TO BE MADE

Future Possibilities

Byway Barterer > Dangerous Wager
Vitality Charm > Blossoming Defense

Bloomburrow has felt like a breath of fresh air. The story is focused on the plane itself; the aesthetics are top notch; and the cards, while contributing to an honestly very fast standard, don't seem to be power outliers on their own. Which means a lot of options for the Generalist Cube. There were so many cards I wanted to fit in, but just didn't make it (such is the way of cube tuning).

White:

First off, we have an upgrade to the white and white adjacent artifact/enchantment cheatyface decks. Harnessed Snubhorn is coming in to allow cheap artifact recursion with some reach (the philosophy, not the mechanic), be it recurring Chromatic Stars or pulling in Sphinx Sovereign and co. before they'd normally come in. Coming out is Angel of Glory's Rise. It's fine, but very rarely gets cast. The deck it wants just doesn't really exist, and there's not enough of, or quality enough of, Zombies to need specific hate.

Our other swap in white is bringing in the very clean token generator Hop to It. 3 mana, 3 tokens. Coming out is Fearless Fledgling. The poor fellow was better than its predecessor, but still not a high pick. White go-wide is a deck, so this swap should lead this slot to be more desirable.

Blue:

New looter! New looter! And it's even vermintyped! We do love our looters, so this is an easy include. In exchange, Flux Channeler is coming out. Proliferate is great, but play has proven that Flux Channeler's trigger condition isn't likely to occur while you actually have counters you want to duplicate (it feels even worse when you cast a 'walker into an on-board Channeler and then end up with no further spells to actually proliferate the loyalty).

Our next swap is part of the removal of high power "out of nowhere" mill. It does hurt to cut Increasing Confusion, which has been in since the first iteration of the list, but I think it's time. In exchange, we're getting Strix Serenade, a versatile anti-creature cheap counterspell, and the counterpart to Swan Song.

On the topic of counterspells, Mindbreak Trap is switching out for Spellgyre. This does lose blue the ability to deal with uncounterable threats like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Toski, Bearer of Secrets, but more than makes up for it by not being stranded in hand if there's nothing to counter.

Black:

Liliana of the Veil is such an iconic card from the era this cube originally heralded from. It feels right to release her into her natural habitat like this. In exchange, Vampire Lacerator is coming out. It's fine, but blaggro isn't as easy to pull off anymore.

Red:

Abbot of Keral Keep is an awkward card. It has prowess, and it even "draws" a card to fuel said prowess... on a turn on which it can't attack. Emberheart Challenger fixes all the problems Abbot had, and more. Impulse drawing on turns other than the one it came in on is the big buff for this cube, but haste is very much not nothing.

Green:

Vulpine Goliath is back! Kinda. A 6 mana 6 power trampler is back in at least. Galewind Moose lives up to the title of Calamity wile still maintaining a simple textbox with an absolutely nasty combination of keywords. Realm Seekers is a tough one to lose, with its game-endingly huge body and ability to fetch utility like Volrath's Stronghold, but I think this swap is correct. We shall see.

Werebear is losing the (bear) arms race when it finally turns on, so its coming out for the classic ramp card, Rampant Growth itself.

In terms of Naturalize effects with a twist, Pick Your Poison is coming in. It can deal with the gods a lot cleaner than its fellows, and also kills fliers if needed. Krosan Grip is coming out this time, as other than Batterskull, there aren't a lot of cases you need the Split Second.

This one hurts. Rakdos Cackler was the very first FNM prize I managed to win. It's mostly held on due to this, even as the format has evolved past it (and it was never the best positioned even way back when), but today is finally the day it comes out. We'll miss you. Coming in is cascade. It's good for midrange, it's good for big spells, it's the infamous Cruelclaw.

Saheeli, the Sun's Brilliance is Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker that's slightly less mirror broken (though it comes down sooner). The mana needed and lack of haste see to that. Temporary duplication is a neat effect, and it should play well with any of the blink or reanimation/welder trinkets that find themselves scattered here and there. Winterflame is our loss. It's always been ok, but not great (even if it does buy turns), and we still have Brutal Expulsion.

The Ral swap, Otter Ral makes his way in for Not Otter Ral. Both play similar roles, and I suspect this is the most lateral swap in this update. Slightly more card selection and token generation in exchange for removal. I expect this not to change much.

Mabel, Heir to Cragflame. An equipment that comes with a body (on rate body at that), but not an overly costed equip cost like the Living Weapons. Plus, how can I resist adding the Matthias analogue? This removal though I think is the most incorrect removal this time around, Squee's Embrace is coming out. I think the correct removal is Zirda, the Dawnwaker, but I want to give the fox a few more chances.

Another fairly lateral swap, Clement, the Worrywort comes in for Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner. Nothing super special, just trying to get simic to feel right.

Colorless:

Cogwork Grinder is a very nifty card. It's also just a statbrick with a surprising amount of logistical issues (where do the removed cards go so all the end of draft counts work out?). Heirloom Epic is probably the cutest Tome, all your creatures help you turn the page. The sorcery speed only drawback is real, but it's still card advantage everyone can use.

