These previews are coming really close together even though the sets are far apart! I may repost this once we're closer to the set release, especially since some of the cards I'm currently looking at cutting for Spider-Man cards may be cut for Final Fantasy cards instead.
White:
Blue:
Black:
Red:
Green:
Multicolor:
Rex, Cyber Hound -> Sensational Spider-Man
Colorless:
Land:
Given the size of this cube and the number of sets currently available, I expect this set to be a pretty drastic overhaul to the cube. I expect to need to cut the energy subtheme in this release - overall the pieces are fairly low-hanging fruit and I'm not sure the payoff is strong enough. I expect Assaultron Dominator and Synth Eradicator to stick around for a bit on their own merits, but not the rest.
White:
Brotherhood Scribe -> Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant
Shire Shirriff -> Cloud, Midgar Mercenary
Westfold Rider -> Dragoon's Lance
Tegan Jovanka -> Aerith Gainsborough
Automated Assembly Line -> Sidequest: Catch a Fish
Defenders of Humanity -> Ishgard, the Holy See // Faith & Grief
Blue:
Elrond, Lord of Rivendell -> Jill, Shiva's Dominant // Shiva, Warden of Ice
Jetfire, Ingenious Scientist // Jetfire, Air Guardian -> Valkyrie Aerial Unit
Opt -> ???
Glimmer of Genius -> Laguna's Dreams
Black:
Falkenrath Forebear -> Cecil, Dark Knight // Cecil, Redeemed Paladin
Lychguard -> Tonberry
Necron Overlord -> Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel
Bitter Downfall -> Exterminate
Cranial Plating -> Black Mage’s Rod
Red:
Gloin, Dwarf Emissary -> Freya Crescent
Swarming of Moria -> Firion, Wild Rose Warrior
Ryan Sinclair -> Lightning, Security Sergeant
Thrill-Kill Disciple -> Samurai Katana
Chaos Warp -> Fire Magic
Green:
Elvish Mystic -> Sazh's Chocobo
Hormugaunt Horde -> Tifa Lockhart
Watchful Radstag -> Traveling Chocobo
Inscription of Abundance -> Commune with Beavers
Rampant Growth -> ???
Bow of Nylea -> Esper Origins // Summon: Esper Maduin
Hardened Scales -> Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis // Lasting Fayth
Multicolor:
Lord of the Nazgul -> Emet-Selch, Unsundered // Hades, Sorcerer of Eld
Bleeding Effect -> Hildibrand Manderville // Gentleman's Rise
Iron Man, Titan of Innovation -> Vivi Ornitier
Colorless:
Inherited Envelope -> Summon: Bahamut
Land:
HELIOS One -> Starting Town
I was initially excited about Weeping Angel, but it's mostly a roadblock and not a win condition, and it having wings and being an Angel but not having flying has resulted in play issues (I had to be reminded of this right before I typed this up!).
I've wanted to work on a more consistent direction for Dimir, and while Lord of the Nazgûl doesn't really compare super well to Iron Man, Titan of Innovation, it does couple with Inquisitor Eisenhorn to point Dimir in a specific direction. I'll be hoping to add to this archetype as more UB sets come out, which is also supported in Izzet, other than the aforementioned Iron Man.
I've been considering this change for a while, and am moving forward with it. I'm trying to avoid generic "good stuff" guild cards when possible, and while this doesn't help focus Azorius as much as I'd like, it does synergize better with other things going on in the cube.
I'm concerned Bayek of Siwa may be too strong in this cube relative to the rest of the cube's power, so I'm removing him in favor of another card that synergizes with the rest of the cube.
The Superdrop doesn’t release for another couple weeks, but I fully intend to add all three two-color superheroes.
Removing two reprints, one of whom I don't want to get a surge foil version of, and will test Shire Shirriff and Hormagaunt Horde at least until the Final Fantasy set in 2025.
I wasn't expecting to make another change this year ahead of the Final Fantasy set in 2025, but there was a Secret Lair announcement with mechanically unique Universes Beyond cards! I don't support 3-color cards in a cube this size, so I'll be adding three of the cards:
Multicolor:
Cait, Cage Brawler -> Wolverine, Best There Is
Torens, Fist of the Angels -> Black Panther, Wakandan Hero
Electrosiphon -> Iron Man, Titan of Innovation
I'm making a few changes to colorless - Steel Overseer and Wasteland are being removed as reprints that either may be too strong in this context or have not enough support to warrant inclusion.
Dino DNA is being brought in because I somehow completely misread its text and it's something I want to try out. Laser Screwdriver gets the cut as the mana rock that I'm least interested in keeping in.
I wasn't planning to cut Lightning Bolt so soon, but picked up a copy of Ecstatic Beauty and want to try it out. I'm cutting a couple mana dorks in green, which I've been more lax on my design goals for compared to other colors.
Making a couple more Boros-related changes. Eowyn is strong but not related to the Boros archetype I want to support. Bureau Headmaster and Puresteel Paladin feels redundant, and Battlefield Improvisation feels like an interesting combat trick to try for now.
I added Exocrine when I wasn't sure how many wraths I needed, and I thought having one as a creature was a plus. I'm not sure Exocrine is efficient enough to be reliable. I have my eye on readding either Coward // Killer or Megaton's Fate if another is needed.
Meanwhile, Ryan Sinclair plays well with a few other cards that care about casting from other zones as well as with the quantity of Equipment floating around.
I've decided to try out Eagle Vision in addition to Arwen's Gift. I don't expect to keep both, but whichever is worse can be cut when the next Universes Beyond set comes out!
The other three cards here are removing lands that don't currently have a foil option. If these are printed in a future set, the painlands will make it back in for pretty much any guild they print them for.
There are enough artifact creatures in the cube to put this in, and this removes another reprint!
I think Ponder is probably the strongest of the various 1-mana draw spells available here, so I'm replacing it with a weaker one.
The rest of these are to shift to better-supported themes in the cube within each color and/or to add more unique cards.
Making a couple changes to black. Necron Overlord plays in sort of the same space as Pitiless Plunderer, benefitting from the artifact token synergies in the cube.
Out of the Tombs plays a bit differently from Bastion of Remembrance, but still leverages some of the aristocrat packages, albeit not as well with tokens.
Swapping removal spells in black for UB-unique ones, even if they're on average a bit worse.
I've intended to have these as part of the cube for a bit, and finally got around to picking them up. Start the TARDIS involves planeswalking, so the intent is that whoever drafts that card will have access to this planechase deck (both players will share the deck). I'm limiting the plane deck to these specific cards because Start the TARDIS is in the Paradox Power deck and depicts the Thirteenth Doctor, so I only want to include planes associated with the Thirteenth Doctor.
Making this equipment swap to lean slightly into historic and to have an equipment that makes something unblockable to end games instead of having another that grants first strike.
