I'll admit this is somewhat aesthetically motivated, but with one full cycle of planeswalkers, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast needs answer to complete his cycle. Stoic Angel is a hard-control piece, and I worry in a bad way, so I want to try Tamiyo, Field Researcher: She has a card draw focus, which can be a little win-more but it rewards combat damage (and in turn flyers archetypes), and even allows for open betting upon opponents creatures, it also provides targeted tap as opposed to the boardwide tapping of stoic angel, the ultimate is on the strong side for this cube, and that's my biggest concern on her inclusion, I hope that this paints a target on the card at least, but it might break the cube. She deserves a test.

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Kess, Dissident Mage's noncreature spell recursion is perfect for the slot, but there are other grixis cards worth considering for their impact. The fact that it's only one a turn does hold it back against prowess, but it's strong. Obeka, Brute Chronologist is a political counterspell/forced spell, which is an awesome effect but doesn't end the game as much as I like it. Finally, Marchesa, the Black Rose does creature recursion and encourages combat.

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Mayael the Anima's 5-power-matters is quite frankly a weird fit for the cube, It's strong but we can do better. Here's a few multiplayer cards to consider: for more Gahiji, Honored One encourages your opponents to swing on each other, and combined with some of the red goad effects, green fort effects, and white redirects, I think it's a strong impact on the board. Marisi, Breaker of the Coil takes the opposite approach by forcing you opponents to attack eahother, but it prevents combat tricks and that
s a hard skip. Jared Carthalion, True Heir plays once-more into Monarch, giving you a quested opponent after which you have a huge creature. Honestly, it seems like a 3/3 for 3 for most of its life.

Gahiji, Honored One honors us with its presence.
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Ruhan of the Fomori's random attack is good for multiplayer, but does leave a bit of a bad taste if he hits the same person twice, overall it makes him a top tier threat, and that tends to eat removal. Alternatively Pramikon, Sky Rampart, meanwhile, fits the control style in a fun way and affects all without the problematic aspect of randomness. It does bring in the end-game lock with Mystic Barrier That might kill the inclusion, or necessitate a change in , I'd rather have MB rather than lock the effect to a 3color deck. Finally, Gnostro, Voice of the Crags provides a storm deck in a format that otherwise lacks one, which is an exciting proposition but not a multiplayer friendly one. Finally, Narset of the Ancient Way enters as a 3-color walker with a noncreature spell metatheme and card advantage engine. It's unquestionably a game-ender control build. I don't think I can justify losing Mystic Barrier, but this should be a multiplayer slot.

I played around with this when I was first rejigging the cube, the enchantment-benefit of Azorius First-wing is so enticing, I can justify going 2cmc. Silver Drake's blink synergy is good, there's 74 targets, but the recast-cost makes it less attractive. AFW's evasion is in.

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Both cards are weird cards, Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer does political control, Aven Mimeomancer does self-replicating flying tribal. While GHP is great for political table play, I don't think I can pull away from the flying-tribal benefits of the Mimeomancer.

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The fundamental question these cards are answering is can I steal a card via copying it. Evil Twin puts copying before removal, and is overall a very fun and flavorful card. Hostage Taker puts removal first (and hits artifacts) but comes at the spell's full cost. Havengul Lich costs more on the get-go, Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths exiles from the library, it's an interesting subgame but feels more like a Gonti than a piece of removal. The consideration here is how important the Morbid trigger is for the cube. I think adding artifact removal is more important than triggering morbid.

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Spike Jester's real benefit is its 3/1 body, so Rushblade Commander's 2/2 body is unbalanced but the warrior upside is appealing as heck but somewhat unbalanced.

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Blazing Hellhound sits in this weird place where it's a little too slow for multiplayer relevance, but other options are a little too fast. I've been avoiding hybrid manas on their won, so Elite Headhunter is unfortunately out. Acidic Sliver only sacrifices itself, it its out. Mayhem Devil costs significantly less for the 1-damage but necessitates another sac outlet and target, which is pretty dedicated for cube. Fireblade ARtist is about as impactful as I was hoping for, but comes in very cheap at 2cmc. Brawl-Bash Ogre clears blockers but has the problem of coming in already as a threat with a 3/3 menace. This leaves us with the 1CMC cheaper Dire Fleet Warmonger which has no targeted damage, and only trample for evasion, but I think fits the power-level I'm targeting for uncommons. If this goes poorly, fireblade artist is back in.

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The idea is a 5cmc creature that cares about giving you mana. The advantage of Zhur-taa Ancient is its multiplayer access, that is also it's disadvantage. Is there something better? Nikya of the Old Ways is fundamentally the same card without the parity, but with a huge downside. I think it's too much of a hinderance to stick with. Grand Warlord Radha applies a combat-focused strategy, and generates only , which puts the source in danger but it comes with consequence. Radha, Heir to Keld generates mana as a weird cheap dork, which doesn't feel right for the slot. Jegantha, the Wellspring is also a mana dork, but is a 5/5 for 5. It pays off colored costs, which helps with multicoored builds, but perhaps enables 4-5 color decks too easily. I think the multiplayer aspect of Zhur-taa Ancient is too important to dispose of.

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Common removal is a lovely slot, lets talk about options Executioner's Swing hits toughness 5 or lower things, and potentially serves as a combat trick. It's not full removal, but the limits justify the spell. Final Payment takes the opposite approach, you lose resurces (a creature or life) for full removal. I worry about the cost being feelsbad, as much as needs sac outlets. Unmake exiles but its hybrid mana is just too much. Harsh Sustenance heals in addition to removal but requires five creatures before its as impactful as executioner's swing.

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The biggest difference between the two, besides the obvious body and cmc differences, is that Deathreap Ritual triggers on every turn while Twinbade Assassins tigger only when things die on your turn. That's a huge difference in power. I think, as much as bodies help, the interaction of Deatheraep is impossible to pass.

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Corpsejack Menace's +1/+1 synergy is nice, and game-ending with monstrous, but it's not particularly muti-player oriented, and with Vorel of the Hull Clade's inclusion I think it's good to look at some alternatives: Belbe, Corrupted Observer provides group-hug for dealing combat damage, which I know can pay most monstrous costs, I worry that it's too permitting for the opponents which could feel bad. Bloodbond March is an all-players recursion target that hits all collection creatures, this seems helpful in all decks, but I can see green/black favoring the deck. I wish it were 1cmc cheaper.

