Forgive me Father, it's been 10 months since my last confession. Time sure flies and there are many new cards that look fun to play with. Many new build-around-me's and individually powerful cards. Today we'll be adding a large number of cards from multiple sets (not just the 3 new sets) so we'll try to be brief with each exchange.

Green 10 changes

Pelt Collector->Hedge Whisperer: Swapping elf with low positive community feedback with a new elf.
Forced Adaptation->Hero of Leina Tower: Swapping slow enabler for mana sink pay-off.
Crashing Footfalls->Seeker of Sunlight: Swapping what was probably the strongest single card in the cube for a more fair mana sink.
Groundskeeper->Turn the Earth: Removing the "combo" because this card was useless outside Molten Vortex and that card was too powerful in it's own. TtE is also graveyard hate so that's nice.
Ulvenwald Tracker->Hard-Hitting Question: Swapping X fights for 1 bite.
Commune with Nature->Pick Your Poison: Would rather have versatile removal than a pretty strict cantrip.
Oath of Nissa->Twists and Turns: Once the quest is completed you have a more powerful draw engine than the 1-time use.
Hashep Oasis->Toadstool Admirer: Today we'll be saying good bye to the desert lands to make room for this update. These lands are not very high picks but can offer a surprisingly potent late game threat.
Basilisk Collar->Living Artifact: Lowering some powerful lifegain effects to be smaller repeated gains.
Shadowspear->Glowcap Lantern: Trample and lifelink are very strong keywords to put on one card.

Red 8 changes

Molten Vortex->Torch the Tower: Removing possibly the strongest piece of removal for a much more reasonable spell.
Lava Dart->Shivan Fire: Bringing back some B-tier removal as long as it has keyword kicker instead of flashback.
Chain Lightning->Overload: More Artifact hate and another kicker card. CL is just a wee bit stronger than what I want.
Goblin Javelineer->Goblin Tombraider: Swapping goblins to support artifacts more.
Goldhound->Goblin Welder: Trying out welder again with the introduction to so many artifact tokens running around.
Kessig Wolfrider->Dire Flail: Swapping mana sinks for an artifact themed sink.
Rabbit Battery->Convenient Target: Swapping artifact speed buff for enchantment evasive buff.
Ramunap Ruins->Dreadmaw's Ire: Removing desert for another combat trick with artifact removal.

Black 9 changes

Carnophage->Festerleech: Losing the life loss and gaining added mill.
Festering Goblin->Stalactite Stalker: Swapping lackluster goblin for a sweet gameplay goblin.
Shambling Goblin->Snarling Gorehound: Losing another goblin/zombie but gaining a tiny engine.
Quest for the Gravelord->Kjeldoran Dead: Slow to arrive giant creature or potentially very annoying albeit smaller threat.
Raven's Crime->Deadeye Tracker: We empty hands so fast in this cube that RC barely ever gets cast more than twice. Adding reasons to explore.
Ifnir Deadlands->Nurgle's Rot: Trying out this 40k card even though the flavor doesn't fit well.
Mortician Beetle->Reaper's Talisman: Both of these cards frequently come in and out.
Ulcerate->Toxin Analysis: Still a "kill spell" and a 1-time use of "basilisk collar".
Font of Agonies->Death's Approach: More synergy for Hateful Eidolon.

Blue 8 changes

Martyr of Frost->Sleep-Cursed Faerie: More aggressive mana sink.
Gudul Lurker->Snaremaster Sprite: Replacing unblockable with flying man with ETB effect.
Triton Shorestalker->Spyglass Siren: Replacing unblockable with flying man with ETB effect.
Trickster's Talisman->Waterlogged Hulk: Still an artifact based mana outlet, but with more Oomph!
Ipnu Rivulet->Stern Scolding: VERY excited for this counterspell.
Distortion Strike->Curious Inquiry: Another curiosity effect.
Hard Evidence->Case of the Filched Falcon: Still basically cantrips with the clue, but in this case its actually a threat.
Vapor Snag->Suspend: Swapping temporary removals.

