After some thought 3 mana for a rock is too slow for the game pace. The counters deck will be fine without the additional support. Solar Array just felt off and was a last pick in a recent draft.
Chalice is reliable and expedites plays.

Decided to not try Lens Flare based on on power level. Did not want to readd Swords to Plowshares so opted to put back in an old favorite Angel of Invention.
Solid performer great for stabilization and closing games.

Adding Dragonspark based on May's recommendation. I cut Bolt and added the Frog thing. We chatted about it and decided this is the way.

All right huge post Cube Con 2025 update based on player feedback.

The cube was drafted 2 times and both 3-0 decks were some long form version of KCI. Now this does not occur often at all in our group and the exposure to a vast array of players has unveiled a few changes required.

For years and yes years I have held my ground with pushing the peaks of power within my environments. Each time I attend Cube Con, 4 times featured I have received constructive criticism about cards that feel out of place. Until now I have held my ground, but this time I had lots of time to ponder on the responses.

I have decided to cut cards that feel out of place as the environment (not Mirrodin or the ilk) has been compared to what players expect out of a typical artifact centric environment. Until now I have been resistant but with the massive card pool available the change feels right now so I am going to test it out by cutting some staples.

First there was a whoopsie database error I just found for the submitted cube con list. Hullcarver was in the cube not Monoist Sentry. That was a last second change I fat fingered before the event. Hot fix.

Now the darlings cut and why.

I started down this path prior to Cube Con by cutting Faithless Looting and adding Melded Moxite. Yes Looting is better but the other is a artifact game piece. The path on culling standard playable cards had begun.

Now a few cards that will not go and was mentioned.

1. Counterspell
2. Ponder
3. Preordain

These cards like a few are sure standard cards but fit on art and are needed to prop the goal of the cube. Strictly worse cards are not in just to cull darlings. A card has to be threated by a better or thematic addition such Faithless Looting versus Melded Moxite. Moxite wins because its an artifact that does a similar-ish effect and provides a game piece to support the goal.

Thanks to "OnTheWind" (one of the players that 3-0d with KCI and a Cube Con team member) noting that Affinity was not in the environment and should be. The case was made clear so I am adding the mech. Why was it not in there before? Simply put I want to push outside of the Mirrodin like expectation of what a artifact cube should be.

So here we go! Adding Affinity and Cutting Staples. Affinity is to help Pod type decks thrive.

Lens Flare is in to cut the staple, I will keep Path to Exile but Swords to Plowshares is a instant P1P1 and I want to reward players that lean into the synergies. Path is still needed to deal with the big threats that must be removed from the game until I get a better fast option. May go in the future.

Thoughtcast was supposed to be in before the event, but I did not get it in the mail in time and did not want to rush a hotfix. Cryptic Coat will go elsewhere and will be fine without it.

Force of Will is a big cut in reshaping the game play to more mechanical. Simply put I want to get rid of free spells in the environment. I can justify it in the Horror Cube with the arcane spells of dark magic but not here. Its just out of place and has been for a while. Testing Valkyrie Aerial Unit as a big flying beater that fills the yard for other strategies with Surveil.

Thought Monitor is a Muldrifter at home for the environment. Wingsplicer is cool but Golems are fine as light support 3/3's and having this card shot down could lead to a weird anthem issues in combat.

Another darling cut, there are 3 other effects that replace Inquisition and it fits the P1P1 no thought category versus the others. Refurbished Familiar was recommended by Sammich (Chris) as it has played well for him.

Demonic Junker is cool removal on them that can attack in.

Bolt out Frog in, this was a tough one but it I am cutting staples well Bolt will be fine everywhere else. Frog is boring but has options for the players and helps POD. The cube has lots of on theme burn spells that reward players for embracing the artifacts or for a few more mana for those that do not lol.

Rust Harvester is another card that showed up late post the Cube Con 2025 change cut off. Scrap Mastery is a live the dream card that has happened much like Living Death. The set up to make it work has been a struggle. It may work better now with the sac deck being stronger but I wanted to push aggro more to challenge the KCi type decks with Rust Harvester.

Re adding Thundering Tanadon, its boring but effective to keep green on pro artifacts and hold the slot. Snakeskin was overkill as I have 4 protection cards and it was less on theme.

So I was almost going to cut the OG artifact lands because they are not indestructible. I am keeping them for now to be sac lands and artifact count.

Sojourner can fetch them or preferably the indestructible lands. Either way the Affinity is a neat addition and more on them to what I am trying do accomplish with the environment.

