White

Raffine's Informant for Parish-Blade Trainee

• Raffine's Informant is good with a variety of strategies: aggro, blink, counters, mini-reanimator, and potentially even control (for the looting, can be bounced). Parish-Blade Trainee doesn't quite do enough compared to the other white 2-drops, and really relies on other creatures to be beneficial.
  Vesperlark for Stonehorn Dignitary
• Stonehorn Dignitary is certainly a good card, but having yet to receive a border update and being abysmal when combined with Soulherder and other blink cards, it may be too good. Vesperlark continues its combo legacy while also being a flier and working well in blink decks. At some point, Felidar Guardian will also come in to make it a legitimate combo (Vesperlark + Felidar Guardian + sac outlet + artist), though it doesn't combo with anything else. Regardless, it's a good synergy piece.
  Banishment for Faith's Fetters
• Banishment is a single-target removal spell 90% of the time, but can be used as a board wipe against token decks, though it does only removes one type of token]]. Faith's Fetters is good, but doesn't actually remove the creature, which would be nice if paying 4 mana, and can't be cast at instant speed.
  Touch the Spirit Realm for Pacifism
• Touch the Spirit Realm is both removal and a blink enabler (or temporary removal). Pacifism's time has finally come.
  Fight as One for Momentary Blink
• Momentary Blink really only exists in blue/white, and Touch the Spirit Realm, another blink-enabler, is being put into blink strategies, so there are enough of this effect. Fight as One is a fantastic combat trick that, as a ceiling, protects two creatures and kills two of theirs. It also starts to push towards a heroic/combat trick/boggles deck, which can come together with some equipment. I want to keep enablers low, as it's not a fully supported archetype, but I like providing options and putting a little more focus on really good combat tricks.

Blue

Wash Out for Aetherize

• Wash Out is one of the few peasant board wipes, but competes with Aetherize. Though it's not instant speed, it's more desirable in match-ups where the opponent isn't attacking (control mirror, attrition, slow-aristocrats, board stalls). Aetherize is also a feels-bad blow-out card that isn't really telegraphed, so this is probably the right switch.

Black

Cauldron Familiar for Gifted Aetherborn

• Cat-Oven combo with Witch's Oven. Good, but not unbeatable, and has redundancy with Abiding Grace. It slots perfectly into the Orhzov archetype, and works well in Rakdos aristocrats. Though it's infamous in standard format, it's unlikely to come together in draft and harder even still to assemble it during your games without the redundancy of duplicates. Without Witch's Oven, Cauldron Familiar can still drain your opponent and can be sacrificed for value. It has the downside of implementing an additional token, but it has additional synergies if Food becomes more prevalent in the future. As for Gifted Aetherborn, to be honest, it's a bit boring. Black already has a good, cheap, french vanilla creature in Vampire Nighthawk, and there's already six other deathtouchers in Black. Few decks actually want Gifted Aetherborn, so it tends to become a boring glue piece for any deck that plays it.

Red

Roil Eruption for Strangle

• See previous notes regarding burn spell changes
  Lightning Strike for Krenko's Command
• See previous notes regarding burn spell changes

Green

Contortionist Troupe for Wren's Run Hydra

• Though I'm replacing an X for another X spell, there are some pros and cons to replacing Wren's Run Hydra for Contortionist Troupe. Wren's Run Hydra both has reach and can be a good pump spell, but only has a one-time use. Contortionist Troupe is lacking in reach and large impact, but its gradual value can help break board stalls and spread-out the love. It also has more interesting decisions, requiring the juggling of different power across your creatures.

Gold

Cartel Aristocrat for Markov Purifier

• Cartel Aristocrat is an interesting inclusion. It's not what you'd typically think of for either mini-reanimator or attrition, but it can consistently attack, is an annoying blocker, and is a free sac-outlet, while still being a 2/2 for 2. Markov Purifier is still a great card, but there aren't enough lifegain cards to make it consistent, outside of self-triggering.
  Grumgully, the Generous for Rhythm of the Wild
• Though Rhythm of the Wild can also provide Haste and doesn't allow creatures to be countered, having the effect on a creature is such a big difference.

Colorless

Containment Construct for Bloodline Pretender

• There is a fair amount of discard across colors (looting, Channel, Reinforcement, Cycling), so Containment Construct could be a build-around, or just a value piece. I'm moving away from a tribal focus (incidental tribal is fine), as that is tough to get the density for and has limited payoffs.. As a payoff, Bloodline Pretender was only alright. If someone is leaning into a tribal deck, they really need something that will make it worth it.
  Cranial Plating for Bonder's Ornament
• Artifacts are starting to appear in the colored sections (mainly Red), so a payoff like Cranial Plating is fun to use. It can probably go in any color, as long as they have enough artifacts. I'm removing Bonder's Ornament, as it always brings up the question of “how many are in here?”, and a 3 mana value rock isn't really strong in this environment.
  Chromatic Star for Prismatic Lens
• Colorless will have roughly 6 ramp cards, so I want to limit it a little bit to prevent midrange and control from having as much power. Prismatic Lens is good, and may return, but it doesn't replace itself, only ramps and fixes. For 2 mana, it's not as good as the slot needs. Chromatic Star is a really good glue piece, as it replaces itself and fixes mana for a low deck-building cost. It also adds the decision point of “do I crack this when I need fixing, or when I need a card?”
  Witch's Oven for Thunderstaff
• See notes regarding Cauldron Familiar. Witch's Oven isn't necessarily great on its own, but in a more defensive strategy, you can chump-then-sac to get some extra life. Also helps with artifact generation if they're leaning into Cranial Plating. Thankfully, it's only one mana. I don't think Thunderstaff is doing quite what I want it to. It's sitting halfway between a control strategy and a go-wide deck, while only benefiting in a matchup against other go-wide decks. That matchup is rare, so it probably doesn't make the main deck too often.

