This is a small change, but I believe it to be necessary.

Like I said at the end of last year Deep Forest Hermit has been too strong on itself. To replace him, I got a copy of the original, better designed hermit. Deranged Hermit will give you the same amount of bodies and the same synergistic power, without winning the game on it's own. What made the modern counterpart better was the fact of staying in play for three whole turns before having to be sacrificed. The buff to the tokens he made was VERY relevant, being 9 power as 5 bodies for just 5 mana. Deranged Hermit can offer powerful and spectacular plays, but you'll have to work for it. For the lord effect to be relevant, you'll have to build around him. Now it'll be about his ability for going wide with small bodies, which is easier to deal with and puts him in decks that have more obvious weaknesses. Long story short, Deranged Hermit is just a better designed synergistic card, while Deep Forest Hermit is a pushed, modern era mid-range bomb.

On the other hand I've noticed artifact decks struggling. Because of that, I'm making general buffs to artifact-based strategies. I'm adding Urza's Bauble, which I like as an additional 0 mana artifact to recur and get value from if paired with the right enablers. Additionally, I want to test Tinker. It might be too strong, time will tell. Memory Jar is a card that I've never played with and should bring interesting decks to the table. It will be the best draw-seven-effect in the cube or tied with Echo of Eons. But these effects haven't shown to be broken or unfun, so I doubt it will cause too many problems.

2024 is coming to an end and I want to address some changes that have happened throughout last months and haven't been mentioned here.

Generally speaking
I'm happy with how the list is performing. Games are fun, balanced and interactive. Nevertheless, there are some concerns with some archetypes that don't see much play and need support, as well as some cards that seem too powerful and need to be monitored closely in the beginning of next year. Cards that will be added to the Watch-list because of balancing issues are specifically Deep Forest Hermit, Recurring Nightmare and Monastery Mentor. They're not gonna be replaced for now, but they've overperformed lately. I'll be watching their win-rate closely.

Because I like the power-level of these two cards and don't really want to remove them, I'm buffing aristocrat/sacrifice strategies as well as aggressive decks that can put pressure on these rather slow but powerful cards. The addition of Wonder will also avoid board-stalls, where these two cards excel, and will give more tools for aggro strategies to close-up games more reliably. It could be, that Deep Forest Hermit and Monastery Mentor also benefit from cards like Wonder or Marionette Apprentice, making them even stronger. In that case, I already have possible fun replacements in the Maybeboard.

I'm taking out cards that didn't perform well or were difficult/awkward to include in their corresponding niches and also cards presenting underwhelming or frustrating play patterns.

OUT:
Worldly Tutor (Weak/replaceable)
Hidden Stockpile (Weak/replaceable)
Venerated Loxodon (Weak/replaceable)
Attunement (Barely played/picked)
Universal Automaton (Barely played/picked)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (Frustrating/Underwhelming)
Damnable Pact (Barely played/picked)
Mind's Desire (Frustrating/Underwhelming)
Chromatic Sphere (Weak/replaceable)
Magmatic Insight (Weak/replaceable)

IN:
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Rosie Cotton of South Lane
Careful Study
Grafted Wargear
Academy Ruins
Marionette Apprentice
Wonder
Soul-Guide Lantern
Highway Robbery

Personal attachments
There are cards that have been in this list for a very long time without really being played often. These are cards that I do love, but nobody really even picks anymore and to be honest, they're just way too niche and/or weak for this environment.
The power level of the cube is where I want it to be. It's fairly competitive and fast, still allowing experimental brews to happen and new ideas to be explored. Sporemound is just too expensive for what it does and doesn't fit the general power level of this cube. I had kept it mostly as a combo piece in combination with Life and Limb. The latter is one of the cards that I thought, would tickle the curiosity and allow for fun and powerful brews to happen and it kind of did, but after some years I've come to realize, that although the effect can be very powerful, the amount of preparation and mana needed to make it work is just not ideal to say the least.
I want to keep the effect as a one-of in the cube, so I will replace it for Life // Death, which allows for the same ideas to be explored but for less mana and combined with a reanimator effect that is good to give redundance while playing in smaller groups. This is a more flexible and efficient card that fits the power level of the cube and replaces the mentioned, more slow and dubious counterpart enchantment.

