Good evening folks, hope all has been well despite these dire times!

Today I bring you changes from the other side of Innistrad Remastered. There were a few changes that I wanted to make anyway, but with the new set coming out, I wanted to let things percolate. The minds at WotC are fantastic at making limited sets, and I was wondering if there was any inspiration I could take from INR, or at least from the conversations people would have about it in the coming weeks.

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Blazing Torch was always cute in theory, but is a card that was never drafted. I'm still unsure of what exactly I'll put in its place, but for now Thraben Gargoyle will hold down the fort. It's a cheap, good blocker that has two card types and can trade off early with aggressive creatures. Solid filler.

Grimoire of the Dead was supposed to be a colorless option for the reanimator deck, but it just took too much set up. I'm hoping the one-shot, single target Soul Separator will do what I want a bit better.

I made this change a while back, but I have not been thrilled, so I am reverting it. Moorland Rescuer is coming back out for Sigardian Savior. I'll be monitoring and seeing how Savior performs now that it's back.

I love Eldrazi, but they just never work out here. Elder Deep Fiend just never performed well. In its place is Deadeye Navigator, sporting new art! Deadeye is a powerful card, and I want to see what it can do in this format.

This is another change I am reverting. Delver of Secrets is an iconic card that should be in the cube. Curious Homunculus has not done a whole lot in its tenure here. While not bad, I don't think I can justify it staying in over Delver. It might come back some time though.

I like to make sure that certain effects are in the cube, and I always want to make sure there is at least a single mind control effect in here. Grafted Identity hasn't done much, so I am going to do a 1-for-1 swap with Spirit Away to see how it performs. it's pricier for sure, but better for slower decks in my estimation.

Necroduality has performed similarly to Parallel Lives, which is not well at all. In its place comes another zombie card that also fits into the other blue decks: Forgotten Creation! Creation is not a card that's ever been in the cube, so I am very interested to see how it performs.

One thing that I saw a handful of people lamenting about INR is the lack of Flashback loops with things like Spider Spawning, and I realized that that isn't something that my cube provides either. Over time I trimmed down these effects, citing them as "air". Blue and Green weren't performing well at the time, and I thought it was the fault of these cards, but in reality, both colors just needed an overhaul. Now that that has been accomplished, I can afford a couple slots for effects like these! As such...

Runic Repetition and Memory's Journey are coming in for Docent of Perfection and Pieces of the Puzzle. Both of these cards were for the U/R Spells deck, but that deck is pretty bloated as is. As such, by cutting these two cards, I can give a bit of room to the loop-y graveyard flashback stuff in Sultai or Temur that may have wanted them previously.

Falcon Abomination was just curve filler. The main zombie support is in black, so I don't mind nixing this for the return of one of my favorite cards, Geralf's Mindcrusher. Great for zombies, great for self mill, overall just a fun card!

Famine has been...Fine. Inoffensive really. Instead of an inoffensive card though, I'd rather have a card with a clear purpose and role. Vampires need a couple more pulls into back, so I am going to try out Olivia's Wrath. I thought about adding in Captivating Vampire, but I didn't want another lord at 3 mana. Hopefully this does the trick instead!

INR reminded me how much I enjoy Madness and discard. Coming from this, another boon to the vamps are Incorrigible Youths and Stensia Masquerade. With all the Blood and discard outlets, I felt like I should have a couple more decent madness cards. The cards cut, Creepy Puppeteer and Unholy Heat were very good cards, but they didn't push in any one direction. They were generically solid, but I want a bit more pizazz out of these two slots. I wouldn't be shocked to see either of these cards return, but for different cards.

Similarly to Memory's Journey and Runic Repetition, Gnaw to the Bone returns as a vital piece to these slow, loopy decks. I think I was a bit too harsh on it the last time, and just need to see how it works in these slower style of lists. It isn't for every deck, but that's okay. It is replacing Unnatural Growth, as, while I liked the idea of pushing a stompy green deck, this just isn't the way to do it. It's a bit slow and clunky, and the 4 green pips are just too restrictive outside of dedicated green decks.

Danwtreader Elk was another inoffensive card, but Abundant Growth but a new borderless art treatment, and I could use another enchantment to help fuel Delirium...So it's in. It's very pretty.

Predator Ooze is in the same boat as Unnatural Growth, it isn't for any of the established decks, and it has too many green pips. Hermit Druid comes out of nowhere to join the fray...And I'm not sure how good it'll do either all being told. These limited decks have a bunch of basics in them, so it won't be milling a massive amount, but we'll see! Being able to secure a land drop every turn is powerful!

