Cuts:
1-4) Creature LoTR Landcyclers
My concern with adding these was that it would make the reanimate decks too strong, and unfortunately that has been the case. While it is still possible in this cube to Reanimate a turn 2 bomb, it is difficult because it requires specifically Entomb, Mox Diamond, Thoughtseizing yourself, or discarding to hand size. These 1 mana cyclers added to much redundancy and Troll in particular was such a beater. Originally I was going to cut Lorien Revealed as well, but I already only adhere to a few cycles so I think drafters won't be misled.

1. Student of Warfare
   I love this card so much that it was the first card I renamed when I finally 3-0'd my cube. Unfortunately it is both slow and colored mana intensive, so it has seen less and less play as the years have gone on. With the printing of another exciting white 1 drop, it's time to retire this cube to my Micro Cube where it will hopefully double strike people for eternity.

2. Robber of the Rich
   Not much to say here, I just think the card is kind of boring. Certainly not bad but happy to replace it with something I like more. I can see this coming back in the future just as a change of pace.

3. Goldspan Dragon
   The card surprisingly underperformed. It was intended to be for the red midrange decks, but in practice they didn't want to tap out for this on curve even if they got some mana back. I think it ended up having the classic 5 drop issue (or honestly in modern magic, 3 and higher drop issue) of not being bad, but rarely making the main deck because it was worse than the other options and you only have so many slots.

4. Arc Lightning
   A card I still really love, but unfortunately its just showing its age. 3 mana is just too much for this effect nowadays. I also considered cutting Staggershock instead/in addition, but I still think that card has some niche homes. It does feel like it's living on borrowed time though.

5. Koth of the Hammer
   Another classic cube powerhouse that has gotten worse over the years. I can't even remember the last time someone played it which is too much for even my nostalgia for the card to override.

6. Anduril
   I'm adding an equipment this update and felt obligated to cut one of the 3 mana ones. Grafted Wargear is still the best of the bunch by a large margin, and I think Anduril, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Sword of Feast and Famine are all somewhat comparable in power level. Cutting the sword(s) to lessen the amount the arbitrary color hate is reasonable, but I still really like those cards emotionally. When I am finally ready to cut those I can see adding Anduril back.

7. The Scarab God
   As cube has become more about tempo and less about raw card advantage, an extremely mana intensive (albeit recursive) finisher feels more and more of a liability. I still think the card is totally fine, but I'm fine cutting it to test a cheaper Dimir card. If I'm ever on the fence about a future Dimir slot in the future, I'll happily add this back as a placeholder.

Adds:

1. Novice Inspector
   It took me awhile to come around to Thraben Inspector being better than any Savannah Lion variant in this cube, but once I did I never looked back. Getting another one was absolutely not something I expected but I'm not complaining.

2. Hard Evidence
   I was meaning to test the card awhile ago and just forgot about it. I'm happy to give blue a "proactive" 1 mana play that's not just a cantrip. My biggest concern with adding it is that it will be hard to tell if a card like this is underperforming, but it's hard to imagine it being too bad.

3. Deep-Cavern Bat
   I'm so excited to add this card! Mesmeric Fiend effects have always been appealing to me but the bodies are so anemic. This card solves that in spades, and I can't wait to cast this and then Judith or Grafted Wargear the next turn.

4. Slickshot Show-Off
   I tested Monastery Swiftspear in this cube before and it underperformed because the red aggro decks are much more creature heavy than burn spell heavy. Slickshot feels like a good middle ground because the evasion guarantees some damage, and chaining two burn spells so this can attack for 5 is powerful for a 2 drop. I'll revisit this card if it ends up underperforming, but I'm optimistic.

5. Rampaging Raptor
   The red Questing Beast seems like a powerful if kind of boring card, but I'm happy to cut a 5 drop that saw minimal play for a 4 drop that both aggro and midrange decks will like.

6. Play With Fire
   Weird to call a card like this a test, but I want to see how this card performs compared to Searing Spear. My guess is I will like having one of each in the cube because 1 mana interaction is powerful but I also don't want to play a pile of Shocks.

7. Pick Your Poison
   By far the biggest swing on this list but I'm extremely hyped about this card. The versatility of this card for 1 mana is wild to me and I'm optimistic it will almost always find a way to trade for a card and/or a lot of mana.

8. Lavaspur Boots
   I overlooked this card at first, but the more I thought about it the more excited I got. Reframing this as a Bonesplitter but trading 1 point of power for haste and ward 1 helped me realize how threatening this card is to play against. Imagine playing this in a white based aggro deck and having the potential to give your topdecked Adeline or Combat Calligrapher haste. This will also help with the density of targets for Urza's Saga.