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So the slot is a flash creature for control and tempo. Bounding Krasis provides the flexibility of untapping another creature for the combat bock. That cinch may just make the pick. Fleetfeather Cockatrice is a flash/deathtouch 3/3 but for 5cmc I worry about it's playability. At 5cmc it seems like it's likely to die before it sticks around long enough to trigger monstrous. I do like it being monstrous, but the slot begs for utility. Finally, Frilled Mystic counters a spell on entry. That can be a very impactful, it does hold up four mana but for the cost it can unto a game-ending play. The double-color cost helps to sell the card's power.

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Kiora, Master of Depths's strength is the land ramp/creature ramp, which I'll admit accomplishes many of the best parts of that olor pie, but it's also such a linear strategy that I worry it won't be the winning strategy I'd like it to be. Here's what I'm considering: Prophet of Kruphix lets 's tempo architecture shine, providing far more lanes of play for a creature-focused deck in a control shell. That alone isn't enough to justify the slot, but I appreciate what it do to end a game. My biggest worry is the impact untapping lands has in a multiplayer game, effectively allowing unscaled card advantage. This isn't the right environment. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is a mana-doubler for mana dorks (of which there are not many), and a 7cmc free cast, which is strong but costly. I think it's early game impact fails to justify the slot even with a late game mana sync. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter pseudo-cascades on the first spell each turn, which provides an insane amount of card advantage as well, I think that's maybe the wrong approach for an already draw-heavy blue. Vorel of the Hull Clade provides a synergy akin to corpsejack menace's with monstrosity, which is enticing in blue, and more enticing with fleetfeather cockatrice.

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Sprite Dragon is a Stormchaser Mage with staying power, hot damn. But with the lack of high-power removal it's too big after 3 spells. Bloodwater Entity, for 1cmc more includes a recursion effect. I can afford to include another 3cmc with Goblin Electromancer's sitting at 2cmc.

Bloodwater Entity wins it.
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Searing Meditation is one of my least favorite cube cards. It's effectively a slow burn that requires you to keep up mana and for me to prioritize lifegain. Deafening Clarion allows a similar level of damage/removal but with the benefit of lifegain in the card, it's a modular card that can also serve as a board clear, which might win it the slot. Huatli, Warrior Poet wins through drawing and direct damage, but also generates board presence. The overlap with Kaya is potentially troublesome, but it is a good option.

Wall of Blossoms' etb effect is strong, as it retains the card, but it's good in an uncommon slot. Wall of Mulch's sacrifice necessity can help to trigger Morbid, which is a strong effect, and Portcullis Vine is a bad Wall of Mulch and that's not good at uncommon.

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Abzan Beastmaster is a card-draw engine with a toughness matters condition, coming in at 3cmc it's a strong card, and there aren't many every-turn card-draw engines in green, the question is: is there a better option for this power-over-toughness set. For 1cmc more, Drumhunter answers the call, but restricts itself to creatures of power 5 or higher, that's only 53cards in of the cube. The Mana-dork upside is good, but not at the cost. Psychotrope Thallid guarantees card draw (and a morbid trigger) every...third turn. This isn't fast, it's super removable, but it's good for the cube's archetypes. If it was one turn faster, I'd be less reticent, but you don't see card draw until T6. Garruk's Packleader is consistent on it's draw, but requires 5cmc: it's too heavy for the slot. Hermit of the Natterknolls provides a degree of on-turn protection, and a gameplan surrounding baiting cards, it's as much a defensive play as a strong play. It's also 2/3 over 2/1. I worry that the 3/5 upside will be distracting for the player, but it encourages play among your opponents and rewards patience. I think it's powerful for the slot, but does enough for the play experience and to counter combat tricks to justify its place.

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Ulvenwald Bear's Morbid trigger is a surprisingly unique 4/4 for 3cmc modular, and really stands out for what it's able to accompish early-game so there aren't proper contendors. Morbid is also a subtheme. Backwoods Survivalist starts larger as a 4/3 for 4, that lategame becomes a 5/4 trampler so long as your playing a diverse deck. Festerhide Boar also enters larger and grows larger for 4cmc, but that's simply not the slot we're aiming to fill. Mother Bear is a 2/2 that gets you 4 power after death, but for five mana, which is almost three times the investment.

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Taking Vulpine Goliath as the baseline, Colossal Dreadmaw, Brambleweft Behemothand Beast in Show seem like the most straightforward plays, and I don't think I can justify the toughness increase, but the decrease feels punishing without upside. Pathbreaker Wurm gives it's own upside which gives trample to two creatures (but is susceptible to losing it as easily). It also opens the slot up to 4-damage removal, which I think is healthy. Kazandu Stomper, finally, has a fairly sharp downside that should be skipped. This is a slot to watch its impact.

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Fundamentally, we're looking for a 7CMC Tramler with upside. Sifter Wurm and Pelakka Wurm fill simmilar card/life advantage voids, sifter wrum goes deeper into the library, pelakka wurm guarantees life. Fundamentally, they're interchangeable, but of the two I prefer Sifter Wurm's impact. Ghastbark Twins blocks and additional creature, which makes it a defensive powerhouse and that fits into green's color pie, but I'm looking ideally for strong impact not a reaction. Caller of the Pack is a different profile, at 8/6, but the real benefit is the Myriad ability which makes this a very aggressive slot and potentially a game-closer. Given that this is Green's voltron closer, making it multiplayer is too good to pass up in favor of deck consistency/tempo.

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So, Oracle of Mul Daya is incredibly powerful, it basically guarantees you don't get flooded draws by filtering your library, and ramps extraordinarily quickly. My biggest worry is that it's too powerful. Courser of Kruphix provides the same filtering, but without the absurd ramp. It provides some lifegain (in a steady and rewarding way tat helps to pa off the card. It's also tow additional toughness, which is beneficial for the classic green defensive plays. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is too good at colorfixing, it's just not right. Wayward Swordtooth's ascend clause makes it feel fair, and it fixes lands strongly, I think it's a good balance for the cube.

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Regal Behemoth allows the mana-fixing inherent to green, but Dawnglade Regent's hexproof is a hard-control setup. Hexproof is too powerful for the cube to last, it locks too many lines of play.

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Blossoming Defense is probably the best of the bunch, it's a combat trick and a counterspell all in one. It's a good role. Hapatra's Mark is a good alternative, but withut -1/-1 cards, or even persist, it's less flexible and valuable. Autumn's Veil and Veil of Summer both care too much about color to include as stand-alone pieces.