Revenge of the Hunted was just a bit much. I already have Craterhoof Behemoth, so I don't think a second Overrun (and one that you don't have to work for most of the time) is needed. In its spot is another "air" card for the slow, loop deck Turn the Earth. Hopefully with these four pieces, there will be a revitalization of this style of archetype!

Vadrik, Astral Archmage has been alright, but has never really done much. A three mana Goblin Electromancer is a little too pricey, and a lot of the spells for U/R are cheap ones anyway. Eruth, Tormented Prophet has much more synergy with these cheaper spells I think, and will help push U/R decks over the finish line. If that doesn't happen though, this is an easy change to revert.

And finally, Old Stickfingers is out, and Maelstrom Pulse is in. Sticky-boy has done a decent job at getting creatures into the yard, but G/B doesn't just want creatures in the yard, it wants different card types in there! G/B lacks a bit in the sorcery department, and having an excellent removal spell that just also happens to be a sorcery is just what the doctor ordered!

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And there we have it, all of the changes post INR!

I haven't had the pleasure of drafting INR yet, but I've been diving into it intently, looking through the set, noting all the synergies and tools and interesting pieces WotC thought would make for a fun draft environment in hopes of applying it to the cube.

What're your thoughts on these changes though? Make sure to let me know! I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, stay safe out there!

Hello All! Tonight I bring you the changes from Magic Foundations!

There are a handful of Innistrad cards in this set, all of which I have reviewed here, if you are interested in seeing my thoughts on ALL the cards.

For today though, we'll just be going over the cards that are making it in, which happen to be five in total!

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Sudden Insight is an interesting card advantage spell for a cube that relies heavily on graveyards. As an instant, if you can net 3 or more cards, I think you're happy, which can happen quite easily. 6 mana is a bunch, and if it was a sorcery, it wouldn't even be in contention, but I really like that it's an instant. Coming out is Jace, Unraveler of Secrets. Five mana for Opt or Unsummon always felt unimpressive, and he didn't have the power I hoped he would.

Ivora, Insatiable Heir does exactly what vampires want. She's aggressive and cares about blood, discard, and +1/+1 counters. Chandra, Dressed to Kill was in here as a payoff for mon ored, but she's always fallen a bit short. I'm not even sure if that archetype is even a thing after my changes a few months ago.

Dark Bargain is a card that always puts in more work than you expect. Yes, it hurts you a bit, but the amount of selection it gives you at instant speed can't be underestimated. The reason why it is coming in for Tooth Collector is because they are both at home in Delirium decks, but I think I would rather have another enable for Delirium, than a little payoff. I'm fine changing this back though if I don't like how it plays.

Vampire Gourmand vs Vermin Gorger was a hard comparison to make. They do very similar things, but are subtly different. In the end though, I think Gourmand has an extra synergy or two with the vampires deck, so it is going to slot in for a little while. If I don't like it, this is an easy change to rescind.

High-Society Hunter is a jacked up Harvester of Souls, and is perfect for this cube. I love my eldrazi, but Distended Mindbender yet again has underperformed. This swap is easy, even though it hurts.

And there we go! Just a few changes this time around! Foundations was a really cool set that gave me a handful of new cards to work with, and overall I'm, pretty pleased!

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, make sure to leave a comment down below!

Until next time!

Just a quick tweak that I realized I forgot about on the last go-around.

I've come to the conclusion that mass graveyard hate is much too punishing. It's important to have some ways to interact with the graveyard (and I may add a couple more), but nuking the entire yard is way too much.

As such I'm reverting the Disciple of Perdition change and bringing back Novice Occultist. :)

Good evening, All!

It's been a few weeks since MH3 was fully revealed, and cards are now trickling in! As such, I wanted to make sure to make these changes pronto and see what they can do! Let's not waste any time!

The idea of Angelic Aberration being the top end for some kind of white deck, whether it be Humans, Aggro, Sacrifice, or whatever really intrigues me. I also believe I prefer its potential play patterns over Entreat the Angels, which can change a game on a dime. I don't hate Entreat, I just don't know if it's what I want for the cube. For now Aberration will be my preferred way to make Angel tokens.

