In this update I finally decided to cut to all the cards that were worded in convoluted ways to work in multiplayer commander games. I've enjoyed the recontextualization of powerful effects in a 1v1 format but the novelty has run its course and I'm now focusing on a cleaner draft experience.

Leonin Relic-Warder is back as a weaker but cleaner Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward. The Leonin is playable even when you don't draft Animate Dead to loop from the graveyard, but mostly I got tired of answering questions about the "Choose a Background" text in Abdel in a cube without commanders or backgrounds.

Oreskos Explorer and Cartographer's Hawk are taking a leave from the cube for the aforementioned reason of multiplayer induced complexity. They just have a lot of text compared to traditional uncommons.
I'd like to test out a version of my cube without any of these effects for a while and see the differences but I'm willing to bring Oreskos Explorer back if it's missed.
Felidar Guardian is a powerful blink effect that I've wanted to try in the cube for a while.
Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw is similarly a card I've been waiting to test out as a top-end for aggressive decks.

On Serra's Wings gives a lot of useful keywords and I'm hoping it can counterbalance the potential blowouts of well timed removal spells with raw board impact.
Journey to Nowhere has been in the cube since its inception but I'm more interested in the flexibility of Oblivion Ring and I'd like to have more thematic removal options like Conclave Tribunal.

Daring Waverider suffers from an unfair comparison to Torrential Gearhulk (which I love), but in a peasant environment it matches up quite well with spell quality and creature stats. I hope this otter can bolster creativity in deckbuilding: will it be paired with token production, card draw or cheap removal spells?
Mnemonic Wall has some loops with bounce spells but even in blue spellslinger decks it isn't played anymore. I moved this effect to red creatures as the relatively new Ardent Elementalist and Pinnacle Monk offer better value.

Moon-Circuit Hacker is here because I'm interested in adding one more reward for evasive aggressive strategies. Ninjas have been suffering lately partly because of the dilution that comes with the increase in cube size, partly because of a power increase in other strategies.
Copycrook is unfortunately the only Clone at uncommon with a legible text: the original Clone has only been printed with a gilded symbol and Moritte of the Frost has a lot of trinket text. I figured it was good enough but after seeing it in the packs next to other cards I realized I prefer waiting for a simpler version without this slimey dude as a placeholder.

Stitch Together is taking the place of Diabolic Servitude to make reanimator more explosive but also more demanding. Any midrange deck could play Diabolic Servitude and get pretty good value.
Meanwhile a reanimator player can more reasonably wheel Stitch Together.

Ramosian Greatsword is experimental but it's probably too expensive at 5 mana. I see potential in the substantial buff and evasion it grants. I also appreciate having a bit more convoke in the cube, we'll see if it's enough to earn a permanent spot in the cube.
I'm cutting Rite of the Raging Storm to make the cube easier to parse. An alternate version of this card that only generates a temporary token on your turn without having a weird name requirement could've fit the cube but alas, Rite of the Raging Storm is what we got.

Tunneling Geopede really benefits from the full cycle of landscapes and I believe that the red section needed more direct damage to opponents.
Anax, Hardened in the Forge has a few too many caveats in its effect and is hard to splash in a typically multicolored archetype. Despite my love for the card I clearly see Anax is not the right fit for my cube.

Splinterfright is a super interesting hybrid between payoff and enabler for self mill strategies.
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter has a sprawling textbox and I don't believe it offers gameplay enjoyable enough to be willing to allow its complexity level.

Fireglass Mentor rewards bloodshed which is exactly what I want to encourage in my Rakdos section.
I don't know how I didn't notice earlier the extremely messy textbox of Oni-Cult Anvil, the combo potential is 100% not worth the likelihood of misplays.

Dreadwing Scavenger plays really well as an evasive looter in a graveyard focused guild. It can patch up disparate archetypes like flyers, ninjas and reanimator.
Rona, Sheoldred's Faithful was promising but also was clearly the worst fitting dimir card.

Baird, Argivian Recruiter is an attempt to include a boros card that will be played over monocolored beaters (challenge level: impossible). I'm hoping that Baird can enable a less aggressive but still board-focused swarm strategy.
It's clear I'm the only player that loves Veteran Motorist and with the removal of the last vehicle from the cube I don't want to include such a misleading card.

Short Bow gives defensive keywords that fit a midrange strategy better than other equipments previously included. This card should cover a new niche in the environment without being a high pick.
Renegade Freighter is powerful but lacks synergy with most of the cube: it ends up set aside to make space for cards that work with the main plan of the final deck.