Short Bow has really impressed. Easy to pass around with very relevant abilities. I was considering Lotus Ring for the vigilance granting, but the Bow does what that wants to for cheaper. Bladed Pinions is the swap, effectively trading evasion for more incentive to attack.

More mana fixing genericisation. Another Sphere of the Suns is coming in, and this one works with energy payoffs, it's Solar Transformer. In exchange, we lose Trepanation Blade, but if there's one thing we're not hurting on, it's 3 mana equipment.

It turns out, that as neat as entombing or looting away Sword of the Meek is (and it is neat), it's also just not good. There just aren't enough 1/1s for that to be reliable. So it leaves us in exchange for more fixing in the form of Undiscovered Paradise.

We can't fit all of the wanted cards in in one patch. Here are a few possible future swaps:
Goblin Welder > Heartfire Hero: If welder as a deck continues to not come together, Welder itself may need to come out. Hero plays well with a lot of decks, so it's on the shortlist.
Palace Jailer > Beza, the Bounding Spring: If tuning down (as much as that can be said of Beza) flicker is needed, this is a good swap. Beza is quite a good catchup card, with a good body to boot, but doesn't do Jailer things.

2 color mana fixing isn't actually all that great in this cube. It's nice when you get it in your colors, but has been becoming lower and lower picks as time goes on. So, similar to when the Signets swapped for generic fixing, we're swapping out more specific lands for generic counterparts.

Coming in for the 5 lands of this update:

The other Terrarion variant, Chromatic Star. Self explanatory; one-shot Prophetic Prism that works with Welders.

Sphere of the Suns. It was a consideration last time, and now makes its debut. Limited use Manalith for 2 is still solid.

Double pip enabler Star Compass. Lots of basics means Star Compass gets to do its job with impunity (acting as the artifact version of Reflecting Pool).

Omni-fetch Prismatic Vista, it's like Fabled Passage, but slightly to the left. More fetches is also good for Delerium and sac decks.

5 color pain land City of Brass. Oldie but a goodie. Fixes your mana for a bit of life.

In addition to that, to make the DImir lands more exciting, Creeping Tar Pit is coming in for Watery Grave. Manlands can at least draw you into a color pair (or give you a payoff for already being there) in a way Shocks can't, and Tar Pit is quite a good manland.

What was intended as a very minor update to finish the work started in the last update has ballooned a bit. Mostly involving tidying up the watchlist and giving a bit more support to Looters tribal.

White:

Getting rid of the (relatively) narrow and color dense Devout Lightcaster in exchange for the more open Banisher Priest with flash: Werefox Bodyguard.

Blue:

Coveted Peacock just isn't that popular a pick. It's an ok body with an ok ability. Coming in for it is Archaeomender, a fairly generically useful effect.

Startled Awake is a fine mill finisher, but does very little else (as the 5 mana for a 1/1 comes up so infrequently). Swapping in for that is The Modern Age, yet another addition to both the Sagas and to the growing Looters tribal deck.

As another addition to the Looters tribal deck, a payoff. Skaab Ruinator plays just as well from the yard as it does from the hand as a lategame recursive threat. It's replacing God-Eternal Kefnet, which is mostly just a hard to remove statbrick. This doesn't mean GE Kefnet is gone for good, it's still a good statbrick, it's just taking a break for a bit.

Hour of Need is an interesting card here. It's both watchlisted and still played in a fairly wide variety of games. It plays both defense and offence surprisingly well. It will also be taking a break in exchange for Phantom Steed, a flicker enabler that also happens to function as a savior effect.

Red:

Another watchlist cleanup. While it's not a bad effect, Arms Dealer does suffer from mostly having to sacrifice itself. If there were more goblins... Spitebellows may always sacrifice itself for the damage, but it also doesn't need to pay the additional 2 later.

Feldon of the Third Path is a card I've been eyeing for a while. It plays very well with quite a few themes in the list, as well as with some of the cards coming in today. Sadly, to add something, something must leave. In this case, that's watchlist card Jaya Ballard, Task Mage.

Green:

The main reason for the update: removing the last Enrage creature (Hornet Nest) for a more honest version of the same effect (blocking well in green): Wall of Blossoms.

Colorless:

The sword swap (Kaldra for Meek) is mostly for the Looters deck, but with the prevalence of effects that can sacrifice artifacts, it should also be able to find a home in other decks. Kaldra's blade is still good, mind, this is just another shakeup.

Kor Haven for Codex Shredder is one card that I've been looking to add for a while replacing a card that has performed fairly well, but is still in the realm of "low impact." Plus, with the recent addition of Eternal Witness, there's less of a need for Regrowths.

When Wilds of Eldrane was spoiling, I thought to myself that not many of the cards were of interest. Boy was I wrong.

Not only were there some nifty designs and great art, but there were interesting enough Sagas that I finally added a Saga package.

White:

General under-performer Mentor of the Meek is switching for another card that likes go-wide in Pollen-Shield Hare. Mentor has been fine but not great, hopefully the rabbit can put on a better performance.