The idea of having an Un- card in the set tickled me to no end, but I think it's time to retire the Auteur. Witch Enchanter is just so good. Being able to bop problematic enchantments or artifacts is solid, being a human is great, and being a land on the back is even better. I could see a world where I might cut this since it is the only MDFC in the cube, but I want to take it for a test drive right now.

These next two are changes I made with one another in mind, so let's tackle both now. Toxrill, the Corrosive is taking a temporary reprieve from the cube in exchange for Dreadfeast Demon, as the latter is another target for the brand new Persist. I wanted to make sure that the main reanimation color had another powerful target for Persist and the other spells, and this Demon seemed like a shoo-in for that spot. Sadly, once again, Archpriest of Shadows gets cut for no fault of its own. I simply want to try out a new toy.

Dormant Grove has been underperforming, which was quite surprisingly, especially considering how well it played in Crimson Vow. In its place is a card that is a bit more proactive, Sowing Mycospawn. Now it won't be able to be kicked often, but that isn't the point here. A 3/3 for 4 that immediately puts you up a land, whether that is simply for fixing or for a nonbasic like Kessig Wolf Run is a good card. It slots in well to the creature based enemy color deck, and makes splashing in green a bit easier. I am interested to see how it plays!

Gnaw to the Bone has just become too passive sadly. It is a sideboard card against aggressive decks, but the best way to combat aggressive decks is to add to the board and be interactive. To that end, Horrific Assault enters the cube as another way for green to be able to handle creatures. it is the 4th piece of direct interaction the color has access to, so I am pretty happy about that. It needed it!

Bird Admirer is a card it seems that nobody wants, but I really want a creature with reach in the three mana slot. Luckily, Six is just what the doctor ordered! I've wanted an Eternal Witness-like effect for the cube since FOREVER, and Six ALSO fulfils that role too! All around, Six is a dream come true. This is excellent in most green decks, especially enemy color pairs, and will be a much more desirable card overall.

Tamiyo's Journal is sadly just too slow, that's the bottom line. Replacing it is Shifting Woodland, another boon to the enemy-based green decks. This is excellent in both Delirium and self-mill, and is another way to "buyback" something in the yard. I'm excited to see how it performs!

Finally, a card I almost forgot, is The Creation of Avacyn! This card is SO interesting to me. It seems very high-risk high-reward, which can lead to some interesting gameplay. The hope is that it is another way for reanimator decks to piece things together, but I don't know how it is going to perform. Grave Pact is the swap just because it ended up being a bit too "win more".

That's it for all the changes! But I'm sure you're saying to yourself: "Angelo, that isn't all the cards from MH3! Where are the rest of them?"

Well, let's run through them real quick, and go over all the ones have haven't made the cut.

-Emrakul, the World Anew is just worse than Emrakul, the Promised End, and since I do my best to keep it to 1 card per character, she loses out to her 2.0 version.

-Herigast, Erupting Nullkite is really cool, but I don't know if that is what red wants to do in this cube. He seems very fun, and he might make it in at some point, but it's a no for now.

-Sorin of House Markov is Innistrad on the front, and an unknown plane on the back. If both sides aren't on Innistrad, I don't think I can include him :(

-Glimpse the Unthinkable struggles to be better than Reckless impulse, and that's no fault of its own; Impulse is just really good.

-I am DONE with effects that exile entire graveyards, it's just too warping. As such, Thraben Charm is a no-go for the foreseeable future.

-Dreadmobile is similar to Bloodflow Connoisseur, which already isn't in the cube. If I need an effect like this I know where to go, but I am not missing anything by not including this.

-Shilgengar, Sire of Famine is a dope card, but I just can't find room for ANOTHER flying Demon, especially one with this stat line at 5 mana. I hope he is able to get in one day, but I am loathe to cut something like Bloodgift Demon for him.

-Snapping Voidcraw is interesting, especially with the changes to green and Simic, but I think it does a poor job at being a sign post card and representing what the colors are supposed to do. For now, it is out.

-Mutated Cultist is just bad.

-Fetid Gargantua could be interesting, but black is a color that is way too competitive of a color to waste a slot on a vanilla 4/4.

Drownyard Lurker and Warped Tusker are really cool, but I don't know. I don't think blue really wants something like Lurker, while green COULD want something like Tusker. It's just a little hard to say. These cards are expensive, and the cycling is cool...I'm just going to say no from now and go from there,

And now THERE we have it! All of the MH3 eligible Innistrad cards! This set gave me a lot of tools to work with, especially with green, which I appreciate a ton. Out of all of them, I am most excited to see how Six performs.