Although a bit painful, I've had my share of tries with these two cards. Weaker cards require weaker environments to be fun, otherwise they're just frustrating.

Although the adjustments to the other colors are similar in nature, they're less obvious and include also cards that I want to test, more specifically Bone Miser and Scholar of New Horizons.

That being said, the overview of the changes looks like this:

OUT:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Magmatic Insight
Sporemound
Life and Limb
Idol of Oblivion
Brought Back
Mire Triton
Profane Tutor

IN:
Myr Battlesphere
Highway Robbery
Malevolent Rumble
Life // Death
Manifold Key
Scholar of New Horizons
Bone Miser
Murderous Rider

Green Fix
Storm related cards in green keep underperforming and feeling quite underwhelming in this cube's environment. There are certain green cards that until now have never found their home in the cube. Generally speaking, storm is an archetype that is not being played often, taking in consideration that we draft the cube mostly in a 4-player pool. Gaea's Will is a card that needs too much to go right to work. Even the decks that could exploit it, cheating it into the stack, have better cards at their disposal or aren't interested in splashing green for a very circumstantial Yawgmoth's Will effect. Glimpse of Nature and Chatterstorm fall into the same category. Based on that, I want to try to give other green-related archetypes more toys to play with, following the low player-pool premise mentioned in the last patch.

Glimpse of Nature - Wirewood Symbiote
(for elves and tap/untap)
Gaea's Will - Tough Cookie
(for food value and artifacts)
Chatterstorm - Spelunking
(for lands and tap/untap)

Blue Adjustment
Since last patch I've been trying to make discard and heavy self-mill decks more viable, because I don't have access to Bazaar of Baghdad because of not wanting to proxy it. Not long ago I watched a pre-modern game and was excited about seeing Attunement for the first time. In the same way, reading some MH3 spoilers I came across Tamiyo Meets the Story Circle and thought it made a perfect fit in a cube like this, taking in consideration that it supports things like Academy Manufactor, Lonis, Cryptozoologist, Goblin Welder and Emry, Lurker of the Loch (among many other things that work great with the second chapter of this saga).

Impulse - Attunement
(for discard and self-mill)
An Offer You Can't Refuse - Tamiyo Meets the Story Circle
(for discard, self-mill, artifacts and clue value)

Black/Red Adjustment
Three minor changes here. First Day of Class sees play in pauper as support for persist combos (which are also a narrow option here) and the cube was needing another haste effect. I wanted to try Cabal Therapy already for a while, since it supports the self-mill strategies well and gives them a sac outlet in the graveyard, which is pretty cool. Rakdos Charm is mostly something versatile that I wanted to test instead of Dreadbore. I figured there's already a good amount of creature/planeswalker removal in the Rakdos colors and Dreadbore as a multicolored spell is just harder to cast.
Summing it up:

Fists of Flame - First Day of Class
(for combo decks like persist and tokens/storm)
Liliana's Standard Bearer - Cabal Therapy
(for self-mill/sacrifice)
Dreadbore - Rakdos Charm
(general good tool and amazing sideboard card)

Patch 2024.01:

WHITE:
In:
Arcbound Javelineer
Touch the Spirit Realm
Enlightened Tutor
Timeless Dragon
Second Sunrise
Out:
Stonecloaker
Luminous Broodmoth
Pious Evangel
Shields of Velis Vel
Anointed Procession

BLUE:
In:
Shapesharer
Faerie Mastermind
Phantasmal Image
Displacer Kitten
Memory Lapse
Daze
Brain Freeze
Out:
Logic Knot
Thought Scour
Otherworldly Gaze
Amoeboid Changeling
Quickling
The Mirari Conjecture
Thassa's Oracle

