BROAD ARCHETYPES

Azorius - UWx (4): 8-1 (89%)
4-5 color (11): 17-8 (68%)
Boros - RWx (12): 24-14 (63%)
Rakdos - RBx (6): 12-8 (60%)
Gruul - GRx (7): 11-8 (58%)
Selesnya - GWx (11): 18-14-1 (56%)
Simic - GUx (7): 12-12 (50%)
Dimir - UBx (7): 11-12 (48%)
Orzhov - BWx (11): 13-18 (42%)
Izzet - URx (9): 9-19 (32%)
Golgari - GBx (11): 9-24-1 (28%)

MORE SPECIFIC ARCHETYPES

Bant Tokens/Midrange (3): 7-2
Rakdos Aggro (1): 3-0
Selesnya Tokens (7): 9-9-1
Selesnya Aggro (1): 2-1
Gruul Aggro (3): 8-1
Jund Midrange (1): 2-1
Simic Ramp (1): 2-1
Mardu Aristocrats (1): 2-1
Boros Aggro (12): 24-11
Naya Aggro (3): 2-7
4/5-color Control (8): 14-8
Orzhov Midrange (1): 1-2
Izzet Control (4): 5-7
Dimir Mill (1): 1-2
Golgari Midrange (5): 2-11
Izzet Blitz (1): 0-3
Esper Goodstuff (1): 2-1
Mardu Removal (1): 1-2
Izzet Tempo (1): 0-2
Rakdos Discard (1): 0-3
Dimir control/surveil (2): 3-2
Izzet combo control (3): 4-7
Orzhov aristocrats (5): 5-8
Simic +1/+1 counters/midrange (7): 8-11
Naya/5c ramp (1): 3-0
Dimir saboteurs (2): 3-3
Rakdos Aggro/Discard (1): 2-2
Golgari value/sacrifice/reanimate (1): 1-2-1
Temur midrange (1): 0-2
Golgari dredge/graveyard shenanigans (4): 3-8
Rakdos midrange (1): 2-2
Abzan aristocrats/graveyard/midrange (3): 4-5
Esper saboteurs/ETB/flyers (1): 1-1
Sultai +1/+1 and Graveyard (1): 2-0
Esper control/aristocrats (1): 2-0
Temur +1/+1 (1): 0-2
Azorius control splash G for Hydroid Krasis (1): 3-0
Rakdos sacrifice (3): 5-1
Azorius detectives (1): 2-0
Gruul aggro splash W (1): 1-1
Selesnya tokens splash R (1): 0-2

Sir Chunkalot's Cube Court - November 2024

Alex 3-0 (Rakdos aggro/sacrifice)
Ben 2-1 (Simic +1/+1 counters)
Aaron 2-1 (Izzet control)
Kevin 2-1 (Orzhov aristocrats)
Morgan 1-2 (Orzhov aristocrats splash G)
Hank 1-2 (Dimir surveil)
Xander 1-2 (Izzet control)

Alex's deck was very powerful, partly because they were the only aggressive red player at the table. Keep an eye on Vein Ripper and Rakdos, Hired Muscle as they are both very powerful and win games by themselves.

Was nice to see Simic have some success.

Izzet also appears to have been successfully powered up by recent additions.

BROAD ARCHETYPES

Azorius - UWx (4): 8-1 (89%)
4-5 color (11): 17-8 (68%)
Boros - RWx (12): 24-14 (63%)
Gruul - GRx (7): 11-8 (58%)
Selesnya - GWx (11): 18-14-1 (56%)
Dimir - UBx (6): 10-10 (50%)
Rakdos - RBx (5): 9-8 (53%)
Simic - GUx (6): 10-11 (48%)
Orzhov - BWx (9): 10-15 (40%)
Golgari - GBx (11): 9-24-1 (28%)
Izzet - URx (7): 6-16 (27%)