White 9 changes

Shefet Dunes->Galadriel's Dismissal: Swapping alpha strike cards.
Clockwork Drawbridge->Slumbering Keepguard: Swapping defensive mana sink for an aggro mana sink.
Novice Knight->Krovod Haunch: Trading a restriction for an enabler and mana sink.
Court Homunculus->Novice Inspector: Most cases would rather see a clue than the homunculus.
Glint Hawk->Warden of the Inner Sky: Artifact synergy flyer new hotness.
Ardent Recruit->Case of the Uneaten Feast: Swapping a boring payoff for a fun quest Yawg Will effect.
Boros Elite->Archon's Glory: Boring aggro card for interesting combat trick.
Star Pupil->Ruin-Lurker Bat: Swapping a delayed +1/+1 counter for a scry engine and evasive lifelinker.
Lucky Offering->Deconstruction Hammer: Removal swap.

Jeez that was a long time to make cuts! This cube is slowly becoming more and more tight with what gameplay effects it wants for specific card clusters. Actual archetypes can be seen forming. As we slowly get more and more power creep, I may find myself bringing some of the "power" back. I really want this to be an environment where one can play Deathrite Shaman power level cards. In the mean time I will continue trimming the fat of boring but efficient cards and will be actively looking for Cards that support the gameplay that I see producing interesting games. I'll also be on the watch for what becomes unfun to play against. I predict if I add too much more support for the mill deck it may become too consistent and either that or life gain will arise as the most toxic deck. We shall see...

Making some larger scale changes in preparation for CubeCon 2023. Adding more support for a sacrifice theme. Of note, I have finally broken down and allowed adventure cards like Giant Killer and Foulmire Knight.

Elvish Lyrist: Taking a naturalize source away from white and giving it to strictly green.
Giant Killer: Cutting out a city's blessing card for a different defensive creature.
Clockwork Drawbridge: Another tapper effect for white. Hotshot mechanic just felt so anemic and I really don't want to make people think there are vehicles in here.
Akki Scrapchomper: This is the only cards from MoM I'm trying out immediately and I'm very excited for it. I'm always excited for new goblins, but this one says sacrifice and draw a card.
Tajuru Blightblade: Leaning into tribal matters more with this swap.
Sunblade Elf: Selesnya really doesn't need more help but everytime I see that this card isn't in here I feel the urge to put it back in.
Universal Automaton: Leaning more into tribal matter again.
Bag of Devouring: Sac outlet and a pseudo-payoff for sacrifice. Reaper's Talisman is really good and I will miss it, but we need to curb life gain effects.
Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist: Not sure why I didn't add this with Brother's War. Adds to token complexity, but it seems quite strong.
Changeling Outcast: Leaning more into Tribal matters with this one.
Foulmire Knight: Leaning more into Tribal Matter with this one.
Raven's Crime: Recursive discard to work with Groundskeeper.
Ground Rift: Another storm card to eat with Nivmagus Elemental as well as adding another Falter effect to enable alpha strikes.
Thoughtpicker Witch: Leaning more into Sac strategies with this one. I am cutting Gutterbones here just in case the recursive black creatures become too much. He may come back.
Darkblast: I've been wanting to add this for some time and Sticher's Supplier doesn't really synergize with anything as of yet. I wish there were good pay-offs for self mill at 1-mana.
Mortician Beetle: Leaning more into Sacrifice strategies with this one. Diregraf Ghoul is one of the few vanilla creatures left and was only in here because of the relevant type line.
Memory Sluice: Cutting the worst cantrip I have for another mill spell.
Mutagenic Growth: Cutting a vanilla elf for a dynamic pump spell.

March of the Machines had very few 1-drops I was intrigued by, but it did give me the opportunity to lean further into some strategies I want to promote more.
The Captive Weird and Tarkir Duneshaper interest me, but I don't like adding too many flip cards.

Here's hoping this cube gets picked to be featured at CubeCon 2023.