BLACK:
In:
Diabolic Intent
Damnable Pact
Headless Rider
Toxic Deluge
Deadly Dispute
Pile On
Bitter Triumph
Custodi Lich
Oona's Prowler
Out:
Murderous Rider
Putrid Goblin
Eliminate
Echoing Decay
Sign in Blood

RED:
In:
Zealous Conscripts
Kari Zev's Expertise
Finale of Promise
Out:
Runaway Steam-Kin
Incinerate
Flameblade Adept

GREEN:
In:
Magus of the Candelabra
Priest of Titania
Out:
Heritage Druid

MULTICOLORED:
In:
Supreme Verdict
Kaya's Guile
Out:
Mistmeadow Witch

COLORLESS:
In:
Phyrexian Metamorph
Birthing Pod
Idol of Oblivion
Blasting Station
Nettlecyst
Triskelion
Out:
Lodestone Myr
Cloud Key
Panharmonicon
Manifold Key

LANDS:
In:
Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle
Field of the Dead

Notes - last Adjustments:

The Mirari Conjecture seems a bit slow and replaceable. Headless Rider is a big tool for the Zombie deck. I replace a blue card with a black card to balance out Blue and Black in the cube. Now both colors have the same amount of cards in their color identity.

I find Incinerate great, but boring (too generic). Hopefully taking it out gives Fiery Temper another chance. I leave Fiery Temper over it because it rewards synergy a little more. I will be paying attention to it as a watch list card, though. Might still be too weak. Enlightened Tutor Is a card that I wanted to try for a while now. It tutors a lot of combo pieces for cheap, having the classic "card disadvantage" factor to balance it's powerful effect. Hopefully it brings interesting and fun game patterns.

I plan to do a bunch of playtesting with this list before making any other changes.

Echoing Decay has shown to be underpowered, since it works as a sweeper only against tokens. I'm not a huge sweeper fan, but Toxic Deluge might be a necessary evil within the cube's environment.

Apart from being "win-more", Luminous Broodmoth is also not very fun to play against and white has a fair share of protection already. The Modular pieces seem to be hard to come by sometimes and are fun and interactive to play, so I add Arcbound Javelineer to the mix of white artifacts, to support the archetype a smidge more.

Costly Plunder is just worse than Deadly Dispute. Sometimes this could be a good thing, but in this case, the little buff might be necessary to make the effect playable.

A while ago I decided to take Amoeboid Changeling out of this cube. It's sad, cause I have a personal attachment to the card, but it was just not powerful enough and way too narrow. Quickling has been ok, but it's replaceable and many times awkward. I decided to give the cube it's changeling back as Shapesharer. I have high hopes for the card and expect it to bring fun and interesting plays to the table.

Stonecloaker is yet ANOTHER 3-drop in white, and I just don't see anybody picking or playing it over any other. The incidental graveyard hate is not good enough and the return to hand effect is already to be found in much better (cheaper) creatures. Touch the Spirit Realm fits the cube better, presents a fun, non-counterable, instant-speed effect to play around, and I find it to be just flavorful and versatile. I think the card is here to stay.

After some analysis, I found black to be surprisingly underrepresented, and I must say I've felt it. Zombie and mono black decks are less common and black being so powerful and splashable needs to have enough playables. I added another Orzhov card, as well as two new black additions:

Kaya's Guile - I cant't stress enough how much I love this card. It's similar to Kolaghan's Command, which has been an all-star forever. No doubts about this card performing well.

Diabolic Intent - A synergy based tutor. I Don't see anything wrong with it.

Damnable Pact - Cool way to win the game, also a good card in general for control, midrange and combo. Has been in the cube list several times before. It will be monitored.

After playtesting it's now obvious to me that Fastbond is too strong for this environment. It just doesn't need so much to be incredibly powerful and most of the time, when you get to answer it, it's already too late.

