(Pictured: Me, pointing out all the nifty new cards to the cube gremlin (also me))
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Multicolor: 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.
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.
Near Misses: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.