Hello all, it's been a while since the last update and the largest change today will be the removal of many enchantment synergy cards in favor of the much more supported artifact synergy cards from BRO and ONE.

Exuberant Fuseling fits the more aggressive goblin deck I want to thrive rather. Welder never seems to fits what I want it to do.
Cacophony Scamp is the most powercrept Goblin Arsonist I have ever seen. Proliferate allows the goblin deck to play with green easier.
Goblin Blast-Runner also fits the more aggressive deck. Downgrading the unblockable goblin to something with menace but has a pump ability seems more explosive but hopefully allows for more interaction. I'm keeping Sneaking Guide for now.
Vindictive Flamestoker is not a goblin but my non-goblin creature slots are very few and I intend on adding another goblin token generator with...
Gleeful Demolition is definitely going to boost the goblin decks. I hope losing access to multiple shatters doesn't hurt too much.
Overload has kicker even if the kicker is useless. I'm cleaning up some of the enchantment cards so this seems like a good slot to put in more artifact hate.
Lava Dart I've wanted to add this card for some time and I'm not sure I like the choice to get rid of Immolation as that card feels very red to me.
Weaponize the Monsters I took this card out on some recommendations but I very much want this effect, especially with Goblin Blast-Runner now. 2 mana isn't that much of an ask considering you always have extra mana laying around. 2 damage is a large amount of damage to throw around, just look at Molten Vortex.

Alloy Animist Never discount making something into a 4/4 in this cube. 3/3's are large and 4/4's are huge.
Haywire Mite Sure, it cannot kill creatures, but that's what creature kill spells are for. This card seems like a fantastic fit for the cube.
Teething Wurmlet is basically the green Toolcraft Exemplar except likely much better depending on how many artifacts you have in your deck. I wish it was white instead of green.
Llanowar Stalker This is the green Foundry Street Denizen. Funny how both of these are on tribe for their color.

Combat Courier is not the best way to draw cards but it is A way to draw cards. I've been concerned about the number of fliers in the cube in relation to the number of kill spells. Trimming flying for card draw for now.
Minor Misstep Oh look, a fixed Mental Misstep, neat. Larder Zombie has been lackluster lately so we're losing it.
Weakstone's Subjugation abolutely slaps. I love these freeze enchantments for blue. I'm taking out Pacification Array since we have Flood.

Swooping Lookout is another lackluster artifact creature but it does have flying already instead of having to work for it with Kitesail Apprentice. There is something to be said for the feeling of reward you get with the apprentice. Perhaps this change will be reverted.
Recruitment Officer Holy moly! White card draw?! In MY cube?! Yes please! Realistically, this card can whiff, but that is very unlikely in white. Sure, it only finds creatures, but when you have that much extra mana you want more bodies and you'd do just about anything to get them.
Lay Down Arms is not as good as some of my white removal, but I'll take it. Tragic Poet making enchantment removal not feel strong is not what I want. If anything I want more enchantment removal.

We've got quite a bit of things to add and change here. Life gain is commonly agreed to be annoying to play against with such small creatures, it becomes difficult to work through even small amounts of life gain. It is pretty fair all things considered, though so it will be powered down a bit.

Ideally blue and black kicker cards will be impactful for the kicker deck but I'm excited for what are essentially some of the only multicolor cards I can run.
Runic Shot - Cutting a white card and Ajani's Welcome was noted as annoying to play with and against. Not worth using a removal spell on but single-handedly made games drag on without putting its own pressure on.
Rona's Vortex - Oh yeah baby! A Dimir Kicker card and it's a decent removal spell! Just gonna trim some vanilla blue card.
Claim // Fame - I debated this one for a long time, but I don't know why. Fame can't be cast without casting Claim normally. Seems like it fits my criteria. Cbut Bag of Devouring since black doesn't play much with artifacts anyway. The sac clause was nice, but I'd rather have a more aggressive reanimate spell. I'm beginning to take a more aggressive slant with my design philosophy for this cube.
Strength of the Coalition - It's seems fine. Putting counters on your whole team looks good and it's otherwise a mediocre combat trick. The ceiling is higher than Hunger and the floor is also higher.
Urborg Repossession - Card advantage is hard enough to come by in this cube, let alone in green. Ghastly Demise often never had enough cards in the 'yard to kill though high toughness creatures you needed dead.
Pixie Illusionist - Mausoleum Wanderer was so often just a flying man since the force spike text was very rarely relevant. Might as well have a flying man with kicker.
Nixmagus Elemental - He's coming back. I really like the choices this card offers and game states it can create. I think I'll be sad taking the cryptologist out but I do have quite a bit of looting and card draw in blue. Hypnotic Grifter does the cyptologist's job pretty well and even gets big.

