Like some cube enthusiasts, I like to keep up with the latest expansions and products of Magic: the Gathering and skim through various reviews, made by a broad range of individuals, and base my decision off their opinions of which cards are worth running. Often times I’m happy to agree with them. However, at random times, I find myself flipping through my cube and thinking to myself, “Why do I run this card?”.

I’m not going to lie, I have never thought highly of Enclave Cryptologist or any leveler for that matter. However, I will do my best to give this little fish a fair trial. First, I’ll have to look at this card for what it is and then, secondly, figure out what deck she works best in and if that archetype is worth pushing in a cube. With that said, lets begin.

To state the obvious, a blue for a 0/1 isn’t a great start in anyone’s book. She has an activated ability but, as we know, Level up can only be used at sorcery speed, which I find horrible. Even if Wizards changed Level up to instant speed, I wouldn’t give Enclave a second look.

So why does anyone have this card in their cube? Well it’s simple; blue doesn’t typically have aggro as a sub-theme in most cube lists so its small body isn’t that big of an issue (however a bigger body or even at a 1/1 would have been a lot better). My guess is that she fills the curve nicely if you are lucky enough to get her in your opening hand.

Enclave fits best in control type decks and reanimater, due to her weak body and the fact that she loots, but that is about all she is good for in my book. I seriously wish I had better things to say about her but I’m at a loss as to why other cubers like her. I personally run Delver of Secrets in her place and I am well aware that Enclave and Delver aren’t remotely the same in any way. I just simply don’t see a need for Enclave in any sort of cube unless the cube’s owner is pushing “Levelers” as a theme or the cube happens to be a Rise of the Eldrazi cube.

I hope my view of this card doesn’t offend anyone, because that is not my goal. I would love to hear some feedback on what you think of Enclave Cryptologist.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is create individual thoughts and opinions of why you, fellow cubers, run the cards you run and to ask yourself why you run them. PLEASE keep an open mind to every opinion that is shared in this blog and PLEASE be kind to each other.

Thanks for your input! –Hanzelgravey