Oct 12, 2026 · 46 min · 13 segments
Ryan Overturf breaks down the factors that he considers in assessing new cards for Cube gameplay, from rate to complexity to fun! Enjoying the podcast? Support 180 MTG on Patreon…
Ryan OverturfHost
Pondstorm's question is that, "I for one would love to hear more about your process for evaluating cards from new sets.
I feel like my heuristics are all about what I find fun, but I'm trying to get better at thinking about things like what's a good rate for an environment, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject." This is a very topical question in the year 2026 with seven standard legal releases all chock-full of new cards.
We have things like Marvel Superheroes that had, like, 700 new cards in one set alone.
And then also a set like Reality Fracture, which is just a set with a really high density of very appealing cards, appealing to nostalgic notes and also giving us rates that are for the more modern times.
So with a lot to think about, the question of how do we think about this is a very valid question, so I'm happy to dig into this, and there's a lot to talk about on this topic.
So just the broad strokes stuff, that question of rate, that is kind of fundamental to how you evaluate a card, though that is contextual as well.
The relevant rates for standard, modern, legacy, retail, limited, cube, which cube you're talking about [chuckles], which retail limited set you're talking about, what the given constructed deck you're looking at is trying to do.
I'm gonna break that down a little bit to try to demystify it, but it is kind of a muddy moving target that is tough to hit.
Different mana values are gonna have different considerations as well for how good of a rate or how efficient of a rate a given card is.
A baseline that is still useful even though it is less meaningful than it once was is a two mana 2/2 is a reasonable rate.
It's what they used to call on curve, one mana 1/1, two mana 2/2, three mana 3/3.
With how much text you see on the average card these days, that is much less meaningful.
And a two mana 3/2 is enough stats, or a two mana 2/3 even, where there's less of a question of what the ability does because the body does some of the talking there.
For most Magic environments these days, constructed or limited, the stat line alone doesn't completely sell a card, but it is a good way to get the conversation started.
Power and toughness that are smaller than a creature's mana value is a potential sign that you're getting a bad deal.
Power and toughness larger than a creature's mana value are a sign that you could be getting a good deal, and of course, it matters more or less.
When you get up to a four mana creature, five power is not nearly as meaningful as two power on a one-drop, three power on a two-drop.
Pondstorm's question is that, "I for one would love to hear more about your process for evaluating cards from new sets.
I feel like my heuristics are all about what I find fun, but I'm trying to get better at thinking about things like what's a good rate for an environment, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject." This is a very topical question in the year 2026 with seven standard legal releases all chock-full of new cards.
We have things like Marvel Superheroes that had, like, 700 new cards in one set alone.
And then also a set like Reality Fracture, which is just a set with a really high density of very appealing cards, appealing to nostalgic notes and also giving us rates that are for the more modern times.
So with a lot to think about, the question of how do we think about this is a very valid question, so I'm happy to dig into this, and there's a lot to talk about on this topic.
So just the broad strokes stuff, that question of rate, that is kind of fundamental to how you evaluate a card, though that is contextual as well.
The relevant rates for standard, modern, legacy, retail, limited, cube, which cube you're talking about [chuckles], which retail limited set you're talking about, what the given constructed deck you're looking at is trying to do.
I'm gonna break that down a little bit to try to demystify it, but it is kind of a muddy moving target that is tough to hit.
Different mana values are gonna have different considerations as well for how good of a rate or how efficient of a rate a given card is.
A baseline that is still useful even though it is less meaningful than it once was is a two mana 2/2 is a reasonable rate.
It's what they used to call on curve, one mana 1/1, two mana 2/2, three mana 3/3.
With how much text you see on the average card these days, that is much less meaningful.
And a two mana 3/2 is enough stats, or a two mana 2/3 even, where there's less of a question of what the ability does because the body does some of the talking there.
For most Magic environments these days, constructed or limited, the stat line alone doesn't completely sell a card, but it is a good way to get the conversation started.
Power and toughness that are smaller than a creature's mana value is a potential sign that you're getting a bad deal.
Power and toughness larger than a creature's mana value are a sign that you could be getting a good deal, and of course, it matters more or less.
When you get up to a four mana creature, five power is not nearly as meaningful as two power on a one-drop, three power on a two-drop.
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