Set Prospective
Outlaws of Thunder Junction
This article is part of our community-sourced Set Prospective series. We survey Cube designers before the set’s official release to document their first impressions of new cards.
“I love this set way more than I ever expected to. Not only is the flavor fun and the story cool but the mechanics are clean and extensible. This will be a set I come back to for a long time.”
Okay, so I was thinking about cracking some cowboy-themed jokes, but it’d be like mocking my own grandfather (an actual cowboy). I’ll just leave the jokes to the master Dan Piraro, a favorite cartoonist of mine and fellow Okie (The OK Chorale is my favorite).
Results
Outlaws of Thunder Junction rustled up 203 total responses to our set survey, who tested a median of 10 cards. Although not enough time has passed to render a verdict on the impact of Play Boosters in Cube, it does seem like OTJ is slightly more popular than Murders at Karlov Manor before it.
| Card | Testers▼ | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Forsaken Miner | 37.4% | 7.3 |
| Slickshot Show-Off | 36.9% | 7.7 |
| Bristly Bill, Spine Sower | 29.1% | 7.2 |
| Legion Extruder | 25.6% | 6.8 |
| Harvester of Misery | 24.1% | 7.2 |
| Requisition Raid | 23.2% | 6.7 |
| Aven Interrupter | 23.2% | 6.0 |
| Nurturing Pixie | 22.7% | 5.7 |
| Three Steps Ahead | 22.2% | 6.4 |
| Phantom Interference | 21.2% | 6.6 |
| Sandstorm Salvager | 20.7% | 6.8 |
| Lost Jitte | 20.2% | 6.0 |
| Tinybones, the Pickpocket | 19.2% | 6.2 |
| Honest Rutstein | 17.2% | 6.5 |
| Goldvein Hydra | 17.2% | 6.5 |
| Dust Animus | 17.2% | 6.0 |
| Reckless Lackey | 15.8% | 5.8 |
| Lively Dirge | 14.3% | 5.5 |
| Geralf, the Fleshwright | 13.8% | 6.1 |
| Duelist of the Mind | 13.8% | 6.3 |
| Lavaspur Boots | 12.8% | 7.4 |
| Kaervek, the Punisher | 12.8% | 5.9 |
| Magda, the Hoardmaster | 12.3% | 6.7 |
| Slickshot Lockpicker | 11.8% | 6.7 |
| Trash the Town | 11.3% | 5.5 |
| Ornery Tumblewagg | 11.3% | 5.9 |
| Smuggler's Surprise | 10.8% | 5.6 |
| Aloe Alchemist | 10.8% | 6.6 |
| Malcolm, the Eyes | 10.8% | 6.0 |
| Bristlebud Farmer | 10.3% | 6.0 |
| Razzle-Dazzler | 10.3% | 5.6 |
| Oltec Matterweaver | 10.3% | 6.1 |
| Vaultborn Tyrant | 9.9% | 6.7 |
| Highway Robbery | 9.4% | 5.9 |
| Ruthless Lawbringer | 9.4% | 5.9 |
| Assimilation Aegis | 8.9% | 6.4 |
| Abraded Bluffs | 8.4% | 7.8 |
| Caustic Bronco | 8.4% | 6.1 |
| Jace Reawakened | 8.4% | 6.1 |
| Harrier Strix | 8.4% | 5.4 |
| Holy Cow | 8.4% | 5.2 |
| Jagged Barrens | 7.9% | 7.4 |
| Railway Brawler | 7.9% | 5.3 |
| Bonny Pall, Clearcutter | 7.9% | 5.9 |
| Shoot the Sheriff | 7.9% | 6.5 |
| Hollow Marauder | 7.9% | 5.4 |
| Sword of Wealth and Power | 7.9% | 5.3 |
| Return the Favor | 7.9% | 6.5 |
| Final Showdown | 7.9% | 4.7 |
| Getaway Glamer | 7.4% | 5.3 |
| Cunning Coyote | 7.4% | 6.7 |
| Slick Sequence | 7.4% | 5.7 |
| Collector's Cage | 7.4% | 5.7 |
| Forlorn Flats | 6.9% | 7.6 |
| Generous Plunderer | 6.9% | 5.3 |
| Gisa, the Hellraiser | 6.9% | 5.0 |
| Rise of the Varmints | 6.4% | 4.9 |
| Explosive Derailment | 6.4% | 6.3 |
| Fomori Vault | 6.4% | 6.4 |
| Hostile Investigator | 6.4% | 6.8 |
| Demonic Ruckus | 6.4% | 6.0 |
| Stingerback Terror | 6.4% | 5.5 |
| Spinewoods Armadillo | 5.9% | 6.5 |
| Bristling Backwoods | 5.9% | 7.6 |
| Outcaster Trailblazer | 5.9% | 4.3 |
| Fblthp, Lost on the Range | 5.9% | 4.2 |
| Voracious Varmint | 5.4% | 5.5 |
| Lonely Arroyo | 5.4% | 7.7 |
| Eroded Canyon | 5.4% | 7.9 |
