Previous Commander sets have had a few cards that were pushed for Eternal formats—True-Name Nemesis, Scavenging Ooze, and Unexpectedly Absent—with some other cards that transitioned well to Cube, such as Ophiomancer and Curse of Predation. In this article, I'll discuss the cards this iteration gives for Cube.

The Confluence cycle houses the highest number of noteworthy cards, including the best ones in the set for Cube with the standout of the cycle, unsurprisingly, being the blue one. An easy comparison is Cryptic Command or Jace's Ingenuity, as Mystic Confluence emulates both of these cards. I generally find that people tend to underestimate the counter-and-bounce mode on Cryptic Command, and being able to have functionality close to that is very useful. Expensive counters can be awkward, as it using that much mana can kill your tempo, but its ability to be used to draw cards goes along with what those decks want to do anyway.

Fiery Confluence, on the other hand, doesn't quite have the flexibility that Mystic Confluence does, but it works well for red decks. A challenge for red cards is that they generally need to either:

• be aggressive, given red's aggressive nature;
• be universally playable in aggressive and nonaggressive decks (Lightning Bolt);
• contribute enough to the format and its winning decks to make up for the fact that it's not meant for aggressive red decks (Wildfire, Sneak Attack).

Thankfully, Fiery Confluence fits in that second category. Thanks to the concentration of high-impact artifacts both in Cubes that include power and fast mana and Cubes that don't, it helps to avoid one of the problems that Lava Axe effects have historically had: being useless if not being used to win on the spot. That said, it can also act as a nice Shatterstorm-style effect (another card that can be useless or inefficient if the opponent doesn't have many artifacts, or like Rack and Ruin, which just can't be used if the opponent had only one artifact, which typically can happen even if the opponent is on an artifact-heavy game plan, even if that game plan is defined by artifacts) or a super Smash to Smithereens–type effect. That said, the ability to deal 1 damage to all creatures helps it to act as a (small) Wrath of God effect or even give that option to a red aggro deck if the board state calls for it (such as in an aggro mirror when the board's gummed up with tokens.)

Wretched Confluence is a step down, and like Boros Charm's deal-4-and-double-strike abilities, being able to draw a card and Raise Dead can go along the same axis but cover each other well enough, particularly in midrange and control decks, wherein creatures can act like spells (Mulldrifter and Grave Titan) or to draw into gas, even if it costs life. The Disfigure mode is also a nice way to lead to combat blowouts, which don't tend to happen often in Cube due to how efficient removal spells are, but it’s a great option to have. It runs the risk of needing to have specific game states to be at its best, but the base mode of either Plague Winding small creatures or taking down a Titan is nice. Paying 5 mana is a bit pricey for this type of effect since, unlike Mystic Confluence, it is not very good when at its floor, and the ceiling isn't astronomical. It's a solid meat-and-potatoes kinda-Wrath, super-value spell, and because it isn't super-efficient, it won't last as long as the other two Confluences, but it's a nice card in a shallow mana cost in black.

Righteous Confluence suffers further by running the risk of being low-impact dependent on the game state, and it's in a more competitive slot (white 5-drops). Making 6 power of vigilant power for 5 isn't bad either, and it can act as a weird version of Loxodon Hierarch, split across a few bodies, and it can't be blinked. Erase is a nice option, but it’s worse than Smelt due to the number of artifacts in Cubes, and it's nice that it's essentially free (as with Reclamation Sage), and Verdant Confluence is too a bit too pricey to make much of an impact for Cube.

Grasp of Fate is similar to Man-o'-War and Aether Adept, where ease of cost is mainly the factor for it, as is how many instances of the effect are desired for your Cube. Detention Sphere's multiples ability is mostly flavor text, only occasionally useful, but it sees play as "yet another O-Ring" since the flexibility of that kind of effect is nice, even if the cost can be awkward. That said, I'm going to try it to see if it's necessary or overly redundant, and I advise you to do similarly unless your Cube is on the small side.

Magus of the Wheel helps to bolster a historically weak 3-drop slot for attacking decks, as many red 3-drops were usually more utility-based. This always felt odd, as red's attacking 1-, 2-, and 4-drops have been strong particularly in recent years. While it loses some of the surprise value that Wheel of Fortune has, it having decent combat stats makes up for it as a solid attacker, and since it's normally cracked when at or nearly hellbent, the cost is not bad since it did its thing. It runs the risk of dying to removal, but that's fine for a 3-drop, especially if the window is a turn or two and the cost for the opponent is letting your aggro deck gain a fresh grip. It isn't as strong as Wheel of Fortune, but it's a nice supplement to it (not a replacement).

Corpse Augur and Scourge of Nel Toth suffer from being a bit too low-impact on casting (somewhat similar to Carrier Thrall) and require dying to get value, but since they're inefficient creatures, there isn't much of an impetus for the opponent to do so. Scourge can be dumped into the grave via Entomb or the like, but it isn't really worth the payout.

Arachnogenesis is another Fog effect to supplement Moment's Peace, but it's questionable if a Cube would want—let alone need another.

Great Oak Guardian joins green's recent resurgence of green 6-drops to supplement Primeval Titan, and Great Oak Guardian suffers because it isn't a card that is cast and requires action, but it is a great riff on Overrun, as a weakness of that card is that it can be a blank if you have no other creatures. On the other hand, Great Oak Guardian is at least a huge Ambush Viper if need be. It doesn't give trample, but its ability to turn combat while being a standalone threat is nice to supplement Primeval Titan, especially in more mana-Elf ramp decks (as opposed to land ramp). It has nice synergies with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin if that's something you run also. Incidentally, it somewhat outclassed Pathbreaker Ibex since the latter takes a turn to start working.

Many cards, like Skullwinder, are too multiplayer-centric to be very good for Cube, and many of the enemy-paired legends seem to be blanks for Cube. Though there are a few exceptions: Karlov of the Ghost Council needs a bit too much setup and won’t have enough licensing cards for him to be worth it; Kaseto, Orochi Archmage is more of an unlockable Shade than a Snake build-around. The standout is Meren of Clan Nel Toth. Since she doesn't require experience counters for value, she can act as a Gravedigger variant, but she is in a weird slot at 4 mana. She will have a hard time making it into smaller Cubes since they just gained Catacomb Sifter to compete with Garruk, Apex Predator. That said, she is a nice midpick value engine for Cube.

Last, Thought Vessel performs the role of a 2-mana rock, but not even my (three-hundred-sixty-card) Pauper Cube is hurting for more mana rocks.

Thanks for reading!