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Currently in the slot, respite is a fog effect that scales life based on the number of attacking creatures. Lifegain is a green subtheme, so this is a key card, but perhaps it's not the only option for the slot. Terrifying Presence is turns the fog into a combat trick, nullifying the damage of a bad exchange and saving your board for. Haze of Pollen and Lull include the cycling upside, which is good but I've had the same consideration with Wander in Death, it's something to explore in a future update if cycling should be supported. Finally, Blinding Fog provides a counterspell-effect for 1cmc more, but I worry that it is too powerful for the common slot. I don't think I can afford this to be a 3cc slot.

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My biggest concern for Return to the Earth is its hefty 4cmc cost, which is decent for the flexibility but allows enchantments until T4 to reign, so the big question is if 3CMC Broken Wings is the correct replacement. Alternatives, Relic Crush is 5cmc and hits more targets, and justifies it's late game impact but it's a heavy card in a color with many heavy cards. Return to Nature doesn't support creature removal, but it does graveyard hate. What I'm noting is that most fliers are above 4cmc rather than 3cmc, but all enchantments and artifacts are cheaper.

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There's two primary differences in the cards, some assign damage, and some trigger fights. Assigned damage cards greatly favor positive power:toughness ratio cards (138 targets, Where the two are tied: 232, and 101 targets where the toughness is larger. To me, this signals that there's enough instances where direct damage is preferred that I should dismiss fight cards that don't come with upside (specifically pounce, Prey Upon, and even with it's advantage Titanic Brawl). Savage Punch should similarly be dismissed for not being able to consistently guarantee the advantage.

I think I can dismiss Aggressive Instinct as a synonym for Rabid Bite. This leaves two cards with very interesting effects. Ram Through for the big-creature strategy of green could make-or-break a combat (and in some cases allow double damage). It's absolutely worth the consideration. Epic Confrontation allows for higher toughness creatures to remain on the field, and limits the pure removal aspect of the slot. It's a bad trade into 113c with a 1/1, 48 with a 2/2, 8 with a 3/3, and 4 with 4/4+. Given green's inclination for big creatures I think it's runnable.

Savage Punch wins the round.
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Verdant Haven isn't the only land that taps for , but it is the only one who's color fixing provides ony one wild mana. The two life upside also plays into green's lifegame strategy. Sheltered Aerie provides two other colors, but no life gained. It enables three-color builds well. Gift of Paradise is basically better in every way, and I think that's probably a reason to pass it over, It's already a good fit for the slot. New Horizons gives a benefit to your boardstate, which I find enticing, but the same problem persists as with Sheltered Aerie. It enables 3-color green without allowing non-green 3-color strategies to thrive.

Let me start with this: I don't like the fit of Stormkirk Noble in this cube. It's humans-matters card in a cube that doesn't need it, and a scaling threat that gets removed early. I recognize the need for a red aggro creature.
Zurgo Bellstriker and Wayward Guide-Beast, much like the classic Goblin Guide are powerful 2/2s for 2. They're not particularly game-enders, but they enable a low cmc aggro strategy...in 1v1. Which leaves me with:
Legion Loyalist is a combat enabler, it's not so useful into on-token boards, but creatures getting first strike/trample is a good enabler for a late-game stomp. It's almost the opposite use, but it enables aggro strategies in a similar way. Lets go that way.

Nearly Identical, the reason to stay with Bloodlust Inciter is to enable Stormkirk Noble's human-centric design. Removing one removes the necessity for the other, so this is mostly an aesthetic decision, but I think more red goblins is a good go-to.

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The difference is the details here, 3CMC Warriors with Menace that attack for 3/2. That's the slot.
Boggart Brute attacks and blocks for 3/2. Deputized Protester Attacks for 3+/2+, and blocks for 2/1. I think the multiplayer intrigue outweighs the fact that it can die to Tragic Slip. The change was clearly for a reason...and being conservative it's important for red to be able to block a 1/1.

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Warmind Infantry is fantastic, it encourages combat and swings for 4, Raging Kronch is effectively a more conservative creature, blocking for 4. Wojek Bodyguard attacks for 4 if you count the mentor +1/+1, and that has staying power, it also blocks for 3. Between the three, Kronch is the strongest, but I think Wojek bodyguard's Mentor ability is worth the slot simpy because of what it can do to expand the board (up to power 3s)

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The fact that Crown-Hunter Hireling cannot attack when you're the monarch is weird, it's the only monarch creature with downside. It also doesn't have a good way of enabling you to take the monarchy yourself (it's a 4/4, it can be chumped). It's almost antithetical to the attacking-forward strategy in red. Crimson Fleet Commodore, by contrast enables you to (most of the time) regain the monarch title and swing in a big way. It's important for red to have at least one toughness>3 creature, so I'm torn on this but I think it's reasonable to be conservative here but I'd really like to test out the Commodore.

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C/F

Wildfire Cerberus is a 4/3 that for 7CMC wipes the board of toughness<3 creatures. It's fairly unique in that ability, and perhaps should remain for that reason, Smoldering Werewolf is a little more targeted version of a similar effect, it's 1cmc less, but also 1 damage less.
Both Garbge Elementals are functionally similar in that they enable combat fun at 5cmc, but honestly neither is as good as the Cerberus. Warchife Giant's Myriad ability serves a strong way towards making it fantastic. It's a 5/3 that attacks every opponent, and in a multiplayer game it fails to clear the board but does divide itself well. Ultimately I think the board-clear is too important of an effect to let the card go.

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So, the slot here is working with casting/re-casting instants and sorceries. Izzet Chemister stores and casts your own spells, Wildfire Elemental requires tehm to be in your hand, and most interesting Wildfire Devils copies an opponent's spells (as well as your own sometimes), I think that's a little bit too nuts to pass up, and it's less bolt-able than Izzet Chemister. Lets do it.

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Of these, Flametongue Kavu is the clearest: 4 damage creature removal. Craganwick Cremator will generaly deal less than that, and requires a loss of both creature and card advantage but comes in as a 5/4. Glorybringer's additional flying and repeatability is a little too much for the cube (I think). Heart-Piercer Manticore, requires a similar loss of creature advantage (sacrifice), but can be cast effectively twice with Embalm. This is a rare slot, it's okay for it to be strong.

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Siege-Gang Commander is fantastic for it's specified removal, but it plays into a goblin-tribal strategy as much as a go-wide strategy, so I'm looking for other 5cmcs. Port Razer's multiplayer-friendly design makes it an attractive pick on it's face, and additional combat steps plays into the combat-forward theme of the cube. Finally Backdraft Hellkite plays into the non-creature spell theme, but that's less of a red thing and more of a blue thing, it's a good card though. Mana-Charged Dragon also approaches things politically and provides an interesting outlet, like a table-wide shivan dragon, which matches the mana sync ability of SGC. I think tabletalk is the fun of the slot.

