Ripples of Undeath - Just ended up being a weaker card than I expected it to be. Rarely makes the cut.

Phyrexian Altar - This was originally supposed to be an outlet for KCI style decks, but it just doesn't work - they need to be sacrificing for 2 mana.

Altar of Dementia - There's basically no reason for this card to be in the cube without Bridge From Below - that's the main combo with Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis. If it's not a great combo with Hogaak anymore, and it's a 0 percenter to make it in anything else, it doesn't deserve a spot.

Narcomoeba - similar issue to Phyrexian Altar where it's mediocre in the one deck that wants it. Of course, it's good when you mill it, but if you ever draw it, it doesn't even do anything when you discard it. Just overall too weak (and blue is oversaturated).

Adds:

Valgavoth, Terror Eater is a strong reanimator target that shouldn't get poached for Flash decks or even really Sneak decks - you need it to stick around, but it's very powerful if it does. There aren't a lot of cards like that, which give it a niche.

Kumano faces Kakkazan - Strong cheap red card that triggers prowess. I think not including this a while ago was a miss.

Lim-Dul's Vault - This one is more experimental, but I can see this being akin to Demonic Tutor with upside in the right circumstance. I think it has potential.

Relic of Sauron - I'm simply late to the party on this one, this is a great cube for this card, and artifact ramp will appreciate having it.

Hello everyone, this time I'm actually putting effort into the writeup instead of just making the changes (seemingly at random).

I had a couple goals going into this list of changes:

1. Updating to add new cards that I've either discovered or had fun with in other, similar cubes
2. Removing cards people cut from decks they're meant for
3. Removing cards that don't fit into any supported archetypes
4. Removing outliers to the synergy design philosophy
5. Slightly lowering the power level of the cube to allow for more viable strategies
6. Making White more popular and have it fit with colors other than just Blue and sometimes Green
7. As always (and as always is an issue in Vintage cubes in general), trying to balance density of colors in the cube

WHITE
Cuts:
~

Adds:
~

Rather than adding mono-white cards, of which I haven't found any yet of interest, I added Boros cards to try and make that a supported archetype. I will review those cards later in this writeup. I'm not looking to cut white cards at this time because it is by far the least dense color.

BLUE
Cuts:
They Came From the Pipes
Thought Scour
Lier, Disciple of the Drowned
Murktide Regent
Laboratory Maniac

Adds:
Stock Up
Paradoxical Outcome
Deep Analysis

There are separate reasons for each of these cuts:
They Came From the Pipes and Murktide Regent: These both squarely fit into the category of "cards you would run in 90% of blue decks". They broke this cube's goal of synergy-first, and are cards that end the game on their own for a competitive rate.

Thought Scour and Lier, Disciple of the Drowned: These cards were perennial low picks and performed weakly. In the name of color density balance, these definitely deserve to be on the chopping block.

Laboratory Maniac: This card was both popular and relatively powerful. However, it is going to be a victim of the power level downshift this update represents. I am cutting both Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation from the cube, so it just isn't necessary to have a third lab-man effect in the cube, and lab-man himself is the weakest of the three.

As far as adds... Stock Up is a powerful new card from DFT, and likely has a permanent home here. It exactly fits the cube's design goal of consistency in deck execution, so I don't expect it to go anywhere. Deep Analysis has made it in due to the amount of discard synergy (Inti, Seneschal of the Sun style decks) as well as dredge synergy existing in the cube. I'm not expecting it to be an all-star, and if it doesn't see any play at all I am open to the idea of it being too weak. Paradoxical Outcome is a card I've added, cut, added again, and cut again from the cube. I think with Stock Up as well as multiple playable 0-drops being added in this update and last update, it'll be the most playable it's ever been.

BLACK
Cuts:
Gravecrawler
Demonic Consultation
Tainted Pact

Adds:
~

Black is the color I'm second-most worried about in this cube at the moment. It's the second-least dense color (after white), and is also overdrafted for how well it's supported. That's a difficult issue, because I don't want there to be any traps in black if people are drafting it all the time, but at the same time many black cards have proven close to unplayable. Case in point - Gravecrawler. This card is an artifact of Bridge From Below being in the cube, and has done nothing since that card was cut. One look through black's creatures and you'll see how many zombies there are - not many.