On the saga side of things, white switches one removal spell for another. Oblation does hit more things than Mr. Unicorn's Wild Ride, but the drawback is real. Plus, the saga fits right into the "bouncing Oblivion Rings" strategy.

On the topic of bouncing Oblivion Rings, white's other saga support card is Flicker of Fate, which can do just that (in addition to resetting sagas and playing into the flicker deck). Coming out is Knight of the Holy Nimbus, a perfectly serviceable, but fairy boring beater.

Black:

A swap from one kill spell on a body to another. Kindly Stranger can be nice when it works, but Horobi, Death's Wail is just a cool effect. Horobi has been on the sidelines for quite some time due to the lack of targeting in black, but with mono-black decks not wanting for removal anyway, and the presence of Icy Manipulator variants of all kinds in the format, Horobi looks quite attractive.

Red:

With another of the saga package, we're swapping one 4/4 flying token generator for another. Rukh Egg is fine, but replaceable (especially with all the other aristocrats cards added over the years). The Elder Dragon War should work as a versatile multi functional card that still rewards players with a 4/4 flyer.

Priest of Urabrask has never quite stood on its own enough. The "turbo out your hand" go-wide red aggro deck isn't that supported at the current time. Instead, the added card is another version of a Steelshaper's Gift (well, Open the Armory) on a body, akin to Stoneforge Mystic, in Kellan, the Fae-Blooded.

The swap of Ox of Agonas and Decadent Dragon was a trickier one. The Ox was swapped due to the fact that they're both card draw variants on later game red bodies. Ox's recursion is swapped for Decadent's not needing to pitch your and to deploy it. We'll see how that turns out.

Green:

Green's swaps this time are the start of taking out Enrage. It turns out that this list doesn't have much self-damage support (as would be provided by cards like Rile or Tail Swipe), so Enrage has been acting like worse unblockable crossed with an awkward "don't want to attack into it" feeling, like bad deathtouch. So those cards are coming out. Perhaps they'll find their way into another cube that caters more to their needs in the future.

In their place is an old classic green creature: Eternal Witness. Regrowth on a body. Simple, sweet, effective.

The other coming in is The Huntsman's Redemption. Another member of the saga package, it does a few basic effects quite well as a 3/3 for 3 with a few extra effects tacked on for later.

On the non-Enrage side of things, Hypergenesis is coming out. While it does do big things, the lead-up time is a bit rough, and there aren't that many ways to deploy it sooner. Potentially the future addition of the Sword of Once and Future, but at that point it's not as attractive anyway. In its place is Living Wish--the modal Sylvan Scrying for a basic or lategame tutor for the bomb you couldn't fit in the 40.

The swap of the clones. Dack's Duplicate is a respectable haste body that has always been reliable. With the inclusion of sagas, it's swapping out for The Apprentice's Folly. While the Folly can't hit opponents' creatures, it does get two haste clones worth of value.

Colorless:

To support counters in general and sagas in specific, Power Conduit is coming in. Cloak and Dagger is leaving as, while there is a non-zero amount of rogues synergy, the amount of rouges synergy is effectively 2 cards (this and Oona's Blackguard). That's not really enough. Blackguard gets to stay for now as it still works with generic counters (and those just got Power Conduit), but it's still on thin ice.

Staff of Domination is, in most cases, just an expensive to use Puppet Strings (that plays well with Zirda). It's being swapped for a cheaper to use Icy Manipulator variant in Ring of Gix.

Been a while, not a whole lot that's grabbed me hard in the past few sets. That said, I do enjoy proliferate, so MOM is looking like it may have some possible includes for the future.

Without further ado, the cards that caught me the best from the last couple of sets.

White:

Ok, so white doesn't actually have any new new cards, and is mostly just replacing some slots in the Watch List. On that note, Phyrexian Rebirth is swapping for the more efficient Wrath of God (which had a recent reprint).

The Seht's Tiger swap, on the other hand, is mostly just to cycle the tiger out. It's a fine card, but not particularly interesting or highly picked. Elite Spellbinder has proven to be good in quite a few formats, so we'll see how it works here.

Blue:

Cryptic Command. Lovely card. One of the most iconic blue spells of early Modern control. It's also triple blue. That triple blue cost has placed the counterspell into a really awkward position from the very beginning, where mono-blue is the only real deck that can support it. It's a fine payoff, but could be better. It's coming out for the iconic blue spell from early modern, Snapcaster Mage.

When Lucid Dreams came out, I pretty much dismissed it outright. 5 mana sorcery speed card draw? Meh. Later on, while chatting with friends, this card came up in passing and I reconsidered. 5 mana sorcery card draw is already in the cube in the form of Reverse Engineer, and is a solid pick, even when the improvise isn't used. So, given that 5 mana draw 3 is already playable, 5 mana draw between 1-7 or so with a baseline of about 3-4 should also be playable. The removal was just a card from the watchlist. In this case Polymorphous Rush, a spell that does fine on occasion.