In broad strokes this update replaces generic value from gold cards with synergistic pieces and simplifies the average card included in the cube.

Slaughter the Strong is coming back as a second white board wipe, I'd like to support white control a bit better.
While I really like Seal Away it's the white removal spell that fits into the same reactive decks that would play Slaughter the Strong and I don't want to increase the number of pieces of interaction in the cube right now.

I want to try out Tolarian Terror in place of Jetting Glasskite for a more castable late-game finisher.
Ward is definitely worse than the protection of the Glasskite but the difference between 5 power and 4 has hopefully enough of an impact to make the Terror viable.

Mischievous Mystic is simple and impactful, I'll keep an eye if it's too strong but I'd like to push a bit more the tempo-ish decks in blue like ninjas and flyers.
Eldrazi Skyspawner doesn't fit as well in the same strategies and often is played just as another flying 3-drop.
This change may cause balance problems in the creature curve but tempo decks require cheap plays much more than lategame mana efficiency.

Silent Departure is another Unsummon that should play better than Vapor Snag in the spell-matters deck. I'm still unsure of what to play in this slot but I'm leaning towards a cheap instant or sorcery that offers a temporary advantage.

Foulmire Knight is here to boost up the black cheap creatures and equip subtheme while being a good draw at any point in the game.
I finally moved Vault Skirge in the colorless section and that made space for the Knight.
I also chose to bump up the number of artifact creatures in the cube with Sphinx of the Guildpact, Darksteel Sentinel and Combat Courier.
These add a bit more ramp payoff and one more reason to self-mill.
I cut Sunset Pyramid after ending up in the sideboard in almost all drafts in which it's seen.

Mold Folk is the next best sacrifice outlet I found, I like how it carries equipment very well with 2 very relevant abilities in combat.
Gorex, the Tombshell scared some players with its exorbitant mana cost and never was quite big enough to be a intimidating payoff for a self-mill strategy.

Goremand could be one more sacrifice outlet, or it could be a big trampling flyer cheated into play. Either way if it manages to get onto the battlefield it will be a problem.
Undead Gladiator used to be a scary recurring creature. Nowadays it's too durdly as a looter/blocker and doesn't pose enough of a threat on its own.

Skinrender is the original Ravenous Chupacabra, I'm including it now because I realized just how long it takes to read Gilt-Leaf Winnower. Despite my adoration for this Elf, it's not the right fit for a draft environment full of complex textboxes to read.

Unburial Rites is back baby!! I cut it from the cube years ago but I've kept it closeby, waiting to find space for it again.
Drown in Sorrow is a victim of the increase in boardwipes in other colors, other cards are more flexible and more often end up in the main deck.

Pyrewild Shaman plays in a similar space to Undead Gladiator but offers a more aggressive plan.
Pyrohemia is a powerful control tool but requires a heavy commitment to red and generates a repetitive playpattern.

Fast // Furious is my current solution to making boardwipes more maindeckable.
The Fast half should play a similar role to Highway Robbery for spellslinger decks but having the option to interact with opposing creatures instead makes it a more appealing inclusion.

Ardent Elementalist is another value creature to make a slower red deck feasible.
Twinshot Sniper has been more valuable than I initially thought: reach makes it a really good blocker as well as a removal piece for smaller creatures. Unfortunately I'm trying to cut down on removal in red and I needed a slot for the Elementalist, but I'll keep Twinshot Sniper in mind for a potential return.

Dragon Trainer is another attempt to include a big dragon in the cube, so far Volcanic Dragon and Shivan Branch-Burner have been too expensive mana-wise to see play and didn't do enough for reanimator.
Dragon Trainer at least is cheaper and promises more value if one can recur it.

Firespitter Whelp is a flying Firebrand Archer. Since this kind of creature isn't usually meant to block, its evasion can help to push some additional damage.
Irascible Wolverine hasn't performed as well as I would have liked. I guess it felt too anonymous for every player, no archetype could really claim it as an integral piece so nobody wanted to put it in their deck.

Mogg War Marshal has been a notable exclusion for so long, mostly because I already had too many red creatures at mana value 2. But I felt this card to be now more relevant than ever with both a token subtheme and plenty of sacrifice enablers in red.
Reckless Lackey has decent stats for a 1-drop but even the aggressive decks opted for more impactful cards when given the chance.