Someone convinced me to add the cycle of pain deserts with a sacrifice ability and I really like the idea of 5 more pain lands and mana sinks. Gonna try these out for a bit.
Hashep Oasis - Cutting Hidden herd as I don't want to dissuade people from playing their lands, especially since most non-basics will help end games in a reasonable time.
Ipnu Rivulet - Careful study is probably the worst draw spell in blue. It's not even as good as Faithless Looting. At least this will offer mill support.
Ifnir Deadlands - Removal spell for removal spell. Slightly worse, but better for Font of Agonies decks.
Ramunap Ruins - Cutting red cards is very hard. Every card seems to belong to at least two decks. Zurgo is not a relevant tribe and is kinda just a vanilla dude that can't block well. The haste creature is something I'm losing, but I have plenty of haste and reach in red.
Shefet Dunes - Again, I want to direct life gain decks to be proactive and not just sit high on their laurels. The dunes will end games. Radiance made games go to time far too often.

Combat Research - Third Curiosity effect. Cutting Slither Blade over Triton Shorestalker for minor tribal reasons and I'd rather keep the unblockable creature that's easier to kill.
Cult Conscript - One mana black creatures that come back are a cult classic and this looks to be no exception. Forsworn Paladin has won me some games by giving +4/+0 to something that went unblocked. It just doesn't feel like Black should be doing that. The paladin may come back though, very fun to play.
Evolved Sleeper - Tried to find a vanilla-ish creature without relevant creature types. The beetle can get very large in certain games. One to keep in mind.
Cut Down - Look, I know Vampiric Tutor is great, but there aren't really any combos in black aside from Cat/Oven which I'm sure most players would agree is fine to make more inconsistent. Price isn't usually a factor, but this card was the most expensive if you aren't counting specific versions of other cards. It just doesn't seem reasonable. There are few cards powerful enough to warrant a tutor and those that do, feel way more memorable when you have to work for them. Also Cut Down seems like a fine removal spell. Probably won't ever kill a Lagonna-Band Trailblazer though.
Rosnakht, Heir of Rohgahh - Red cuts are hard. Cutting a vanilla 2/3 for more synergistic body(s).
Phoenix Chick - With the addition of Ramunap Ruins, I am worried about critical mass of burn that can go to the face. I am taking preventive measures by cutting a card that rarely does anything unless it wins the game.

With the addition of more heroic in Red, I'd like enchantments to bleed into red a bit more.
Evanescent Intellect - In keeping with the idea that I want to speed games up I'm tentatively adding more mill support. Screaming Shield comes in for Sylvok Lifestaff under this same notion.
Dragon Mantle - I want games to end in a reasonable time but also have players be able to work out of a sticky situation. BFBA was so often a one-card army. The axe will be tentatively placed on the banned to power list.
Immolation - This will likely be the most contentious swap. But As previously noted I am concerned for a critical mass of reach in red. Additonally, Bolt is just so much better than any other burn spell I want to make players make decisions on what kind of burn they want/need/can afford. Lightning bolt is a very strong spell and may come back in the next update. In the mean time, Immolation is still a removal spell and can still deal damage.
Hammerhand - Man I just kinda don't like Warden. It's not as fun to play as it looks.

