Hello and welcome to the Magic Super Cube!

For those who don’t know, this blog is where we go throughout the history of Magic and choose cards from Standard legal sets or sets that would have been Standard legal had if the format existed and make probably the biggest Cube ever.

We return to Tempest block by taking a look at the second set in the block, Stronghold. This was a bit easier compared to Tempest, one in that it is a smaller set then Tempest, and that there were some pretty easy choices for each color.

There were a couple of difficulties in a couple colors, but otherwise it was pretty easy overall to pick for the set, especially for the multicolor section, which if you read the Tempest blog you’ll know exactly why that is the case.

Let’s get started!

White

Starting with white, this was actually the hardest color to choose from, mostly because there wasn’t too many interesting cards in white.

The creature spell was the hardest to choose from especially, because there wasn’t too many interesting white creatures in the set. In the end I chose a creature that was a bit higher in terms of mana cost but it does help with an aggro strategy and life gain strategy as well.

The noncreature spells were a bit easier, more so because they provided some interesting opportunities for archetypes in the Cube in the future. One is a sneaky good way to maintain an advantage in a spell slinger deck and the other is a way to save your creatures from a board wipe.

My picks for white are Contemplation, Scapegoat, and Warrior Angel.

Blue

Blue was probably the easiest of the five colors to choose from because there were some iconic spells from this set.

The creature spell was a bit tricky because there were some pretty interesting choices, but in the end I chose a creature that messes with something that isn’t done anymore in Magic, and that is graveyard order.

The noncreature spells were easy because this set introduced an iconic counter spell that is really solid in many aspects and a way to cheat out creatures, which is not often seen in mono blue, but does help make it much easier for a big creatures deck to take more shape.

My picks for blue are Dream Halls, Mana Leak, and Volrath’s Shapeshifter.

Black

Black was pretty easy to choose from and this is more so because there are preexisting archetypes that can be fleshed out with some of these cards.

The creature spell choice was pretty easy because it helps gives a solid creature for a typal strategy that happens to work well with a different strategy that can be better defined in the future and giving a solid payoff for the future.

The noncreature spells are solid as well because one plays heavily as a payoff for a particular strategy and the other helps a different sort of strategy that does have some minor support in the Cube, but becomes more defined with this card.

My picks for black are Crovax the Curse, Grave Pact, and Tortured Existence.

Red

Red was probably the second easiest to choose from, more so because there were a couple of iconic spells introduced in this set that I didn’t expect to see this early.

The lone creature spell maintains here, and while there were plenty of interesting options to choose from, I ended up picking a creature that has a playstyle that is a bit unorthodox in this period of time, but will have support in the future while also being a nice typal creature for a well supported creature type in the Cube.

The noncreature spells were almost snap picks because they are quite iconic in Magic history that I had no idea debuted this early. One is an alternate version of an older spell and another is an alternate way to deal burn damage that can serve some particular strategies pretty well.

My picks for red are Fling, Mogg Maniac, and Shock.

Green

Green was quite easy to pick, particularly because there are some really solid spells in the color at this point in time.

Now we finally have a single noncreature spell, but it is quite strong for a spell because it allows green to ramp at a point in a game where it is not often done in green, and can be done as soon as turn one if you get lucky.

The creature spells I chose were pretty iconic, though in different ways. One is a creature that is more so done because it is a reliable creature that provides card advantage and a solid blocker, while the other is a creature that is quite powerful for a particular strategy that hasn’t had too much representation yet, but will definitely help.

My picks for green are Burgeoning, Hermit Druid, and Wall of Blossoms.

Multicolor

Of all the sections, this was the easiest to pick from because I decided to choose all of them.

Like I alluded to earlier, if you’ve read the Tempest article then my choices for multicolor was not just because there were six choices for it, but because it contains one of my favorite creature types.

My picks for multicolor are Crystalline Sliver, Hibernation Sliver, Acidic Sliver, Spined Sliver, Victual Sliver, and Sliver Queen.

Artifacts and Land

This was both pretty easy and pretty tough to pick, easy in that lands was pretty easy to pick from and the artifacts were a bit tougher.

Lands is easy to talk about since there is only one unique land in this set and it is a pretty good land so it’s an easy addition to the Cube.

The artifacts were a bit tougher because I had so much free space in that there was only one land to pick from, and while I could have gone one more in the five colors, I decided I could delve into some of the more interesting artifacts of the set, especially since there are a couple of iconic ones.

My land pick is Volrath’s Stronghold and my artifact picks are Bullwhip, Ensnaring Bridge, Heartstone, Hornet Cannon, Horn of Greed, Jinxed Ring, Mox Diamond, and Volrath’s Laboratory.

In Conclusion

This was a pretty easy set to pick cards from, and even though there were a couple of sections that gave me a bit of a pause, there were still some solid picks.

When we return the Magic Super Cube, we finish off Tempest block by taking a look at Exodus, which despite being another small set has some pretty powerful cards among them, though there aren’t any Slivers in the set sadly.

As usual, here is the Moxfield link to keep up with all the cards in the Cube!

See you next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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