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Twin Bolt and Chandra's Pyrohelix are the same card, so we can dismiss the pyrohelix. Arc Lighting does one additional damage for one more mana, and I worry that's too weighty. Forked Bolt Trades out instant speed for 1 fewer mana. Instant speed is too important.

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Brimstone Volley's Morbid trigger makes the 3/5 damage flavorful, but I worry it leans too to stick. Flame Spill and Super-duper Death Ray cap at 4 damage, but deal consistent damage to the controller, making a removal spell into a burn spell. The adamant clause on Slaying Fire encourages a mono-colored deck build, and I don't love favoring that, I think flexibility is the key to a good draft format, so lets keep it as it. Crackling Flames' hellbent clause sucks. Skip it. Finally, Bring Low accomplishes a strange goal of removing the marginal modular 3/3, but for 4cmc it's too costly. That 3cmc to eliminate 5-toughness hits an additional 28-creatures, keeping red in relevant trades but missing the 100-cards at 4-toughness on non-triggered cast is a painful loss that Homing Lightning doesn't replace. I think missing 5tougness targets is worth the play.

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The damage-response of Dance with Devils makes it serve as another form of removal, which is not set forward by the other two cards. Goblin Wizardry's prowess triggers are fantastic, but by T4 suffer from poor trade value, and finally Scampering Scorcher effectively brings three 1/1s onto the battlefield, unfortunately that comes at the cost of casting at creature-speed. Beetleback Chief comes in at 2/2 but also lags in speed.

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Tormenting Voice and Thrill of Possibility are virtuall identical, but the speed question adds that Thrill of Possibility could lead into an instant-speed answer. This kind of play discourages combat, so let's not. Wild Guess's cost promotes mono-colored designs, which I'd like to avoid again. Desperate Ravings requires a random discard, and encourages builds, but the randomness downside is bad and generally feels bad, even for me to justify instant-speed.

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Mana Geyser is so dependent upon opponent's playstyles that I worry about accomplishing value on the play, the 5cmc gap helps to avoid deadly early turns, but it's unclear if it will be as strong as a regular ritual. Rite of Flame is a ritual that plays into the set-collection subteme of this cube in a good way, I think it's a strong contender. Battle Hymn adds for each creature, but that's also dependent upon creature heavy decks, and with the amount of combat I worry about this being a win-more card.

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Skyline Despot is incredibly powerful, as a flyer it helps to maintain monarch and the sheer number of tokens it puts out is enough to usually win the game, so why swap it out for Emberwidle Captain? The Captain allows you to burn an opponent, but it is perhaps too slow for multiplayer, so I'll stick with the despot.

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Pyromancer Ascension’s quest mechanic is fun, but it’s limiting and punishing to require the same name, I’d rather put that ability in a different vehicle. Dual Casting puts it on a st

Syphon Soul is a distinct and powerful card that hits all opponents, so the only reason to be changing it out would be in favor of a card that directly supports one of Black's archetypes. In this case, a creature seems best, which is one of the reasons I think I can dismiss Parasitic Impetus, since this is not a removal slot and giving black more removal could feel punishing. Urborg Syphon-Mage is literally the spellshaper on-a-stick version, and every card draining as the syphon is perhaps too powerful still, and self-mill works with graveyard-matters but I'd need to reconfigure a few of the other cards. Servant of Tymaret importantly brings a combat-minded creature, "inspired" encourages the combat tap (since I don't have non-combat tap auras), with regenerate acting as a safety net. I would worry about regenerate as a rule, but Twisted Abomination already runs it so the rules clarification re:morbid/sacrifice would inherently appear nonetheless. It does power down the effect (1 life each activation) and it requires fairly specific timing, but for the increase in black combat creatures I'm okay with that. It also provides an intriguing upside non-deathtouch blocker in black. It's enough integration that I think it supersedes the sorcery's place.

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Cackling Imp is a 2/2 flyer with a light upside for 4 that deals 1 life/turn when you turtle. The fact that it’s not incredibly huge is one of its benefits, it’s removable, but at 4cmc the value feels light. The alternative Silent Skimmer is a turtle itself at 0/4, but encourages attacking with the ability to subvert blockers. This is a powerful swap, and I’m not sure if it makes the most sense to swap for. For now, I say lets play it conservative with the Imp, but I may reverse that.

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Kheru Mind-Eater is neat, but it doesn’t allow every card exiled to be played putting it in a weird mill zone for most off-color matchups in the cube. I don’t like that, this is a rare slot it should feel good. God-Eternal Bontu’s undeath effect is an absurdly powerful effect in the cube, especially when it means multiple sacrifice effects as it’s played, but at 5cmc it’s not an awful exchange. We’re looking at a far more threatening value however. Rankle, Master of Pranks is perhaps the most threatening, with the same sacrifice effect as well as a discard and a phyrexian arena. The “each player” effect brings this into the realm of multiplayer, but also punishes behind players in an uncomfortable way. Vitrus the Veiled gives another big-damage effect, but without hitting every player as Heartless Hidetsugu does, it’s only evasion is deathtouch and as a 1/1 is susceptible to most damage effects. I worry about this being a bad value proposition. Dreamsteaer is similar enough that I could consider it a pair, effectively a menace-specter with one-on-one hand control. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is a one-time effect that accomplishes a similar feat, but works with graveyard recursion. The added deathtouch concerns me as a chump blocker, but it’s perhaps the best card in the lot. Dark Impostor lacks all evasion, unfortunately, but is able to exile any creature for 6cmc which is incredibly powerful, and with time it can eat-it’s-way to a killer combo of creatures (which is an intriguing prospect), but I worry about the confusion about what an activated ability constitutes. Necrotic Ooze does that but for your graveyard, and simiarly lacks all evasion without the exiling aspect, it fees more balanced. But it comes in with a big body.

I think, for the effect, which is effectively "do somethign your opponents cards do" and do damage, it's down to Necrotic Ooze, Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Dark Impostor. Dark impostor is, I worry, a little too powerful, but Necrotic Ooze's lack of evasion is also a staggering setback. Gonti's deathtouch is also worrying. I think, there's enough activated abilities to make the ooze or impostor both good inclusions. Simply for its group-slug nature I'm saying lets go with Necrotic Ooze.