Dominaria United
Resolute Reinforcements for Raise the Alarm

• Resolute Reinforcements is a strict upgrade to Raise the Alarm in this cube (as there isn’t anything that explicitly wants “tokens”), so it will be replacing it. I was considering having it alongside, but as it stands, there doesn’t need to be any redundancy here.
  Cult Conscript for Bloodthrone Vampire
• Bloodthrone Vampire is very good for an aggro-focused aristocrats, but that’s its only real home. Cult Conscript adds much-needed recursion to aggro-aristocrats, midrange-aristocrats, and graveyard value strategies. I’m not necessarily including a black-aggro strategy, but for aggro-aristocrats, black needs some additional beaters.
  Eerie Soultender for Gorging Vulture
• For Graveyard-value strategies, Eerie Soultender plays towards multiple points: it mills, is an aggressive body, and has value in the graveyard. Though Gorging Vulture matches two of those conditions, mills one more card, and has flying, it doesn’t do anything in the graveyard, which is a big downside for decks that want to self-mill. Regarding the loss of a flier, flying is more focused in White and Blue, with Black as a secondary. Black effectively has 7 fliers and is gaining another with the Brother’s War update, compared to White’s effectively 15 and Blue’s 10 (+1 with Brother’s War). I want to pair down Black’s flier count because if there are too many fliers in the environment, it defeats the purpose of a dedicated Flying deck.
  Electrostatic Infantry for Heartfire Immolator
• Electrostatic Infantry is such a good payoff for Izzet blitz, and can absolutely go in aggro decks thanks to Trample and +1/+1 counters. Heartfire Immolator sits in a similar spot for Izzet, and though it also goes in aristocrats, it can only hit creatures. If it went to face as well, it would 100% stay in.
  Phoenix Chick for Fanatical Firebrand
• Both Phoenix Chick and Fanatical Firebrand have haste, and though Phoenix Chick can't sacrifice itself for an extra point of damage, its recursion is effectively card advantage, which aggro could always use more of.
  Tear Asunder for Snake Umbra
• Though Snake Umbra is untested, paying 3 mana for an aura is a bit rough, when it can be easily countered. If I go back to Umbras, it will likely be Hyena Umbra. Tear Asunder is probably the best Naturalize I’ve seen, especially because splashing for black is incredibly easy (Vivid Grove, Trilands, Paradise Druid, Jewel Thief). Even if it becomes a sideboard card, that’s alright.
  Yavimaya Iconoclast for Excavation Mole
• Excavation Mole really only wants to be in one deck (graveyard value), and even then, it’s only ok. That slot should really be filled with things that provide really good value (Satyr Wayfinder, Winding Way, Grapple With the Past). Yavimaya Iconoclast is incredibly good for aggro, and even though there are a lot of aggressive creatures Green, there does need to be a critical mass of them. We’ll see if there’s too many after testing.
  Baird, Argivian Recruiter for Skyknight Vanguard
• A good Boros card that overlaps Equipment and Tokens! Equipment and +1/+1 counters both trigger Baird, which there's enough of in White, and it's a good enough body by itself. Having a bit of flexibility in color pairs is a good way to increase the customization and flexibility of decks players create. Skyknight Vanguard is coming because it needs to attack to generate tokens, and if it can’t, it’s not very good (1/2 flier for two).
  Balmor, Battlemage Captain for Crackling Drake
• Balmor, Battlemage Captain promotes a go-wide strategy that pushes Izzet heavily into that category. It can also push Izzet blitz all by itself. Though Crackling Drake is incredibly good, but I want to remove the generically good cards in Izzet’s gold section, as most of the mono-colored cards are already generically good.
  Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim for Cruel Celebrant
• Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim and Cruel Celebrant are very similar, but Elas fits better into attrition and mini-reanimator strategies. It has a better body, has deathtouch, and proactively gives you life instead of needing to sacrifice creatures. It also provides some variety across artist effects, which generally only trigger on removal of the creature.
  Lagomos, Hand of Hatred for Juri, Master of the Revue
• Lagomos, Hand of Hatred is a mini Rite of the Raging Storm that comes down earlier (better for aggro), triggers the turn it comes down, and doesn't give fodder to your opponent. Players are probably not going to use its tap ability, but if they do, it's probably for a combo or bomb. Juri, Master of the Revue is decent, but sacrifice is a little less likely in aggro-aristocrats. Mayhem Devil is an exception because it triggers off the opponent and can hit anything, and is a decent body itself.
  Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator for Dinrova Horror
• Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator is a 2 mana value Looter (always good), can drain (good for long-game), and can re-cast your best instant/sorcery. Really good for anything Dimir wants to do. Dinrova Horror is good, but requires investment as a 6 drop. Vohar also provides some sort of recursion and puts Dimir into more of a looting position, which is a great crossover for a lot of different strategies. Given that, Lab Maniac may be a fun include as a build-around.

