The original Desert Cube features no less than 10 of each basic land. There are 11 swamps and many, many more mountains. The original Desert Cube features primarily red cards. I am not yet sure whether I will favor one color more than the others or if I will try to keep the colors somewhat balanced. I do know that I will be not be prioritizing theme (like the original), but rather prioritizing the lower powerlevel and interesting draft that comes with the format.
If I end up leaving the colors all fairly balanced I will likely include more of each basic land. If one color is included more heavily I will add more of that colors basic land.
I do see a bit of a benefit in supporting one color more than the rest in a cube of this size. But I will have to wait and see if that makes sense, and if so which color should be prioritized.
Lands to help fixing that also have a significant enough drawback to not be simply better than basic lands in all decks. Basic lands should generally be seen as very powerful draft picks, so these lands are kept to a very low power level.
240 card cube, 216 cards per draft, one copy of Mana Tithe. That's a 90% chance that Mana Tithe (or any 1-of card) shows up in the draft. In this sort of draft environment with only four players and each player taking 4.5 cards per pack each player will have a much stronger idea of what decks are in play - especially after their first pairing. After facing just one opponent a player knows with absolute certainty where at least 94 of the cards from the 216 card draft are. 54 from his own draft, and at least 40 cards from his first opponents draft.
With such an information heavy game I think two things become much more important than they are in a normal draft environment - bluffing and discretion. By discretion I mean that I would separate the pairs as much as possible. Possibly put them in separate rooms, or at least on opposite ends of a large room. Players should not be able to spectate or watch the other match once theirs is over, but rather make some kind of signal, send a text, or move to an agreed location to begin the second match. This sort of discretion will help limit the otherwise near-perfect information of your next two opponents decks, and open much more space for thoughtful gameplay.
With this information being simultaneously vast and limited, bluffing and cards that enable bluffing become much more interesting. Mana Tithe simply existing in the cube enables an easy bluff by showing any white mana. This can back fire in that if you did not draft the Mana Tithe there is a strong chance your opponent has it himself, either in his deck or in his sideboard. If you go for this bluff and fail you may have stumbled such that you inevitably lose the game. Picking Mana Tithe pick 1 or 2 becomes much more appealing, as you become the only (or one of the only two, with knowledge of who the other is) player that knows where the Mana Tithe is.
Obviously not all decks are going to be white, many won't even splash white. I intend to include many lands that are capable of producing white that remain valuable even in a non-white deck (the three color sac lands will likely be my next post). These white-capable lands now have the added benefit of the Mana Tithe bluff in addition to their usual value (and heightened value being there is no basic land pool!). Though it is certainly far less likely for an off-color opponent to have both white mana AND Mana Tithe in hand, its inclusion will still make it a consideration, and for that reason I believe it to be a valuable inclusion to such a tightly packed cube.