Well, that's all for now! As always, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send something my way!

Have a lovely weekend!

Evening all!

Tonight I bring you a short list of changes as a little clean up before my (very belated and still not-scheduled) birthday draft!

There wasn't much I wanted to change since I haven't been able to test a whole lot since the last slew of changes, but there were still some cards I wanted to try out regardless!

First up is the big man himself. Greymond, Avacyn's Stalwart! This guy is a house (and potentially a mistake to add). I'm a bit wary of the power he brings, but if I am being honest, I just can't help myself. If he ends up pushing G/W or R/W too far, then I can easily revert this change and bring back Goldnight.

Battle at the Helvault is disappointing, and I shouldn't be too surprised. It comes down late, and it doesn't even permanently get rid of things...Yeah...In its place is a tool for white decks to deal with aggression" Silverstrike. Four mana is a lot, and may emd up being too much for it to see any use, but I wanted to try it out since I thought the incidental life gain would be nice!

Latch Seeker was a plant for Spirits and U/G, but with all the fliers and everything, they don't need a rando unblockable dude. What blue does need is more Zombie support. Hordewing Skaab, you're in! It may provide flying like Geralf, Visionary Stitcher, but I think having two of those effects in the cube is fine.

Binding Geist is another card that straddled the line for Spirits and U/G but always just fell short is both. Falcon Abomination returns as another way for Zombies to add board presence and take to the skies!

Finally, Markov Enforcer is replacing Markov Warlord. Not only does this change bring a bit more blood to the cube, but it also keeps the idea of a red creature that can push through damage late game, but doesn't do so as quickly as Warlord.

And there we go! Just a few quick and easy swaps!

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, make sure to leave a comment down below!

Until next time!

Afternoon all!

Today I bring to you some changes in hopes of slowing the cube down a bit. Over the last few changes, I've tried to give slower decks tools to deal with aggressive decks, but it hasn't seemed to stick.

White-based aggro decks continue to mop the floow with the likes of blue decks that aren't Spells, and sometimes even decks that should have an advantage over them like Werewolves.

Overall, I think the speed of the cube is a little too fast for my liking, so these changes are addressing that. The goal here to to cut some one and two drops, raise the general curve, and add in some more defensive options for decks.

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White

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Repeatable anthems are an issue, and that's exactly what Mikaues, the Lunarch is. He is powerful and hard to deal with, especially with all the 1/1 Humans running around. Instead of immediate power, I am going to try out Moorland Rescuer once again, in order to give white decks a better late game, as opposed to upfront power.

Hopeful Initiate is a powerful one drop, but I like its effect. Amateur Auteur costs a bit more and is similar enough that I am fine swapping these two. I also just think it's a very funny card.

Avacynian Priest looks like a defensive card, but is most often used offensively to take out blockers. In its place is a solely defensive card...At least until the late game; Beloved Beggar. This helps Spirits put up a solid body on the ground, while giving B/W another Disturb creature to sac.

Aggro held a lot of graveyard hate tools, which made decks like Zombies, Self Mill, and Value struggle. Taking out Remorseful Cleric and Sungold Sentinel for two removal spells, By Invitation Only and Containment Circle fixes that problem quite well, while also giving decks tools to fight aggro.

EDIT: Gavony Dawnguard is a beeg boy for only 3 mana. a 3/3 with ward 1 that also can provide repeatable card advantage is a little too much for my taste at the moment. Courageous Outrider returns in its place as a creature higher up on the curve that also provides one shot more narrow form of card advantage that rewards typal builds.

Right now, I don't think white needs a powerful card like Silverblade Paladin, despite how much I love it. In its place is another Spirits card Drogskol Reinforcements. This gives Spirits another pull into white, and another way to pump. I am wary about repeatable anthems as I stated above, but I want to try this one out and see how it works. If it's too much, I am happy to swap this back without issue.

Lastly in white is Subjugator Angel. This is a brickhouse of a card that ends games the turn it comes down, and I want to see how white does without this tool. In its place comes another reanimator target in Avacyn, Angel of Hope. With the cube slowing down, I want to give reanimator decks a couple new tools to see if it can work more consistently.

