2022Â 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: 9 out of the top 10 cards are the same as last year with only a couple small shifts in rankings among themselves. Elspeth, Knight Errant continues to hold down the top White 4 and Walker slot but I will be adding in The Wandering Emperor which has been testing very strong for some other cubers so it will be interesting to see what happens here.
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Pleasant Surprises: I never thought we would get a new card that would be able to compete with Path and Swords in cube but Solitude has been a slam dunk so far. If you have not played the Force creatures I highly recommend!
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Disappointments: Starnheim unleashed has just bombed. The jury was out on foretell and with Emeria's Call giving enough lethal power in the air at such a low opportunity cost there just doesn't really seem to be a need for Starnheim if you are running Emeria.
2022 Blue Rankings
As Expected: The 2 mana counter spells are always welcome in blue holding down the top 10 pretty neatly. Some cards just don't make the cut. Nadir Kraken and Tezz are fun but they just haven't been performing for a while now and its time to look for some other options.
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Pleasant Surprises: With the stagnation of updates on Xmage I wanted to try something new and even though it goes against my personal cube philosophy with 360 lists, I recently added Splinter Twin combo. I was worried it would be too consistent with all the cards guaranteed to be in the card pool but so far it has been under-performing if anything which gives me confidence that I can more easily add combo into my list without throwing off how I want the list to play.
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Disappointments: Urza, Lord High Artificer is still not living up to what I feel is its potential. I want an artifact archetype to exist where he can be a strong role player but so far I haven't been able to get it to work.
2022 Black Rankings
As Expected: Iconic black cards make up the top of the list with removal spells filling in the gaps. Bloodchief's Thirst has been consistently solid giving flexible removal that, despite being sorcery, has been highly played and effective.
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Pleasant Surprises: Only 4 cards moved down from their previous ranking in the list this year. Part of this is due to 4 cards with insufficient data not being included and 4 new cards being in the bottom, but it does mean that none of the cards in the cube fell really far out of favor in the past year.
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Disappointments: A lot of the new cards I've been testing in black havent put up strong numbers. People are a little shy of the new reanimator pieces Persist and Unmarked Grave. Incarnation Technique has been great for a lot of cubers but so far it's been underplayed in my list so we'll see what happens there.
2022 Red Rankings
As Expected: Ragavan is broken. From the moment this card was spoiled people were buzzing about Monkey. I didn't think it would surpass Lightning Bolt and it's still new to the list so maybe the hype will die down but I've seen people splashing red just for this card in their decks and at this point I can't really say that's a bad choice. The card smashes.
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Pleasant Surprises: Red is starting to get more depth at the higher CMCs. In previous years we have seen super low CMC cards in the top 10 and that has slowly started to shift. The average CMC for the top 10 in the past three years has been: 2.1, 2.3, and now 2.8. Fury has been amazing as a flexible 5 drop and Laelia has been competitive and just so much fun.
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Disappointments: Although "big red" has been performing better in the list, it hasn't been because of Chandra, Awakened Inferno. Will be looking for a new red Walker to run in her place.
2022 Green Rankings
As Expected: Mana dorks are still highly represented in the top with only Joraga Treespeaker and Fyndhorn Elves not represented in the top 10, although Fyndhorn is barely outside and Llanowar Elves is number 10.
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Pleasant Surprises: 4 of the top 10 cards were released this year and 6 out of the 10 in the past 2 years. Esika's Chariot has only gotten stronger in the rankings piling up 3-0s while Endurance and Pest Infestation in particular have been very strong.
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Disappointments: I really wanted Magus of the Order to work but it just never quite gets there and is likely getting punted from the cube for some Capenna goodness in the form of Caldaia Guardian. Ramunap Excavator is also still stuck at the bottom of the list, but enabling almost an entire archetype on its own I'm less worried about it's performance.
2022 Gold Rankings
As Expected: The top 10 Gold cards haven't changed since last year with only a few swapping ranks among themselves. Uro has been grinding its way slowly up the list being a very solid stabilizer and threat in one convenient package.
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Pleasant Surprises: I've been bringing back some old cards that have been in and out and enjoyed seeing how they do in a new environment. Reflector Mage has been doing the best and Voice of Resurgence is... making a resurgence? I even threw Boros Reckoner back in and it's only had a few reps but its been very fun even if it isn't as competitive.
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Disappointments: Geist of Saint Traft is still on the suck train from last year and doesn't plan on getting off any time soon. Going to swap for Scheming Fence. Vanishing Verse also hasn't been picked up for some reason despite being solid removal. Might just be a reflection of how good my mono color removal suite is and maybe I can put something more interesting in its place.
2022 Colorless Rankings
As Expected: Just like with the Gold section there is a tier of cards that are just consistently above all the others and in colorless it's the top 7 that have not changed. Mox Diamond has reclaimed top spot from Skullclamp and Smugglers Copter continues to put up strong numbers as the only colorless "creature" in the top 10.
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Pleasant Surprises: I don't have much to report here as I have only added 2 new cards to the colorless section since last year and neither has done anything yet. I will say I am happy to see Karn rise in value as the only remaining colorless walker with the removal of Ugin, the Ineffable.
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Disappointments: Triplicate Titan was brought in as an additional sneak/show/reanimator piece but it hasn't been making the main deck. Maybe I have enough fatties in the cube that those decks are satisfied and there is no need for it.
2022 Land Rankings
Average Land Cycle Ranking:
Fetch Lands: 11.2
ABUR Duals: 30.9
Shock Lands: 30.9
5-Colour Lands: 12.1
Zendikar Man-Lands: 18.5
Utility Lands: 28.8
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: Shock lands really shot up the list this year now having the exact same rating on average as the ABUR lands. While ABUR lands are strictly better, it kind of makes sense that anyone prioritizing lands will pick them all pretty much the same. Very common to see decks playing both the ABUR and Shock lands of their primary color pair.
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Disappointments: Gruul and Golgari are still lagging behind the rest of the colour pairs with their shock and ABUR duals sitting neatly at 43, 44, 45, and 46.
2022 Guild Rankings
As Expected: Mono Red is consistent in what it does and it does a pretty good job. Mono Black and WURG are the only two color combos ahead of it and they have a much smaller sample size riding the high off a few 3-0 victories that probably won't last.
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Pleasant Surprises: Last year my disappointment was the weakness of Green, but I was hopeful that Esika's Chariot might help it make green guilds a little more competitive. It seems like this has happened as Selesnya, Gruull, Goglari and Sultai all moved up in the rankings. Mono Green is still at the bottom of the pile but I am hopeful.
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Disappointments: Nothing too disappointing this year. I think I would just like to see some more reps for the WUBR and UBRG color combinations so I can see how they compare! Mono Blue has only been played twice in the history of my list so I'm not expecting many stats for it to come around anytime soon.