Separately, the removal of Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation (as well as vault-key, mentioned later in this writeup) mark a new era for this cube, where I'm cutting back on oppressive proactive strategies. Almost every time we have drafted this cube, a Thassa's Oracle/Pact/Consult deck has gone 2-1 or better, and it's not hard to see why. Decks that play a Fyndhorn Elves on turn 1 have basically no way to interact with that plan, and it's way faster than any resistance they're able to put up.

I recognize that this is removing a pretty large reason that people draft black in this cube, so I'll be looking into ways to supplement it in upcoming updates.

RED
Cuts:
~

Adds:
Skullcrack

Red is probably the color I'm happiest with in the cube at the moment. It's powerful, has a lot of synergistic strategies, and is quite viable. It is in the middle of the color density rankings. I anticipate Skullcrack will help supplement a second burn drafter in a given pod, and will see play in both straight up RW burn and UR prowess.

GREEN
Cuts:
Esika's Chariot
Polukranos Reborn
Splendid Reclamation

Adds:
Scythecat Cub
Scapeshift

I'm happy to update that green is both powerful and has found its identity in the cube after the last year of updates focused on fixing it. However, in order to support and find that identity, I did overindex on density of cards in that color, so I'll be looking to pull back on that a bit. That identity is twofold - ramping into a powerful turn 2 or 3 play that gets the opponent dead quickly, or going over the top with lands/graveyard/dredge.

Esika's Chariot is one of the cards in the cube that supports neither green theme, and is just generally good. It was definitely one of the cards I added a while ago to try and make green powerful rather than as a synergy piece/as something that fit well into the cube. Now that green has too many cards, it's an easy cut.

Scythecat Cub and Scapeshift are coming in to replace Splendid Reclamation as enabler/payoff for land combos. I expect both to be strong in the right decks, and especially Scythecat Cub to be a high pick. Splendid Reclamation was quite weak, even in the decks that could happily play it - it's just narrow.

Polukranos Reborn is an artifact of this cube supporting Mono-Green Ramp as a theme. While ramping is strong, it's clearly a multicolor strategy now, and Polukranos pushes green drafters in the wrong direction. There's plenty of other powerful payoff, even at 3 mana with Ursine Monstrosity now.

COLORLESS
Cuts:
Time Vault
Voltaic Key
Manifold Key
Porcelain Legionnaire

Adds:
Currency Converter
Night Scythe
Retrofitter Foundry
Jeweled Amulet

Time Vault was simply not fun to play against, and was an oppressive 2-card combo that limited the winrate of other strategies. As such, Time Vault and its supporting Keys have been cut. Porcelain Legionnaire is just not a synergy card, and is not necessary or particularly good in aggro decks, so it was a low pick and perenially left in the sideboard. Easy cut.

Currency Converter I expect to be a strong role-player in many decks - it's just incredibly strong, and has some really potent synergies. Night Scythe also has some strong synergies - it creates two artifacts, it can be blinked for value, and it even triggers Prowess. Retrofitter Foundry is a bit more niche, but it has plenty of applications with things like Forensic Gadgeteer and Zirda, the Dawnwaker. Finally, Jeweled Amulet is a much-needed pickup for artifact combo decks that have been struggling recently.

MULTICOLOR
Cuts:
Grisly Salvage
Jegantha, the Wellspring

Adds:
Storm, Force of Nature
Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer
Heartflame Duelist
Boros Charm
Lightning Helix
Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury

The cuts for multicolor are relatively self-explanatory - Grisly Salvage was just weak and rarely cast, often left in the sideboard. Jegantha, the Wellspring was an uninspiring Companion that just "happened to work" sometimes and added little to both draft and gameplay experiences.

Storm, Force of Nature is the most experimental card I'm adding in this update. She certainly has enough upside to be playable, so we'll see if anyone tries it out. I think Temur tends to be the color combination people often go with for the style of decks that would play a card like this - it has capabilities for big mana and casting lots of spells in a turn, and has big splashy spells to give Storm to. We'll see how it plays out.