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Black

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Olivia's Midnight Ambush ended up being mediocre and relatively unneeded. It had its uses, and could always find its way back in, but overall I was unimpressed. Black has enough removal. Conversely black is lacking a good Vampire payoff higher on the curve. I want to try out Crossway Troublemakers to amend this, and see if it gives the archetype a bit more staying power, since it has been lagging behind the other aggressive decks.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is powerful and fun, but overall doesn't make the cut as a top end zombie payoff, or as a reanimator target. To that end, instead of trying to fit a card into two archetypes, I wanted to simply add a reanimator target: Toxrill, the Corrosive.

Haunted Dead's job was to come back a few times and provide value. It failed to do that. Archpriest of Shadows returns as a way to get other creatures back, whether they are small and valuable in W/B, or big and powerful like in reanimator or Value.

Champion of the Perished pales in comparison to Champion of the Perish. Zombies are just harder to make than Humans, and that's a fact. Instead I want to try out Grave Pact. This gives slower decks a tool to potentially trad up with more aggressive decks, or grind out games they wouldn't have been able to before. If it is too oppressive, I don't mind cutting it for something else.

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Green

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Green I am still testing out and finding its power level after its massive changes a few months ago. As such, I didn't want to mess with it too much.

As such, I simply traded a few cheap creatures like Dawnhart Disciple and Ulvenwald Tracker for slower options like Dawnhart Mentor and Bird Admirer.

That said, in its short stint, Champion of Lambholt caused too many non-games on turns 4 and 5 for my liking. It just got too big too fast, it functioned as a 3 mana Subjugator Angel too often. Replacing it is a fun tool I never found space for until now Eldritch Evolution. I don't know what other decks aside from Value and Reanimator can use it, but I am interested to see how it plays.

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Red

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Red was a bit of a problem like White, though to a lesser extent. I wanted to be a bit more lenient with it, but I don't mind coming back in a bit and being a bit more heavy handed if I need to.

Red as enough powerful creatures low on its curve, it doesn't need Kessig Wolfrider or Lightning Mauler to help both early and late game. Unholy Heat provides another cheap removal spell that won't go face, while Riot Ringleader is a draw into the Humans subtheme of R/W that does a slightly worse Hamlet Captain impression.

Card advantage is important, but red doesn't need a ton of it, or if it does, it should come at a cost. Obessive Astronomer was a pet card of mind, but I don't like it at 2 mana. Anje's Ravager is a bit slower, and comes with a real cost associated with it, so I like this swap.

Similarly, Voltaic Visionary and its card advantage is a bit unnecessary. In its sport comes a two drop with an actual downside to it: Falkenrath Exterminator. I like this change since one of these has no cost involved with it: the first draws you a card for a measly two damage, and then becomes a massive 4/3, while the other has to actually work to be good.

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And there we have it! A number of changes that will hopefully tweak the speed a little bit.

I don't want to kill aggro, and I don't want slower decks to dominate, but I think the balance is a bit too off at the moment. I plan of testing these changed out and seeing how things work, and then adjusting from there. I don't mind digging into aggro a bit more in necessary, but it's something I'd like to avoid if I can help it.

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, make sure to leave a comment down below!

Until next time!

Evening friends, it's been a hot minute!

Today I only have two changes, aimed once again at green, this time mono green specifically.

The idea here is that since the last few updates where green has really come into its own, mono green has become a viable archetype. As such, I'd like to foster it a bit. This leads to...

Predator Ooze replacing Ghoultree. I love Ghoultree, it is a neat payoff and tells you exactly what kind of deck it goes in...Except it is a vanilla creature with the same mana cost as Craterhoof Behemoth. I think it's outlived its welcome sadly. Predator Ooze requires a heavy color commitment and fits perfectly into the "Stompy" deck. It starts slow, but ramps up very quickly.

The second change here is Unnatural Growth for Flourishing Hunter. Flourishing Hunter was supposed to be top end life gain, but again, like Ghoultree, it simply just amounts to a vanilla creature, except this time it's at the same mana cost as Avabruck Caretaker. Unnatural Growth is another massive green commitment with a powerful effect, really hammering home the idea of a mono green stompy deck.

I plan on getting a draft or two in at SCGCon Hartford this weekend, so I wanted to get these changes done asap. I also have the Walking Dead Universes Within cards coming down the pike as well, so look forward to those changes as well!

Until next time!

Evening all!

I'm just here with a few little changes that I have been thinking about for a hot minute; nothing wild, nothing drastic.

A while back during the MOM and Aftermath changes, I was going through and making some general changes, one of which was to limit card advantage for more aggressive decks.

