The thriving cycle is less complex than triomes (wich match the main goal of this cube) and is a complete cycle (aesthetically more pleasing) while still entering the battlefield tapped.

They're also more versatile as each can provide color for 4 out of 10 two-color combinations while triome provide only 3/10.

As I want to play more cards (and play more anyway as one should do ;-), there's a missed opportunity when playing the same cards in different decks or cubes. As it isn't really possible tu downgrade a deck for this purpose, a closed environement make the choice more about balance than competitiveness.

But there's also some benefit to this replacements:

  • Compared to Sprite Dragon, Expressive Iteration doesn't pin you down in an archetype but support it noneless whil being a potent drawing spell.
  • Concerning Palace Jailer, I realise that Monarch may be to complex to handle for novice players as the crown could often be confiscated by the opponent and loose you the game. Leonin Relic-Warder increase the count of anti-artifact/enchantment removal and add more 2-drops to the white pool.
  • Ravenous Chupacabra was the only card using -1/-1 counters while many other uses +1/+1 counters. WotC doesn't mix the two in a premier set for complexity reasons and I shouldn't either. Inner Demon seems nice, boosting your creatures is a good occasion to make clever choices and this one doesn't really break parity (enchanted creatures are "two for one" when destroyed) because you will probably remove some creatures when playing it.
  • Elite Guardmage is a cheaper Cloudblazer in any sens of the word.
  • There's not a lot of way to cleverly play Clever Impersonator in this cube. Gigantoplasm's potency is easy to understand.
  • I think Stunt Double was fine here as a combat trick, but the cube could do with more auras and Metamorphic Alteration lower the curve and can also make a handly removal.

With only 180 cards in the cube, if you draft only two color (wich you should), you'll often get the 6 big creatures of these colors. Six 5+ cmc creatures is too many in a 40 cards deck, more so in an environment without as many removal in each colors.

The Triome cycle may be an incentive to draft three color and that's ok, even if there is no upside for that in the cube. I think ennemy trilands shake things a little bit but it may not be relevant at all (playtest will tell) !

Speaking of manafixing, nearly 10% multilands is quite confortable (9,4%=17/180, instead of 6,7%=12/180). Maybe that's too confortable but my aim is to make a novice friendly cube thus it could be a correct proportion of multiland.

Simple Exchange
Erceus posted to Novice Cube -
Mainboard Changelist
+1, -1

[(Typhoid Rats]] is strictly worse than Vampire of the Dire Moon.

Carrion Feeder brings some complexity but is a black staple that any learner would discover some day.

Artifacts
Erceus posted to Novice Cube -

2,5 Anthems
1,5 Manarock
3 Boost
1 World changer