Lots of powerful cards being taken out this time. Hopefully I can learn more about the environment and what is important. How much burn is too much? How much mill is enough to make a viable deck for it? Is there such a thing as too much kicker? So many questions to have answered, if only I can get 7 other people together more frequently.

Dockside Chef is a similar enough card to Vampiric Rites while adding more interaction by being a creature and sac'ing a whole other permanent type. The life gain in black needs to be carefully controlled. Plus I like Ramen.

Dakmor Salvage is only in here for Molten Vortex and is otherwise very hard to use. There is very little need for Dredge to be in the cube at all.

Adding in more enchantment based removal and losing a more inconsistent one in Regicide. I will miss the draft matters aspect of it, but it's for the best having it gone since it was the only one.

I severely underestimated how good the saga creatures in Kamigawa are and will be adding this one since this is an enchantment matters color. I need to remove another source of lifegain in black since I really don't want black to be able to have that many sources.

I already have quite a few sources of haste but I am trying to have a density of playable artifact creatures and Kird Ape is just a bit too boring. 2/3 is huge here but the old monke doesn't really do much else.

In that same spirit of removing pretty vanilla creatures I'm swapping the near identical 2/2 goblins with downside to other goblin cards that care about artifacts. I feel like there is finally enough scrap around for Kuldotha rebirth to be functional.

Probably a bit of a contentious swap, Helm of the Gods for Rakdos Cackler. Neither red nor black care about the counter and both have other tribes to care about. So really this is a vanilla 2/2 that can't block. Meanwhile Helm is an equipment, which red cares about and it counts enchantments, which black plays a few of.

Adding in a few extra upgrades to hopefully incentivize an enchantment deck in the Abzan colors.
Oath of Nissa: is functionally the same as Adventurous Impulse but with the added enchantment type.
Fang of Shigeki: having access to a "snake" or "rat" deathtoucher is super useful to many decks. I had Tajuru Blightblade for awhile and really liked it. Young Wolf was honestly just a token card for a friend and hasn't been performing much at all.
Hateful Eidolon: if this card draws a single card it will have been a success in my book. Lifelink is a plus.
Gift of Fangs: Functionally, this kills the same things as Disfigure aside from the 3 vampires. I opted for this instead of Dead Weight because of the off chance someone pumps a vampire and gets a win that way. I may add Dead Weight to the list is black is picked up for the enchantment deck more frequently.

Only a few cards of note from this set. There are plenty of new artifacts to try out and add to the synergies I already have.

Eater of Virtue: Better Bonesplitter will definitely make it and Sticher's Graft doesn't have a fun play pattern.
Iron Apprentice: Having critical mass of artifact creatures that donate a counter sounds good for the counter deck and artifact deck.
Hotshot Mechanic: is basically a vanilla 2/1 so it is a downgrade from the dog, but having artifact may help some decks.
Lucky Offering: is just a better Fragmentize here.
Reinforced Ronin: artifact synergies as well as decent aggression and the ability to consistently trigger ETB effects when you want, draw a card if you don't. I might miss the mana sink of lightning berserker.
Simian Sling: I thought about taking Tormented Helm out for this but want to see what the environment is like with two of this effect.
Experimental Synthesizer: Card draw in red! Need I say more?
Network Disrupter: Another flying man in blue but the artifact tag is the important bit here.
Thousand-Faced Shadow: Probably not great but I really want to try this. The effect is unique enough.
Clawing Torment: Rusalka has not been a very good trade of resources lately and seems to be getting worse. This card may add a new slow drain card to help control decks.

I hadn't gotten around to making this update so it's coming with NEO.

Hopeful Initiate: Training is lackluster but a repeatable naturalize effect may lead to me taking a few out.
Kessig Wolfrider: This card looks very impactful. Spitting out 3/2s if you have a graveyard or being a menace threat if you don't.
Cobbled Lancer: Look, it's high time we all admit that Delver isn't that great in cube. I'd rather have a more consistent 3/3 ground-pounder than a Fugitive Wizard that sometimes becomes a threat.
Larder Zombie: another defensive creature for blue with a relevant creature type. Losing another Fugitive Wizard doesn't hurt either.
Concealing Curtains: a fantastice defensive creature for black that turns into a real threat. The clique ability is a nice plus.
Dread Fugue: this and Inquisition of Kozilek are the best discard spells in this format.