I haven't really enjoyed those changes, and have slowly been reverting them over time. The important thing I've realized isn't that aggressive decks need their card advantage options curtailed, it that they all should be doing so in different ways.

For example, Humans have creatures that cantrip or card advantage with stipulations attached, Zombies have tons of recursion and reanimation, Spirits have access to all of blue's card draw spells, Werewolves have cards that care about having big creatures and other Werewolves, and Vampires have...

What do Vampires have nowadays? Well...

Blood and Madness go together like peanut butter and jelly, and with all the Blood that is in the cube, I want to increase the number of madness cards as well. Not just any Madness cards though, two that I had spurned about six months ago: Asylum Visitor and Stromkirk Occultist.

Both of these are solid Madness cards that were cut simply because I didn't think them necessary, and I am ready to admit that I was wrong. I really like the synergy they now provide to the cube thanks to Blood, as well as the ability to provide card advantage in a uniquely Vampire way.

Similarly, with all of these Discard outlets running around (about 30 in R/B alone, including Blood) Falkenrath Gorger seems poised for a comeback. Gorger was cut before I really understood the utility of Blood, and being able to turn discarded cards into creatures on board for little effort seems like a huge boon now.

As for the cut cards:
-Tomb Tyrant has been fine, but not spectacular. Zombies didn't end up needing the extra anthem, and his last ability has too many stipulations on it for my liking.
-Skirsdag Cultist was the kind of reach that I realized red didn't need right now. Red has SO many way to push damage though, it didn't need another one.
-Falkenrath Exterminator is a cool and fun card, but I like Gorger more right now. Exterminator gives the aggressive vibes that I want out of Vampires, but I would rather opt for Gorger's synergy right now.

Finally, moving from Vamps, we are back to Humans where Leinore, Autumn Sovereign is replacing Join the Dance. I want to make Humans feel resilient, and Leinore helps with that much better than two dinky 1/1s can.
I really valued Join the Dance's Flashback as a way to be resilient, but I think I would rather lean into +1/+1 counters and getting the card upfront than having to wait for it later down the road.

And there we have it! A lot of words for just a few cards. Thanks for making it this far if you took the time to read it, and as always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, be sure to send them my way!

Until next time, have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I bring you a small batch of changes that I've been thinking about for the last few weeks.

Overall, I haven't been a fan of how many creatures white has in general. While I do want colors to lean into their strengths, 58 just a bit much for me. Green is the cube's other "creature color" alongside white, and while I want the two of them to outnumber the other color's creature counts, I think white has some nice tools at its disposal that I am overlooking.

While not all of these changes make creatures into noncreatures, it does bring the total count down to 55 which I am happier with.

Twinblade Geist is cute in theory, but a 1/1 double striker doesn't feel terribly good, even when there are some spirit anthems and counters floating around. As the cube has gotten more powerful, Disturb cards that flip into noncreature spells have been on a downswing, and this follows that trend. In its place is Niblis of the Mist, a Spirit that flies and fits with Spirits theme or tapping creatures.

Sanctifier of Souls was always a placeholder card, and in its place comes Thalia's Lancers. Lancers is a strong card that will always cantrip for a powerful card in the right deck. There are plenty of targets for it in the cube, and this helps push Human's theme or resiliency.

Courageous Ouriders always plays as "look at the top 4 cards of your deck and bottom them'', even in dedicated Human decks. Its hit rate is just super low. Spare from Evil, while not strictly a Human card, fits into Human decks and can help break board stalls whether on offense or defense. I'm interested to see how this plays out.

Like Twinblade Geist, Drogskol Infantry is another casualty of Spirit's changing theme. Returning is Spectral Reserves, a card that will help put Spirit tokens on the board while also bolstering your life total slightly. This is the last Spirit token producer I plan on adding, and wouldn't be shocked if I cut one of two next go around. I just want to make sure Spirits have support, dammit!

The final white cut is Slayer of the Wicked for Entreat the Angels. This seems like a strange swap, but stay with me. White has an abundance of removal, and a four drop with conditional removal often falls behind, even if it does have typal synergies. I often see it being the 24th or 25th card in most decks, even dedicated human ones. Yes, it's a nice sideboard card, but I feel like I have enough of those. Entreat the Angels on the other hand is just a fun, powerful card. I introduced miracles to the cube recently, so I am interested to see what one of this power can accomplish. I am fine reverting this change if I am not happy with the results.