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Wonderfully similar cards, Desecration Demon is simply a flier that gets…bigger. Clackbridge Troll, on the other hand, starts bigger and more intimidating with trample to get past chump-blocking. It allows a political play with who gets the goats, and the downside is life gain (good in the black archetype) and card draw (something that’s a little hard to find in ). While it is 1CMC more, it comes in with haste, effectively leaving both as T5 threats. I think it’s worth the switch.


> > Clackbridge Troll by a goat’s gruff.

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The two are basically identical on the surface, but Costly Plunder is fundamentally far more forgiving as it allows you to cast it without disrupting your number of blockers. While that's only ~25 cards, I'd like to avoid the case. I think Altar's Reap stays.

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Filing similar roes of removal that scales with sacrifice (or blink for Fatal Push):
Tragic Slip hits anything with Toughness<2 [87 (7 Rares)] | Toughness<14 [471 (73 Rares)]
Fatal Push anything with CMC<3 [151 (7 Rares)] | CMC<5 [334 (39 Rares)]
In ModeA (vanilla): TS hits 64 fewer creature targets than FP.
In ModeB (on death): TS hits 137 more creature targets than FP.

So, in essence this comes down to if it's more important to remove small creatures aggressively, or big threats late game. There's fairly little direct removal, and I think it's important to be able to remove those late-game threats

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Reign of the Pit is usually group-sacrifice for a scaling threat, at four players and 1/1s it's a 3/3 flyer and 3 sacrifices. It's incredible, but I worry it's too punishing. Dredge the Mire, by contrast, gives you creature advantage and feeds off your opponents in a midrange way, yes you get low-value creatures but they're neat and there's a political game to play. Finally, Boneyard Parley kinda accomplishes the same thing with your own creatures in the mix, you just lose our best re-gen target for (at most) four creatures. Overall, I like the political theater that Dredge the Mire brings, and I think the group sac on legs is a little too aggressive. I might be wrong.

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Both sitting at 5cmc are evening destruction/sacrifice effects, but Fraying Omipotence feels like it plays into the black graveyard strategy well limiting the number of sacrifices and shutting down white and green strats, while limiting blue ones. I think it's an important tradeoff, that doesn't necessitate a huge board-state to be felt across the table.

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There's a lot of similar effects here, let's consider what Death's Duet brought: 3CMC, sorcery speed, and it necessitated two targets, making it a later game play. Every other card necessitates only one target.
Lets compare the rest: Morbid Plunder and Soul Salvage do the same thing, with plunder requiring , I like the flexibility of , so Soul Salvage wins between the two.
Wander in Death brings a Cycling upside, which is nice since blue has relatively little card draw and can undo a bad hand, it drives a more aggressive black strategy, which may aid and .
Unmake the Graves is worse unless you tap three creatures, which is punishing outside of a tokens deck. I can dismiss that.

So, the question is how important is Targets=2 vs Targets<=2, and I'd say that while it's a limitation, it's not a necessary one. I don't want to punish poorly playing black decks. Thins brings it between Soul Salvage and Wander in Death. For now, I think I should test for the feeling of black card stagnation, and see if cycling is super useful.

--

Demonic Pact's lose-the-game clause feels bad when each of it's modes is single-target relevant. It's powerful in single-player but I don't like it in multiplayer. I wish I had that archenemy grandeur style effects in a more multiplayer way.
Court of Ambition engages the monarch mechanic and is an every-turn nuisance, but I don't...love love that. It feels incredibly punishing when it doesn't hit you as well.
Palace Siege mimics the constant-drain of Court of Ambition, but it's at a slower pace, it's also a winstate type card, which is good in the rare slot.
Finally, Revel in Riches accomplishes something similar to the Pact with a win/lose scenario, but in a way that benefits build-around-me strategy, it also helps to accelerate your engine. I think it's the best fit for the slot, so I want to try it.

The first thing to consider among this huge group of candidates is what Jhessian Thief actually brough to the table: 3cmc, 3 toughness, prowess, and no evasion. Jeskai Elder does the best impression, coming in as a more aggro option at 2cmc, but the slot is more of a midrange card, ideally for a T4 barrage. Daring Saboteur accomplishes a simmilar goal: for additional mana (prowess in the above), you can attack with some certainty of hitting, Daring Saboteur guarantees card draw in the place of a defensive blocker and a conditioal combat trick. Marchesa's Infiltrator grows as it plays, but coming in as (essentially) a 2/2 into a strong board is a huge downside. It's a good option for encouraging combat, but blue is the one color where noncreature-spells-matter outweighs combat-matters. Eternal of Harsh Truths guarantees damage over drawing, which is a stronger option for ending the game earlier, but it also lacks the spell synergy. The Eternal does maintian the 3 toughness, which greatly factors into my consideration. Tandem Lookout trades on the strength of your other creatures, and with the guaranteed contact of early blue flyers gurantees draws, making it a strong contendor but I worry about removal. Finally, Bloodbirth Viper is on here because it accomplishes the effect with myriad, but at 5cmc I'm dismissing it as too costly.

Fudametally, the choice is between Jhessian Thief, Jeskai Elder, and Marchesa's Infiltrator as scalable threats that encourage combat, and with the number of 2cmc cards on curve in blue it's hard to justify a 2cmc creature.

--

While Wall of Runes' 4cmc is attractive, the real benefit of shore keeper was the late game card acceleration, making the wall the more aggressive of the two, weirdly. It subverts the primary complaint of the trilobite, that it does nothing and then dies. Attractively, Eidolon of Philosophy gives a non-zero toughness option for a nearly identical effect, at the cost of a toughness and being prone to enchantment removal. I think it might be the most promising of the three. But Shore Keeper is strong on it's own as a blocker to ~1/4 (123 creatureS) of the cube. Between the two, Shore Keeper is the conservative pick, providing blue with a fairly annoying blocker. For now I will keep it that way, but this is a close race for sure, and I may swap Eidolon of Philosophy in in a future rebuild.

--

Where Sepratist Voidmage accomplishes it's goal without assitance, the necessity of combat for Deadeye Rig-Hauler is an attractive swap. The primary problem being that Deadeye rig-hauler is only effective in the post-combat main phase, at which point all important trades would have been made and the value of removal desperately missed. I don't think I can justify the swap.

