Mmmmmm yummy more utility lands. Stormcaller is good in proactive blue decks, but even there it's not thrilling, and it's basically unplayable in the more controlling or even midrangey builds.
I am proud to say that I identified the surveil lands as quite strong early on, but I had two concerns about swapping out a cycle of shocks for a full cycle of surveil lands:
I'm lucky that a couple of designers whose cubes are somewhat modeled after or inspired by Bun Magic made the switch awhile back and have reported back that it's worked out great for them. Upon further reflection I don't think this change is going to do much to affect how much damage players take from their mana base in the average game. If you have a shock and a surveil land in your deck as options to fetch I don't think it's going to be correct to play off-curve to get the surveil trigger and buffer your life total slightly. I expect players will still fetch-shock and play on curve when they can and the surveil lands will mostly take the place of a shock land fetched into play tapped anyway because its controller had nothing to do with that mana. In terms of decks getting their untapped, on-color shock lands: I think players will just have to adjust. If you're an aggressive deck that needs to curve out you'll likely have to prioritize your shock land(s) a little more highly than you did prior to this change.
I'm also adding Sphinx of Forgotten Lore and Searslicer Goblin with this update, two cards that I think are great fits from Foundations but somehow overlooked.
Finally, Laelia, the Blade Reforged is coming back in. I know when I cut her I said that I could see re-adding her in the future, and here we are. The main reason for bringing her back actually has nothing to do with Laelia herself and everything to do with Irencrag Pyromancer. Pyromancer is a card that I really enjoy playing with and think is quite fun and elegant, and even though it didn't really fit the goals of this cube completely, it was close enough. Now, however, I'm working on a new cube in which Irencrag Pyromancer is a perfect fit, so it's coming out to join the stack of cards on my desk that will eventually become Sacred Geometry. This is actually a secondary reason for cutting a cycle of shock lands as well: I need a cycle for that cube, too!
A lot of these cards were in the maybeboard because I wanted to find a place to play them, and https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/sacred-geometry is that place.
I am significantly lower on this card that many other people I have been talking to about it, but it's still worth a test. I love a 1 drop that is worth protecting and spending removal spells to clear the way for.
I think this was a big oversight on my part to not consider this card more carefully when it was spoiled. My gut instinct was that it only made sense in a cube that supports a sacrifice/aristocrats theme, which I do not, but after playing with it in vaguely similar cubes I think it's actually quite a bit more flexible. There are so many ways to commit crimes in this cube that bringing it back repeatedly should be trivial, and I think that's something even a control deck is interested in. Imagine if instead it was a card that said "as long as ~ is in your graveyard, whenever you commit a crime you may pay 1 to make a 2/2 token that cannot block". It's obviously not quite that good because only one can be in play at a time, but if your opponent is swinging a Miner at you it feels awful to trade with it. You don't want to give them value on their next crime, so it ends up with a weird sort of evasion. This will also play nicely with...
I was really, really surprised at how much fun I had playing with this Kaito in another cube recently. It has so many things that I tend to dislike: it's both wordy and complicated, it makes unique tokens, it puts deathtouch creatures into play, and it has repeatable lifegain stapled onto it. The fact that I don't hate this card is honestly a miracle. Not only don't I hate it, I actually really like it:
Boy, it sure was good to take a big step back from this Cube for the past 6+ months while I was riding the Neoclassical and 100 Ornithopters waves. I feel like it's super clarifying to come back and look at this list, and it was trivially easy for me to identify over a dozen cards I would happily cut for options more inline with my goals.
AddsI was high on this as soon as it was spoiled and I'm happy to report that it's already put in some good work. The baseline of a 2/2 attacking Bob has proven viable, and the saddle cost is not out of the question.
This card has been an absolute house in this cube and others like it. It's singlehandedly a great pull into black-based control and I expect it to be a power outlier moving forward.
Loathe as I am to add more repeatable life gain, I am on record as adoring the titans, and this is a welcome addition. At least this one more decisively ends the game compared to Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath. By my estimation, Phlage is noticeably stronger against creature decks than Uro but I think substantially worse against control decks.
Though the pun rubbed me the wrong way initially, I feel as though this card is well on its way to making a reputation for itself that will be far more widespread than Psychatog, if it hasn't already. I think the frog is very strong, and it's cool to get an Ophidian at Bun power level.
A new tool mostly for Urza's Saga as I'm still not willing to introduce the repeated life gain from Shadowspear. I worry players won't even give this a chance, but I hope I am wrong.
This one is probably somewhat controversial, but Electrolyze is so good against aggro it's almost gross, and it's really not needed when I am already on Forked Bolt, Arc Trail, and Lava Dart. Sequence is more high variance, but I think that makes it a lot more exciting.
Anyone who knows me and knows this cube should not be surprised to see Slickshot Show-Off here. Windmill slam powerhouse.
Call is just too clean not to try. I actually made this cut ages ago because of how complicated and unique-token-ful Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon is. Honestly, this hasn't seen much play, but I think it could potentially have legs.
I also think this one needs no explanation. Exactly what this cube wants.
I don't love how indulgent and downsideless this card is, but I do love me a two drop that is worth protecting and can run away with the game, and Kitsa is for sure that. This is a case of me being willing to spend my complexity budget.
I'm more on the fence about this one, but I like moving the Field of the Dead deck into a more dedicated color combo. This is a case where the card is basically just as complicated as Kitsa, but I'm less confident in how I'll feel about the play patterns here.
Cuts Cuts Which Require an ExplanationThis card is immensely swingy, and for awhile it was the kind of card I wanted people to be rewarded for building around, but as time has gone on I've found that it's either useless or warps the entire game around it and I'm just off it.
See Slick Sequence writeup above.
Realistically, this just went and found Field of the Dead, and I don't want a precious 5-drop slot being so narrow. I also don't actually want to reward people for playing 5 colors if they can get there.
Too Complicated or WordyI thought Phyrexian Revoker was pretty good against equipment like Umezawa's Jitte or planeswalkers.
Keeping things conservative here.
Compared to Spell Queller, No More Lies is cleaner, better at signaling control, and doesn't have the feel-bad interaction with Teferi, Time Raveler. I think the exile is a big deal in this environment. It's a reward for identifying the open lane, not a reason to be UW.
Trostani, Three Whispers is just beef, but maybe enough beef to be playable. You can hit her off of Collected Company and play her as a light splash in either a mostly white or a mostly green deck.
I prefer Bedlam Reveler, but Fugitive Codebreaker rounds off the rough edges: it's got a better floor and a less ridiculous ceiling. Maybe that will be worth playing a Disguise card? Time will tell.
Two Surveil lands for now, maybe more in the future.
Flame of Anor continues to bum me out whenever I see it in a pack, so out it comes.
Elusive Otter has not really been performing and has always been weird as a UG spells-matter payoff. If it was putting up numbers it might be worth the oddness, but happy to cut it for now.