The final change isn't a white card, but I wanted to be sure to make it all the same. Thunderstaff was an experiment, and I have been underwhelmed by it. I want to try Tamiyo's Journal in its place. It is also a slow card, but seeing as that I've been trying to give tools to slower decks, I am interested to see if this does anything. If it doesn't, I have plenty of other artifacts to try.

There we go! Nothing too wacky or wild, just a few small changes before the next draft. Seeing as that I have taken a deep dive on nearly every color, I wouldn't be shocked if red was next on the list, though it is the color that has felt most stable throughout everything. It's never been a problem child.

If I don't see you before Halloween, stay safe and stay spoopy!

Good morning, Friends!

It's been about a month, and I've been playtesting and getting a feel for the new changes, and I must say, I'm quite happy. Green has more than three cards that I'd want to first pick, and it seems like the competency for each G/X color combination has gone up quite a bit.

That said, as always, there are some things I could change, and I'm going to. I plan on having at least one Draft at Commander Sealed, and then a Halloween Draft soon after that once October rolls around, so I want everything to be in tip top shape for each of these, and that is where these changes come in.

Once again, they are centered on Blue and Green as I still hash them out to figure out the feel for each of them considering how many tweaks they've had recently.

-Ongoing Investigation has been underperforming, especially as I've pinpointed U/G's identity as having a bunch of creatures in the yard to play with. Eating them to investigate isn't conducive to that game plan. In its place is Cackling Counterpart. Upon recommendations from individuals I trust, I have opted to give it another shot. I think with the upped power level across the board, these kind of clones get better, especially when they are copying Mist Ravens and not Stitchwing Skaabs.

-Stitched Drake is a card I like, but it always just gets cut. I already have other flying zombies, so I don't need another that is harder to work for and has double blue in its cost. Taking its spot is another three mana flier that will hopefully put in work, Niblis of the Breath. It's a frail body, but a repeatable 1 mana tapper can be quite strong, and I am hoping it is.

-Delver of Secrets isn't a bad card, I just think that aggressive, attack-y spells deck isn't that hot right now, and Delver suffers as a result. As such, I wanted to try out Curious Homunculus. I'm on a bit of a mana dork kick lately, so I wanted to give blue a second option aside from Deranged Assistant. I am completely fine reverting this if it doesn't pan out the way I want.

-Cradle to Safety was a hold over from the enchantment theme I tried to put in a while ago. I usually acts like a counterspell that isn't an instant...Which doesn't have much synergy whatsoever. What DOES have synergy though is Pieces of the Puzzle. Card selection, graveyard filling, and card advantage is a good combination, and I am stoked to try this out.

-I adore Havengul Runebinder, especially since it is a payoff for zombies in blue, but it just doesn't do a whole lot. Double blue pips on a four mana card that doesn't give you any value until you put another three mana into it? Ick. Dream Twist returns as a cheap way to get cards in the yard for 3 of the 4 U/X decks, along with having other minor synergies.

-Dawnhart Mentor was supposed to be cut last time, but I missed it. Heh. It's a defensive body that pump late game and that's...Just not what green wants. Something like Wolfir Avenger IS what green wants though! A well-costed body with flash that can keep regenerating is great more most archetypes and fits in well here.

-Grave Bramble is one of my favorite cards, but I am over vanilla cards that don't have synergy in the cube. Taking over its spot is Noose Constrictor. The snake synergizes much better with what the enemy color pairs want to do, while also being another creature with reach to smack down pesky fliers!

-Feed the Pack hasn't done anything wrong, but it hasn't done anything totally right either. I could see it coming back one day, but for now I want to keep stocking up graveyards with Flashback spells. Increasing Savagery Was reluctantly cut the last time, and makes a return, giving green decks a way to massively pump creatures and get value late game.

-With Coven becoming less important, Might of the Old Ways suffers. Revenge of the Hunted comes in for it, adding a third miracle card to the cube, while also being green's means of wiping the board. I'm a little iffy on this one, since I don't know how it will often play out, but I am happy to try it.

-As with Might of the Old Ways, Harvestide Sentry suffers from lack of Coven, though it having three power makes it quite a bit easier to achieve since most humans are 1 & 2 power. Since I am amp-ing up the graveyard, I figured I'd trade a vanilla creature with synergy for another, by adding Shadowbeast Sighting back. I really just want a critical mass of Flashback spells right now since green and blue have additional dorks that can actually get them to the back half of the spells now. I'm fine reverting this change if it doesn't pan out.