Brother's War
Recruitment Officer for Dauntless Bodyguard

• I really want to move away from the “choose” effects, so Dauntless Bodyguard is unfortunately coming out. Thankfully, there’s a wonderful replacement in Recruitment Officer! It has a great body, works well in the late game, and really hammers home the existence of a white weenies archetype.
  Zephyr Sentinel for Omenspeaker
• Omenspeaker is a little too boring, and there are enough blue creatures at 2 and 3 mana value that provide card advantage. Zephyr Sentinel crosses many archetypes (blink, control, tempo, fliers) and presents interesting decisions.
  Gurgling Anointer for Sling-Gang Lieutenant
• Sling-Gang Lieutenant really promotes a Goblin deck, and is otherwise just a 4 mana drain 3. Aristocrats have better options, and don't necessarily want to play a 4 drop like that. Gurgling Anointer pushes Dimir into a direction I like, and can support reanimation strategies (buffed by +1/+1 counters, combat tricks, cycling, etc). A fair amount of decks would be happy with this.
  Giant Cindermaw for Witty Roastmaster
• Giant Cindermaw is incredibly straightforward, has good stats, and stops lifegain strategies which aggro has trouble against. Witty Roastmaster is great but a little too slow for red decks, and is semi redundant with Spiteful Prankster. It also doesn't want to attack, while Spiteful Prankster and Giant Cindermaw both do, which, believe it or not, is also inline with aggro
  Bitter Reunion for Thrill of Possibility
• This is a hard one to swap, but is probably for the best. There is only one card that cares about enchantments over instants/sorceries in the graveyard (Dragon's Rage Channeler), there isn't any way to recover enchantments from the graveyard, and it's sorcery speed. On the other hand, this doesn’t leave you screwed over by counterspells, can be of use to other decks in red/X by granting haste for 1 mana, and triggers Mayhem Devil. Overall, I believe that Bitter Reunion provides more flexibility than Thrill of Possibility and limits Izzet from snatching up all the card advantage in Red.
  Third Path Iconoclast for Electrolyze
• Electrolyze is a fantastic card, and may be too good to be in the Gold section. Third-Path Iconoclast fills the gap in Izzet's go-wide strategy, and stretches the ability for a Jeskai tokens deck to emerge.
  Skyfisher Spider for Diregraf Rebirth
• Though Skyfisher Spider is a bit of a “good stuff removal card”, it still has some strong interaction with the themes of Golgari: sending stuff to and profiting off of creatures in the graveyard. It’s worth splashing if you have a creature-based strategy and definitely worth picking up as a loose and hard payoff for Golgari strategies. Diregraf Rebirth underperforms and doesn’t have the oomph that gold cards should have, especially at that cost.
  Hero of the Dunes for Drana’s Emissary
• This is part of the shift towards Orzhov mini-reanimator. By the time you play Hero of the Dunes, it will likely be able to bring back a smaller creature, as well as buff all of them (including tokens). It still plays into the attrition strategy by being two bodies for one and being a good reanimation target. Even if you don’t reanimate something, its body and static effect aren’t that bad. Drana’s Emissary is fine, it just doesn’t survive the shift.

[CONTINUED IN NEXT BLOG POST DUE TO LENGTH]

The keen-eyed reader may have noticed that there weren't any changes to Green in the past couple of updates. That's because Green is getting re-worked!

Looking into the Green section and how the cube was drafted, Green was a bit lack luster. It provide a mediocre gameplan against the other decks in the draft and not enough advantage to over take them. This lead to reading a ton of different takes and articles on Green's role in cube, which I could write a whole article about, but I'll try to sum it up here.

Green, compared to other colors, is much more focused on its creatures and winnning combat. It excels in putting large bodies on the board for cheap costs, pumps their team and tramples over other creatures, and tries to stay ahead on board as much as possible. In higher power cubes, that usually comes in the form of ramp (Llanowar Elves, Wild Growth) and great top ends (Primeval Titan, Avenger of Zendikar, Craterhoof Behemoth), strong and value-based medium creatures (Questing Beast, Thragtusk), go-wide strategies (elves), and huge effects that just win the game (The Great Henge, Finale of Devastation). Unfortunately, most of those listed are rares and mythics, and thus not legal for peasant cube. Peasant green has fine top ends (Pelakka Wurm, Plated Crusher), but nothing devastating, so pure ramp is a bit underwhelming. It's game-winners are ok (Overrun, Great Oak Guardian), but heavily reliant on board state.

Where it shines is on its low-medium cost value creatures. Green is going to have a lot of 2-4 drops, while still supporting some of its known identities (ramp + top ends), but mainly focused on value, recurrable threats, and pumping one or many creatures to break through boards. If left unchecked, Green should stomp over most everything else. When integrating with other colors, it should provide effective bodies and increased board presences.

