2021Â White Rankings
Ranking is based on combined maindeck and win percentages by cube section.
Change = how the rank this year compares to last.
INS = Insufficient Data
New = Card that was not in the cube last year
* = Small sample size
As Expected: Path and Swords aren't going anywhere soon and White removal is still very competitive in the cube. A year later and Thalia, Heretic Cathar continues to be the top White creature in my list still holding down the #5 spot on the list.
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Pleasant Surprises: White has had a lot of new cards and though some of their data comes from smaller sample sizes they are trending well. Usher of the Fallen is the new slam dunk for White based aggro decks, Luminarch Aspirant can take over the game if left unchecked, and Skyclave Apparition gives blink a fun new target. The best addition however, has been Emeria's Call. Making the main at almost no opportunity cost and being an effective closer for stalled games the card has been an absolute a beast. Don't sleep on these MDFC mythic lands.
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Disappointments: The inclusions of things like Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emeria's Call, and Starnheim Unleashed have really impacted the value of the 5 drop angels like Avacyn and Angel of Inventions. Reveillark has already gotten the axe for this reason and some of the others may follow shortly.
2021 Blue Rankings
As Expected: Cheap, efficient, and easy to cast spells are key to Blue's success. Miscalculation, Mana Leak, Remand, and even the Petty Theft half of Brazen Borower all great in decks heavy control decks or decks with a splash in blue thanks to their single pip casting costs.
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Pleasant Surprises: Snapcaster Mage is better than ever. I've added a few more cheap instants and it has really boosted the cards performance in my list.
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Disappointments: Outside of Shark Typhoon and Glasspool Mimic, none of the blue cards printed in the last year have been able to crack into the top half of blue. This isn't surprising considering the strength of blue, but with 4 of the bottom 5 cards being new this year, I doubt they will survive until the next ranking comes out.
2021 Black Rankings
As Expected: Cheap removal is the bread and butter of Black. Also, despite some discussion on MTGS, Thoughtseize is still a top 10 black card actually getting better with time considering it held its 8th spot in the rankings despite 4 new additions to the cube filling spots ahead of it.
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Pleasant Surprises: Reanimator is now a viable strategy in my list! Even better It only took a couple card slots to make it shine: Vampiric Tutor and Collective Brutality. Reanimate, Animate Dead, and Exhume all moved up in the rankings as the combo has now 3-0'd in Mono Black, Dimir, Orzhov, and Rakdos showing that it can be successful in a wide variety of decks.
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Disappointments: The success of Reanimator has apparently come at the cost of the Aristocrats archetype. Despite some additional support, Flesh Carver, Yawgmoth, Blood Artist, and Braids have all plummeted in the rankings.
2021 Red Rankings
As Expected: Lightning Bolt is still the best, not only in Red, but also holds the No. 1 ranking for the entire cube! Bone Crusher Giant is dominating the Kaldheim Championship as I write this and this card was expected to be a bomb from the second it was spoiled. The hype is real.
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Pleasant Surprises: Just like Emeria's Call in White, Shatterskull Smashing has been amazing. People (including myself) were really skeptical about whether these MDFCs would cut it and I can assure you they do. Kargan Intimidator and Robber of the Riches have shored up the once notoriously weak Red 2-drop slot and depending on your mood Embercleave might feel "win-more" for Red decks but its been really nice to have a strong combat trick in the cube.
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Disappointments: Sneak Attack continues to lag behind. Flametongue Kavu, another long time cube staple, has also really fallen out of favour over the course of the past year.
2021 Green Rankings
As Expected: Mana dorks make up 50% of the top 10 green cards with the addition of Gilded Goose as a nice 5-colour fixer along side Birds of Paradise. Being able to block 1/1 Spirits and provide some lifegain if it sticks around seem to be enough to balance its often "one time use".
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Pleasant Surprises: Green has gotten 2 amazing midrange 4 drops in Questing Beast and Esika's Chariot. Esika's Chariot has already been racking up the 3-0's playing like a miniature Grave Titan. Questing Beast has more text than most cards in the cube and none of it is flavour. Playing against Questing Beast will quickly teach you how many creatures have 2 or less power, and it's haste makes it a great Planeswalker killer.
