Naturalize > Wilt
Torchling > Devout Witness
Two-Headed Dragon > Kavu Runner
Acorn Harvest > Life From the Loam
Ghitu Encampment > Scalding Tarn
5 signet lands from Odyssey > Wooded Foothills, Flooded Strand, Windswept Heath, Elvish Aberration, Migration Path
Shared Triumph > Karakas
Spirit of the Night > Twisted Abomination
Firestorm > Shredded Sails
Stoic Champion > Elite Inquisitor
Crookclaw Elder > Knight of Mists

Here's my notes for my swaps. Just placed the order and with be updating the parent list after the cards arrive. Writing these notes down now so I know what goes where. There's a few cards I didn't order for various reasons, maybe I have them in my collection? I should check

Torchling > Devout Witness
Wanting to remove all of the morphling variations due to power creep and spotlight stealing. Devout Witness is a discard outlet, a repeatable disenchant, and a combo piece for Thran Forge, Parallax Tide and Parallax Wave (and maybe more)

Brightling > Parallax Wave
Wanting to remove all of the morphling variations due to power creep and spotlight stealing. Parallax Wave is a nostalgic combo card that has overlap into control builds and can stand up on its own. Popular premodern card

Trickster Mage > Chain of Vapor
Chain allows for more combos with Parallax Wave/Tide and also w/ stacked damage, plus it's an instant which fuels some of the other strategies of the cube. The mini-game of copying chain can be fun and also exploitable. Trickster Mage was lacking tribal support and synergy. This was leftover from when I was testing "turning off" tapped artifacts. It remained as a discard outlet with slight nod to removal/tempo, but Chain hits more boxes

Mental Note > Geistwave
The mill aspect of Mental Note is underwhelming as there are only about nine threshold cards. I like it for being a one mana cantrip, but Geistwave has a lot more flexibility as it can exploit stacked damage and be a combo piece for lots of different cards in the cube (Salvager of Secrets, Parallax Tide). It can still draw a card sometimes or be used as a tempo play against your opponent

Mindslicer > Perilous Research
Black has a bit too many cards in its pool and as cool as Mindslicer is, the higher stats are a bit of a spotlight stealer from the Kavu and the death effect rarely comes up. Newer players are terrified of drafting this guy. Perilous Research allows for some powerful shenegins, especially with stacked damage.

Cephalid Retainer > Rushing River
Squid boy is underperforming in all areas and is a bit of a loner. Rushing River can be a combat blowout and it combos with lots of other pieces of the cube.

Niv-Mizzet, The Firemind > Time Warp
A goal for the cube is for the modern-bordered cards to help shine the spotlight on the older cards, not to steal the spotlight from the older cards. Niv-Mizzet is a show stealer for the UR archetype so let's include an old-bordered powerhouse in its place.

Immobilizing Ink > Parallax Tide
I thought I was cute putting Ink on Arcanis and drawing a bazillion cards, but that was back in 2002. Despite it being memorable in my MtG experiences, you are already going to win the game if you resolve an Arcanis and you don't need the aura. The aura could be a cute discard outlet, but there's a broader nostalgia and combo fun with Parallax Tide. Control was hurting a bit in the cube and this is a step to give it some big peepee pills

Cabal Therapist > Sarcomancy
The Rapist just doesn't perform. No tribal synergy and it's too tough to churn creatures into Cabal Therapies. Sarcomancy fuels Zombie tribe, suicide black, and the aggro archetype, plus it's old border and has heavy nostalgia

Cairn Wanderer > Skeletal Changeling
Big Fat Changeling is over-statted and steals the spotlight from the older cards. Reducing the power/toughness allows Kavu to shine a bit brighter in the cube and black was easily the most heavily drafted color in my recent cube-featuring here on CubeCobra. The Skeletal Changeling lowers the curve and power while still being a flexible wildcard to let older tribal hombres shine