Though rooted in nature, I don't want Green to be all about eating your vegetables. It will also be home to fun, stompy effects (blow out cards, broken pump spells, and creatures that grow bigger than they rightfully should), as well as some high-ceiling, creature-based payoffs. It's also vital for Persist combo, hosting both Renata, Called to the Hunt and Good-Fortune Unicorn.

I could provide explanations for every card I'm putting into green, but that would make this extremely long. Instead, I'll make short notes on everything I'm adding, and extrapolate if need-be.

Skarrgan Pit-Skulk - Can be a 1 mana 2/2, and provides good evasion, especially when buffed.

Syr Faren, the Hengehammer - Bear that can massively pump other attacking creatures. No evasion or ETB, but good enough.

Untamed Kavu - Good stats and abilites, can be an early or late game threat.

Masked Vandal - Interchangable with Reclamation Sage, but even with its downside, it can survive many more things.

Nessian Hornbeetle - Can grow to enormous sizes and break board stalls. Great if it gains trample.

Voyaging Satyr - With all the bouncelands, this can easily generate 2 mana. A 1/2 is also not too bad.

Pridemalkin - Taking over for Gnarlid Colony as a +1/+1 payoff. Though its not as big in the late game, being able to give anything else Trample is much better.

Loathsome Chimera - Above-rate power, can come back multiple times, and a late game 5/2 is welcome. Good with +1/+1 counters and graveyard strategies.

Llanowar Visionary - Was taken out because it was thought to be overcosted, but having two great effects is what Green needs right now.

Temur Sabertooth - One of the more interesting build-arounds in Green. Can protect itself while protecting another creature, and can consistently trigger ETBs.

Gnarlback Rhino - Though heroic is genearlly considered "ok", a single trigger is well worth it, and a baseline 4/4 trampler for 4 will kill people.

Pack Guardian - Two good bodies with flash? Sure, get in here.

Herd Baloth - Its floor is only ok (5 mana 4/4), but like Gnarlback Rhino, even a single trigger makes it worth it. +1/+1 counter decks need a huge payoff anyway, and this one is quite fun. I haven't added Ivy Lane Denizen yet, mostly because it's mediocre by itself, but it may come in if there's enough space.

Blossom Prancer - Green lacks some reach, and this also comes with good card advantage.

Snake Umbra - Supports the stompy strategy, but also provides another Curiosity effect plus protection. Getting 2-for-1 sucks, but the risk can be worth it for this.

Green will continue to be tweaked in the future, but this is a good start.

Onto the big update! Looking around, there are a lot of great cards that I want to add to the cube to both add consistency and spice things up. Let's see what we have!

White
I love Soul Warden, but with the increased focus on aggro and the removal of a true lifegain strategy, Soul Warden has become less of an enabler and more of an “anti-aggro” card. Daxos, Blessed by the Sun plays a similar role and does it better (bigger butt, triggers off of death as well) but doesn't completely hinder aggro, so Soul Warden is becoming unnecessary. Doomed Traveler fits so well into tokens, aggro, and attrition that it really should be included.

Accorder Paladin is a good card, but with an old border, this seems like a fine candidate for replacing with Seasoned Hallowblade. It has the same 3/1 body, but instead of go-wide (which is already heavily supported), it focuses more on general aggro and is a good body for +1/+1 and equipment strategies. If Accorder Paladin gets a new printing, it will likely return, though replace something else.

White, being more control-y for both Blue and Black, needs to shift a little bit to account for that. There are plenty of ways to add counters, and both blink and +1/+1 counters have enough top-end payoffs, so Meadowboon can be removed. Slaughter the Strong is currently the best peasant board wipe in White, and leads to both interesting and not game-breaking choices. If there are too many board wipes after this, I will re-evaluate.

Blue
Windrider Wizard is card #25 in a spells deck, and doesn't really belong anywhere else, so it's coming out. Faerie Vandal is a good replacement that is happy to live with tempo, fliers, and anything that can draw multiple cards per turn (pretty much anything running blue)

I want to keep adding to the counterspell count, so adding Lose Focus. It plays like Mana Leak, but scales up better in the late-game. Removing Winds of Rebuke because there's enough bounce spells already

Displace is just a strictly worse version of Ghostly Flicker, and there are enough bounce/flicker spells already. A flicker deck obviously wants more of those effects, but that's really the only decks interested in it, and I want to avoid too many unitaskers. I'm bringing in Supreme Will, which is both another counterspell and card filtering.

Black
Though Clattering Augur is great for attrition strategies and loves being in the graveyard, there need to be better ways to stay alive for attrition decks. Nested Shambler replaces itself with at least one body, and even more if you pump it. This is very welcome in Aristocrats, who need more cheap fodder in black.

Dreadmalkin is good for aggro, but it's trying to ride the line of aggro and sac-outlet. Bloodthrone Vampire and Carrion Feeder both do it better, so there's no need for a 3rd worse one, and Dockside Chef provides more of the advantage that slower decks want. Sacrifice aggro also doesn't really need many repeatable sac outlets, so I don't mind cutting it. Graveyard strategies do need better ways to fill it, though, and Stitcher's Supplier is one of the best.