MORE SPECIFIC ARCHETYPES

Bant Tokens/Midrange (3): 7-2
Rakdos Aggro (1): 3-0
Selesnya Tokens (7): 9-9-1
Selesnya Aggro (1): 2-1
Gruul Aggro (3): 8-1
Jund Midrange (1): 2-1
Simic Ramp (1): 2-1
Mardu Aristocrats (1): 2-1
Boros Aggro (12): 24-11
Naya Aggro (3): 2-7
4/5-color Control (8): 14-8
Orzhov Midrange (1): 1-2
Izzet Control (1): 1-2
Dimir Mill (1): 1-2
Golgari Midrange (5): 2-11
Izzet Blitz (1): 0-3
Esper Goodstuff (1): 2-1
Mardu Removal (1): 1-2
Izzet Tempo (1): 0-2
Rakdos Discard (1): 0-3
Dimir control/surveil (2): 3-2
Izzet combo control (3): 4-7
Orzhov aristocrats (4): 3-7
Simic +1/+1 counters/midrange (6): 6-10
Naya/5c ramp (1): 3-0
Dimir saboteurs (2): 3-3
Rakdos Aggro/Discard (1): 2-2
Golgari value/sacrifice/reanimate (1): 1-2-1
Temur midrange (1): 0-2
Golgari dredge/graveyard shenanigans (4): 3-8
Rakdos midrange (1): 2-2
Abzan aristocrats/graveyard/midrange (2): 3-3
Esper saboteurs/ETB/flyers (1): 1-1
Sultai +1/+1 and Graveyard (1): 2-0
Esper control/aristocrats (1): 2-0
Temur +1/+1 (1): 0-2
Azorius control splash G for Hydroid Krasis (1): 3-0
Izzet control (1): 1-2
Rakdos sacrifice/reanimate (1): 1-1
Rakdos sacrifice (1): 1-0
Azorius detectives (1): 2-0
Gruul aggro splash W (1): 1-1
Selesnya tokens splash R (1): 0-2

7-person draft from 5/11 had the following results:

TJ (Azorius Detectives): 2-0
Xander (Rakdos Sacrifice): 1-0
Morgan (GR Aggro splash W): 1-1
Winston (Golgari): 1-1
Sebastian (Simic +1/+1 Counters): 1-1
Jacob (UB Control/Surveil splash W): 0-1
David (WG Tokens splash R): 0-2

This draft was a bit too long ago to remember exactly what happened, but it was cool to see the Azorius Detectives archetype pop up and work well its first time being included. The OTJ Rakdos might be too strong.

BROAD ARCHETYPES

Azorius - UWx (3): 6-1 (86%)
4-5 color (11): 17-8 (68%)
Boros - RWx (12): 24-14 (63%)
Gruul - GRx (6): 10-7 (59%)
Selesnya - GWx (11): 18-12-1 (60%)
Dimir - UBx (6): 10-9 (53%)
Rakdos - RBx (5): 8-8 (50%)
Simic - GUx (6): 9-10 (47%)
Orzhov - BWx (9): 10-15 (40%)
Golgari - GBx (11): 8-23-1 (27%)
Izzet - URx (7): 6-16 (27%)

MORE SPECIFIC ARCHETYPES

Bant Tokens/Midrange (3): 7-2
Rakdos Aggro (1): 3-0
Selesnya Tokens (7): 9-9-1
Selesnya Aggro (1): 2-1
Gruul Aggro (3): 8-1
Jund Midrange (1): 2-1
Simic Ramp (1): 2-1
Mardu Aristocrats (1): 2-1
Boros Aggro (12): 24-11
Naya Aggro (3): 2-7
4/5-color Control (8): 14-8
Orzhov Midrange (1): 1-2
Izzet Control (1): 1-2
Dimir Mill (1): 1-2
Golgari Midrange (5): 2-11
Izzet Blitz (1): 0-3
Esper Goodstuff (1): 2-1
Mardu Removal (1): 1-2
Izzet Tempo (1): 0-2
Rakdos Discard (1): 0-3
Dimir control/surveil (2): 3-2
Izzet combo control (3): 4-7
Orzhov aristocrats (4): 3-7
Simic +1/+1 counters/midrange (5): 5-9
Naya/5c ramp (1): 3-0
Dimir saboteurs (2): 3-3
Rakdos Aggro/Discard (1): 2-2
Golgari value/sacrifice/reanimate (1): 1-2-1
Temur midrange (1): 0-2
Golgari dredge/graveyard shenanigans (3): 2-7
Rakdos midrange (1): 2-2
Abzan aristocrats/graveyard/midrange (2): 3-3
Esper saboteurs/ETB/flyers (1): 1-1
Sultai +1/+1 and Graveyard (1): 2-0
Esper control/aristocrats (1): 2-0
Temur +1/+1 (1): 0-2
Azorius control splash G for Hydroid Krasis (1): 3-0
Izzet control (1): 1-2
Rakdos sacrifice/reanimate (1): 1-1

Out of curiosity, I broke down which sets originated the Ravnica versions of each of the cards in the cube to see how skewed it might be toward original Ravnica or newer cards.