Two-Headed Dragon > Kavu Runner
The two headed dragon doesn't have ANY overlap into any tribes or archetypes. Maybe reanimator... or maybe fires... but both are pretty sad focuses if that is where you are going. Kavu Hill Giant lowers the curve a little, bumps up the Kavu Kount and leans more in to the midrange feel that I'm going for that archetype

Dragon Mage > Hordeling Outburst
The repeatable wheel was getting played a lot for a few reasons, but not due to it being a dragon, a wizard, or a repeatable wheel; It was getting played because it was a flying 5/5 creature. While there's a need for Timmy cards, it didn't fit. There's a lot more versatility in making 3 goblins with an instant in this cube, and it opens up for late game recursion without costing an upfront fee of 7 mana. I am concerned that there may not be enough reanimation targets, but that will always be a fun and easy fix later on down the road.

Seal of Fire > Shock
Improved synergy with Dreadhorde Arcanist, Young Peezy, Talrand, Bedlam Reveler, Ghitu Chronicler, Salvager of Secrets, Revolutionist, Tazeem Roilmage, etc, thanks Zelu0

Sylvan Messenger > Alpha Kavu
Four mana for a two two trampler is really sad. The concentration of elves isn't high enough for Sylvan Messenger to be very good unfortunately. The activated ability of Alpha Kavu can provide some unique stacked damage interactions, plus this swap lowers the curve a point. I can always add spicier modern elves to the mix if need be.

Thornling > Battlefield Scrounger
The big green morphling made it into most decks when it was drafted. It's too big and too strong and takes the spotlight away from the original morphing and also the kavu in green. I watched a recent video of The Cloudgoat Ranger where he was looping Time Warps with Battlefield Scrounger, and that sounded like a fun achievement for the cube. The butt on this guy is also solid with a unique ability.

Voracious Cobra > Mystic Snake
Too many gruul cards. no simic cards. Cobra doesn't match the kavu theme even though it's from Invasion. Mystic Snake has some long-game potential in a control shell, whcih the cube was lacking. Plus it's more nostalgic

Blinkmoth Nexus > Viseling
I don't like the interaction with Changelings and the Nexus as it's two modern cards boosting each other up. I tried to add a bunch of manlands early on, but the 4x of Mishra's Factory is sufficient. I thought about adding Black Vise, but usually that card doesn't care until turn 4 or 5 anyways, so dropping a viseling later gives for a similar win condition in a prison-style deck, with a little more vulnerability to allow for the "prisoner" a more exciting chance of escaping

Rackling > The Rack
The Rack is an aggro card. Rackling is too slow to be aggro. Let's double up on Racks, especially since the nostalgia is so high.

Hollow Specter > Ankh of Mishra
Hippie's slower, ugly brother gets picked pretty late for most kickball teams. Black has a bit too many cards and Ankh allows for more aggro synergies and a few wild combos in control shells as well (Parallax Tide, Veteran Explorer, Tradewind Rider) which is an uncommon combination of attributes

Doom Cannon > Phyrexian Altar
Nine mana and saccing a creature is just too steep of a cost to do anything. It's last picked often. Alter is an exciting combo piece that can still be used fairly and open up the Mana Echoes combos of the cube a bit more. Plus it was designed for an environment with stacked damage and mana burn. Maybe I should also put Black Market in the cube???

Coat of Arms (Exodus version)
Cosmetic Upgrade

Prismari Campus > Grixis Triome
Cascade Bluffs > Esper Triome
Flooded Grove > Bant Triome
Lorehold Campus > Naya Triome
Rugged Prairie > Jund Triome
Adding five more cards with cycling should help give a little more gas to the cycling archetype. These cards are fetchable and I was able to set aside some borderless versions to help reduce the aesthetic impact on the cube

*Ifnir Deadlands > Polluted Delta
*Ramunap Ruins > Bloodstained Mire
Trying to speed black up a bit more with its fixing. Might be a while before I get Onslaught fetches for these slots, but I have KTK fetches I can use for the time being. Getting rid of the utility lands as I don't want to set up false hopes that there is heavy desert synergy in the cube