| Freestrider Lookout | 5.4% | 6.2 |
| Conduit Pylons | 5.4% | 8.1 |
| Festering Gulch | 5.4% | 7.5 |
| Creosote Heath | 5.4% | 7.2 |
| Kambal, Profiteering Mayor | 5.4% | 6.7 |
| Pest Control | 5.4% | 5.6 |
| Rakdos, the Muscle | 5.4% | 6.1 |
| Oko, the Ringleader | 5.4% | 4.9 |
| Make Your Own Luck | 5.4% | 5.1 |
| Stoic Sphinx | 5.4% | 5.3 |
| Geyser Drake | 5.4% | 6.8 |
| Vault Plunderer | 4.9% | 4.8 |
| Gold Pan | 4.9% | 5.8 |
| Soured Springs | 4.9% | 7.5 |
| Lush Oasis | 4.9% | 7.5 |
| Archmage's Newt | 4.9% | 4.8 |
| Bovine Intervention | 4.9% | 4.7 |
Single Card Discussion
The Big Scores
The most popular Cube card from OTJ is Forsaken Miner, with nearly 40% test rates among our respondents. This cardboard cowpoke is 2024’s spanking-new version of Diregraf Ghoul, complete with the new Crime mechanic to recur it like other popular threats, all at an Uncommon price range and accessibility.
“Wizards' eye towards backwards compatibility continues to be a boon for cube design. The... new cards that play well with Plot also play well with similar mechanics like Adventure, Suspend, and Foretell.”
Slickshot Show-Off, the highest-rated hit from OTJ, is hot on the Miner’s heels. The Show-Off bears obvious analogy to aggressive Prowess-style threats, while incorporating the novel decision space of the Plot mechanic. Some situations will demand casting the Show-Off now for an extra turn of damage, while others may incentivize Plotting as temporary protection from removal. Dynamic decisions like these are the hallmark of well-designed creature abilities, and this Stetson-wearing sorcerer is a great example.
The Small Fries
A trio of cards is seeing play by a quarter to a third of our respondents. Legion Extruder is the most popular OTJ card from the Big Score mini-set, for obvious reasons: a sky-high floor of 2 damage for
“Many of the new 'Plot' cards have me excited for hopefully interesting sequencing decisions.”
Bristly Bill, Spine Sower comes down fast and hits hard. The Landfall keyword is a welcome ergonomic feature for Eternal cubes that may have other instances of old mechanics, while Bill’s strength scales well into fetchland-centric manabases.
Harvester of Misery rounds out this group as a huge barrel of stats. The buyout mode of
Other Notables
Three Steps Ahead is the highest-tested Spree card, falling just short of a 25% test-rate. Just below it, the Pauper-legal Phantom Interference also represents Spree. The most densely tested new mechanic from OTJ after Plot, Spree has the makings of a hit among Cube curators.
Ornery Tumblewagg vanguards the new Saddle mechanic, which was overall less well-received.
Abraded Bluffs and the rest of its cycle are secretly the highest-rated cards in the set — for the small minority of our respondents who are interested! I suspect these will be a hit in archetype-driven or rarity-restricted cubes.
“I would have liked to do a survey for Fallout, I just didn't know it was out.”
Shoot the Sheriff is a surprising fall from grace for the now-expected ”
Usually this is where I write some personal opinions about the set, but I had so many thoughts about this set that it turned into its own article. The tl;dr: I disliked OTJ so much that it changed my entire outlook on Cube.
“We have a new "worst flavor text" contender in Quick Draw.”
Also check out the set review of the indominable Usman Jamil, for a look at playtesting OTJ with an eye towards powerful gameplay.
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