Black:

More aristocrats finagling. Switching out the underperforming sac outlet Indulgent Aristocrat (turns out there wasn't enough incidental vampires for the upside to be worth it, and the 2 mana cost is rough) for one I expect to function a lot better in Braids, Arisen Nightmare. Braids doesn't let you do timing tricks, but it does get to sacrifice anything, so it always has fuel; and the upsides it provides for the sacrifice are quite nice.

With the inclusion of more (well, better in this case rather than more) aristocrats outlets, another Blood Artist makes it in in the form of the resilient Bastion of Remembrance. It's displacing one of the weaker kill spells, To the Slaughter. Fantastic art and what appears to be a high ceiling, but has mostly proven to be a bit disappointing.

Braids also bought about what appears to be a critical mass of self-permanent removal. Which means Demonic Pact finally has a place. Perhaps a future update will also bring in the pen if we can find more things that need signing? Grenzo would certainly enjoy that. The swapped out card, Call the Bloodline, was originally brought in as an attempt to try to include madness in the cube. This attempt failed, and the madness cards have been leaving for a while now. Call is one of the few fading remnants of this attempt, and the space it leaves will be more valuable than the card it played as.

Red:

We love Booster Tutor, so why not another one with Opening Ceremony? It's replacing Skullscorch, a card that's been fine, but not amazing.

Green:

Strangleroot Geist has never really been on-plan for the mono-green decks in the cube, and the double green pip makes it rough outside that shell. Thrashing Brontodon is a much more alluring card. Naturalizes are always nice to have, and te 3/4 body is nothing to scoff at.

Poor Geist of Saint Traft. A solid card stymied from the fact that this cube has a lot of good equipment holders. Soulherder is the replacement for now, more support for the flicker deck and all that.

Yes, haha. While not the first update after Zegana, Utopian Speaker's inclusion, this is pretty much the first time she's seen play since she's come in, and she was bad. Who'd've guessed? Anyway, Keruga, the Macrosage is the replacement here, with a better ETB that also plays better into the archetypes tends to favor.

Turns out, Huatli, the Sun's Heart has mostly just played as fancy lifegain. If I want to support toughness as an archetype, it'd be better to just toss a Weight Advantage into the cube, as that provides its own redundancy. Cosmic Rebirth also does lifegain with upside. In this case, as a Pulse of Murasa that can put things into play.

And we complete the set of tricolor cards with Nashi, Moon's Legacy. He's a cheap, evasive threat that has rat synergy, can recur legends, and plays well with Swarmyard. I have high hopes. Darigaaz Reincarnated isn't bad, he's just the weakest/least interesting of the cards in the colors that ave multiple cards.

Colorless:

I'm finally over being mad at Circuit Mender for being a direct upgrade over Filigree Familiar (better stats, LTB as opposed to dies trigger, vermin type), so it's coming in. Sorry Familiar, the bug just plays better in more archetypes.

Staff of Compleation is another way to weasel yourself out of a bad deal that also happens to proliferate. It's replacing Sol Ring for now. Not because Sol Ring is outside the power band for the cube, but because Ring is on the top end of that power band, and dropping it a bit isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Catching up on the trip to a more modern time that was NEO and SNC.

Blue:

Toluz, Clever Conductor is coming in as a mono-blue card. That mana cost lets it be cast for mono-blue and it requires at least blue, so that's what it is. Toluz should give more advantage to the looters that have been coming in recently, as well as more opportunity for shenanigans, which I always like. Hypnotic Siren is the cut this time. As much as I love this card, the 7 mana mode is hardly ever used, and there are better options for Flying Men.

Black:

Reckless Spite, despite seeming like a great time (two birds, one kill spell an all that), never really gets played. Requiring 2 targets and hitting you for 5 make it unattractive in the usually grindy games it would otherwise be good in. Eradicator Valkyrie should fix those issues by providing itself as a clock, as well as gaining life.

The meme is finally dead, Phage the Untouchable has left the building. She doesn't get to do much even when cast (the few times that has happened). In exchange, we have Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion coming in. He has a cool effect that scales to multiplayer nicely, doesn't run away with the game on his own, and plays nicely with other cards in the cube already, like Pack Rat and Swarmyard.

Red:

Simple change here, Rabbit Battery is coming in in the place of the almost never played Flames of the Blood Hand. 4 damage for 3 mana is usually fine, but only going face is rough for that cost. Battery is just better in most aggro lists.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim just isn't quite performing like I wanted it to. Never has really. The unfortunate truth is there just isn't a lifegain list in the cube, nor is the aristocrats list in BW conductive to high toughness creatures to throw away to raise your life enough. Wernog, Rider's Chaplain will be taking its place as a card that more strategies will hopefully like.

Hinata, Dawn-Crowned finally brings an interesting Jeskai card with a unique effect that the cube wants. It's coming in over Breaking // Entering, a card that, while it does do work for a few separate archetypes, doesn't get picked all that often.

Colorless:

A swap of the damage increasing artifacts. Another Bonesplitter is coming in in the form of Eater of Virtue to take the place of Hall of Triumph, an anthem that just doesn't usually make the cut.

That's right. More Innistrad, though this time we're looking at an aristocratic wedding. Lots of more direct upgrades this time.

