Since its printing in MTG Avatar, Badgermole Cub has emerged as a multi-format all-star. Cub has such incredible upside potential despite only being a two-drop, especially in decks with mana dorks or other support elements. In fact, players have already started clamoring for the two-drop to be banned less than two weeks after its release!
Interestingly, though, Cub’s dominance has only heightened the expectations for an upcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed reprint. It undoubtedly lines up well in the current Standard metagame, but unfortunately, its release may have some negatives as well as benefits.
Addressing Potential Problems
Following the first look at Lorwyn Eclipsed, images of the theme decks for the set were revealed back in September. People were quickly able to decipher the decklists of both boxes through some image finessing, and while most of the inclusions aren’t super noteworthy, the appearance of Spell Snare immediately caught the eyes of some players. After all, Spell Snare has yet to appear in Standard since its original printing way back in Dissension and is a strong card all things considered.
Now that the MTG Avatar Standard metagame has had a bit of time to evolve, however, the card is beginning to garner a ton of extra attention. Spell Snare may be narrow, but it successfully deals with a lot of problematic spells in an extremely efficient manner. Obviously, Cub is priority number one, and with Temur Otters and various Ouroboroid shells making up a large percentage of the upcoming World Championship metagame, having a clean answer is essential.
Part of the reason Cub is so strong is that when you play it as a follow-up to your mana dorks, even if the opponent has removal at the ready, you still get a burst of mana that allows you to add more to the board on the same turn. By ensuring that Cub never hits the board, Snare completely negates this problem. In a similar vein, being able to nab Jackal, Genius Geneticist out of Simic Aggro or Fear of Missing Out in Izzet Looting shells before your opponent can generate extra value is a big deal. Of course, Snare isn’t limited to tagging creatures, and with Izzet Lessons on the rise, countering Accumulate Wisdom on the cheap is extremely useful.
Snare acts a great tempo play given its efficiency, while simultaneously making it easier to keep pace on the draw. In theory, this would mean Snare’s printing is a net positive for Standard. Unfortunately, as some players have pointed out, even though the card can help control and midrange shells, it slots nicely into the Simic Cub decks as well. Almost all of the best decks in Standard are already blue, with a whopping 115 out of 126 decks at the World Championship featuring the color in some capacity. Giving Izzet Lessons shells an additional disruptive element may further push out the non-blue decks like Mono-Red Aggro. Only time will tell how the format continues to adapt post-Lorwyn, but things are looking grim in a post-ban environment.
Pioneer Impact
Beyond Snare’s abundance of strong targets in Standard, the card could easily make waves in Pioneer upon release. Many of the best decks are reliant on two-mana plays to pull ahead. At the top of the list, both Gruul Prowess and Izzet Phoenix abuse Cori-Steel Cutter, which threatens to spiral out of control in short order. Answering artifacts isn’t always easy for blue decks, and Snare prevents your opponent from playing Cutter plus a follow-up spell on the same turn, getting an advantage before you can deal with it.
Of course, Cub has made its presence felt in Pioneer Mono-Green Devotion and Jeskai Ascendancy Combo decks, so having an answer there as well is useful. From Bloodtithe Harvester out of Rakdos Midrange to Rattlechains out of Azorius Spirits, most archetypes present enough solid two-drops to make Spell Snare worth consideration at the very least. Don’t be shocked if this seemingly innocuous piece of counter magic plays a big role in Pioneer and Standard alike moving forward.
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