As for the rest of the adds, these are targeted at making Boros a supported archetype in the cube. This is looking to address the problem that Red has - it has more burn spells than a single UR drafter in a pod could ever want, so they should have to fight for the burn spells with a different player. I consider Burn a synergy archetype because the spells really do nothing unless combined together - an opponent that took 6 from Lightning Bolts is just as deadly as an opponent who took 0 - until they're dead.

LANDS
Cuts:
~

Adds:
Gemstone Caverns

I'm always looking for utility lands to add - they are very fun to use, and Gemstone Caverns is no exception. I especially expect it to be good in the Lands deck, which just got access to Scapeshift.

Thoughts are very welcome on these updates! DM me - aceofbass99 on Discord.

Title is in reference to the addition of Triumph of Saint Katherine and Metamorphosis Fanatic.

Medium to hefty cube change, simultaneously a reaction to the previous 1-2 drafts as well as a Duskmourn/Warhammer (finally read the set spoiler lol) update.

ADDS:

All non-Boseiju, Who Endures channel lands: Boseiju was already in (so why not these), and they give some additional utility to Wrenn and Six plus some utility in the land slot even in many decks that aren't abusing it.

Mox Poison: This is a power-max cube, so why not try it out. I like it better than Jack-in-the-Mox, that's for sure.

Wrenn and One: Super cool card, I wish it wasn't a playtest card because the art sucks. Could potentially be really strong against decks that can't attack it early.

Metamorphosis Fanatic and Witch's Cottage: Little package that combines well with Vampiric Tutor effects for some chain-reanimation. The lifelink counters help vs. more aggressive strategies. Black had one of the lower card counts and this seemed reasonably strong enough, but this card may be weak; we'll see.

CUTS:

Tarmogoyf: One of the directions I wanted to move with this change was moving Green back away from aggro. It's not as fast as other aggro decks, and not as interactive. It also is a poor combination with the strongest green cards, which push you in the direction of ramp. I think, in general, I want Green to end up in a spot where it's looking to ramp early, and then pay off by playing a strong 4-5 drop a couple turns early, or with some big over-the-top combo such as Aftermath Analyst. Not only that, but Tarmogoyf wasn't even a good aggro card. Bro fell off

Veil of Summer: Not an exciting card, and always been a low pick (despite being pretty strong, no one wants to play with it). This isn't where I want to be for interaction in Green, even though it's strong.

Advantageous Proclamation: I think it's fun building a 35 card deck, and it can be fun playing with them, but 40 is kind of a magic number for singleton Magic where you get some variance in how games play out but can still execute a consistent strategy. This card makes games feel more samey, and I've found I have less fun by round 3 playing with an Advantageous Proclamation deck, despite being excited to try it during deckbuilding.

Dark Petition: Entirely just a cut for being too weak. It has some applications with Emergent Ultimatum and Mizzix's Mastery, but at the end of the day it's just too narrow.

High Tide and Snap: Personally sad to see these go, but Blue is too bloated with half-baked strategies, and I have yet to see someone pull a full High Tide deck off - you'd need the cube to be half Blue cards for that sort of thing to work, and I'm not doing that. Snap has some applications outside of High Tide decks, but not enough to justify its inclusion over other interactive spells or exciting new cards.

Enlightened Tutor: Like with Dark Petition, this card is just too narrow. There are some Krark-Clan Ironworks/Ashnod's Altar combo decks that appreciate an Enlightened Tutor, but it's just too narrow of a use case and this is a perennial last-pick card.

Sail into the West: This card was a trial card from LTR, but has failed to make the cut in basically any deck. It's better in cubes with more combos with Draw 7s - this one doesn't have Hullbreacher, Narset, Parter of Veils, or Orcish Bowmasters.

SWAPS:

Ramunap Excavator out for Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar: Hopefully this is pretty self-explanatory. I don't think there should be more than 2 Crucible of Worlds effects (along with Crucible of Worlds itself) in the cube. Dodging creature removal is more important for this type of effect than the blocking utility, especially given how evasive aggro decks tend to be in this cube.