White:

Starting off with a change that heralds a few of the focuses in this update, we're swapping Wings of the Guard (typically a 2/2 on the attack, though it can get up to 4/4) for Barbed Spike (a 2/1 all the time). In addition to this being an average upside in stats (at least, while not attacking), Spike also has the advantage of being an artifact (two atifacts even) and leaving behind a goodie when it dies.

The other white swap is a little closer. The ambush potential of Devouring Light is being swapped for the unrestricted targetability of Declaration in Stone.

Blue:

A blue defensive one drop swap! The second of the cheap artifacts added this go around, Hard Evidence should help Tinker and spellslinger lists. Vortex Elemental isn't a bad card, but Hard Evidence does most of what it does and also can cantrip, so the Elemental leaves for now.

Given the heavy reliance on basic lands in this cube, Thirst for Discovery is just Compulsive Research but instant speed. So it has been upgraded.

Black:

Voldaren Bloodcaster is yet another cheap artifact producer, but this time it's an Aristocrat. It also has a solid base rate of a 2/1 flyer that leaves behind a treat when it dies. The swap for this one is a card that isn't at its best in any deck bar two, and the Worldknit deck doesn't need the help from Corrupt to be good. Mono-black will be ok with a more efficient beater rather than the big kill spell.

Altar's Reap > Village Rites is another direct upgrade, albeit one I'm sad about. I've held off till now because the Altar's Reap art is lovely in foil, but needs must.

While going from an exile effect to a destroy effect does mean black has less ways to deal with indestructible threats, black has many ways to deal with those already (Extinction Event, Tragic Slip, etc...) and Gild is less versatile than Damn excepting that.

Red:

Poor Skin Invasion. It always seems that a 1 mana 3/4 would be a good rate, but actually getting it active is trickier than one would think. So out it comes, replaced with another 1 mana creature that comes with an artifact stapled to it in Voldaren Epicure.

Green:

Mana dorks are good, exalted is good, mana dorks with exalted are amazing. It's even a Goblin for those incidental synergies. Sorry mono-green permanent removal fans, Beast Within is going beast with-out.

Yet more Aristocrats support, we have Kardur, Doomscourge. The omni-goad on ETB is also quite nice in multiplayer. Carnival Hellsteed is the cut this time. Unfortunately the Nightmare Horse doesn't end up finding its way into many decks.

White:

While it is native to Innistrad, Emancipation Angel suffers similar problems to those that Faerie Impostor did. Namely, it needs other things in play to function well. Unlike Impostor, it can bounce lands or itself, but the body isn't quite big enough for the typical tempo loss. Coming in to replace it is Harmonious Archon, a beefy payoff for the flicker/blink deck.

Blue:

The first swap has been a long time coming. Flitterstep Eidolon has long been a low pick relegated to sideboards at best. 2 mana for 1 damage a turn is not great, and the Bestow is far too expensive for the effect. Suspicious Stowaway better fills Eidolon's role in almost every way, as an unblockable threat that loots and can grow to be better even than that.

Vapor Snag is a fantastic bit of tempo for aggressive decks that dip into blue. Given the possible multiplayer nature of the games, and the existence of a blink deck, Fading Hope looks like it will fill the role better. It doesn't tax the life of the user if used on their own creatures, for one, and scry is a fairly potent sidegrade to ping.

Dispel is being taken out for Spell Pierce, a card with far more targets that won't sit rotting in hand most of the time.

Black:

It feels weird taking out Phyrexian Rager. It's been a mainstay for a long time now, acting as solid curve filler with the cantrip ability. Replacing it is Foul Play, a cantripping kill spell that also synergizes with any artifact strategies.

Red:

Reckless Stormseeker is coming in. It's a fantastic red 3 drop, that both has "haste" and enables it on other creatures on future turns, basically a red 3 mana version of Surrak, the Hunt Caller. It will be replacing Scab-Clan Berserker, which, while it does punish non-creatures, does less than Stormseeker for a greater mana density.

Green:

Continuing on with last update, we have more things that care about artifacts and that synergize with Liquimetal Torque: Outland Liberator. The floor of mono-colored Qasali Pridemage (without exalted) is already good, and the upside on the flip is amazing. I have high hopes for this one. The card being replaced is Ohran Viper. While Viper is fantastic, I think the inclusion of the Liberator makes up for the loss of an Ophidian variant (especially with the fairly recent inclusion of Toski).

The next change changes up some of the mana effects. Omnath, Locus of Mana's storage effect is coming out in exchange for Cemetery Prowler's mana reduction effect. Omnath only manages to store a few mana, and is more used as a body than anything else in the average case. Prowler has the advantage of coming in with a relevant body, as well as being a Wolf, which is a relevant type as far as a few of the lords are concerned.

More wolves! Nightpack Ambusher is our newest wolf lord, and strong alone to boot. It's replacing one of the cheat enablers, Gamekeeper, which, while it can be good, is less reliable than other options.

On the topic of cantripping creatures coming out, Nessian Game Warden is finally being replaced. Game Warden is, in the average case, a body that draws another body when it enters. Its replacement, Ishkanah, Grafwidow, attempts to make up for not drawing another body by being another body (or rather 3 more bodies).