Ravnica, City of Guilds: 27
Guildpact: 11
Dissension: 7

Return to Ravnica: 37
Gatecrash: 31
Dragon's Maze: 16

Guilds of Ravnica: 89
Ravnica Allegiance: 58

War of the Spark: 46

Murders at Karlov Manor: 70
Murders at Karlov Manor Commander: 12
Ravnica Clue Edition: 24

Murders at Karlov Manor Special Guests: 3
Strixhaven Mystical Archive: 1

Core Set 2020: 1
Core Set 2021: 2
March of the Machine: 1
Outlaws of Thunder Junction: 1

Commander 2015: 1
Commander 2017: 1
Commander 2019: 1
Commander Legends: 2
Modern Horizons 1: 1
Modern Horizons 2: 2
FNM Promos: 1
Duel Decks: Izzet vs Golgari: 2
Double Masters: 1
Double Masters 2: 1

TOTALS

Original Ravnica Block: 45 (10%)
Return to Ravnica Block: 84 (18.67%)
Guilds of Ravnica/Ravnica Allegiance: 147 (32.67%)
War of the Spark: 46 (10.22%)
Murders at Karlov Manor and related products: 106 (23.55%)
Supplemental Products/Promos: 13 (2.88%)
Non-Ravnica Standard sets: 5 (1.11%)
Bonus sheets: 4 (0.89%)

4-person draft from May 2 had the following results:

Jeb (Boros Aggro splash B): 2-0
Alex C. (Rakdos Sacrifice/Reanimate): 1-1
Alex S. (Dimir Surveil Control): 1-1
Monstera (Golgari Graveyard): 0-2

Observations:

Council's Judgment was very powerful. Alex's plan of Rakdos shenanigans and then reanimating powerful creatures like Rakdos, the Muscle and Vein Ripper was something I hadn't thought about but ended up being really strong. The surveil deck had some game, Enhanced Surveillance helped me dig through my entire deck basically. Hard to fully understand why Monsi's deck didn't really work out, I think part of it was probably that 3/4 drafters were in black. If they'd been able to put Victimize and Vigor Mortis in their deck rather than those getting snatched up by Alex the Golgari strategy might've been more viable.

Only 8 matches total, not a big enough sample size with new ube list yet to make any changes.

Current basic lands situation (to be updated):

PLAINS (48 total)

RAV-287: 5
RAV-288: 5
RAV-289: 5
RAV-290/RTR-254: 5
RTR-250: 5
RTR-251: 5
RTR-252: 5
RTR-253: 5
WAR-250: 1
MKM-272: 3
MKM-277: 2
MKM-278: 2

MISSING PLAINS
GRN-260
RNA-260
GK1-126/Ravnica Weekend #A10
GK1-100/Ravnica Weekend #A08
GK2-050/Ravnica Weekend #B03
GK2-026/Ravnica Weekend #B01
WAR-251
WAR-252

20 total arts, should have 2 of each

ISLANDS (48 total)
RAV-291: 5
RAV-292: 5
RAV-293: 5
RAV-294/RTR-259: 5
RTR-255: 5
RTR-256: 4
RTR-257: 4
RTR-258: 4
GRN-261: 1
WAR-253: 1
WAR-255: 1
MKM-273: 3
MKM-279: 2
MKM-280: 3

MISSING ISLANDS
RNA-261
GK1-48/Ravnica Weekend #A03
GK1-24/Ravnica Weekend #A01
GK2-132/Ravnica Weekend #B10
GK2-27/Ravnica Weekend #B02
WAR-254

20 total arts, should have 2 of each

SWAMP (48 total)
RAV-295: 5
RAV-296: 5
RAV-297: 5
RAV-298/RTR-264: 5
RTR-260: 5
RTR-261: 5
RTR-262: 5
RTR-263: 5
MKM-274: 3
MKM-281: 3
MKM-282: 2

MISSING SWAMPS
GRN-262
GK1-75/Ravnica Weekend #A05
GK1-25/Ravnica Weekend #A02
RNA-262
GK2-78/Ravnica Weekend #B05
GK2-51/Ravnica Weekend #B04
WAR-256
WAR-257
WAR-258