Well that's it. Culled some darlings. Let me know what you think! We will discuss this on a future episode of Uber Cube. Happy cubing!

I wanted Into the Pit to work. After testing it played like a very bad Citadel and took a slot in the deck. Monoist Sentry was a card I wanted to test and with the 4/1 DT stat it is like a Flashslash in combat. Plus it is great for crew and spacecraft.

The more I looked at Hylderblade the less it spoke to me. I am swapping out for Hymn of the Faller for a more dynamic card to help black with its sacrifice and graveyard game play. Happy cubing!

I am adding Iron Spider, Stark Upgrade as a companion to Steel Overseer. Yes the counters deck is already strong Stu lol, but this may give another player a lane into that deck or just support the player trying to close with Steel Overseer TBD. Its a "Stark" upgrade to the previous and I did not want to cut the previous for thematic reasons and the fact that Steel lands on 2 is huge versus 3 with the Spider Suit. I did want to limit the amount of UB outside of say Fallout that fit but the suit is solid. Gonna test at Cube Con. Happy cubing!

Dune Drifter in Tide Hollow out.

Dusk Charge plays well into a recursive shell and is able to attack well when crewed.

Tide Hollow is okay and the very limited number of Orzhov artifact cards makes them interchangeable.

Happy cubing!

This set is a massive boon for artifact cubes. So massive in fact that I had to use a great deal of discipline lol while making choices.

One of the primary goals is to increase the artifact creature count while supporting the core archetypes of the cube. This increase in artifact centric creatures opens a high level of Disenchant type of interactions that I have to be aware of.

A second tenant of the cube is to migrate to futuristic art such as Robots, mechs, and Golems etc. I want this cube to lean more towards esthetics as much as complex gameplay.

Also this change is in preparation for Cube Con 2025 where it will be featured in the main event by community vote, thanks to everyone who voted!

Patrolling Peacemaker- this card is a boon to the proliferation/+1+1 counters deck while also meeting the ascetics of the environment. Collector's Cage served a similar role however the Peacemaker will punish the OP for targeting you or your stuff adding a layer of protection to the deck.

Annul is a card that I have been asked to run for years. Now that I have achieved a critical density of artifacts the card can enter. Prior it felt like it hindered the idea of the cube. Blade of Share Souls goes infinite in so may ways yet never did. Players did not seem to pick the clone like effect of the card and for that reason I am testing others.

Desculpting Blast is a Unsummon with an upside. It can make for a nice tempo swing with a 2/1 attacker attached. Urza's Command, this card has been in and out and I want to give other cards a chance in the sun.

Cryogen Relic verus Mnemonic Sphere. The ETB and LTB with a stun counter added a layer that I could not ignore in Cryogen enough said lol.

Hylderblade is a highly aggressive card that supports the sacrifice and equipment strategies in the cube. Infernal grasp is a cut based on my move to support a more thematic world building concept and generically powerful cards are on notice.

Ubral having no cost for the effect of Surveil is huge! Chronomacer while great I think will go unnoticed from the cube for a similar role.

Kavaron Harrier in test was great! The mana sink ability can help to build a 2/2 army that supports artifact count. The Ronin always had the same Dash like patters of attack and pick it back up.

Warmaker Gunship versus Pia I know I just added Pia and talked about her in an episode but a FTK Artifact is great! Warmaker Gunship has fun play patterns and acted as a Flame Tongue Kavu at home in the environment. Station as a whole was hit or miss during test and only a few are cracking the list.

Weapons Manufacturing Munitions tokens is the perfect sac fodder! Also they play into Artifact counts etc. Diamond Pick axe is cool but not needed.

Melded Moxite versus Faithless Looting- this may look strange but this is my tilt to cutting staples found in every cube through thematic attrition. The Moxite leans towards that immersive feel I want the cube to have and while on rate Faithless Looting is a slam dunk for that reason I am cutting it.

Edge Rover is a card that can do something immediately versus Alloy Animist that has always felt like filler. Edge Rover is a great attacker and can fight against those pesky Thopters in the short game. Green is not aggressive in the cube but a 1 drop for 2 that has reach is solid and its an artifact. Gilded Goose is on the chopping block as well and was almost cut by the 1 green drop Station card but it fell short during playtest. Gilded Goose you are on notice as well lol.

Pinnacle Emissary versus Third Path. Well Pinnacle leans more towards embracing the vibe of the cube and is a robot. Third Path feels too easy to make creatures with low impact on the board. Stats, robots and flyers are the reason for this change. Warp is also very solid and I will add more cards with this effect if printed on theme.