Maybe I'll put it back in the future if I want the cube to go up in power level. I would have to change the whole cube to be two turns faster than it is now and that would change many, many things. At this point in time, I like the speed and rhythm of the cube without Fastbond.

Magus of the Candelabra might be too weak, but it's effect can be very explosive and feels like a sensible way of supporting combo decks. It works with all the bounce lands, Lotus Field, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and High Tide, which are all cards that needed a bit more support. I think the card might perform well if it dodges removal for a turn. That is obviously it's biggest "if".

The best cards in the cube are all vintage cube all-stars:
Skullclamp, Palace Jailer, Demonic Tutor, Survival of the Fittest, Recurring Nightmare, Mother of Runes, Swords to Plowshares, Upheaval, Thoughtseize, Counterspell, among others.

What I've come to realize is that, even though the cube has innumerable ways of assembling combos (infinite or not), people are not very inclined to try them, because most of the time it's easier to put together a midrange "good stuff" deck. This is generally a characteristic of cube as a format, I think.

I love the synergistic aspect of the cube, and that's why I don't add many planeswalkers or stand-alone cards, but midrange still seems to be a very safe way of ensuring a draft, because of the efficiency of removal and disruption spells in the cube. I'm cool with those, but I want to try to give combo players new tools, to encourage more risky drafting styles and more ambitious builds.

1. Brain Freeze:
   The storm archetype without rituals or power cards feels like a rough place to be, for example. Even when it works out, the winning lines take a long time to win and feel like a leap into the abyss for both the player and the opponent. That's why I decided to give storm one of it's most renowned win conditions. Brain Freeze doesn't only work as a win condition, but also as a powerful enabler and that's what I'm interested about. Will it be too strong? We'll see.

2. Fastbond:
   Another combo-centered piece entering the list is Fastbond. I had removed Azusa, Lost but Seeking from the cube, because of being too oppressive in a lands deck. One might think that adding Fastbond is way worse, and it could be, but hear me out. Azusa was oppressive because it was also a narrow card for 3 mana. If you had some lands pieces you could wheel Azusa easily, since people wouldn't take it very highly. She was also a midrange card and not a combo card. Fastbond will most likely never wheel and will be played in different, more ambitious lists. I also intend to leave Courser of Kruphix out of the list, to make the life loss a true drawback.

3. Zealous Conscripts:
   Watching Vintage Cube content, I've come to realize the versatility and power of this effect, and I find it nice to be able to have the Kiki-Jiki combo on a single color. Zealous Conscripts also encourages a synergy based deckbuilding.

4. Lotus Field:
   Until now, untappers like Kiora's Follower, Cloud of Faeries and Voyaging Satyr were always on the weaker side of ramp. Even with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and bounce-lands in the cube, I found untap-shenanigans decks to be rather difficult to build or clunky, since Gaea's Cradle is not in the list and the closest thing to it is Growing Rites of Itlimoc, which is significantly slower. I think with Lotus Field this type of strategy will be more viable.

5. Displacer Kitten:
   Last but not least. The kitten seems like a very fun and strong inclusion to blue decks. There's no brain-dead planeswalker interaction to go infinite with here, but there are a lot of ways to use Displacer Kitten's insane ability.

I love Mausoleum Wanderer but honestly it just hasn't performed well. Shrieking Drake should be a bit more versatile as another Ninja-enabler and a good synergy piece for blue-green strategies. Most of all I want to give more support to Glimpse of Nature, Shardless Agent and Lonis, Cryptozoologist.
Mycoloth is a similar story. Sacrifice/token archetypes have more efficient and cheaper pieces and ramp decks have better pay-offs in general. It is very powerful when it does it's thing, but it's slow and easy to answer. Gilt-Leaf Archdruid should give an interesting win condition to W/G decks. Mostly to decks trying to do changeling shenanigans, which are hard to pull off and should be rewarded. Cards like Shields of Velis Vel, Maskwood Nexus and Mirror Entity should be more attractive having Gilt-Leaf Archdruid in the list.