Needletooth Pack is a slow combo enabler, more in the realm of good value than outright broken. Nevertheless any deck with enough persist creatures will want this.
Obsessive Skinner requires a variety of card types in the graveyard which is hard to find as most green decks that self-mill are trying to go for bigger things than a few +1/+1 counters or are trying to maximize creature-count for Spider Spawning.

Moldervine Cloak has dredge in green.
Invigorate is less broken than I thought and I'm swapping it with a (less surprising) permanent boost.

Jewel Thief is a type of ramp in green I don't particularly love. But I've been feeling a lack of powerful green 3-drops so I'm trying it out.
Edge of Autumn is the weakest ramp spell I could find in the cube: it's useless in the mid-game when a ramp deck would really like the option to get a 6th or 7th land.

Walk with the Ancestors adds variety to green with a non-creature that hopefully can play a role as a midrange value piece.
Nacatl War-Pride is easy to remove and oppressive if not dealt with. It felt as a trap for newer players on both sides of the board: its counterintuitive effect has caught many players by surprise in an unpleasant way.

Quicksilver Dagger enables new combos with Midnight Guard or Thermo-Alchemist. Being an aura it's quite vulnerable to disruption but if it sticks for a turn or two it can draw a lot of cards.
Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer doesn't offer enough for the deckbuilding restriction it requires.

Rhythm of the Wild is another piece for the persist combo but also provides enough utility to other decks between uncounterability and haste.
Boggart Ram-Gang is really hard to cast in a 3-color deck and often the choice between a fun splash and the Ram-Gang doesn't ends up in its favor.

Brushfire Elemental is easy to power up with plenty of landscapes and bouncelands.
Burning-Tree Emissary has the same problem of the Boggart Ram-Gang.

Footlight Fiend isn't super strong but offers a useful body for aggressive strategies while enabling an aristocrats theme.
Rakdos Cackler nowadays sees play only in red aggro and I'd like my hybrid cards to be more flexible than that.

Lagomos, Hand of Hatred has a nifty elemental friend. Juri, Master of the Revue is probably better but I'm trying to include less multicolor removal effects in colors that have plenty already.
Blightning is (hard to cast) generic value: exactly the kind of card that makes 4 color goodstuff thrive.

Dreg Mangler bridges self mill with midrange.
Ravenous Squirrel is kind of a trap since there's very few cards that play well with sacrifice/death value in green.

Rona, Sheoldred's Faithful speaking of traps there isn't exactly a spellslinger deck in dimir but Rona can play a role as a recurring finisher / blocker in a control deck.
Haunter of Nightveil is another card I cut to make it harder to play 4 or 5 color piles.

Pond Prophet is easier to cast than Coiling Oracle. Blue decks are very interested in a cheap creature to return to the hand for value, but even green decks can use well this frog.

Judge's Familiar is one more cheap flyer to give an aggressive slant to Azorius. I hope the on-board counterspell will act as a deterrent in the style of Siren Stormtamer.
Azorius Charm is a good removal spell but I'd like to cut down on multicolor enablers for slower decks. By nudging each guild in a slightly more proactive direction all the reactive decks should end up fighting for the mono-colored cards and, as a result, play less colors.

The Conspiracy cards that interact with the draft have been left untuned for quite some time.
Leovold's Operative is the 2nd Cogwork Librarian, but it's effect is much worse and aids only one player. I finally have decided to include a second copy of Cogwork Librarian and break the singleton restriction: this rule was arbitrary and only useful to increase variety and creativity.

Similarly many of my players wished for Agent of Acquisitions and even tho I cut it a few years back because it was under-utilized, many other cards in the cube have changed so I'd like to see how it fares in this transformed environment.
Vehicles like Untethered Express have been noticeably worse than similarly powered equipment. Most creatures in the cube have combat-relevant abilities that synergize with equipment.

Smuggler Captain is frustrating as in more than 50% of the games the named card will already be drawn before the Captain could enter the battlefield.
Bloodthorn Flail is replacing it and mantains the effect of Trusty Machete as a boon to cards like Vampire Nighthawk while enabling discard synergies.

Trusty Machete is in my evaluation slightly better than Bonesplitter... I'm cutting it because I want slightly weaker colorless equipment.
I hope Sorcerous Spyglass can disrupt some comboes and offer a novel effect to the cube.

In an effort to reduce complexity during the draft I'm cutting down on double-face cards: Haunter of Nightveil is back as Invasion of Amonkhet is way too much text (RIP to Battles).