*Need to order

*Torchling > Devout Witness
Wanting to remove all of the morphling variations due to power creep and spotlight stealing. Devout Witness is a discard outlet, a repeatable disenchant, and a combo piece for Thran Forge, Parallax Tide and Parallax Wave (and maybe more)

Brightling > Parallax Wave
Wanting to remove all of the morphling variations due to power creep and spotlight stealing. Parallax Wave is a nostalgic combo card that has overlap into control builds and can stand up on its own. Popular premodern card

Trickster Mage > Chain of Vapor
Chain allows for more combos with Parallax Wave/Tide and also w/ stacked damage, plus it's an instant which fuels some of the other strategies of the cube. The mini-game of copying chain can be fun and also exploitable. Trickster Mage was lacking tribal support and synergy. This was leftover from when I was testing "turning off" tapped artifacts. It remained as a discard outlet with slight nod to removal/tempo, but Chain hits more boxes

Mental Note > Geistwave
Mindslicer > Perilous Research
Cephalid Retainer > Rushing River
Niv-Mizzet, The Firemind > Time Warp
Immobilizing Ink > Parallax Tide
Cabal Therapist > Sarcomancy
Cairn Wanderer > Skeletal Changeling
??? > Kavu Runner
Dragon Mage > Hordeling Outburst
Seal of Fire > Shock (for Dreadhorde Arcanist, Young Peezy, Talrand, Bedlam Reveler, Ghitu Chronicler, Salvager of Secrets, Revolutionist, Tazeem Roilmage, etc, thanks Zelu0)
??? > Alpha Kavu
Thornling > Battlefield Scrounger
Voracious Cobra > Mystic Snake
??? > Viseling
Rackling > The Rack
Hollow Specter > Ankh of Mishra
Doom Cannon > Phyrexian Altar
Coat of Arms (Exodus version)
Prismari Campus > Grixis Triome
Cascade Bluffs > Esper Triome
Flooded Grove > Bant Triome
Lorehold Campus > Naya Triome
Rugged Prairie > Jund Triome
*Ifnir Deadlands > Polluted Delta
*Ramunap Ruins > Bloodstained Mire

*Need to order

Beasts originally had a sketched tribal focus for the cube, but ive decided to cut it and take it out of the focus. Green's tribe's are currently split among Elf (19), Kavu (21) and Beast (16), and all 3 are under represented. I'm pretty sure ive tapped out the possible additions for Kavu and they thematically feel too similar to Beasts as big bodies. Im planning on keeping Ravenous Baloth in the cube, as it's good on its own

Ok, I have officially scrapped the two clunky and complicated rules:
-Tapped blockers deal no combat damage
-Tapped artifacts lose all abilities

After another draft, people didn't like or exploit these. Most players ignored it all, a few gave it attention, and one player tried to incorporate the artifact rule (it was bad). More often than not, it's a feel bad with Masticore or Tanglewire than a feel good with Winter Orb or Su-Chi (you know, typing out the phrase "feel good with Winter Orb" looks like an obvious read flag now...). Using a tapper like Nomad Decoy to undo a blocker from dealing damage (usually defender's choice) is significantly worse than removing their best creature from being able to block (always attacker's choice)

I've also added mana burn. I announced this at the draft and people actually cheered. It never came up in the matches (that I know of), but the nostalgia factor was so strong that it excited people. This is good enough reason to lean into the unique rule and tinker as time goes on.