Basilica Screecher was mainly for attrition strategies, along with a small flying sub-archetype in black, but Kitesail Freebooter just does a better job. It's also very handy in general controlling strategies.

Bone Picker is good for aggressive strategies, but without much else going for it, it's taking up a much-needed slot for control and attrition. Liliana's Devotee is good for those (consistent blockers and fodder), good for aristocrats and aggro, and supports a mini zombie archetype.

Even though Vicious Offering has more decisions, it's not that good of a card. Heartless Act is very good, but doesn't necessarily hit everything. It's probably the top-end of what I want Black removal to be.

Red
I really like Goblin Bushwhacker, but it's basically another Reckless Bushwhacker, and I would like to limit redundant unique effects. Of the two, Goblin Bushwhacker is better, but it does not have a modern frame. Dragon's Rage Channeler is an actually good 1 drop and provides another body for aggro-spells, which is more than welcome. If Goblin Bushwhacker gets a new frame, it'll likely replace Reckless Bushwhacker (assuming it's still in the cube)

At first glance, Fireblade Charger seems like an equipment-focused card (which it's really good with), but it also works well in aggro and aristocrats. It's also a goblin, which helps with those synergies, so we're testing it out. Goblin Banneret is a bit underwhelming, as it can only pump itself and doesn't have any built-in evasion. Not many decks want to play it.

I like that Balduvian Rage is an X spell and grants card advantage, but aggro has to put so much mana into it to make it actually good. Titan's Strength is better costed and still grants card advantage.

Grab the Reins doesn't quite have enough use for the mana cost. Most Red strategies use multiple, cheap spells and will almost never hit 7 mana, nor have the use for a 4 mana spell with those effects. Rite of the Raging Storm is a much better bomb and goes in aggro and sacrifice strategies.

Gold
Goblin Electromancer is good in storm-based spells decks, but those don't really exist in this environment. And even then, it's only “ok”. Sprite Dragon is a better payoff, cheap, and pushes Izzet a bit more aggressive (if they want to go that route).

Turns out, I didn't have a Gruul hybrid card. Burning-Tree Emissary does something similar to Goblin Anarchomancer (granted, by no means the same), and better supports aggro strategies

Snakeform is really underwhelming, and most decks will pass it over. Slippery Bogle, on the other hand, starts an interesting archetype but will still be picked up by aggro and tempo strategies.

Colorless
Artisan of Kozilek costs so much and has to be cast to get its effect, which isn't big enough in this environment, so I'd rather stick with the top-end we have. Flayer Husk is interesting enough to test, though it probably won't last long.

Millstone is fine, but I'd prefer the fixing and card draw of Prophetic Prism.

Zephyr Boots has similar costs and looting to Skeleton Key, but the evasion is arguably better and also applicable to blockers.

Ramp wants some cheaper spells than Pristine Talisman, and slower decks want blockers, which Ornithopter of Paradise accomplishes.

It's time for a long-awaited update! I'll be combining Battle for Baldur's Gate and Double Masters 2022 in the same update to save space, though there will be another couple of big updates following this. Stay tuned!

Though Basri's Solidarity is a good way to get counters on a lot of different creatures, it's only a one-time effect and it is dead if you don't have any other creatures (or not great if you have few). Greatsword of Tyr is a different method to get counters on creatures, but is repeatable, has some control elements, and ties into a larger “equipment” theme.

Sailors' Bane is a great spells and control payoff, with built-in protection. Though Phyrexian Ingester is a great card, it's costly and doesn't have any protection/evasion. I also just think Sailors' Bane is a cooler card.

Though Village Rites is cheaper, Deadly Dispute provides a couple additional options by allowing one to sacrifice an unneeded artifact and by ramping/saving mana for a later turn.

Cloudblazer is a great card for blink, fliers, and control and absolutely a bomb, but it's not really exciting. Gameplay is just an ETB that gives you card draw and life, which is fine for mono-colored (like Mulldrifter, Wall of Omens, Inspiring Overseer, etc.), but not as interesting for gold. Now, the enablers for blink are limited (due to being a bit parasitic), and plan to be even more limited (Displace is pretty much a worse version of Ghostly Flicker, so it likely will get cut), so an enabler that also is a good value creature is perfect. In comes Oji, the Exquisite Blade. It has similar value to Cloudblazer but not overpowered (scry instead of draw), larger defense for better blocking, a cheaper cost, and an enabling effect that triggers if you just play the game. It's also a much better signpost, because outside of blink, only a few decks will want it (control, attrition), while most decks will be happy to splash for Cloudblazer.

Heraldic Banner is a fine card, but I'd like to move away from the “chosen X” mechanic (though there will continue to be exceptions). Noble's Purse provides some weird ramp, but works a bit better with sacrifice and blink decks, while also fixing mana a bit better.

I really like Suture Priest, but with the old border being the only one available, I feel inclined to remove it. In comes Seeker of the Way, a fantastic card all around that many decks want to play.

Felidar Guardian is good for blink, but with no easy combos, it's probably best to not confuse the drafter. It may come in again later, but likely not in this iteration. Mentor of the Meek was a fantastic downshift, as it plays super well with go-wide and blink strategies and grants White much-needed card advantage

A lot of people online like Fleshbag Marauder, but I find it a little weak when Black already has many good removal spells. Nothing is too protected at the moment, though if Bogles really start to appear, it may come in. Graveblade Marauder is great for control (4 toughness), while also being a good payoff for Golgari graveyard decks.