I'm finally puling the trigger for the life gain deck as well as some enchantment matters cards
Of note, I don't think Generous Visitor will be impactful enough, but I want to try. The hidden enchantments may be lackluster and too easy to play around.

Innistrad 3.0 is starting off strong with a strictly better version of the Unsummon effect in Fading Hope.
Zombies is getting a huge flag-post synergy card in Champion of the Perished which is leading me to consider putting more actual zombie cards in the cube. I'm already adding the Rotten Reunion although I think decayed will negatively impact this card more so than in MID limited. At least they can still be used for sacrifice effects, which leads me to Ecstatic Awakener a one time sacrifice outlet with decently sized payoff.
Red gets another shatter effect with an extra mode in Raze the Effigy which is desperately wanted. I'd kill for a smaller Abrade. +2/+2 will have to work and I know heroic cards and aggro decks aren't complaining.
Candletrap is similar to Kirtar's Desire, the coven ability might prove too difficult attain. Chaplain of Alms appears underwhelming at first glance but first strike is a very strong keyword, especially on the flip side with the extra power.

Lunarch Veteran: adding another soul sister to the list of potential includes for the lifegain archetype is never a bad thing. I think I'm still waiting for the 4th life gain payoff card, but maybe the life itself should be enough. We're approaching critical mass of life gain cards.
Consider: just about every blue card draw spells see more cards than Consider. Instant speed is nice, but I don't even run Opt because it just doesn't see enough.
Crawl from the Cellar: Potentially an include if Zombies become something I more heavily support.
Deathbonnet Sprout: Really thought about including this, but it's slow and fighting against other green creatures is rough as it isn't an elf. It's SUPER cute though!
Larder Zombie: the large toughness on this guy is is main selling point. Tap 3 to surveil is nice but I couldn't convince myself to include it here. Definitely one to take a second look at later.

When I initially made my assessment of Trickster's Talisman I didn't notice that it gave +1/+1. Giving blue a Short Sword with the ability to sometimes be a clone is pretty big to me.
I think it's time to test if Brainstorm is too strong in the cube. Brainstone is going to take more convincing.

Paladin Class is a strict upgrade from the battle cry.
Warlock Class has a cantrip on it which is rare for black at 1 mana. The incidental life loss is nice and may play into aristocrats style decks neatly.
Reaper's Talisman has no stat bonuses which is a real downside, but the drain offers black a way to gain life reasonably. This is also a seed for potentially bringing back the lifegain package.
Goblin Javelineer adds an interesting interaction in the attack phase. The pseudo-evasion is more relevant than the glory chaser as renown is pretty difficult to trigger in an environment where everyone has a turn 1 play.
Forsworn Paladin Giving black access to and easy way to "ramp" and color fix is potentially dangerous. I don't even allow Birds of Paradise. This card is arguably more powerful than Gilded Goose so it will be on my watchlist, but I want to see how it plays out.
Wizard Class Raw card advantage is rare in this format and it usually has some other relatively high cost like tapping 4 creatures or waiting 4 turns. The first line of text is flavor text, and the last can win games.
Silver Raven Downgrading here for a similar card but the artifact synergies I'm trying to support would appreciate more metal.
The Blackstaff of Waterdeep Adding something for blue to tinker with artifacts with makes a lot of sense and gives a cool identity to U/W that was lacking before.
Monk of the Open Hand Haazda Marshal was sometimes difficult to trigger and survive and the payoff wasn't particularly that exciting. A single +1/+1 but much easier to trigger actually plays into other synergies.