But where are the Foundations cards you might ask?
After this last unrelated swap: Armored Scrapgorger is too wordy and in an crowded slot so I'm replacing it with Clifftop Lookout. It doesn't fix mana as well but it blocks 1/1 flyers and ramps even while chump-blocking.

Goblin Surprise is identical to You See a Pair of Goblins except it doesn't have titles to each choice so it's marginally easier to read for the first time.

Militia Bugler can miss 10% of the time even in the absolute best case scenario. Since its printing there have been newer options for card-advantage in white so (as the now weakest 3-drop) I'm cutting it for Angel of Finality. I'm hoping its large stats mean it will be played maindeck even if the ability isn't directly relevant to the matchup.

Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage hasn't left a good impression in games against midrange decks.
I'm trying out Seeker's Folly as a flexible Mind Rot that should have a larger impact on the board than Davriel.

Dark Tutelage has been an experimental inclusion and so far what it managed to do is make players ask "why is this here?".
While I like the card I enjoy too much the play pattern of Spider Spawning decks and I need to test out Revenge of the Rats as a 2nd copy.

Obstinate Baloth's protection from discard works so much better in constructed, here is just flavor text. I'm curious to see how the similarly relevant body of Elvish Regrower fares in cube.

Good-Fortune Unicorn is one more enabler for swarm of tokens and for the persist combo. At some point I'll be cutting down on these but I still feel there could be use for one more.
I'm sad to see Qasali Pridemage go but it's been replaced with many similar effects both in white and in green.
It felt redundant to add the Pridemage in a deck that had access to both monocolored options.

After many years of playing with the same cards I only just realized how daunting some of their textboxes are to a new player.
Monarch, will of the council and unusual tokens cause some cards to be glossed over during the draft to focus on effects that seem more pertinent to one's own strategy.
While I value letting players figure out the power of each card on their own, I aim to reduce such unnecessary complexity for a smoother experience overall.

Palace Jailer is powerful but the monarch doesn't add enough interesting gameplay to justify the bundle of rules it comes with.
In its place Odric's Outrider is another enabler for the persist loops with quite a few transversal interactions with aristocrats pieces, tokens and Scurry Oak combo.

Custodi Squire is a better Gravedigger with flying!
Unfortunately it takes a ton of words for such a simple effect: even Elite Scaleguard has a bigger font size.
I could use Disciple of the Sun for a similar effect but I'd like to take this opportunity to try out Elite Scaleguard itself and hopefully better balance the reduction in power level that white received with these cuts.

Voldaren Epicure is the only blood token producer in the cube. After some drafts it feels quite interchangeable with other red 1-drops.
I replaced it with Goblin Blast-Runner to bolster a bit more the self sacrifice theme.

Campus Renovation has enough targets to work but it's too unique of an effect to fit into a deck.
I'm trying once more an aggressive creature in boros, but this time with a twist: Seedglaive Mentor has synergies.
With the abundance of cheap equipments in the cube this mouse could easily grow each turn and quickly becomes an unmanageable threat.
The average aggressive 3-drop doesn't spark much interest in my players but the Mentor promises too many creative interactions to not try it out.

For a while the Rakdos section of the cube has been filled with generic creature removal.
Since both black and red individually already have plenty of efficient removal options I tried to find some substitutions to add some spice!

Firebrand Archer has been upgraded to Coruscation Mage for the cute art.

Embereth Shieldbreaker is not included in the main deck often enough.
In its place Sunshot Militia will offer new synergies with equipments and token producers.

Rakdos Guildmage is one of the aforementioned generic removal options.
Angrath, Captain of Chaos bolsters aggressive strategies granting evasion to every attacker.

Invasion of Azgol is always worse than the other 23 cards in any Rakdos deck.
Oni-Cult Anvil is not a powerful combo with Sword of the Meek or Hidden Stockpile but it might enable some decks based on this kind of grindy loops.

I finally found copies of some white and red cards I wanted to test!

Lashknife Barrier seems a bit annoying to play against but it can combo with Crypt Rats, Pyrohemia, Slice and Dice and Volcanic Fallout.
It fills a role similar to Invasion of Dominaria as a cantrip that rewards slowing down the game.

I've been wanting to Ephemerate an evoked Mulldrifter for so long! In the past effects like Momentary Blink and Acrobatic Maneuver didn't make the cut, will Ephemerate be strong enough?
To find space I'm once again cutting Rumor Gatherer as its cost of means it could end up coming into play only after many turns of playing other (easier to cast) creatures.

Slice and Dice is another attempt to make a red control deck better. Weaver of Lightning is the cut as another punisher for creatures with 1 toughness.