9. Ash Barrens
   I've been wanting to play this card for forever but have never quite been able to find space. I'm excited to finally include it.

10. Urza's Legacy
    When this card was spoiled, I saw it as a card that scaled with the power level of most cubes due to the density of artifacts and strength of targets. Its dominance in constructed has shown that the card is just powerful and doesn't actually need that much support. I'm a little wary of adding it because it might be too powerful, but my hope is that it will do two things. I hope it gives the land recursion decks a quicker and more reliable way to end the game, and that it encouraged drafters to play some more situational 1 drop artifacts main deck. If it ends up being close to an auto first pick that basically every deck will play (like The One Ring), I will cut it.

11. Lazav, Wearer of Faces
    Jacob recommended I test this card after I overlooked it. The versatility of being a good early blocker and card advantage/graveyard hate engine seems powerful, and the option to occasionally become a large threat may encourage Dimir control decks to play a tempo game if the board state lines up for it. It's possible that this card ends up being not good enough or not particularly appealing to drafters, but I imagine seeing it in play a couple of times will help with that.

1. Rules change: Lurrus will now now require the companion tax but Yorion will not. In 2023, my cube was dominated by Lurrus. I originally thought that not playing the powerful 3 drops in this environment would be a real cost, but Lurrus decks consistently went 2-1 or better all year in almost every single draft. My hope is that adding the companion tax will lower it's win-rate and make drafters more heavily consider playing it in the main deck instead of automatically making it the companion.

2. Testing: Full cycle of LoTR 1 mana land cyclers. Adding these is the perfect compromise I've been looking for between wanting to add more fetches but being worried that another full cycle of 10 would be too much. The only reason that this is a test instead of a guarantee is that I am slightly concerned about it powering up reanimator too much.

Card by Card:

Usher of the Fallen has been fine, but Cheeky House-Mouse will likely play much better.

Charming Prince has not felt particularly great even in the blink decks, and Virtue of Loyalty will likely play well in both the aggro and midrange decks.

Serra Paragon is a card I'm very sad to cut, but it just hasn't played as well as I'd hoped. Lucky for me it will have a good home in my Micro Cube!

Malcolm does a lot of what I want Suspicious Stowaway to do but without all the baggage of Day/Night. While I do think the power level of Stowaway is higher, Malcolm does enough things I like that I'm very happy with this swap.

Arcane Proxy has been mediocre, which is unfortunate. I still enjoy the card but I think it is a bit too weak for this cube. I expect Horned Loch-Whale to be very good as an early tempo play and late game finisher in the control decks. It's possible that I'm looking at this card too similarly to Brazen Borrower, but I have high hopes for it.

Black aggro hasn't been a particularly popular archetype for this cube, so cutting it's worst 1 drop in Vampire Lacerator should not significantly affect how many the black aggro player will expect to get during the draft. Virtue of Persistence is a card I'm very excited about. I expect the enchantment side of this card to lead to some awesome stories, and the gameplay of both players seeing this card waiting in exile should be fun.

Similarly to Lacerator, cutting Skyclave Shade as black aggro's worst 2 drops should not make the deck worse. The Landfall trigger came up much less often than I had expected. It's unfortunate to cut this because I really did enjoy the color palette of the art.

Cutting Jackal Pup makes this a sad day, but it's time has finally come. Embereth Veteran will likely play very well, but I will be looking to see if the text for creating a Young Hero Role token is too confusing for players who have never seen the mechanic.

Stormblood Berserker has always been fine but I'm looking to try other things. Robber of the Rich seems like a fun enough replacement for it, plus I'm partial to the Throne of Eldraine pre-release stamped cards.

Laelia has been too strong for this environment. Red aggro decks have also been extremely strong this year, with the draft finals often consisting of a Lurrus deck vs a Laelia/Gut deck. I think cutting it's 2 most egregious power outliers will still make red aggro one of the most powerful decks in this environment without being oppressive. Inti does a lot of the cool things Laelia offers but at a more reasonable power level. I have high hopes for a lot of fun and interesting interactions that will come up with this card.

Gut, like Laelia, has been too strong here. One of my personal soapboxes this year has been trying to convince more people to cut it from their cubes because Gut is often an extreme power outlier, but I think it being an uncommon convinces more people to try in lower powered environments. Boros in my cube has had 1 less card for awhile because there wasn't one I liked, but this year has provided Boros some great options. Anim Pakal does a lot of very fun things and I expect it to both play well and incentivize aggro drafters to splash for it.