Colorless:

Poor Skeleton Key. It does good work, but is very expensive to equip for something you want active as soon as possible for looting. With the inclusion of Stowaway, the Key is coming out in exchange for more mana fixing, this time in the form of Terrarion, which, as an added bonus, plays well with Welder type decks.

Continuing on with the MH2 additions, Liquimetal Torque and friends:

Colorless:

Normally this would come at the end of the list, but Liquimetal Torque does influence a few of the other changes so it get listed here. It's a nifty little artifact that, aside from functioning as a 2 mana mana rock, enables all sorts of shenanigans, from allowing Saheeli, Sublime Artificer to turn herself into a creature to the simple Reclamation Sage destroying your opponent's creatures. I love shenanigans, so this is a great addition. Unfortunately, that means a card must leave. In this case, Lupine Prototype. While I love this card, it just doesn't stack up like it used to, and pulling it alongside Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves or Master of the Wild Hunt to turn it into a Doom Blade variant seems too unlikely and too low impact to be the sole reason to keep it in.

Blue:

First and Foremost we have a new card to interact with artifacts, Thieving Skydiver. It's artifact theft on a body that snaps on the equipment that it steals, what's not to love? Coming out is Meloku the Clouded Mirror, who does fantastic work in a less supported archetype or as a relatively straightforward win condition (play 5 drop, make tokens, attack for lethal). Meloku isn't gone for good yet, but it will be taking a bit of a break.

Not so much artifact related as just a good card, Svyelun of Sea and Sky is our second blue swap. Most of the text is trinket text, though there are a few Merfolk and changelings it can apply to, the relevant part is the 3 mana 3/4 that draws cards on attack. Good body for a decent rate that draws cards when it attacks and can block any of the 2 drops without dying if they aren't backed up with a combat trick, and a vast majority of the 3 and lower drops. Coming out is Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest. While Shu Yun's ceiling is remarkably high, the average case in this cube is simply a 3/2 for 3.

Black:

Black's changes are focused on the graveyard and making that a more accessible resource, as black isn't known to interact much with (opponent's) artifacts (Salvage Titan may be coming depending on how the cards play though, who knows what the future holds). The first of the graveyard interaction pieces is Unearth. It's a solid, cheap, reanimation spell. Easy to use and cycles away if unneeded.

The second card is more for the aristocrats deck, Nested Shambler. Garrison Cat in black, except it scales the number of tokens it can produce with any sort of anthem buffs or equipment you may have, and the tokens produced are Swarmyard friendly as opposed to Mayor of Avabruck friendly.

Blacks removals are a few of the more lackluster high cost creatures. Voldaren Pariah has never flipped, the 3 creatures necessary being too taxing in most games, and the Madness never finding relevance (triple black is a rough ask). Archdemon of Paliano is a decent card in the "black flyer with downside" club, but just isn't beefy enough to keep up with the other members, even if the drawback is unique.

Red:

I like phoenixes, you like phoenixes, and Rekindling Phoenix is an absolute beast of a phoenix. No cost to return on a solid body. Coming out is the infrequently cast Treasonous Ogre.

Green:

Just the one swap in green, another Reclamation Sage effect to go with our new necklace, Masked Vandal comes in. Vandals also has the benefit of changeling allowing it to get all the incidental buffs off cards like Svyelun, Earl of Squirrel, and Mayor. Genesis Hydra was chosen to leave due to being a solid green card that was mostly without synergy. Perfectly acceptable, but nothing that pulls you very hard.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad never feels good to play. The tokens are fine, but 1 toughness hurts as a 4 drop, and the emblems don't help you stabilize. Great offensively, but Orzhov 4 drops aren't the best slot for that. Orzhov wants a bit of lifegain and stabilization on 4+. Kaya, Orzhov Usurper grants lifegain and token removal at 1 cheaper.

I'm going to miss Sentry of the Underworld. It's got good art and is the only creature with regeneration that can both attack and block flyers. That said, the mana requirement to the regeneration is painful. Hopefully Liesa, Shroud of Dusk will be able to stave off flyers in a similar manner with the beefy lifelinking flying body while still pulling a good Ruric Thar, the Unbowed impression.

Our most inhuman walker to date, it's Grist, the Hunger Tide, the insect swarm! And what a walker it is. 3 relevant abilities and an entirely unique static that opens so many interactions. Sorry Varolz, the Scar-Striped, your role as the 3 drop for the sacrifice synergy deck has been ursurped.

AKA: The flicker deck update part 2.

White:

Thraben Doomsayer used to be quite good, generating blockers every turn is quite a respectable profession. But the 2/2 body and inability to create a chump blocker the turn it comes into play hurts in the lategame. It's being replaced with Teleportation Circle for a more synergistic card.

Blue:

Yes, yes. Mothdust Changeling lasted all of 2 updates. That doesn't mean it's gone for good, but Silver Raven is here to increase the power of Tinker lists and to give some early drops for flicker lists.