--

When considering Monstrous creatures, the biggest question is the final creature. Skittering Crustacean ends it's life as a CMC10 6/7 with Hexproof. Chillerpillar, a CMC10 5/5 Flyer. We're also looking at a 3CMC 2/3 and a 4CMC 3/3 otherwise. It's important that they have the same investment, but the killer change for me is that Skittering Crustacean has no evasion and no reach, keeping the player in the danger zone. Further, we're looking at a T7 monstrosity vs a T6. The role of the card is a late-game control finisher, a role Chillerpillar fills and Skittering Crustacean, somewhat surprisingly, does not fill. The clincher is that, provided I run "snow" basics (rather than drafting snow lands like MH1 did), it activates with any basic land effectively costing to go monstrous. This does shrink the number of 3cmc cards, but (spoilers) noncreature spells can fill that well.

--

Both have their place, but I think Sakashima's Student informs it's line of play in a more direct way. Stunt Double can enter at literally any time (flash), but costs a hefty 4cmc. Sakashima's Student enters for 2cmc in an unblocked combat but otherwise enters on your turn. I don't know if the conditional 2cmc is worth the loss of flexibility, the defensive flash combat trick is a huge thing to pull off, and Stunt Double can effectively neutralize any threat with a positive power:toughness ratio. Without a consistent way to pull off student's ability, I think it's not worth it.

--

Talrand, Sky Summoner is a staple for a reason, at 4CMC it generates 2/2 Flyers for an evasive endgame, which is a good and consistent way to end the game. Talrand is easy to remove, but lategame it's a killer card. Docent of Perfection at 5CMC is less of a game-ender, with 1/1 groundlings, but it enters with a 5/4 flying body. Additionally, it has a wizards-matter subtheme that would service ~1/10th of the creatures in the cube but is nontheless lovely. The added investment reduces the inherent threat of the piece, and provides an interesting subgame engine. The inherent 5/4 body has me leaning strongly in favor of the "fair" choice.

--

Turn to Frog is an instant with a shrinking effect that is less effective against modular creatures, I think that's a serious weakness. There have been several enchantments that accomplish the effect in an unending way Mystic Subdual is instant speed with flash, and overwrites abilities, but it lasts indefinitely Frogify is turn to frog as an aura, and also lasts indefinitely. This is a combat trick slot, not a removal slot, which leave Ovinize. The significant advantage of Ovinize is that it circumvents modular benefits (a la Sure Strike and echoing courage), I think that clinches it.

--

While I like that Statis Cell is reattachable, it's actually a favorite in the cube, however: Fall From Favor fills in the absence of a "Become the Monarch" effect in blue commons, which had been huge detriment to picking the color. It also gets around the other blue monarch cards being built for evasion (Azure Feet Admiral/Canal Courier) which is (almost) cripplingly strong. The CMC difference isn't insignificant, as full removal or 3CMC is powerful, but I'm less worried as the weight of blue's common removal CMC is already loaded with Chronostutter at 6CMC. This also answers the 3CMC hole with the absence of Skittering Crustacean (yay!)

--

Both are 6CMC instant thievery effects that occur as spells are cast, which makes them very easy to compare, the primary difference is this: Gather Specimins can capture only creatures, but multiple creatures at a time if the event occurs. Aethersnatch hits any type of spell. That distinction is huge, Aethersnatch has ~50% more chance to become a clinch play, and multiple creatures entering after the trigger is (as I see it) a fairly marginal opportunity. I think it's clear which one has more flexibility and fun.

Aethersnatch snatches the slot.
--

Unfortunately is too good to fit the very flavorful courtly provocateur.

--

The two are nearly identical, there's a CMC of difference between them but they have the same rules text. The difference is psychological, Assist brings the multiplayer politics element into play, and lets players throw their open mana at the 'greater good'. For simply what it does to player politics, I'm happily making the swap.

Gust Walker requres a turn off, Knight of cliffhaven is good but doesn't encourage combat like Darking Skyjek. Moorland drifter rewards late-game strategic play, this is the aggro card. None of these feel like they have enough behind them to change away so let's keep it vanilla.

--

Kor Blademaster enables wariors in a strong but also niche way, so I'm changing to it. I'll keep an eye towards equipments in artifact picks. It's a strictly-better Fencing Ace and I like valuable uncommons. This might bite me later.

--

Ranger of Eos' primary sin is the requirmeent of library searching in a multiplayer game, and for that reason I'd like to replace it. Ranger-Captain of Eos has the same fault, and can be disqualified. Staying Power provides a fairly unique ability that actually helps more than mono-, but it guarantees a stronger board presence until it is removed. Finally Luminous Broodmoth provides one-card recursion and supports the flyers, and provides another ETB trigger.

Staying Power stays too good to pass up.
--

It's unnecessary to make it a 2/3 as that makes it a healthy trade against about a quarter of the cube, I don't like that. If anything, that's bad for the cube.

--

Thinking about the scaling [n=other creatures], Angel of Renewal gains 1+1n life, Goldnight Redeemer gains 2n life. So we're looking at
[1,2,3,4,5] AoR
[0,2,4,6,8] GR
There's not a lot of lifegain in the cube, so rewarding it's impact feels important, further, I'd like to reward intelligent trading and not sitting on empty boardstates in white, so let's encourage increased value for wider boards.

--

Both of these cards approach life from two directions Resolute Archangel is proactive, while Archon of Coronation is reactive. Both are etb fliers. I like that AoC applies the monarch effect in the / color pie for a strong effect, and it's undoable so burn isn't quite so bad. RA's life benefit doesn't have any specific payoffs, and necessitates a disadvantaged state to work. So, while AoC's effect is removable, it's less conditional. With the frequency of "become the monarch" effects, I'm more inclined to include it than as a solo card in another cube where it would be more damaged. Both are good fits.

--

While both answer the same fundamental question, Borrowed Grace is strictly better, with the 5cmc +2/+2 mode, but strictly better is a strong effect in this cube. Dauntless Onslaught is the other anthem in the cube, but with a total of eight across the whole draft, feel somewhat obligated to better the option so as to enable a wide white victory. Further, Fortify has a nasty habit of sitting in a hand unplayed in the hopes it'll save a bad board-state, but usually delays the beatdown rather than preventing it. I think strictly better is best here, let's do it.

--

--

The big difference between the two is what types of strategies they enable in your opponents, and while Martial Impetus' goad is thematic, the additional creatures benefiting from it lets you lose to fliers and tokens as much as it does remove the creature, it feels almost counterintuitive to spell your own doom like that. Vow of Duty shuts down that lane of play. Vigilance is turtle-y and losing goad keeps it around longer, but the lack of splash damage is reason enough to stick with it.