Cleric Class may be the tipping point to bring back lifegain matters.
Instrument of the Bards 5 mana investment and a whole turn and all it does it put it into your hand. I'd rather just play one of the bad cantrips like Adventurous Impluse.
Wild Shape Actually very interesting to discuss, but I think the numbers are just a little too low to take the place of an actual pump spell. Also, I already have 2 hexproof tricks in green, I feel like adding a third would be overkill.
Leather Armor Pretty cool concept, unfortunately I think the numbers are just too small to warrant inclusion. Ward 1 is also not a very significant tax effect in this format. Only a minor annoyance.
Greataxe Equip 5 is ALOT.
Trickster's Talisman This is probably the ONLY clone effect I will ever get access to. Probably warrants a test based on that alone, but there are few clone-worthy creatures in this format.

Dungeons are a parasitic mechanic that requires critical mass of effects that say "venture" or are repeatable effects in order to actually complete any dungeon to get any tangible reward past something like "scry 1". Due to this I'm more interested in the repeatable effects of which there are 4: Fifty Feet of Rope, Fly, Secret Door, and Ranger's Hawk. I'm not opposed to adding these as any one of these cards can single-handedly finish a dungeon. At this time however, I'd like to save the dungeon package for when I add in the lifegain Package. I will be thinking about maybe putting it in earlier (it is only 4 cards).

Lots of powerful new 1-drops to play with here. Adding the white artifact package that includes modular which hopefully isn't too difficult to find another artifact creature to modular onto.
Bloodhall Ooze has been a lackluster payoff as it's often too slow. Adding an enabler and payoff card will hopefully spice up any spellcasting deck that finds the channeler.
Hard evidence makes the cut over Floodhound as I already have Spectral Sailor to draw cards. Shelly comes in to be a bit more defensive while still getting a card draw and adding to any spellcaster list.
Quite a few squirrel cards to add that help Golgari maintain a board presence with tokens and allowing that color combination to play aristocrats nicely.
Took out a few off-color kicker cards and found a fantastic one in Tide Shaper. Messing with your opponents mana is something I' comfortable with when its at this power level. Wasteland and stripmine were too powerful when tested.

Changing up the bounce suite by exchanging the OG Unsummon for something a little more niche but with an upside.
Trying to add a few more aggressive fliers to see if blue can draft a more aggressive shell. 2 power in the air is representing a Good amount of damage.

Skywatcher adept took over for Hypnotic Siren. 7 mana is probably too unreasonable for this cube.

Taking some much appreciated advice from Justin Parnell from the recent Community Cube Review put on by JJtheManCub on Twitch.tv. Link

Lots of cuts to come down to 384. Lets talk about some of the big ones:
Mental Misstep: This card was correctly pointed out as the strongest card in the cube, especially AFTER Skullclamp was taken out. I thought that it could stay in on the basis that it is only a 1-for-1 (even if it is the BEST 1-for-1), however, Parnells brings a good point that it being colorless brings a non-decision to the drafting experience. In the end, it's more fun WITHOUT the misstep, so for these reasons Misstep will be Banned to Power.
Mana Tithe/Force Spike: These cards were on the chopping block and I'm guessing it was just my personal affection for the Tithe that kept it in this far into design.
Slippery Bogle/Gladecover Scout: Hexproof is decidedly an unfun mechanic when there is very little trade-off required. These creatures lead to non-games of Magic and the enchantment/pants deck can still be built and is still strong.
Hexdrinker: This card similar to the bogles leads to non-games and non-decisions when drafting. It's incredibly powerful and homogenizes play around it. For that reason it's Banned to Power for the cube.
Lantern of Insight: Let me be honest, I LOVED Lantern control in Modern and I loved drafting it in the cube. That said, NOBODY enjoyed playing against it in either format. For the sake of creating an enjoyable Magic experience I'm removing this aspect of the mill cards in the cube and replacing them with more interactive cards.
Moorland Haunt/Great Hall of Starnheim: The land base needs to be trimmed up to allow for a tight "360" gameplay in which the entire cube is drafted at once. Many of the grey lands were an easy cut (Ghost Quarter is meh) and even the spell lands from Kaldheim were experimental and probably over-priced. The Haunt and the Great Hall, however, will be greatly missed. Being able to convert dead or useless bodies on the ground into air power was incredibly strong and lead to interesting games.

