Colorless

I lost to it when I had nineteen life and it had three influence counters :( A very scary card to face!

The protection was annoying, but always just delayed the inevitable. It was always drawn when the game was already basically decided.

Lands

All of them saw play in the draft. They were cycled at least three times (in total). This cycle really solidifies manabases in a big way and are here to stay.

Overall a good showing. Surveil is a relevant effect to fetch for. They are nice for filling up graveyards. Overall we are likely to try more of them.

It shark a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth on offense. A solid win con and a league above Lumbering Falls.

Overall cube commentary

Fixing felt a little too easy. We are likely to cut the Pathway cycle, as they are not as good in gold-heavy decks, and are fiddly double-faced cards.

Wheel combo was liked b the drafters, and we are likely to double down on it.

The cube feels in a good place, and the draft itself felt fun and interesting.

Red

Was played in a low curve deck and cast often, yet never whiffed even once.

Discard synergies are a real thing even in aggro decks.

ETB trigger is super busted.

Green

Was hardcast at least twice. Green ramp decks just often get too much mana with not enough things to do. Not good at closing games, but decent at keeping you alive, especially given the very low opportunity cost.

Too slow and vulnerable. It fared poorly.

Not a new card, but I am still suprised to see how consistently it makes maindecks. Rainbow fixing + being a "one drop" is a winning recipie.

Was used as a win con for ramp decks and did the job.

Gold

Great card, can win out of nowhere by dealing 6 damage to your face. I was worried that throwing dice will make it feel to luck dependent, but players said that they have enjoyed it.

Monarch is still an amazing mechanic for proactive decks, and especially Boros with its low amount of card draw. Boros is a very strong guild right now and several players at the pod played both colors.

After a long hiatus, we have cube drafted today. Here are some thoughts over the new cards:

White

This card is immensely scary to face. Some drafters think this is the best white one drop now, ahead of Ocelot Pride.

Even if you don't ever get to the city's blessing, this a ridiculous one drop. I once tried to take it with Treachery as it genuinely was the best thing on the board.

This Thraben Inspector redundancy is just great. You are never sad to draw it. It was blinked with Restoration Angel, the clue pumped the construct from Urza's Saga, overall great times. We might even play a third version if one ever gets printed.

This unassuming little dude was always relevant - reach when you need it, lifegain when behind, vigilance in a race. A fantastic thing to blink. Plays much stronger than it reads.

The enchantment half was cast and the repeated pump felt like inevitability. A good clean two for one. An easy way to include a late game bomb without sacrificing early game relevance.

Was a slightly weaker Elspeth, Knight Errant, mostly because it is less aggressive. The OG still reigns supreme.

Open-ended cards like this are fun to have around. It reuses ETB effects, removes blockers, and brings back stolen creatures - all were relevant in the last draft.

Blue

I maindecked it, and it always found targets. A good piece of early game interaction.

Plays far better than it reads. A looter with combat-relevant body is handy. It didn't copy anything.

Was played in a deck with Hullbreacer. The combo never came about together, but nonetheless the card was still strong. It acted as graveyard hate against a reanimator deck and was a classic card advantage spell.

I played it in my deck. I felt safe having it - it can interact with anything on board and on the stack. I have also used Memory to reshuffle dead creatures back into my deck for Oath of Druids. It will likely stay as long as we want to support the wheels combo.

Was weak. It felt too expensive and too late in the game. It will be cut in the next cube update.

The card was P1P1 and is still a great cube card all these years later.

Black

Not a new card. I've played it in an Oath of Druids deck with Through the Breach. I also played the two Emrakuls. Archon still felt like the best cheat target most of the time, and I was able to hardcast it in several games.