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Disappointments: This year saw the removal (once again) of the +1/+1 counters theme in my cube. There are a few cards like Curse of Predation that are remnants from that time and although it can be a strong card and enables the persist combo, it just isn't performing. Collected Company, despite being powerful is just too narrow and I've seen my opponents wiff on it multiple times, much to their dismay.
2021 Gold Rankings
As Expected: Fractured Identity and Baleful Strix provide so much value and the Companion mechanic on Lutri and Lurrus is busted, even after the nerf. Lutri is free in any deck playing Red or Blue and I've even seen it copy Fractured Identity for maximum value. Lurrus aggro lists that meet the deck building restriction are far more achievable than previously thought and it has racked up a fair amount of cube wins.
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Pleasant Surprises: Simic is getting better! Uro, Hydroid Krasis, and the soon to be released Quandrix Command (not yet tested) are giving a real bump to Simic. Now if only we could get Boros some love.
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Disappointments: Geist of Saint Traft has really fallen out of favour over the last year. I'm not really sure why as it is still a very strong card, but Azorius strategies haven't been keen to run it lately, and when they do the decks haven't been as strong.
2021 Colorless Rankings
As Expected: For a long time I kept all equipment out of my cube as I prefer to keep my cube protection free (no swords) and I find the play patterns associated with equipment repetitive and not interesting. What I do find interesting is drawing cards and Skullclamp, as expected, is a beast of a card. It's also no surprise that fast mana feels like cheating, and in a cube with no power, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, and Lotus Petal have been strong.
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Pleasant Surprises: We all know Smuggler's Copter is a strong card but last year it wasn't even in the top half of the colourless cards in my cube. This year it has the most improved ranking and has been flexing on players non stop. I even recall one random on XMage rage quitting over Copter feeling too broken. Its been great and I'm very happy to see it up in the rankings where we all feel it really belongs.
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Disappointments: Ugin, the Ineffable has been dog water. The static ability is mostly irrelevant and even though it is strong when it hits the board it just hasn't been a priority when compared to 6 mana walkers like Elspeth Sun's champion. would love to see another colourless walker at a lower cmc like Karn that piques my interest.
2021 Land Rankings
Average Land Cycle Ranking:
Fetch Lands: 11.8
ABUR Duals: 29.8
Shock Lands: 39.4
5-Colour Lands: 17
Zendikar Man-Lands: 15.5
Utility Lands: 33.5
As Expected: Fetchlands are the lands you should be most tuned into and seeking out when drafting. They are by far the best cycle of dual lands for cube and it's not close. Apparently, the only thing that could make them better for cube is being able to fetch any colour and Fabled Passage and Prismatic Vista have been absolutely stellar.
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Pleasant Surprises: Creeping Tarpit and Celestial Collonade are still really great! I cut all the other Zendikar Man-Lands for ABUR duals since last year except for Collonade and Tarpit and this is why. They are so important to Control decks in Esper colours that they are still some of the premium picks and finishers for those decks.
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Disappointments: There is still an obvious colour disparity in my cube where Gruul and Golgari aren't doing very well. Bayou and Overgrown Tomb, and Taiga and Stomping Ground are all right together in the bottom with almost the exact same stats per colour pair. Would really like to find a way to make these colour pairs more competitive along with Jund which you will see next is really suffering in the Guild Rankings.
2021 Guild Rankings
As Expected: Aggro decks often put up good results in cube and Mono Red really climbed the rankings this year. With that being said, traditionally, people say that control is very strong in my cube. So I am also not surprised to see Azorius, Dimir, Esper, and Grixis in the top 10 whose decks are mostly comprised of control.
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Pleasant Surprises: I've gotten a lot more testing in this year (Thanks COVID!) and I have a lot more data for some lesser played colour combinations. Can't believe that WUBG has been consistent enough as a 4-colour deck to crack the top 10!
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Disappointments: Green needs work. Over 80% of the colour combinations in the bottom half have green in them. I am really hoping Esika's Chariot and Questing Beast can help pull Green's numbers up. I've had two recent Bant 3-0's turn up featuring Chariot which shows some promise, but it will take a lot more than that.