Shivan Branch-Burner is my choice of upgrade on Volcanic Dragon over Rorix Bladewing, Amethyst Dragon or Red Dragon. Convoke plays nicely with a token theme and helps in making this creature playable in a deck that isn't base red.
By contrast Rorix Bladewing is much harder to cast and Amethyst Dragon would be adding one too many removal spells in my red section. Red Dragon would be more interesting to reanimate than the Branch-Burner but I think I have plenty other top-end creatures for reanimator.

I added 10 more cards to add a bit more variety to the draft environment and slightly reduce the frequency of seeing the most powerful cards in the cube in any given pack.
The new additions are 2 cards in each color that have always seemed promising but whose inclusion would have required some hard cuts.

I also have some bloomburrow cards I'd like to test out:
Shoreline Looter removes the awkwardness of Shadow in Looter il-Kor while boosting the graveyard synergy package.

Mindwhisker is a cheaper Haunter of Nightveil, which has proven itself to be amazing in control strategies. I have high hopes for this rat.
Meanwhile Moonblade Shinobi is worse than the other ninjas in the cube and too slow and expensive to be played without ninjutsu.

To keep the balance of tempo-ish cards and control cards I added a new flash flyer in Plumecreed Escort. Just like Dauntless Bodyguard it can double up as a protection spell and do work in strategies that aren't hyper-aggressive.

Shadow Prophecy is a twist on Read the Bones that should play very well with the fetches from Modern Horizon 3 like Shattered Landscape, since they fuel domain.

Fell is worse than Go for the Throat but its a cleaner design and I want to explore having more sorcery speed removal to increase variety of gameplay.

Scurry Oak is not from Bloomburrow... Still, I've come to prefer the Oak over Ivy Lane Denizen now that there's Obsessive Skinner to buff it as well.
Ivy Lane Denizen triggering exclusively on green creatures leads to harder cuts during deckbuilding and bad surprises during gameplay.
I still find the Oak + Denizen combo too strong but I'm hoping that doing the same with Rosie Cotton of South Lane over two colors is hard enough.

Modern Horizon 3 is brimming with cubable cards!
Many uncommons are upgrades over existing cards and almost all the new designs have incredibly pushed stats.
I've been reflecting on how much I want the cube to change with any given set, as I'm trying to avoid overwhelming my new and returning players.
I'll try to reign in the complexity of cards with longer and longer textboxes.

All of the inclusions below are filling niches that I feel could use a power level boost.

Landscapes:

The newest iteration of Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse have the option to tap for mana on the turn they come into play. It's particularly useful to make viable playing multiple colors in aggressive strategies.
The cycling ability is very helpful to identify at a glance which colors a specific land finds. This was a problem with the Capenna fetchlands so I cut them and some additional 5-color lands to make space for all 10 Landscapes.

Denethor, Ruling Steward does not hold up to Hidden Stockpile: paying one more mana for the sacrifice ability is already a stretch, but Denethor even lacks the card selection that made the Stockpile closer to a looter in gameplay.
In his place Obstinate Gargoyle is an additional persist creature (in colors that could easily abuse that ability). There are very few creatures with persist playable in Peasant!

I've been trying to add more removal in Gruul but cards like Pit Fight or Savage Smash always felt worse than the mono-red versions of damage spells.
Stump Stomp is exactly what I wanted and it can be played as a land which seems like an appropriate effect for Gruul colors.

Leonin Relic-Warder has been pushed out by Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward for the same combo without needing an additional piece as an outlet. Removing artifacts or enchantments is more efficiently done by Cathar Commando and other similar creatures.
I like the option to go over the top with Angel of the Ruins, it doesn't protect itself but it immediately impacts the board and can be easily set up for reanimation.

I've been unhappy with removal in mono-green, as it is often prone to blowouts with a well timed spell in response.
With this downside in mind and a strategic incentive to "just go bigger", players regularly cut instant and sorcery removal from their green decks.
Bridgeworks Battle solves this problem by replacing a forest instead of another spell.

The time has come for Fettergeist to retire. It's individually powerful but has gradually been pushed away from blue's core archetypes: flyers, ninjas and control can't find space for such a taxing creature.
I want to use this slot to increase the count of flash creatures in the cube. Hope-Ender Coatl is the exact power level I wanted Silumgar Sorcerer to be.