Continuing in the Barrin replaces a 5 drop game ending threat trend, Barrin is replacing a 5 drop game ending threat . More synergy for self-flicker in excange for a slightly lower blue top end.

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling has been a long desired inclusion, and this update finally puts it in. It replaces Incursion Specialist, a decent blue aggro card for the two spells a turn deck or Xerox, which is less supported than the Specialist wants.

Green:

More squirrels this update, with Toski, Bearer of Secrets. It's replacing Soul of Zendikar, a relatively mediocre stat brick with attached mana sink. The biggest loss here is the loss of high stat reach in mono-green, so there's a possibility of other high power reachers like World Breaker or Ishkanah, Grafwidow making it in in the future.

The other update is less likely to cause a stir, with the lower power token generator Druid's Call being replaced with the higher power Esika's Chariot.

Fleecemane Lion, respected stat brick and unkillable blocker, is making room for the synergistic Renegade Rallier, known solid card with flicker.

In Simic news, once good tempo card Beetleform Mage has, to the surprise of very few, been doing poorly in recent times. In light of this, we welcome back Coiling Oracle from its long hiatus as yet another creature that loves to flicker.

Colorless:

Just a bit of support for graveyard and Tinker decks this time around with God-Pharaoh's Gift making its way into the main list. Sadly, we lost the dream equipment Argentum Armor, which, while tons of fun while in play, does have a 6 mana equip cost. 6 mana to play isn't bad (especially with the plethora of artifact accelerants), but paying 6 to equip does hurt every time a removal spell is cast.

With new sets bring new cards. And MH sets bring very good cards for cube.

White:

Scion of Vitu-Ghazi isn't a bad card, and is often a solid pick 4-8. However, with the push towards flicker, Scion sends the wrong signals as the ability only functions when cast from hand. As such, it's coming out. Grand Master of Flowers will be the replacement, acting as a planeswalker version of Icy Manipulator.

Sunscour, on the other hand, is a card that barely sees play. It's just too expensive. The upside of being able to freecast a board wipe is usually not worth the 2 cards from your hand, if you even have 2 white cards to pitch. There just aren't enough game ending early threats for the benefits to outweigh the costs. Perhaps someday, but not today. Instead, it has been replaced with Out of Time as the undercosted white boardwipe with drawback.

For more support for the Jund sacrifice archetype, Ravenous Squirrel has been added. Sadly, this means we need a cut from the already existing Golgari cards, in this case it was Garruk, Apex Predator. There is always a chance he will return though.

I haven't been liking the play patterns that Ashiok, Nightmare Muse has been promoting, so Ashiok gets to take some time on the bench. Master of Death will be tagging in for now, as support for generic good decks, as well as graveyard strategies in general, with added benefits for cards like Survival of the Fittest.

Colorless:

The ever present Rupture Spire just isn't cutting it anymore. Setting yourself back two turns just isn't worth the perfect colors anymore. Thankfully we have a plethora of other options to take advantage of. In this case, Fabled Passage is the card taking the slot.

Adding some things to better support blink/flicker shenanigans.

White:

Dauntless River Marshal is a great roleplayer in decks, but flounders outside of that shell. While it may make a comeback in the future, for now it will be taking a rest while Shepherd of the Flock fills in. A relevant body with a relevant upside for decks that like shenanigans should play nicely.

Blue:

Another flicker classic, Ghostly Flicker makes its way into the cube with this update. the unlucky card that makes its way out is Flash of Insight. Not a bad card by any means, and, again, may make its way back in at a later date if cantrip density proves to be too low.

On the blink front in blue, Barrin, Master Wizard is coming in to replace Prognostic Sphinx, a difficult to remove but relatively boring control win condition.

Faerie Impostor originally made its way into the cube to support the blink/flicker deck (and because the foil looks lovely), but has proved itself to be massively underwhelming. Sorcery speed on the return and the fact it can't be played on an empty board (or really anywhere close to the early turns) hurt more than it can take. It's being replaced with Mothdust Changeling for now, as an early drop that interacts favorably with the wide assortment of disparate lord effects, such as Feline Sovereign and Thunderbreak Regent.

Atrifacts:

Erratic Portal makes its way in as extra support for the blink deck. It edges out the ok Skinwing.

Akroan Horse is a good token generator that can pump out a lot of value in fodder until your opponent can manage to get rid of it, but getting rid of the pony is easier than ever with the plethora of new sacrifice effects. It has been replaced with an artifact that gives tokens in a more immediate manner (and plays better with Welder), Precursor Golem.

Fairly large update this time, onto reasonings:

White:

Niblis of the Urn is low on pick and low on use. It has been rotated out in exchange for Fearless Fledgling, a more aggressive "flyer" for the same cost.

Auramancer rarely gets an enchantment back. While the dream of using Auramancer to loop something like Angelic Renewal or to reuse a powerhouse like Spectra Ward has happened, it's rare. For those who like that, Hanna is still available. The replacement, Canyon Jerboa, is better in a wider variety of situations.

Blue:

Everyone loves Hedron Crab. That being said, there isn't that much landfall support outside of green, and mill is mostly blue/black. Manic Scribe also mills 3 a turn, and ties into Delerium, which is more supported in black than landfall.

