u/Ancient-Progress6434

Hey folks,

while building a new cube and digging through Cube Cobra and Scryfall, I stumbled across a handful of cards I’d honestly never seen before. I’m fully aware these aren’t staples by any stretch — they’re not here to optimize anything or redefine archetypes.

That said, they’re weird, niche, and kind of fascinating. In the right cube environment, I could see them creating some really fun, unexpected moments or enabling offbeat interactions you don’t usually get from the usual card pool.

Curious if anyone else has come across these before, or even tried running them — feels like there’s some unexplored space here.

Hello fellow cube enthusiasts!

Under my last post, it came up that we often talk about new cube additions, but rarely about which cards have actually stayed in our cubes. Since we’re already a third of the way through 2026, I thought it might be interesting to see which new cards that came out in 2025 are still in my Powered Vintage Cube. A total of 37 cards, not all of which are Vintage Cube staples, but good enough that I haven't cut them for something better yet.

This is not a 'Top Cube Cards of 2025!' list, but more my personal additions that I find fun, powerful, or unique enough. These are only the cards that are currently in the cube. The number of cards tested from last year is probably about twice as high.

If you have any questions about specific cards, I would be happy to discuss them, provided they are on a polite basis 💬

If you have any other cards from 2025 in your Vintage Cube that survived until now, please feel free to comment below 📝

I thought I'd try a slightly different post to provide some variety to the cube help questions here. We will soon be updating our Vintage Cube with Strixhaven so I thought I'd post this as a visually appealing contribution with some background thoughts from me for those of you who like to read :D

A friend and I have been curating the Mox & Mocca Vintage Cube ( https://cubecobra.com/cube/about/MMVCube ) for about two years now. We play it approximately weekly with 6 to 10 players as part of our cube event in Hannover, Germany. It started as a copy of the LSV Vintage Cube and has since become its own thing. We update the cube with each new set, swapping in both new and old cards.

With Secrets of Strixhaven, we're toning down the combo archetype a bit and trying to add more universally cards.

Some thoughts about the changes:

[[Auriok Salvagers]] is a cool combo card that, together with [[Lion's Eye Diamond]] or [[Black Lotus]], generates infinite mana and then, with something like [[Pyrite Spellbomb]], enables infinite card draw and damage. Unfortunately, the combo is quite specific and has only seen play once in over 30 rounds. Erode is the perfect answer to Oko, Minsc, and T3feri and is playable in any white deck.

[[Ceaseless Conflict]] is a cool twist for a board wipe. At 5 mana, it's actually too expensive, but the ability to maintain board presence might make the card interesting outside of control decks and for midrange and creature-based decks. Sunfall has the advantage of exiling and then generating a large body, but Conflict at least looks like a worthwhile endeavor.

[[Flow State]] is an interesting card. At first, I thought it was too slow and conditional for the Vintage Cube. Then I played several drafts with the card and changed my mind relatively quickly. If I can easily enable the card in a Strixhaven draft, it shouldn't be a problem with the cheapest and best instants and soceries Magic has to offer. Star Charts is also a good card, but it falls short of similar cards like [[Treasure Cruise]] or [[Stock Up]].

[Skycoach Conductor]] is a mono-blue [[Restoration Angel]] with a flexible trigger. Since I currently enjoy the UW Tempo archetype around [[Aang, Swift Savior]] and [[Rhys, the Evermore]], as well as the Dimir Ninja deck around [[Kaito, Bane of Nightmares]] and [[Super Shredder]], I'd like to at least test the card. [[Treachery]] was a nice nostalgia card, but in the context of the current Vintage Cube Tempo, it's significantly weaker than it used to be, in my opinion.

[[Flashback]] is simply a solid Magic card. It might not have the highest power level, but hopefully, it can be used effectively as a backup for existing combo decks and in Izzet Spells or Jeskai decks. [[Raphael, the Nightwatcher]] was neat, but not very good in my perspective.

[[Ambitious Augmenter]] looks like a good, aggressive one-drop that's often underestimated until it becomes too powerful and then leaves another problem body for the opponent. [[Voldaren Epicure]] was intended as a cheap enabler for Reanimator and Artifact/aggro decks, but it's a mediocre glue card that won't be missed much.

[[Vastlands Scavenger]] is a nice addition to the cheaty face/timmy archetype we supported with the last archetype. [[Oath of Druids]] on a 4/4 Deathtouch body for 3 mana is a valid card that can be played in non-natural order decks without hesitation. Depth/Stage is a C-tier combo that some players in our playgroup really like. However, since the combo requires a lot of buildaround and the payoff isn't always game-winning, Marit Large is currently on the bench.

[[Emeritus of Abudance]] looks like the most playable card from the cycle. [[Sentinel of the Nameless City]] has shown that 3/4 Vigilance for 3 mana can put a lot of pressure on your opponent. I consider Emeritus weaker than Sentinel, but having Regrowth on a reasonably cheap Threat sounds promising.

[[Kinetic Ooze]] is a scaling [[Reclamation Sage]]. One mana to kill a mox, three mana for a 2/2 and kill a Talisman, or five mana for a 4/4, kill a palanthir, and draw a card. Not outstanding, but not bad either. Ooze will probably soon be replaced by something like [[Goldvein Hydra]], but perhaps it will surprise us and earn its place.

[[Tendrills of Agony]] is also a nostalgia card that doesn't really have support in the Cube (I consider cards like [[Cabal Ritual]] or [[Rain of Filth]] parasitic, as they're practically unplayable outside of Storm). If someone in our group goes into Storm, it's usually with a Brain Freeze combo. Tendrills is a vintage Cube staple, but without real support and with a very low play rate in our community, the card will be cut for now. I think [[Superior Spider-Man]] is a cool card that fits best in Dimir Reanimator, but can also work well in more aggressive Grixis decks.

I had a dream about [[North Wind Avatar]]. The ability to get everything from the sideboard still sounds very, very cool to me. Especially since, in my experience, cuts are always difficult in vintage Cube anyway. Unfortunately, the specific and expensive mana costs aren't worth it. [[Traumatique Critique]] sounds like a good and flexible value card for Izzet. I'm curious to see how it compares to [[Flame of Anor]].

Finally, I'd like to test at least one of the charms from Strixhaven. [[Witherbloom Charm]] looks like the most flexible to me by far. Trading a land for two cards in the late game sounds just as good as destroying Sol Ring, Ajani, Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, or Ragavan early on. I also had [[Lorehold Charm]] on my maybe list, but I think it's too narrow for the Boros colors to really see play. We've had [[Captain America, Super-Soldier]] in as a proxy for a few months now, but it hasn't made a lasting impression so far. The built-in protection is cool, and the protection against discard or brainfreeze is neat, but aggressive white decks often have better three-drop alternatives.

These are my planned changes and thoughts. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments or let me know about any Strixhaven cards that have performed well for you so far.