In the same vein I dusted off the cobwebs on Ghostly Flicker... I can't even remember the last time I've seen it in a deck!
Hydroelectric Specimen will be played much more often, even if just as a tapped land. I believe the Specimen will generate impactful moments by diverting key spells.

I've desired to play Clone in the cube for a while but the rarity of most of its printings irked me. Copycrook is a bit harder to cast but it's immediately the best creature on the board thanks to the additional ability to grow and/or loot on attack.
To avoid the unintuitive interactions and the disproportionately match-up dependent effect of Wash Out I've taken it out of the list.

Tribune of Rot is an interesting enabler and solves the main problem with Necrogenesis: it isn't a creature and self mill needs a high creature count.

Boros Challenger has the hard task of being a creature that has to be an higher pick than both mono-red and mono-white creatures. Ordruun Mentor has similar abilities but the hybrid cost makes it a very flexible pick. I'm not fully convinced that a 3 mana value creature will see play in aggressive strategies but I'm willing to test it.

Fearless Fledgling has been waiting for quite a while and now that Cathar Commando is in the list I find the ability of Citizen's Crowbar less and less necessary. The crowbar is often a replaceable 2-drop due to the abundance of other powerful equipment and vehicles.

The Sharktocrab is replaced with Repulsive Mutation to boost Simic's power level. On its own I expect the mutation to be a better card: playing both the role of a Fireball and a Counterspell.

Fallaji Archaeologist is the card Augur of Bolas wishes it could be. The Augur has been out of the cube for years precisely because of the frustration the Archaeologist avoids by having some relevance even when it doesn't find anything.
Peregrine Drake always ends up in sideboards and the combo it has with Archaeomancer and Ghostly Flicker has no need to be infinite: in limited it's much more likely to win by accruing value every turn, so the additional mana from the Drake is not needed.

Tireless Provisioner will be useful in midrange and ramp strategies while adding to the meager ranks of Green creatures with mana value 3.
You Happen On a Glade was an experiment that didn't pan out, often feeling too slow to be impactful.

Cabal Therapy has been biding its time an now there's finally space for it!
This is because with the inclusion of Phyrexian Reclamation I've been noticing less and less need for Victimize as a reanimation spell. Reanimate, Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead and Diabolic Servitude are all high picks but in non-reanimator there's only so much space for value graveyard recursion so, after a while, the other black drafters shift their priorities to different effects.

Expressive Iteration is a powerful card draw spell, I left it out of the cube because I thought that Izzet didn't need even better spells. But a powerful spell that isn't reactive like a removal or a counterspell is exactly what I need. Good removal in Izzet is abundant between Electrolyze, Izzet Charm, Prophetic Bolt, Fire // Ice, Turn // Burn and now Slick Sequence.
I cut Izzet Charm because it seemed the least impactful spell, I still want to test Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer to figure out whether it's a good card or not.

Electrostatic Infantry is hopefully here to do what Spellgorger Weird couldn't. Trample should also be relevant with equipments as a nice upside.
Goblin Heelcutter is another aggro-only pick. I'm trying to cut down on those to let red cards offer more flexibility in strategies.

I'm not a big fan of cowboys, guns and train robberies in my high fantasy game. But the cards in OTJ are very interesting designs and plenty of them could fit into a peasant cube.

Highway Robbery fixes the problem all Tormenting Voice effects have: in the early-game it's too easy to shoot yourself in the foot discarding the wrong card, but in the late-game it's a bad draw when you have no cards in hand.
This new robbery can be plotted to be cast immediately after Guttersnipe and in a pinch can let you keep a key card by sacrificing a land instead.

Reckless Lackey wears equipment really well and can turn a bad trade into a card and a treasure.
I don't want aggro decks to have access to too much first strike, so Aether Chaser is an easy swap even if the token generator will be missed.

Irascible Wolverine is glue: regardless of the archetype every red deck will need some 3-drops. And Irascible Wolverine is good value for the mana you put into it.
Breakneck Rider has been on the chopping block for a while, its effect is widely playable in theory but hasn't enough synergies to be actually put in the main deck (the cost doesn't help).

Plundering Barbarian gains tempo in any strategy as a treasure maker, also I'm still looking for ways to give my players access to maindeck artifact hate.
Spellgorger Weird has been hindered by being 3 mana value and having to be in play before casting your spells. When you're on the backfoot it rots in your hand, rarely finding a window to play it on the same turn you cast interaction.

Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer is my newest trial in the experimental slot of the Izzet section. His high toughness should keep him alive long enough to get some value from the top of the deck.
Improbable Alliance was so much worse than all other blue, red and blue-red picks. The cube has too few cantrips for it. At most it made 2 faeries over multiple turns ...but it required giving up even more tempo to play other cards that do not impact the board.

I want to try again Edge of Autumn as a ramp spell that's not useless when drawn on turn 6 or later.
Harrow hasn't proven itself better than another Rampant Growth because the lands entering the battlefield untapped didn't matter. Rarely the decks that turn cards into extra lands are also itching to trade counterspells with opposing threats on turn three. They usually try to go bigger than that.
In this slot I'm also considering Entish Restoration and Search for Tomorrow.

Its a shark! Its a crab! Its a tapper in simic!

Hi, lately I've been thinking about green removal and I've come to the realization that the 4 green guilds should help lift up the removal density for the color.

By contrast black and red already have plenty of ways to deal with creatures in mono-black or mono-red, so I should trim the removal effects where possible.

Say goodbye to Terminate and welcome back to Blightning!

Also Buried in the Garden doesn't seem great: 4 mana is a lot to pay for a piece of interaction that's exclusively at sorcery-speed.
But I've seen it doing work in both MKM and OTJ limited formats, so I'm willing to give it a chance to shine.
Citadel Castellan was already disliked by some players so it seemed like the easiest cut.

And finally we come back to the Sharktocrab, I love the card and I'm trying to see if its the kind of interaction Simic needs. Decisive Denial was my first choice for this slot but I don't have a copy at hand right now.
Merfolk Skydiver suffers the fate of a perfectly playable multicolor card that doesn't work well in its color pair main archetype, in this case ramp.

I reviewed the creatures proportion for each color using the newest Maro "Nuts & Bolts" article as reference: NUTS & BOLTS #16: PLAY BOOSTERS.
I realized I was well below the creature percentage found in play boosters so I rearranged some slots to include more bodies.

Cathar Commando is amazing but it felt hard to justify adding one more card in an overcrowded slot. I cut a sorcery instead of Leonin Relic-Warden because this kind of effect seemed more valuable on creatures lately.

Gray Slaad is a Ransack the lab that mills for 2 more cards and always draws a 4/1 for 3 mana. To be seen if the card selection will be missed or, as I suspect, being a creature is more relevant.

Scampering Surveyor and Coldsteel Heart replace the last 2 remaining signets as they seem better for ramp decks of all colors.

Haywire Mite is one more removal spell with quite a lot of different uses.

Sarulf's Packmate is a 4-drop that can be played even when stuck on lands, I don't feel too bad for overloading on fours when a couple of them have this kind of flexibility.

I've tried many versions of Inspired Charge and usually these cards are such low picks that even the decks that would play them prioritize a token maker over the effect that doesn't work without enough creatures.
The problem is that if your board is composed mainly of 1/1 birds or spirits a +2/+1 isn't enough to let your creatures survive combat.
On the Job flips this evaluation on its head guaranteeing a card off the clue and offering value with the creature boosting effect. It's a small difference but it plays quite differently so I'm excited to see how well it performs in cube.
Forsake the Worldly has been less and less necessary given how many Disenchant effects have been added to the list in the last year.

Talrand's Invocation hasn't been doing enough when on the backfoot, two small fliers aren't worth the investment of an entire turn off even in proactive decks.
I figured it is time to add another counterspell in blue, what better choice than the original Counterspell. The in the cost will offer an interesting reward for players that are willing to draft a control deck without excessive splashes, notably Counterspell plays poorly with bouncelands.

Adding Escape Tunnel as one more Evolving Wilds over Shire Terrace, trusting the common knowledge that this kind of mana fixing is worse than the usual slow fetches.

Yes but only for one card, this update is due mostly to player feedback after the most recent in-person draft.

Splatter Thug is in the weird spot of being desirable only by aggressive decks and not being an high pick in those either: equipment, removal and one-drops are all in higher demand. On the other hand uncommon red creatures are quite weak at mana value 3.
Ratcatcher Trainee is desirable as a spell for 3 mana that draws an additional 2/1 with first strike. It should fill the same role for decks that use equipments and first strike while opening the slot to additional synergies with Goblin Bombardment or Young Pyromancer.

Dynacharge was meant as an easy wheel for the tokens archetype, but those decks cannot support too many spells that pump up the team so I'm cutting the weakest one.
Demand Answers is the obligatory MKM inclusion, a slightly better Thrill of Possibility should be somewhat useful in any red deck.

