with my cube rewards. Past / Present / Future; I'll focus mostly on the color pie but am going to drag in my experiences with playing these cards, their art, & cet.
The past is Field of Ruin, a colorless land (which I heavily associate with blue-white decks). It's very meaningful to me to interpret this colorlessness as being devoid of form, and the land type as meaning "produces resources for something better than itself". The past few months have been kind of a blur, indeed-- constantly preparing for something greater. The fact that Field's activated ability is generally slow, reactive, and preparing for the worst-case slog is icing on the hermeneutical cake. The past of the subject of this spread is constantly waiting for the worst.
When we gain our color, it's the green in Verdant Rebirth. This is a funny card-- it's from Rivals, and I'm not sure how it really fits into that set. This sort of effect is generally found in green's enemy black, so I suppose I'm more relieved to see this than Fake Your Own Death. Green is a color of growth and flourishing, a fitting transition from Field of Ruin, but it's also the color of letting what will be, be (especially in comparison to black). The effect of this card emphasizes this-- the card replaces itself, the creature you targeted replaces itself, and overall your board pursues staying the same as it was. Based purely on the color pie, it seems that the effect in the present is truly a rebirth, rather than a reincarnation.
That being said, what a wonderful target to be reborn into! Dream Trawler hardly needs an introduction-- it tore up standard, and sees load-bearing historic/explorer play even today. There are a couple of ways to interpret this. "By staying the same, there will be a Dream Trawler, implying that you are presently a Dream Trawler" is one of the most optimistic-- and is a very green-based bant thing to say. One that makes more sense in the context of the actual play of Magic, though, is essentially "You are the control". In other words-- focus on stabilizing, and trust that by the properties of your deck, you will not need to actively pursue anything more for now. There is a Dream Trawler in your future-- just suck it up, trade your 3/2 with their 2/2, and have faith.
What I like about this spread is that the Field of Ruin foreshadows the Dream Trawler. At first, it might have been disheartening to see that the past slot was a not-very-flashy utility land that doesn't even say much about colors-- but the rest of the spread makes it clear what it means. Field of Ruin here isn't to be interpreted as "colorless flexible mush", it's meant to be Dream Trawler's constant companion in UW Control.