I have a large amount of edits to put into place, too, about 60 cards. I'm removing a lot of the creatures that have power 4 or greater to help the bodies of the Kavus maintain relevancy. I'm also powering down a lot of the creatures that have higher stats to help make the Kavu beefier and more relevant; most of the cards that were impacted by this decision were bombs, reanimation targets and modern printings. I may also need to cut reanimator concepts as a whole to allow for a more streamlined focus on the highlighted archetypes

Did some more playtesting today and I'm thinking even more about nixing the "tapped artifacts lose abilities" and the "tapped blockers deal no combat damage" rules. Nobody remembers them. They were short-lived, clunky, unintuitive rulings that only made the game more complicated instead of making it more fun. If i cut these concepts, then it might free up some slots that are currently being used for tappers and untappers. Just because it existed, doesn't mean it's worth remembering.

I'm thinking more about adding mana burn to the rulings. This is the first "old rule" that people remember, so it could be hindering the potential connection of the cube with players by excluding it, even if it isn't relevant most games. Originally I had tried including cards that leaned into the idea of mana burn (Mana Flare, Citadel of Pain, Yurlok, Upwelling, etc), but these cards felt narrow and clunky. I scrapped the whole idea of drafting w/ mana burn, but it was relevant in lots of my playtest games today. I was likely overcomplicating it. Mana Burn doesn't need many special cards as much as Thran Dynamo & Dark Ritual need drawbacks

I realized there's almost no pump spells in the cube, and this is a way i can make Kavu better. Just gotta dig through to find the best ones...

Potential Adds:
-A third (and maybe 4th copy) of Dark Ritual
-Ancient Tomb
-Hedron Archive (old border)
-That mythic from Core 2021 that taps for 4 mana and filters all mana
-Whatever X damage spells have the coolest art
-Mana Short
-Drain Power
-Giant Growth
-Elvish Fury
-Berserk
-Invigorate
-Bounty of the Hunt
-Vines of Vastwood
-Mutagenic Growth
-Might of Oaks

Potential Cuts (to make room for pump spells)
-Gaea's Blessing
-Chain of Acid
-Spider Spawning

As of Dec 12th, 2021:

43 cards to be upgraded (not including proxies)

15 alt borders (to reduce aesthetics of modern frame)

159 modern borders

62 modern cards in a "Retro Border" (to be 64 after all upgrades)

25% is 180, so I'll be under my goal after all my upgrades. Maybe i can reduce the percentage even more? An additional idea is to run some old border fetches, but the Strixhaven Campuses might be better for some archetypes. I need to make sure I don't overwhelm my cube with modern cards, it's currently sitting at 221, which is 31%

I got to draft this cube for the first time last Tuesday with 5 friends and it felt great. Im still missing 4 cards, but I think it didn't jeopardize the draft. I printed little notes that had the archetypes and tribal themes, as well as the four unique rules (more on that later)

I intentionally forced The Solution (Jeskai) as I felt that was the weakest archetype and also the one that would draw in people the least as most were near completely unfamiliar with the premodern format. It's not a very sexy archetype and i had no idea how a deck that is so solidly a constructed build would translate to a limited format. I got all the pieces i needed after putting on my blinders, so it worked out. My biggest concern going into the draft was that white was going to be too powerful and that cycling was going to outshine other archetypes. Only one other drafter picked up white and nobody touched cycling, despite it being wide open.

Players reacted warmly to the pool and i think what was most exciting was the amount of rogue builds: all of them were off the beaten path a bit (except mine). Most players expressed concern about there not being enough removal, Ive since added a few more answers. Alex made a good observation that the amount of payoffs i had outweighed the amount of enablers, especially when it came to discard outlets; I've since added a few more. Ive also added some more changelings as the tribal themes felt like they needed a bit more smoothing.

After playing with the unique rules, it seems like i should cut the "tapped artifacts have no ability" rule and the ones "tapped blockers deal no damage." I'll try one more draft and see from there, but I'm almost positive on this one

I added some cosmetic versions and also trimmed some of the newer cards as their power-level outclassed what i want to focus on. Ive decided i want to keep the percentage of new borders under 25%. Im falling asleep, stayed up too late tinkering, so I'm gonna call it a night for now