Inquisition of Kozilek has been on the to-add list for a while, but it only finally got a new border print (with the line separating the flavor text) with the original art. Marauding Blight-Priest is fine and an interesting build-around, but its floor is low and its ceiling is a bit too hard to reach.

This was a tough one. Twisted Abomination is great, with built-in protection and a way to bin itself, but new drafters wouldn't find it too exciting. Scion of Darkness can also bin itself, has evasion and better stats, and has an effect that can take over the game. Unfortunately, it has no built-in protection and its effect has the “steal” clause that I don't really like, so it may come out at a future date. I'll see how it plays out and remove it if it doesn't quite mesh.

With Red having very few sac outlets and limited ways to draw cards, Dark-Dweller Oracle slots in perfectly. Guttersnipe, though a good card, was a bit unnecessary with the amount of payoffs that Izzet spells already has.

Lotleth Troll is probably the perfect card for Golgari graveyard. It bins, it has protection and evasion, it gets big, and it's cheap. Rotwidow Pack is a little too slow, and it exiles creatures from the bin, which generally goes against the strategy.

Livewire Lash is a decent aggro card (sorta like bad Bonesplitter), but its added text gives a free shock if they attempt to remove the creature, and gives potential Heroic decks another interesting card to play with. Mask of Memory is a good card, but only one type of deck (Tempo) really wants it. If more card draw is needed in the cube, due to grindier matches or control being weak, it may come back in.

Additional Note: Cartel Aristocrat is a great card and will likely see play in this cube, but I want to see how Orzhov decks play and what they want. If it's slow and grindy, it likely wants its current suit of cards (Cruel Celebrant, Drana's Emissary, and Markov Purifier). If it wants to slowly push in damage, wants to sacrifice creatures, or is in need of more blockers, Cartel Aristocrat will replace one of them

Big changes to the cube! Most of these changes are to shift the cube away from archetype-heavy strategies and more towards value and exciting card choices. Archetypes very much still exist, but the hard enablers and payoffs have been cut down for broader cards.
Rakdos aristocrats is undergoing a weird transformation where, instead of being a control based, sacrifice for value strategy, it's now more aggressive and takes advantage of your creatures dying. This works better with mono red aggro, gruul stompy, and boros tokens, and orzhov can take some of the control aristocrats range without overstepping the bounds.
Speaking of orzhov, it's moving away from the lifegain theme and moving towards attrition. Attrition still has some lifegain effects (Blood Artists, extort, lifedrain, Soul Wardens, etc.) so it can retain some of those payoffs (Marauding Bligh Priest), but it will also move closer to control and “eventual demise” (Revenge of Ravens, Abiding Grace, Basilica Screecher). This overlaps nicely with dimir/azorious control and some rakdos aristocrats payoffs.
I'm removing thriving lands to cut down on the amount of external resources/memory space. In addition to that, I'm adding more fixing as well. To balance this out, the "major" guilds and archetypes will lose a card, bringing the gold cards to 3 + 1 hybrid per color pair. This helps cut gold cards to only the best-of-the-best for archetypes and better show what the themes are.
Strixhaven and New Capenna common duals are also replacing the dual-color gain lands. Putting lifegain in every strategy is good for slow midrange/control, but super bad for aggro, fast/medium midrange, and tempo. By switching to scry/draw lands for more late-game value, aggro isn't hurt and pretty much all strategies benefit. Once one of these cycles completes (preferably Strixhaven's, as it's colorless and doesn't sac), I'll replace the other half for consistency.

---Onto the replacements!---

I've been looking for a reason to get rid of Oketra's Attendant, and this is probably it. Angelic Quartermaster supports +1/+1 and blink and isn't too oppressive as other white 5 drops

Sunhome Stalwart rarely puts +1/+1 counters on other creatures, even if it is a good 2 drop. Clarion Spirit is a lot more interesting and rewards aggro and control strategies alike.

Valorous Stance is one of the few good combat tricks, with removal stapled on. Toughness 4+ isn't too common, but with +1/+1 counters and the combat trick portion, this is more than playable. Banishing Light may be too good for this cube (and almost strictly better than Oblivion Ring), so it's going out for now. If white removal needs a rework, it will likely go back in.
Glass Casket - Cast Out
Cast Out doesn't really have early game functionality, as you don't generally want to cycle removal unless in extremely dire straits. There certainly are instances, but Glass Casket can be that early game removal, is well priced with conditional vs mana cost, and still hits a large majority of the cube in the late game.

Basri's Acolyte isn't quite good enough for a 4 drop, especially while limiting lifegain. Abiding Grace is a tech card that opens up more strategies in white, giving lifegain to control, recursion for protection sacrificers and aristocrats, and continuous advantage for aggro. Worst case, it gives 1 life per turn, which isn't the worst

Mirrorshell Crab is a counterspell on a body which can also counter abilities. It's a tough call between cutting Logic Knot or Neutralize, but Neutralize is one of the few hard counters in the cube, plus has the ability to cycle if need be.