While flying is important, the group-hug elements of Eager Constuct and Runed Servitor lean me towards prefering them over their flying counterparts. This brings the debate between scring on entry or drawing on death, and I think drawing on death will allow for a bad trade to become a valuable trade, which is good for combat in the format.

The red herring is Staunch Throneguard which fills a completely different niche, but puts another 5 "you become the monarch" cards into the draft, which is helpful for but I'd like this to be a universally good card.

--

The distinction is 6cmc once for a latergame 4/2 or 3cmc every turn for a 3/3, I'd rather reward the single time investment than keep a player mana flushed. Gargoyle Sentinel needed a mana-heavy strategies to function, and that held up t3-5, I'd rather interactive earlygame occur.

--

Juggernaut seems a little too aggro, as does ramroller (I also think an artifact strategy is too niche to pull off and I don't want to signal it). Goblin Derigible is silly but it's just a 4/4 flyer for 6, and can be pretty easily blocked by consulate skygate, Farmstead Gleaner is...simply too powerful, I think it outpaces most components of the slot (2/2 with vigilance and modular for 2). I really like what Bloodthirsty Blade does, I worry it might be too many goad triggers but cess la vie (it enables Kor Blademaster too).

--

Spectral Searchlight is great because of it's any-color spread, it enables two color decks. On the Contrary, Victory Chimes provides ramp for 2cmc+ instants and flash spells or opponent's spells.

Conspiracy Draft Element:
• Volatile Chimera is the kind of freaking awesome build-around draft piece that I want to build around. It makes use out of your draft pool, but you have to have some intentionality to your exile pool (unlike arcane savant). Garbage fire is a decent burn spell or removal, but red already has access to some great components for that. Mostly I just want to draft with volatile chimera, it’s the red rare I always dreamed of.
-1 Garbage Fire
+1 Volatile Chimera

For Personal Balance:
• Glimmerpost provides the same lifegain element as radiant fountain (after two of them), with a scaling upside for drafting them. This makes the pick/counterpick a little more important, and a little more fun.
-5 Radiant Fountain
+5 Glimmerpost

• I felt like this was having a weird effect on the games we played it in, it rewarded low-cost combo decks while it was chosen by Gx big-creature decks, often to the detriment of the person who played it. Sundering Titan encourages mono-color decks, encourages late game ramp, and provides land-destruction on a mass scale as a game ender. I love it.
-1 Ghirapur Orrey
+1 Sundering Titan

• Since the change is purely cosmetic, I thought this might be a fun card for people to find while drafting. "Jane Air", with quotes below, makes something special out of what is otherwise a late pick.
-5 Vaporkin
+5 Novellamental

• Deepglow Skate was encouraging an archetype that didn’t…really exist in blue, and wasn’t a great choice in Ux. It encouraged monstosity in the color with the least of it, and while it ended games it didn’t end them in a very blue way. I wanted a rare that had more impact on how people viewed the board and how they played. With Ahn-Crop Crasher already introducing the double-tap/exert mechanic, frost titan as a game ender for blue felt great (it fits the difficult-to-remove niche they needed, and gets flyers through, it’s dope). It might be too powerful, if it is I’m subbing it for archetype of imagination.
-1 Deepglow Skate
+1 Frost Titan

• Sphinx Ambassador’s “interact with your opponent’s library” was unfriendly to this cube. It provided selective removal, it could completely neuter decks, and it put creatures onto the battlefield. Master of predicaments has a similar problem sort of abusable ramp and mind game, but also provides a fun poisoned chalice switcheroo type situation.
-1 Sphinx Ambassador
+1 Master of Predicaments

• Kheru Mind-Eater is a weird sort of specter effect that requires you to be able to generate the mana of the deck you attack. This encourages attacking based on draft color, and not threat. It’s got to go. Simultaneously, black needs more abilities to do things from the graveyard and it needs a game-ender for recursive sacs. Ichorid is the perfect piece: players won’t feel bad sacrificing it since it does it all by itself, it comes back every turn fueling your deck, and it fuels itself on your graveyard being full, encouraging other sacs and a more engaged black player. I love it.
-1 Kheru Mind-Eater
+1 Ichorid

• Homicidal Seclusion provided some of the push-pull you want to see in a sac deck, but it was also punishing black for branching into white or green, which were some of it’s best buddies, screw that noise black has enough encouragement to sac. Festering Wound is the kind of dumb stuff I want to see in a combat-focused cube. While not removal, it punishes opponents who turtle up, and encourages combat, I worry about this being thrown on Mnemonic Wall or Consulate Skygate, but by turn five I expect it can be lost with a sub-optimal block, or a turn-to-frog combo, or even asphyxiate or return to earth or solemn offering. It’s a game ender, without a doubt, and I hope it doesn’t break black.
-3 Homicidal Seclusion
+3 Festering Wound

• The angry one eye trample man is fun, but I wanted to encourage red to play it’s instants/sorceries. Pyre hound builds to the same monstrosity as I’ll-tempered cyclops for a lot less mana, and is therefore objectively a better card, but quite frankly red needed an non-creature combo element.
-5 Ill-Tempered Cyclops
+5 Pyre Hound

• Ember Swallower simply doesn’t land well, it punishes it’s controller, rewards green (which can be good in gruul but I don’t want to force colors based on rares), it’s requires eleven mana to be a threat, and makes a comparatively small splash by comparison to other opponents. Hero of Oxid Ridge makes for an awesome combat trick to get around chump blockers and walls with extra damage, that’s the kind of advantage that wins games in the right deck and is a perfect fit for the red archetype.
-1 Ember Swallower
+1 Hero of Oxid Ridge

• Yisan is good. Too good. Any time he hit the board, he generated two creatures easily, enough to get mana fixing and combo garbage into play. Tutors are too good for cube. Champion of Rhonas provides a different sort of push-pull. You’re guaranteed a creature if he can attack, but he’s susceptible to death, plus it needs to be a creature in your hand, so exact combos are avoided.
-1 Yisan The Wandering Bard
+1 Champion of Rhonas

• The amount of targeted enchantments are pretty few, mostly this affects what can be the target of white’s vow subtheme, and will marginally be worse in Bant and better against Blue, Black, and Red. It does cost significantly less, but I don’t think it’s going to bend the meta to itself. Plus it can still be twin-shot out of the sky or countered or blocked to death. It just changes how people think about interacting with that creature, which makes for a better game.
-5 Talon Trooper
+5 Azorius First-Wing