Zealous Conscripts out for Fear of Missing Out: A Duskmourn trial card, but I think one that will probably make the cut for as long as Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is in the cube. Fear of Missing Out is a cheap win condition with Splinter Twin and Kiki (unless they have a first strike creature), and the lower mana cost is attractive for fighting through interaction. Zealous Conscripts fulfilled the same role, but has fallen off a cliff as a card that stands on its own.

Serum Visionary out for Sicarian Infiltrator: A pretty simple 3 drop ETB draw a card swap for the UW blink deck. Sicarian Infiltrator has some other utility in ramp decks and is overall a much stronger card.

Fecund Greenshell out for Mawloc: Fecund Greenshell was a Bloomburrow trial card, and didn't quite make it. While it was an okay payoff for fair ramp decks, Mawloc has a much larger impact on the game and gives these decks some much-needed interaction. The strong fixing in the cube should help with the casting cost, since these decks tend to trend Red regardless (and Green had too many cards).

Selfless Spirit out for Triumph of Saint Katherine: With the addition of Witch's Cottage, I thought there may be enough synergy for Triumph of Saint Katherine to beat the RNG allegations. While I dislike cutting White cards because there are so few of them in the cube, Selfless Spirit saw basically zero play even in more aggressive White strategies, and was a perennial low pick.

Sentinel of the Nameless City out for Ursine Monstrosity: Mostly just a power level upgrade here. Sentinel of the Nameless City is a totally fine card, but is in this awkward place as a standalone midrange threat (Tireless Tracker does its job just as well and has more synergy upside) that doesn't fit super great into Green strategies. I think it's one of the least threatening 3 drops you could possibly ramp to on turn 2. Meanwhile, Ursine Monstrosity is an absolute beating on turn 2.

Pawpatch Recruit out for Spelunking: I'm fine with Green having aggressive decks, but I think Pawpatch Recruit was quite weak in them. Green decks generally would rather draft as many 1 mana accelerants as possible and don't have time to play a 1 mana 2/1. On future turns, they'd rather have something more impactful to play than a couple small guys. While the flexibility with Pawpatch Recruit is nice, neither side of this card is actively what most Green decks are looking to accomplish. Spelunking (along with Splendid Reclamation) should help in expanding the Graveyard Land Ramp deck to be less reliant on Aftermath Analyst and Nissa, Resurgent Animist.

Keen-Eyed Curator out for Splendid Reclamation: Basically everything I said in the last paragraph applies here - Keen-Eyed Curator is in an awkward middle ground between turns 1 and 3 where Green decks are looking to get ahead on mana and not play middling midrange creatures. Splendid Reclamation adds redundancy to the Graveyard Land Ramp deck.

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth out for Overlord of the Balemurk: I think the days of having all 3 OG Eldrazi titans are over, and have been over for a while. I think Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is one of the cards that gets picked the highest for how little it actually ends up in decks. It basically only works with a few specific cards in the Reanimator and Sneak decks, and doesn't pay you off all that handsomely for pulling that off. Meanwhile, Overlord of the Balemurk is exactly how Dredge and Reanimator decks want to start off the game, and is sizeable out of the graveyard as well - a nice little enabler. Black also needed some raw card quantity, and this change should assist that.

Imperial Recruiter out for Noise Marine: Imperial Recruiter was one of the most narrow cards in the cube, despite looking innocuous. You basically only want it if you have a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker deck, and only if your combo with Kiki involves one of the Blue creatures. Noise Marine is an excellent card at rate in any ramp deck and may be a decent Storm card as well.

Kitsa, Otterball Elite out for They Came from the Pipes: Kitsa, Otterball Elite was one of those cards that looked a lot better than it played. It has a lot of abilities, but it's missing the most important abilities for a Prowess deck: Haste and evasion. They Came from the Pipes is an incredibly strong rate card, great to ramp out, enables some graveyard synergies, and is great to blink as well - I could see a lot of different decks wanting it.