Surge Conductor helps Modular and Proliferation (which probably needs no help lol). Cathodion is a cool card to sac but has had little impact as of late.

Solar Array is a rock that adds counters and fixes. Chief of the Foundry is just a lord and has fallen in favor amongst our drafters. Sweet art isn't keeping you in Chief of the Foundry!

Extinquisher Battleship is a Meteor Golem and a 4 damage board wipe for 1 more mana plus the Station at 5 is super easy to achieve for a 10/10 flying trample spaceship I mean power creep much lol. I love Meteor Golem but the Golems package with the artificers will not miss it much. I will keep in a binder for a later date.

This was pretty big update for a stable cube imo. but I wanted to shake things up a bit and tilt the cube more towards a thematic or immersive feel and not just generically powerful cards in every pack.

Uber Cube episode coming soon on why each decision was made.

Happy cubing!

Adding Blacksmith's Skill to bolster the counter play section of the cube.
Nesting Bot is only okay in here with the potential to help the sacrifice decks etc but this is better performed with tokens. Also the Max Speed mechanic is a one off in the environment making for additive distraction a bit.

Deadly Dispute more aligns with the cube since it produces a Treasure. I am adding Eviscerator's Insight to The Femme most likely. Both are great just one leans a little more towards the cubes mechanics.

Happy cubing!

Lets start with Ancient Stone this card outside of the 1 time it killed someone by being flipped of the top of the deck to Combustible Gearhulk (it was funn!) hasn't performed. I wanted to test out Cityscape Leveler as a top end and it has Unearth so that pushes it over the top for me.

Beacon of Unrest has seen little to no play. Reanimator is lightly supported and at 5 MV it is rarely seen. In addition without a ton of shuffle effects or Fetch Lands the card may never resurface after being played 1 time.
I have have decided to add Gix's Command. The art is on theme. The abilities fit multiple strategies and I think in direct comparison on MV alone this card far exceeds Beacon.

Happy cubing!

Pia Nalaar is going in to further support the Thopters package. In addition she both supports aggro with her pseudo fire breathing effect. Lastly she supports the artifact aristocrats package while the sac ability and further supports aggro and midrange decks with the taking away the ability to block an attacker.

Volatile Wanderglyph was in to support a aggressive 2 drop but was never picked.
The thought was rummaging and the Golem synergies would shine but I observed players after 3 drafts leaving it in the side board. No evasion hurts this creature and compared to the context of the environment it does not shine to drafters.

Happy cubing!

Feldon has outlive his impact on the cube. While flavorful to the max, the associated cost of the activated ability has relegated it to the 15th picked often.

The speed of the cube has increased since the addition of aggressive decks, making his impact less relevant and more of a trap.

Adding Shrapnel Blast after years of being out of the cube.
It’s kind of a placeholder, but it is a card that I always enjoyed and I like thematic version of a Lava Axe. Happy cubing!

Arcum after updating the cube feels too slow and too conditional. Curie seems like a more dynamic card that can add a layer of depth to game play. I love Arcum but after a recent episode and discussing the card he feels out of place compared to say Goblin Welder so hence the change.

I have decided to add The Earth Crystal. This card supports the +1+1 package and plays nicely with both The Ozalith and The Great Hinge as well as others for more redundancy. This also helps to build green's identity into counters over just artifact hate.

Maul Splicer has been in since the cube was started and 7 mana for 6 power isn't cutting it any longer. yes it supports the Golem decks but cost too much to be impactful or support that deck any longer.

Happy cubing!

Why am I making this change?

I have tested Urza's Saga before and was unimpressed?

Well now that the aggro package has been bolstered significantly I think Urza's Saga may have a role to play. As a pseudo fog (-2,0) again aggro and a combat trick to drop a construct I can see a time where the control player wants to produce a immediate response state.

I have been watching Cube Con 1 coverage again and again, and I want to ensure that there is a control deck that can combat the fast attack decks now less Selesyna but now Boros and Gruul.

Master of Etherium has seen its time in the sun and has felt very aged compared to what blue does now.

Also prepping for UberCubeathon and Cube Con 2025 where this cube has been submitted for vote (Cube Con 2025).

Happy cubing!

Adding Welding Jar to protect fragile strategies such as KCI or POD and is a excellent loop for those type of decks as well. Everflowing was the low card to cut when cuts are very tight. Mana rocks are important since I do not have access to BOP etc with my personal restrictions placed upon the cube. Prepping for UberCubeathon 2025! Happy cubing!