Watcher in the Mist is fine, but not an exciting high-cost pick in most of the decks in would be a part in. Waker of Waves is a good bomb, good reanimation target, and has utility early in the game.

With Faerie Seer, Fliers have a good amount of support already, especially with a mana value of 1, and all the others are so much better. Hard Evidence is basically a creature, but adds some card draw and benefits spellslinger strategies

Ninja of the Deep Hours has limited synergies, and I'm not support Ninjitsu elsewhere. Frost Trickster is great glue for flying, control, flicker, and wizards

Exclude is a bit too narrow for control decks to want. Memory Lapse provides tempo and not too much counter magic to be annoying.

Curate is better than Deliberate for graveyard focused strategies, and does pretty much the same thing.

Somehow, I completely forgot to add Blood Artist to the cube. Tymaret, Chosen from Death, you're coming out. Tymaret doesn't really provide much benefit outside of control and graveyard hate, but there are much better options

Bloodthirsty Aerialist is a payoff for lifedrain, but isn't self-sufficient and there are other, better payoffs. Basilica Screecher is another enabler that is very easy to implement, wanted by control and fliers, and can go in nearly any black or white deck.

Call the Bloodline is a good card, but doesn't generate any real advantage and is a 24th card in a lot of pools. Morbid Opportunist isn't necessarily wanted in the same strategies (reanimator/attrition), but aristocrats and control would love this card and will be included in most decks playing black. (Also allows me to get rid of another token)

Initially, Animate Dead was going to replace Blood for Bones, but with the shift of Golgari to value-graveyard and Orzhov to attrition/control, Blood for Bones became a lot more preferred. Silversmote Ghoul is now a bit of an outlier with no easy way to re-trigger it. It may return, but for now, it's out.

Indulgent Tormentor is a bit out of place when compared to other high-mana creatures in black. Most are either payoffs, strong effects, or have some sort of discount/utility. Indulgent Tormentor is a big flier, but other than that it gives your opponent an option that would frequently go in their favor. So that's out, and in comes Revenge of Ravens. This an attrition/control card that can stop aggro/tokens in its tracks and draw out the game, but still costs 4 mana. There's a little concern that this is too strong, so if it is, it may be replaced with Hissing Miasma or the like

Rabbit Battery has haste and is technically better than Grim Initiate in the late game. We are losing more sacrifice synergies, but Red already has so many with its token generators.

Insolent Neonate wasn't doing much; it was mostly added to buff up the one drops. Monastery Swiftspear is great in aggro and spellslinger, so adding it in

Keldon Marauders is great for aggro, but is really only for aggro. Battle Cry Goblin is still good in aggro, but also supports goblin tribal and a little bit of aristocrats. Generally more flexible.

Blood Aspirant is really only for aristocrats, who have plenty of tools already. Heartfire Immolator works for aristocrats (built-in sacrifice), spells (prowess), and aggro (cheap, gets bigger, can be removal)

Flametongue Kavu is a great card and may make its way back in, but Twinshot Sniper is coming in and it doesn't mesh with the new red removal rule (see Strangle note). Arcbound Tracker will lower the curve and is a good aggro body and spellslinger soft payoff, while supporting the new artifact strategy that red is gaining with Rabbit Battery, Ironhoof Boar, Twinshot Sniper, and Hoarding Dragon.

Ironhoof Boar is pretty darn similar to Charging Monstrosaur, and the added modality is arguably nicer for stompy. Testing this out, but if it doesn't pay off, Charging Monstrosaur is coming back in. There's something to say about ramp preferring 5 drops, but ramp isn't a fully supported strategy, and I'd rather have the 5 drops be in green or colorless

Enthralling Victor is neat, but nobody really wants it outside of sacrifice, and even then it's mediocre. Hoarding Dragon is good for stompy and fliers, and starts to open up artifact strategies

Weirdly, Lightning Strike is just too generic, and a little too good for two mana. Twinshot Sniper is a good, new card with a lot of modality

So, I want to try out a new concept with red spells. For spells that can go to face, they should be limited to 2 damage. For spells that can only hit creatures, that should be limited to 3 damage. This is to provide some amount of predictability so that players are caught off guard with a 4 damage removal spell or 3+ damage to the face. There are some notable outliers (Flametongue Yearling and Fireball), but they exist in the “unlimited eventuality” realm that is required for aggro decks in the late game. So replacing Flame Slash with Strangle is one of those downgrades, but if this concept doesn't work, Flame Slash will go back in.

Firebolt for Burst Lightning is another one of those replacements. Even though there's the additional downgrade of instant to sorcery, Firebolt provides more flexibility and advantage with recursion, while still filling that “4 damage” niche by being cast twice in a row. It still abides by the rule, so it will stay.

At first I didn't get why many people were saying Seismic Wave was an auto-include, especially with Cinderclasm existing, but then I realized that Cinderclasm hits ALL creatures, and Seismic Wave has the option to hit a creature for 3 damage. Yeah, that's going in. If I need another board wipe (in addition to Fireball), Cinderclasm will go back in.