Wildfire Devils is a card I tested because I heard great things about it, but it has not played well for me. I don't quite understand this card but hopefully I can try it in other cubes that allow it to shine so I can reevaluate it.

I think Acidic Slime is finally showing it's age in this cube. In my experience players are happy to take it during the draft, but then it is card number 24/25 and rarely makes the main deck. I'm definitely open to adding this card back in the future but I expect it will not be strongly missed. Gruff Triplets is a card I feel obligated to test as a strong green 6 drop, but I can see that triple green in the cost may be too restrictive in the long run.

Thrun has definitely done what I intended of being strong against the control decks, but I've heard from many players that the card is unfun because of how uninteractable it is. I considered cutting Carnage Tyrant instead, but at least that can be blocked by 2 3/3s. While I don't believe Thrun to be too strong, I'm happy to cut it for my drafters.

The One Ring was living on borrowed time in this cube. I fully expected it to be too strong when I added it, but I wanted to test it to make sure. I'm happy to confirm that it is extremely good and not a good fit here. I couldn't find a good cut in blue so I'm happy to give it an extra slot back.

Pernicious Deed is another card I love but feel that it is showing it's age. Mosswood Dreadknight, on the other hand, is an exciting and powerful new Golgari card that I expect to play very well.

Just like some others here, Ajani Vengeant is past its prime. As cards continue to make more permanents, locking down 1 has gotten less powerful. Riders of Rohan seems like it will be strong, and I am looking forward to seeing it in action. Otharri is another creature I considered for this slot instead, but I worry that it snowballs too quickly. If Riders of Rohan underperforms then I will test Otharri in it's place.

I have long stated that Black/Red does not have any good lands outside of dual/shock/fetch, and I am disappointed to say that I still feel this way. Restless Vents is unimpressive, but it is likely better than Blackcleave Cliffs. I wish Vents was a 3/2 or let you draw while hellbent, but it's acceptable as is.

I'm not convinced that Oblivion Ring is the right cut here, but I'm not sure what else to cut. Ideally I can find space for the card again and cut something else.

I've finally decided to cut Narset because I don't like the lock with the 3 wheel effects, which is also why I'm not adding Orcish Bowmasters. It's possible that at some point in the future I decide to cut both 3 mana red wheels, and I would then add Narset back and Bowmasters.

I am keeping an eye on Stern Scolding as it may prove to be too efficient.

It's painful to cut Elvish Mystic but I believe it is the worst green 1 mana ramp spell I am running (other than Joraga Treespeaker but I like having that for the big mana decks). It's possible I should find another cut (like Cultivate), but for now I like the number of green 1 mana ramp spells I have.

Cutting Gemstone Mine is also painful, but I think it's been awhile since it's shined in this environment and it feels like an overdue cut.

I'm not convinced The One Ring will play well in this environment, but it feels like the kind of card that will become more clear after just a few games.

I have nothing negative to say about Sword of Sinew and Steel, but I think it's the worst equipment I'm running and believe that Andurl will play better.

Testing Arcane Proxy, and the floor of Sower feels too low for modern magic. I can see adding Sower back and cutting something else in the future.

Thalia, Heretic Cathar is still very solid but it, unfortunately, feels like my worst white 3 drop

Testing Arcane Proxy, and the floor of Sower feels too low for modern magic. I can see adding Sower back and cutting something else in the future.

Thalia, Heretic Cathar is still very solid but it, unfortunately, feels like my worst white 3 drop

Sicarian Infiltrator <- Glen Elendra Archmage: Glen Elendra has gotten a little worse with age as a reactive 5 drop that needs to be played proactively. I considered cutting Sower of Temptation instead and still may in the future. Siciarian Inflitrator seems like a great Mulldrifter variant with flash and I expect it to play very well

Haughty Djinn <- Serendib Efreet: I know these 3 mana blue fliers are generally not considered great, but I find them to be an important part of blue decks to help stabilize as well as pressure/protect planeswalkers. While I still think Serendbi Efreet is alright, Haughty Djinnn seems like a good upgrade

Third Path Iconoclast <- Dack Fayden: Third Path Iconoclast is a great addition to the spells payoffs I run which are Young Pyromancer, Saheeli, and Sedgemoor Witch. The biggest issue is finding a cut, and I settled on Dack Fayden. I think Prismari Command and Expressive Iteration are cards that generally perform better, but I could also see swapping Dack Fayden and Expressive Iteration in the future