20 total arts, should have 2 of each

MOUNTAIN (48 total)
RAV-299: 5
RAV-300: 5
RAV-301: 4
RAV-302/RTR-269: 5
RTR-265: 5
RTR-266: 4
RTR-267: 4
RTR-268: 5
GRN-263: 1
GK2-105/Ravnica Weekend #B07: 1
MKM-275: 4
MKM-283: 2
MKM-284: 3

MISSING MOUNTAINS
GK1-101/Ravnica Weekend #107
GK1-49/Ravnica Weekend #A04
GK2-79/Ravnica Weekend #B06
WAR-259
WAR-260
WAR-261
RNA-263

20 total arts, should have 2 of each

FORESTS (48 total)
RAV-303: 5
RAV-304: 5
RAV-305: 5
RAV-306/RTR-274: 6
RTR-270: 5
RTR-271: 5
RTR-272: 5
RTR-273: 5
WAR-263: 1
WAR-264: 1
MKM-276: 1
MKM-285: 2
MKM-286: 2

MISSING FORESTS
GRN-264
GK1-127/Ravnica Weekend #A09
GK1-76/Ravnica Weekend #A06
RNA-264
GK2-133/Ravnica Weekend #B09
GK2-106/Ravnica Weekend #B08
WAR-262

20 total arts, should have 2 of each

To test the viability of the cube's archetypes, especially ones like Azorius, Izzet, Rakdos, and Dimir that nobody ever seems to draft, I built optimal decks for each color pair and played them off against each other.

The results (shared fully in a comment below) demonstrate that:

• The Azorius ETB abuse archetype was too clunky and slow. It worked really well when it drew Ghostway, but the other enablers were either one-time and didn't accrue enough value or were too slow.
• The Rakdos hellbent archetype, while cute and made interesting with recent additions Carnage Interpreter and Case of the Crimson Pulse, ultimately doesn't impact the board enough to hang with the creature-decks, and isn't fast enough to overtake the more controlling archetypes. Cards like Avatar of Discord being 3-for-1s when they die can be pretty brutal.
• The Izzet combo control archetype has some really fun stuff that's possible, but overall the spells were too expensive. Needed more early interaction.
• The Dimir saboteurs deck ended up being surprisingly effective, but it was usually on the back of single cards like Dream Eater and Thief of Sanity. The cipher cards tend to be too weak.

Given these issues, I decided to completely change the Azorius, Rakdos, and Dimir archetypes. I also added more cheap interaction to the Izzet deck.

• Azorius Detectives/Clues: I made use of the Murders at Karlov Manor cards to make a hopefully synergistic archetype revolving around clues and drawing two-plus cards in a turn. Also a few Azorius Control all-stars like Supreme Verdict and Sphinx's Revelation to round it out.
• Rakdos Sacrifice Aggro: The idea here is to have another aristocrats archetype alongside the Orzhov deck that, rather than accruing value through the mid- and late-game like Orzhov, simply goes balls-to-the-wall and hurls its creatures at the opponent's face. Most of the payoffs and sac outlets deal direct damage, either to creatures, players, or both. This is complemented by a few of the more powerful Spectacle cards to take advantage of their reduced costs.
• Dimir Surveil: With new additions from an MKM commander deck, there is finally enough support for a synergistic Surveil archetype which should be both more powerful and more obvious than the saboteurs archetype.

Another big overhaul involved lands and the removal of the Gates archetype. The Gates deck, even at its absolute best with Maze's End, all 10 gates, and every possible piece of Gate synergy, is just not that good. So, I decided to remove the Gates stuff entirely in favor of more cards to support the guild archetypes. This also comes along with removing both sets of guildgates in favor of taplands with a little more action, the surveil cycle from MKM and the rooms from Ravnica: Clue Edition. These have the added bonus of synergizing a little bit with the new Azorius and Dimir archetypes.

I also made some more minor balancing changes. These included:

• Boosting the asfan of sweepers/boardwipes to 0.5 to add more risk to the aggro/midrange plan of flooding the board with creatures
• Removing Kaya, Spirit's Justice which was a bit too efficient at removing anything on the opponent's side
• Removing the more powerful Boros cards. Boros has historically been the strongest two-color pair in the cube, so I decided to take out some of its more powerful cards that reduce interaction. These included the recently added Aurelia, the Law Above as well as Chance for Glory, Frontline Medic, and Boros Reckoner
• Slightly strengthening Simic by removing win-more cards like Simic Ascendancy

I am excited to try the cube again soon to see how these changes impact the play environment.