Persist combo, tokens, sacrifice, and aggro all want the free outlet that is Goblin Bombardment, even if it does less damage per fodder. Keeping Weaponize the Monsters on the backburner, though, in case I want more of this effect

Remaining note

Forgot to add this along with the updated persist combo

Healer's Hawk isn’t bad and supports lifegain, but it (and it’s potential replacement of Battlefield Raptor) aren’t particularly exciting. Thraben Inspector is a lot more valuable for a lot of different archetypes, and fliers can get more one-drops in blue

There are too many outlast cards, and White probably wants a lower curve. Parish-Blade Trainee is a great option for +1/+1 counter and aggro decks

Ajani's Pridemate is a bit too squishy and easily removed, Lifedrain wants more along the lines of immediate payoffs. Cathar Commando is wanted by both aggro and control, and is much-needed artifact/enchantment removal

Abzan Falconer isn’t really an exciting card, and only good for one type of archetype. When it’s good, it’s great, when it’s bad, it’s bad. Priest of Ancient Lore provides more card draw and provides more lifegain, which is generally used by more strategies. It won’t be a first pick, but it’s great padding

Elusive Spellfist is better for spellslinger and tempo, and costs one cheaper. Removing Aven Wind Mage does lessen the fliers count, but there’s enough already

Angler Drake is a great card and a good top-end for blue, but with reanimator going more towards value and blink losing some pieces, Peregrine Drake is a good payoff and interesting combo piece.

Teferi's Time Twist is good, but only wanted for one archetype, and it may not even play it. Brainstorm is just too good, and more cantrips are necessary

Consider works better in graveyard-focused strategies, straight-forward upgrade

Fading Hope is strictly better, and actually useful for tempo. Might be replaced at a later date, but definitely better for now

String of Disappearances is a decent Unsummon, but usually is just an Unsummon. Fading Hope is good enough, plus quite a few two-cost bounce options. There should be more draw options, so adding Deliberate. Will likely later switch with Curate

Artful Dodge is for a very specific deck (Kiln Fiend/spellslinger go-tall), so it’s best to remove it. A little lacking on counterspells for control, so adding another in Mana Leak

Thirst for Discovery is better for more archetypes, and can probably fit into anything playing blue. Scour All Possibilities is a bit more narrow and has better replacements in the cube

Dockside Chef has the same ability, minus lifegain, but it’s on a body and you can sacrifice artifacts.

Nightscape Familiar is a great card, but it doesn’t really support the cube archetypes. Undead Butler supports reanimator, golgari, and anything where you want an unearth

Fell Stinger is “Mulldrifter for Black”. Supports aristocrats, and can ping for 2 at to end the game. Worm Harvest is good, but there are very few slots in this color, and could easily do nothing. Ravenous Squirrel is a better hybrid mana card, even if it isn’t truly a graveyard-matters card

Bloodthrone Vampire has a cheaper mana cost, and a bit more tailored to both aristocrats and aggro

Vicious Offering provides another way to sacrifice creatures and is more useful on its own, and it falls more in-line with how removal works in this cube

Murderous Cut is good, but requires some setup. Bloodchief's Thirst is good removal, but for the higher cost creatures, it requires 4 mana. Also being a sorcery prevents crazy instant speed interactions.

Chittering Rats is good for control but a little tough to use, Ransack the Lab is a much-needed black self-mill card

Spiteful Prankster is strictly better, aggro may actually play it

Flame Jab is limited in applicability, especially being a sorcery, while Play With Fire adds the ability to scry (useful in spells, burn, or anything else playing red)

Blisterpod has stronger token requirements (trying to cut down on the different types), while Elvish Mystic is a more consistent ramp option

Paradise Druid is better ramp than Farhaven Elf, and is more wanted by simic tempo.

Elvish Visionary isn’t super exciting to draft, and Paradise Druid is adding another 2-drop, so in comes Eternal Witness. This will push golgari towards a midrange-value strategy

Mowu, Lyal Companion is reliant on +1/+1 synergies or buffs, which forces a particular archetype. Adding Plated Crusher adds another payoff to ramp/reanimator, and has some protection

Curse of Predation is a MUCH better bomb, and now also removes sagas from the cube. May bring Song of Freyalise back at some point

Grisly Salvage is more support than archetypal, Diregraf Rebirth is a bigger bomb and more fun

Baleful Strix is arguably better, with flying, not discarding, and higher power. Lifelink isn’t as useful in Dimir (especially with 1 power), and the future loots + discard also don’t matter as much

Ramp is more of a Gruul/Mono-Green strategy, and most simic tempo decks don’t really need Growth Spiral. Frilled Mystic is much better for the strategy, with both a counter and a body

Khenra Charioteer is “good enough” and really only for Gruul aggro. Rhythm of the Wild is quite good, and more decks want it than just straight aggro

I think I want to support persist combo, as one of the few. Murderous Redcap and Kitchen Finks will be entering the cube, but those are the only -1/-1 counter cards

Iron Apprentice is strictly better in this cube. Same with Circuit Mender (bye, fox)

Burnished Hart isn’t doing much with the amount of ramp available and the time it takes to use it. Bloodline Pretender offers some tribal payoff (wouldn’t mind another, better one), along with +1/+1 counter synergy

Replacing Bouncelands with Trilands

More aggro support