Scurry Oak has proven itself too oppressive with multiple pieces of the combo in the same color. To balance the combo a bit better I'm cutting its cheapest card. This should avoid the irritating playpattern of playing both Scurry Oak and Ivy Lane Denizen in the same turn to avoid sorcery speed interactions.
In its place I'm trying one more removal Spinning Wheel Kick, it requires a lot of mana but green shouldn't have a problem with that.

Speaking of green removal: the vigilance and trample from Nature's Way are often redundant or irrelevant in this cube, an instant like Cosmic Hunger will be better.

The Wanderer is no longer needed as a 4 mana value non-creature in white. I'm cutting back on the 4 drops and I'd like to try out a few more battles like Invasion of Dominaria and Invasion of Amonkhet.
To find space for the latter the Haunter of Nightveil is going on the bench, I'm ready to welcome it back if the battles don't pan out.

Skittering Surveyor and Pilgrim's Eye are a bit too similar, to emphasize the singleton nature of cube I'm replacing the Surveyor with Skyscanner. It should find a home in mostly the same decks but at least this offers more variety during the draft process.

Borderland Explorer is mana fixing that helps reanimator strategies, I really like it but I couldn't in good conscience add Cankerbloom without cutting another 2 mana value creature. I can't imagine Cankerbloom underperforming: a cheaper version of Thrashing Brontodon is very desirable seeing how impactful the Naturalize effects are in this cube.

Shuffling some slots to fit another good red 4-drop creature.

I got my hands on a "Bloodbraid Elf at home", they finally printed some good red creatures at 4 that aren't worse Flametongue Kavus!

After the newest playtest I got a chance to gather some insight from my players, this update is mostly the result of those conversations.

Firebolt and Reckless Rage have been waiting in the sidelines as interesting burn spells for which I have no space.
I had no space, until I cut Ghitu Slinger and Rift Bolt.
Ghitu Slinger is a lot of mana for the full value and doesn't play well with Young Pyromancer and other spellslinger cards.
Rift Bolt always plays a bit worse than it looks, it's a good rate of mana to damage but the problem is the timing.

Confounding Riddle is a clear upgrade for Supreme Will, I'm not particularly hyped for this style of power creep (Deep-Cavern Bat is another example that I'm choosing not to include). Supreme Will was at a fine power level for my cube and I don't want to be constantly upgrading cards that are doing ok and that my players are already familiar with.
On the other hand I'd like to get a bit more self mill in the cube and I love the art for Confounding Riddle so it gets a pass.

Wizard's Rockets are pretty useful for splashing and are easy to include in different styles of deck.
Batterbone has been played very little and to equip has proven to be too much mana.

Ulvenwald Mysteries seemed good value but it never panned out. Green decks are rarely using it to its full potential by sacrificing nontoken creatures, instead it usually stays in the sideboard leaving space for more threats and ramp.
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter has a similar effect to Imperious Perfect and that's a really promising comparison as the Perfect is one of the better green cards in the cube.

Aether Adept is a victim of the "too many Man-o'-Wars problem", between Vapor Snag, Riftwing Cloudskate, Callous Dismissal, Into the Roil, Man-o'-War, Mist Raven, Wash Out and Repulse there are plenty of other bounce effects in the cube.
Frost Trickster is worth testing as a flying Frost Lynx, and it should fare better against creatures with ETBs than another bounce creature.

I really like explore as a mechanic, Spyglass Siren is the one inclusion I'm willing to try out because it fits the cube a bit better than Cenote Scout, River Herald Scout or Kinjalli's Dawnrunner.
For some reason I was stuck trying to keep a 2/1 flyer at , but I expect that a costed flying creature will play better with ninjas and in the flyers archetype.

Cartographer's Hawk is an interesting intersection of aggressive strategies and midrange value. I'll keep an eye on white weenies to see whether I've cut too many cheap creatures like Skymarcher Aspirant.

White has a problem with mana value 3, Ossification over Prison Sentence lessens the bottle neck effect without being an obvious first pick (and notably it is worse in 4-color goodstuff decks that may get stuck without basic lands in some hands).

Goblin Assault has never been better in the cube given how many sacrifice outlets there are in red. Unfortunately its best is still underwhelming.
Imodane's Recruiter has proven itself surprisingly strong in WOE limited and I'd like to give the card a chance in the cube setting.

Phyrexian Rager is simple and effective but it isn't a necessary piece for any strategy so it's not high priority.
Over the Rager I'd like to try Gorex the Tombshell, it offers more value and pushes players in a clearer direction.