In a previous version of the cube, I had Nettle Sentinel and Elvish Eulogist. They were cut, but I want to give them another chance. Seed of Hope is too costly: milling yourself is a brutal cost in this format.

Like Spear Spewer, Cuombajj Witches never felt good enough. Ichor Drinker was a cool idea, but didn't offer enough for one mana. And it's other "mode" was too expensive.

As we cut cards that did too little/were never drafted, we explore new options.

Kunai offers a weird little minigame: collect three mana, keep a creature alive, and win the game. Maybe too good, maybe too bad, we will see.

In future, Resolute Reinforcements will become Servo Exhibition. And Last Breath will be cut.

After discussion, I like the idea of giving color pairs slightly more defined archetypes. It doesn't take many cards to do so, either.

In the meantime, we are cutting some cards that felt too powerful. Spell Snare may be just as bad, but it is far more restricted than Force Spike or Minor Misstep. We are also reducing the 2-for-1s in red.

Brawler represents a lot of risk for very little reward. It has a lot of stats, but that actually doesn't mean much in this format. Spellspear will never get flipped, except perhaps as a desperate last resort once in a blue moon. But its front side represents a lot of potential damage thanks to its keywords.

Mill is still very viable, but it feels like it needs a little help. Cathartic adept has summoning sickness and limited stats. So the power of it feels tempered.

Oracle of tragedy was too expensive and not that useful. Even her anti mill mode has limited targets in this list.

After some games, Elspeth's Smite has rapidly proved to be too powerful.

It can kill any creature in the cube (with one fringe case in a pumped Exemplar). More importantly, it is instant speed. The flexibility it offered and tempo swings it caused were just too great. Its restriction didn't matter much, since combat is usually when you want to kill a creature anyway.

Prismatic Ending is also a very powerful card. But it is a sorcery. Opressive Rays has proven to be a decent, but not broken card. And the 3 is practically never paid, meaning it is almost a hard removal spell. Hopefully Prismatic will be on the same level.

This also calls Fatal Push in to question. But White is a stronger color in this cube, thanks to its propensity for lifegain. If Push becomes a problem, there's plenty of other options.

As per previous blog posts, we continue to scale back life gain. Milling two cards is a significant cost in this format.

This does leave green without much instant speed interaction. So we are cutting Fog, after never seeing it cast a single time.

I want to test Giant Growth, but I like the lower stats and protection a bit more.

Blade of Oni's 1 toughness proved too much of a weakness. It never lived long enough to be threat. And as I suspected, reconfiguring it took too much tempo loss.

Fortifying Draught is too much life gain for one mana. As we discussed in previous updates, the lack of board development is not enough of a cost to pay for 2 life. Especially when Draught can protect a creature or cause a favorable trade.

Vesperlark is a good card in theory. But it never really got a chance to shine. Evoking it feels like a waste of tempo. Hard casting it feels too slow. It also dies to a stiff breeze.

This reduces the number of flying finishers to a very small number. But that may not be a bad thing. Having multiple axes of finisher/evasion is a good thing. It reduces the value of Ezuri's Archers, but that's fine.

I also like white being the lifegain color, at a cost. Cutting the other cards that gained big amounts of life was the right call. But paying a creature and a card and two mana for four life seems like a risky but reasonable decision. Also blanks opponent removal, at the cost of holding up two mana.

Smite replaces Vortex. Partly to make white more reactive, partly because two Arrest effects felt a little dull.

See previous blog posts for some of my thoughts. But the major themes here are cutting weak cards, and scaling back strong cards.

I love the gameplay of Seal of Removal. This is a format of tempo, however, and being able to "store" a card across turns is insane. I considered adding Reckless Barbarian, but it seemed to strong for that reason. So though it breaks my heart, Seal has got to go.

I've also reduced the amount of lifegain in general. As we discussed last time, Compass is too oppressive. Blossoming Calm isn't as powerful: you get the life in two installments. But it can still be enough to survive a hit and bounce back. Sheltered Valley might give you up to three life. But Radiant Fountain is a perfectly reasonable card. Keeping you off a color in a four land deck is a significant downside to consider.

I'm reducing blue's interaction slightly. It had the most disruptive cards by far. It still does But countermagic requires a small downside of holding up mana. Minor Misstep might be too good, but it doesn't stop most win conditions, and there's the risk it does nothing.

Hopefully, these changes result in fewer games that feel unwinnable. Risk-reward and tight gameplay are what we want. Not slogfests where someone wins off the back of one lifegain spell. There's still room for a "control" mirror in here. But control should need to put more effort in to stabilizing.

Renegade Tactics is cute, but it never feels like it does enough. The same is true of Fountain of Renewal and Drowner of Secrets.

Mill is a valid win condition. But waiting until turn three to get going with it feels like a trap every time. Cathartic Adept is something to consider, as is Codex Shredder.

Blade of the Oni is a test. It might be good, it might be bad. Reconfiguring it and having the target die in response is a massive tempo swing, perhaps enough to end the game. But it is at least as dangerous as some of the other two drops, like Heir of Falkenrath or Untamed Kavu. This moves black in to a spot with no three drops, but there's just so few options at the right level.

Flame Rift is on the chopping block. It never seems to do enough. Spear Spewer can block and only costs a single mana. Flame Rift is useless outside of a very specific setup.

See previous post

As the cube has evolved, it has become faster and stronger. The gradual removal of dead weight has made certain effects useless at their current mana values;

Removal needs to be one mana to be useful.

Taking two mana to gain some life is a death sentence.

I still love the risk and reward that this cube presents: gaining life often doesn't develop your board, or doesn't give you life immediately. But we can give players those options while still making cards useful.

Slagstorm, Environmental Sciences, Unsubstantiate, Perilous Voyage, and Abiding Grace are simply too expensive for what they do.

Steadfast Unicorn offers some of what Paladin Class used to, but it actually provides board presence, along with the promise of a finisher.

Sigiled Starfish is fine, but felt like it was just below where it needed to be. Omenspeaker is an incredibly powerful defensive option, but not as sturdy as a 0/4.

Spontaneous Mutation offers a blue twist on 1 mana removal. Slip Out the Back is a test, perhaps will be replaced with a counterspell when they arrive in the mail. But it can act as removal by deleting a blocker. And it might backfire by giving an opponent a stronger creature.

Slagstorm's board clear mode was never used, so Flame Rift offers the same role at a stronger rate. It also presents a more difficult puzzle for the player using it.

This cube has gradually shifted away from 5 land decks. As a result, Paladin Class no longer represents a proper finisher like it used to.

Dawn Charm is too expensive for what it does. The modality sadly doesn't make up for it.

You Hear Something On Watch never got used for its anthem mode like I intended. Charge may be worth considering, but it's frustratingly specific.

The replacement cards are all tests. But I hope they each prove interesting. I think the Knight will represent a dangerous—but not insurmountable—threat. The boost to life gain is also extremely relevant, at every stage of the game.