• Blazing Hellhound doesn’t have enough juice to work, and while the extra body is great in black, the sacrifice effect will almost never be worth it in red. Simultaneously, these colors suffer from a lack of card draw to keep them going. Azra Oddsmaker generates card advantage through how combat is determined, and can be an amazing bargaining chip. Great card design, and great for rakdos.
-3 Blazing Hellhound
+3 Azra Oddsmaker

“Possibly was a little too much total draw - particularly in blue and green.” - Shawn's Blog
• Clairvoyance delays the draw until your next turn, toning down control ability and delaying the card advantage. The perfect tone down.
-5 Peek
+5 Clairvoyance

• Peer through depths digs deeper, but it only digs for instants/sorceries. Encourages prowess/noncreature decks in Ux for the same costs. It’s less efficient than drawing any target, but keeps the deck going.
-5 Anticipate
+5 Peer through Depths

• This is the one I’m most worried about, since it makes loses the card advantage of dream fracture, and nets the opponent no cards I’m worried that. That said, it’s still an unconditional counter.
-5 Dream Fracture
+5 Vex

• Screaming Seahawk is weak, doesn’t contribute to any of the effects of blue, and brings in two 2/2s for 10cmc. With little to no hand size interaction in the cube, this felt like it was counterintuitive. Ojutai’s summonings are 5cmc for two 2/2s over two turns, and is a spell. It maintains the consistency of Screaming Seahawk by providing a body every turn, but it helps to balance some of the card advantage issues blue was having while also playing into cards like Silburdlind Snapper which require instant/sorceries in the lategame to keep up with green and red. I’m interested to see how this shapes the meta.
-5 Screaming Seahawk
+5 Ojutai's Summons

Noticeably absent from this list is Accumulated Knowledge. There is nothing like accumulated knowledge that encourages discard, encourages counter picking, and comes in at instant speed for 1+ card draw for 2cmc. I considered Serum Visions (w/ Spy Network instead of Clairvoyance), or Train of Thought (n cards at 2cmc each), or think twice (benefits for pitching to grave, 1+ cards). It’s a large part of why this I swapped Dream Fracture for Vex, fingers crossed.

Alright, so..shamble back is still a great card for this cube. But Urborg Syphon-Mage is a better Syphon-Soul + Body replacement. Obviously. I'm dumb.

“Possibly needed a few more tap or stun effects to help push through attacks. Maybe Alchemist’s Vial?” -Shawn's Blog
• Agreed: +5 Alchemist's Vial

"Common green needs an elf (now that myr are gone).” -Shawn's Blog
• Not wanting to include Llanowar Elves and strongly advantage green, and not wanting to displace other cards, I've decided to replace the 3cmc 1/4 Hitchclaw Recluse with Reach with a 3cmc 1/3 with Reach with color flexibility on mana production.
-5 Hitchclaw Recluse
+5 Silhana Starfletcher

“Too much lifegain at black uncommon” - Shawn's Blog
• Thrull Parasite maintains the mana-for-lifegain aspect of Disciple of Griselbrand and removes the sac outlet, with added bonus of continuing the ping/drain theme in the mono-black cards in the deck.
-3 Disciple of Griselbrand
+3 Thrull Parasite

• Syphon Soul was one of the best common picks of the cube, but it did nothing to help the major problem of the black decks, which was sac fodder. I’m trying Shamble Back because it provides sac fodder like draft stable Vile Rebirth but doesn’t provide the flash-blocker disruption of it’s cousin, instead it can contribute to prowess-esque decks from blue and red, while creating a creature, and keeps the lifegain element for continuing the black engine.
-5 Syphon Soul
+5 Shamble Back

“Possibly was a little too much total draw - particularly in blue and green.” - Shawn's Blog
• I’m still working on blue [next post], but green was an easy adjustment (there wasn’t much generating card advantage in green). Wall of Mulch is the lower power level Wall of Blossoms, and encourages green to think more critically about the use of lands and mana production.
-3 Wall of Blossoms
+3 Wall of Mulch

“Common green (and maybe red) a little boring and choices too marginal.” - Shawn's Blog [In addition to the swaps with Sihana Starfletcher, & Wall of Mulch]
• Howling Wolf felt like it was fighting with too much in the 4-drop slot, especially as 4cmc for a 2/2 with more 2/2s. Llanowar Sentinel is 3cmc for a 2/2 or 5cmc for Two 2/2s. The utility for a useful effect is lower, which doesn’t punish competing green players in draft, but the effect is stronger. I’m interested to see how it plays out, it sets the board up really well for Echoing Courage and Echoing Truth.
-5 Howling Wolf
+5 Llanowar Sentinel

• Fitting to the issues red was having with getting damage through, I’m swapping the 3/3 for 3cmc with Haste for a 3/2 for 3cmc with Haste that can get strategically limit defenses. Losing the toughness will be harder in combat with bigger blockers, and this can limit that problem while remaining vulnerable to token chump blockers.
-3 Brazen Scourge
+3 Ahn-Crop Crasher

• Hexproof is too dang powerful, especially on a big creature and in a format with so few auras to necessitate the keyword. Immunity to removal is dang strong in this cube. I’m leaving Skittering Crustacean’s conditional hexproof in there for this reason, as it makes a pretty clinch lategame piece for blue. Green, however, is at a distinct advantage against most of the cube’s removal with high toughness creatures and does not need this advantage, especially not unconditionally on Plated Crusher. Not wanting to power down the 7-drop, I needed something with trample and upside, avoiding the powerhouse that broke conspiracy Pelakka Wurm, I’ve opted to include the “fixed” version from Hour of Devastation, Sifter Wurm. Lifegain remains good in the lategame, but the power of scry is minimized, especially when you reveal the card as information for your opponents and you are nudged into revealing your next bomb. I’m hopeful for where this will go.
-3 Plated Crusher
+3 Sifter Wurm

Next time: Fixes for reducing blue draw and increasing blue interaction.

The myr are definitely coming out. Common lands (probably BFZ ETB ones) might be appropriate since they don’t desaturate threats in your deck and some (flying, vigilance) encourage attacking"

Fertile Thicket plays into green ramp
Sandstone Bridge provides vigilance, which encourages combat
Soaring Sea Cliff provides a one-off for flying
Smoldering Spires helps with getting creatures to connect in combat
Spawning Pool provides a land for sac, and an amazing blocker (this inclusion is my biggest worry, since it could potentially be incredibly powerful, but compared to Mortuary Mire, which felt too powerful, or bojuka bog which hoses one person in a multiplayer format, or piranha marsh which sucks. I also considered leechridden swamp, but repeatable damage to all players seemed too powerful when land removal is minimal)