Narset's Reversal is a solid card... sometimes. It's certainly not bad, and has relevant plays. Midnight Clock is a mana rock for control decks that also refuels your hand in a minimum of 6 turns.

Writ of Passage does unblockable for a subset of creatures. Sower of Temptation also does unblockable (by making there be less blockers).

Black:

We needed more sac outlets, so in comes the old standby Carrion Feeder to replace Diregraf Ghoul. Nothing against a vanilla 1 mana 2/2, but Feeder is basically that in most circumstances.

Dark Salvation is a wonderful mana sink that rarely sinks more than 5 mana. Unfortunately, Zombies aren't majorly supported. Collective Brutality does -2/-2 sooner in the game and has alternate modes.

Massacre is a variant on the classic Damnation, casting for free under certain circumstances. Unfortunately, it's not fantastic outside of the free-cast. Extinction Event does better when cast for the full cost.

Red:

Goblin Bushwhacker is a finisher for the red aggro style builds, but without a consistent way to get early, it does less than is desired. Glorybringer is also a finisher for mono-red, and does its job very well.

Desperate Ravings's random discard is traded for the discard your hand drawback on Ox of Agonas, who also comes with a body.

Crimson Muckwader is traded for the faster Stromkirk Noble.

Green:

Sunblade Elf is switched for the more versatile Pelt Collector. Sunblade was fairly low pick due to the reliance on Plains and the lack of opportunities to utilize the activated ability. Collector should patch that up.

Atarka Beastbreaker is similar. 5 mana per pump is very doable, but is also a heavy investment. A mono-green Trygon Predator variant in Feline Sovereign does solid work on its own, but the anthem (even for a less supported tribe) should be the icing needed to draw more picks.

Blightning is a good card for Rakdos Aggro. Specifically it's a good reward for already playing red/black. However, it doesn't pull you into red/black on its own. For that, we turn to Rakdos, the Showstopper. Big, beefy, relevant abilities, and the chance to wipe the board.

I love Gaze of Granite. It's a board wipe that cleans up. However, Sarulf, Realm Eater just does more for more decks. It's counters, midrange, and a boardwipe rolled into one.

What to say about Horizon Chimera and Winged Coatl. They're both solid cards that earn low pick slots. Neither do anything fantastic which isn't great. Ice-Fang Coatl was an option for an uplift, but that requires bringing in snow as a theme. Therefore, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner and Zegana, Utopian Speaker are replacing those two.

As the sacrifice deck is moving into the Jund slice, the 3-color sacrifice card has moved from the outlet Butcher of the Horde to the payoff Korvold, Fae-Cursed King.

We continue to remove the fixed color color fixing, replacing the remaining 5 with 2 equipment, 2 lands, and a mana rock.

Equipment:
The classic Bonesplitter. Good for aggro.
The game winning Sword of Body and Mind.

Mana Rock:
Prismatic Lens, a "5 color" mana rock that costs 2. Other options included Sphere of the Suns and Coldsteel Heart, but Prism Lens won the day.

Lands:
Ash Barrens is 5 color fixing on the land slot that also helps supply Delerium and other grave fueled strategies.
Volrath's Stronghold isn't fixing, but it does support grave strategies. It's also part of the mini-cycle of lands that care about colors with Academy Ruins that may or may not be finished one day.
Not a swap for a mana rock, but Cinder Glade is exchanged for the manland Raging Ravine. More power to counters and midrange, here we come!

It's not that two color locked fixing is bad, but the fact that only a maximum of half the cube is seen at a given time means that color fixing can end up uneven or even incorrect for the gold distribution. As such, the fixed color color fixing is being fixed to be more open and provide more options.

Some more shuffling to replace cards with lower usages.

Dryad Militant is, on average, just a Savannah Lions. While Savannah Lions is not a bad card, it under-performs and is a late pick a good chunk of the time. Huatli allows for toughness based decks to win in a different way. If Huatli plays well, there is potential for other such effects, like Assault Formation or Doran.

Ouphe is usually a 1/1 that at best shuts down Obelisk of Alara or similar for a turn cycle, which isn't optimal. Goose functions as a multipurpose mana dork and mana sink and should be much appreciated in more decks.

Cathedral is good, but Ugin is just better for more decks.

Silverfur Partisan almost never generates a Wolf, there just isn't the support for the deck it wants. Unlike Young Pyromancer, Silverfur isn't on curve, so without the value, it huts in the slot. Mayor is a Wolf token generator that produces without need of other cards and can also anthem for the most common creature type in the cube.

Spikeshot is amazing when it works, but the average case is 3 mana for 1 damage. Given that 2 of that must be red, it's usually only happening once a turn. Grim Lavamancer is once per turn for 2 damage, though it does lose a goblin slot.

Thunderblust is too color dense to be an efficient threat, and the trample is one turn too late. It has been replaced with a more efficient recursive threat with faster evasion.

As much as I like the 6 power trampler, Golgari artifacts and any of the green sacrifice needs a bit of a boost.