--Zephyr Boots is a very good update from the
Kitesail dropping the auto-equip for a saboteur
loot is a trade I'd take any day.
--Star Pupil will more consistently give its
counter to a creature than Venerable Knight
since there aren't very many knights in the
cube. The loss in power is regrettable however.
--Losing another Savannah Lions type card in
Soldier of the Pantheon. The multicolored text
rarely came up and was essentially flavor text.
The Stonebinder's Familiar has many more cards
to trigger off of and is better off a single
trigger.
--Tormented Hero is a bit of an odd ball since
black rarely wants heroic type cards,
preferring to play with graveyards. Adding a
card draw and another menace creature should
still fulfill the black aggro needs.
--Flame Jab is just so much worse at its job than Molten Vortex and you really only need one of these types of cards. Team Pennant will likely get more damage through from game to game anyway.

The snarls are the completed set of lands from Shadows over Innistrad and aren't going to make the cut for the same reason. Tapped lands are pretty not great, even if they have a condition to come in untapped. The Campus cycle are interesting for a tapped land cycle. I think the activation cost is simply way too high to make the cut into this cube.

Forgot to add this Golgari utility land in the land update and blinkmoth has been underperforming. Adding more deck diversity to my green pump spells by adding more kicker cards to play with roost of drakes.
Spikeshot elder should have never left and Martyr of ashes is play restrictive by forcing you to hold red cards in your hand to use it effectively.
Skullclamp is busted as one could guess and has now been banned to power. Replacing it with the next best card advantage artifact I could think of.

I’m choosing to de-power some of the utility land options here for sake of gameplay as many of these are super fun to play but not very fun to play against. Several on this list are essentially game over once activated while others might have to be activated two or three more times to be oppressive. With these changes I hope to see more active decision making rather than snap-making an Ormendahl, Profane Prince.

• Mystical Tutor has few good targets making it a questionable pick and even more questionable to play. Bind the monster at least removes a creature and plays well with other themes.
• Fyndhorn elves is very replaceable with two other carbon copies in the cube. Jaspera Sentinel gives increased stats and access to more colorfixing. Loam Dryad and Saruli Caretaker were possible includes but this has a better typeline and stat box.
• A similar Elf upgrade for Twinblade Slasher to Elven Bow. The slasher has a decent pump ability but being the only card that utilizes -1/-1 counters in a cube with +1/+1 counters as a theme isn't on brand. Meanwhile, the bow gives a more permanent buff that can be difficult to kill.
• Wild Growth is in a similar predicament to the Elves from earlier where too many other cards do that same job. In the interest of adding more support for counters decks and to stop removal Snakeskin Veil is a promising addition.
• Red has had the largest cut of the pie in this cube for a while (Red has many good 1-drops) and white has been left out in the cold. Kudotha Rebirth has very few expendable artifacts to sacrifice and tokens is more a White thing anyway.

I know with Snow coming back as a mechanic great cards like Ascendant Spirit were printed but as of right now I had no other Snow-related cards in the cube to warrant Snow Basics. This set MAY be the tipping point and I MAY put in a Snow package at a later time. Cards I'm currently looking at include: Ascendant Spirit, On thin Ice, Icehide Golem, Skred, the dreaded Arcum's Astrolabe, Blizzard Brawl, Frost Bite.

I probably need to take a look at my equipment package and make some changes. Colossal hammer is rarely played outside green decks that can pay the cost. Stitcher’s graft is much more manageable cost-wise and +3/+3 is still huge.
Consulate dreadnaught is huge, but without trample it feels super lackluster to get blocked by a 1/1.
Piracy charm is cute but doesn’t really feel blue and god willing is a superb card.
Dryad militant is a savanna lions with flavor text most of the time. I’d rather add more evasion to aggressive decks.