop_poll id=”3″]

The three cards I’m looking at are Armageddon, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Glen Elendra Archmage, though there are arguments for other cards as well. Inferno Titan is a sweet red finisher, but there are too many things that cost 6 or more to take this one, especially since I don’t really like red unless I’m going aggro or it’s being played as a loose splash. Personal preference, that’s all. Sylvan Caryatid is another one that has skyrocketed in stock for me, but he’s nowhere close to the power level of the 3 I’m eying up. Cards like Evolving Wilds, Everflowing Chalice, or Stomping Ground all keep me open, but in comparison to the 3 I mentioned they’re all quite worse and when you can commit to a strong card in a color, I think it’s worth it to take the best card.

Glen Elendra is the one I’m considering the least, but if I really want to play blue it’s a fine choice. Glen Elendra is almost always at least a two for one, countering or eating whatever removal targets her first to eat another non-creature later, attacking in a bunch while keeping their removal of your better spells offline, and being a general pain in the ass with recursion effects resetting her persist ability. Glen Elendra is the only blue card in the pack as well, cutting off blue right from the start which could be worth it alone. I don’t feel that Glen Elendra is better than Armageddon or Sword of Light and Shadow in a vacuum, though. Sword smashes in for insane damage and keeps you wide open, while Armageddon actually just ends games. If I’m going to pass such high quality cards to force myself into blue, it would need to be something better like a Jace or a piece of power.

Sword of Light and Shadow is cool and is always a safe bet in cube, a place where creature decks are still played. There are the decks that don’t care about weapons, but I know my own preferences and usually can find a place for at least one piece of equipment. While there are multiple swords they are almost always high picks and shouldn’t be counted on to see again in a draft. I’ve first picked Stoneforge Mystic p1p1 before with that thought in mind and have literally not seen not only a sword but any weapon. Sword of Light and Shadow is great because black and white are two of the best removal colors, leaving your guy only vulnerable to instant speed artifact removal. The +2+2 will help most creatures skirt past red removal, either forcing them to take damage or waste two spells on your creature. I can understand someone not wanting sword here since its abilities effect the game the least. Returning a creature and gaining three is nothing to sniff at, but when the life is irrelevant and the creature isn’t there your left feeling unfulfilled and wanting more.

Armageddon is probably the strongest card in the pack, and for good reason. ‘Geddon fits into a variety of decks, either as a curve topper in dedicated aggro or in combination with a ton of mana rocks to gain advantage on your opponents with mana while hopefully destroying theirs. You have to know when to play Armageddon and do a good job of timing the trigger pull, but when you place it in that sweet spot it can be nearly impossible for most decks to overcome. Combining armageddon with planeswalkers is silly as well, protecting your presence against so much action with a planeswalker that ticks away while your lands are no where to be found. I think Armageddon would be my pick, but it could certainly change. For some reason I’ve played less Armageddon decks than I have with other archetype focused cards. Perhaps there’s a deep-rooted aversion to the card from when I had no idea what I was doing and would poorly use it, but recent successes have returned it to the place where it should be rated in my eyes, and that’s highly.

What would you choose? Let us know in the comments section, and thanks for reading!

(Uses Sky’s cube)