-Olivia, Crimson Bride was a plant for red to dip its toes into reanimating, but it doesn't really need it. As such, OG Olivia Voldaren returns, bringing all the pinging and stealing that she is known for, and giving Vamps another solid 4 drop.

-Storm Skreelix is just a bit too clunky. 5 mana is a lot for a creature like this, and Mercurial Geists just does its job better. Vadrik, Astral Archmage already reduces the cost of spells, so I don't think I need a second, clunkier version of that effect.

-Finally, like Cackling Counterpart, I was advised to try Croaking Counterpart again now that the power level has increased. Altered Ego is a powerful card, but lacks and real synergy with U/G. I think having another Flashback spell will be a net positive, but I don't mind reversing this if it doesn't pan out.

And there we go! These changes were pretty straightforward, and I'm hoping that they help finish buffing out the dings and dents I'd left after those massive changes a month ago. Only time will tell though!

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask and get in touch! Until next time, see ya!

Here we are, the final changes for the cube!

Green has been a problem child for a hot minute. Over time it has become a bit of a support color, but also has struggled with asserting itself. It hasn't really had an identity, and also the tools it has to support were often better done by other colors.

My fixes for this were threefold:
-Give Green more options to ramp and get ahead
-Give Green more top end to make it better at closing games
-Trim the fat and focus more on the themes

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Ambush Viper is fine, but not spectacular. It's a nice surprise blocker when need be, but mediocre everywhere else. Ulvenwald Tracker fills the role of interaction better by providing solid, repeatable removal that scales better now that its threats are better.

Deathcap Cultivator, Ulvenwald Captive, and Somberwald Sage all replace junky, mediocre cards to help fulfill the role of ramping better and getting ahead sooner. This should help in making green more assertive and landing larger threats ahead of the curve.

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TIME TO HOOF. Craterhoof Behemoth is here as green's toppest of top ends. Infestation Expert, while it would go well with Hoof and was excellent in VOW, has continued to be unimpressive here. As such, Hoof is in, giving green a way to slam the door shut on a game once it gets incredibly late.

Parallel Lives was supposed to assist in token making, but has consistently fallen short. While it would pair well with Somberwald Beastmaster, I'm opting to swap the two. Parallel Lives always needs other cards to make it work, while Beastmaster is a fantastic way to stabilize on its own and gives you something to ramp towards.

Stop me if you've heard this before: Crawling Infestation has been underwhelming. In it's place is Sigardian Zealot, a card that any green deck can use in order to help push through damage, or help race against more aggressive decks.

This one is controversial, even to me, but Avabruck Caretaker is in for Increasing Savagery. I like Savagery a lot, but I need more OOMPH, and Caretaker gives me that. It has a reputation as one of the mythics that ruined VOM limited, but green is struggling. I'd rather over-tune than under-tune right now, and if blue can have Hullbreaker Horror, green can have Caretaker. That said, I will be monitoring both of those, and don't mind taking both out as a package deal if they are too oppressive.

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Turn the Earth is air. It does nothing. Traverse the Ulvenwald adds another card with Delirium, fixes for multicolor decks, and gives green another tutoring option alongside Dig Up.

Hermit of the Natterknolls has been, you guessed it, unimpressive! Shrill Howler takes its place as an aggressive werewolf that can flip later in the game, and helps apply pressure better than Hermit ever could.

Hamlet Vanguard has just been awkward. It needs a couple other humans out to be good, but then it's just kind of a big guy with nothing else going for it? Champion of Lambholt instead wants Humans to come after it in order to help aggress your opponent and get them dead quickly.

Kessig Recluse was a nice defensive option for green, but I am tired of it being defensive. I want it to pressure. I want it to aggress. Ulvenwald Oddity replaces it, giving green a stompy creature that hits hard, hits fast, and has play late game.

Obsessive Skinner replaces Bird Admirer as, once again, Admirer was a defensive card, and I want to be more proactive right now. This is one change I don't mind reverting since I do like having a reach Werewolf.

Ulvenwald Mysteries was a card only Humans really used, and with all these more aggressive changes, I want to be sure I am not completely killing the slower decks. Splinterfright returns as a way for B/G and U/G to mill over time and have a large, trampling threat later in the game.

Boneyard Wurm is replacing Path to the Festival for similar reasons. Path is slow and durdly and has never really performed well. Boneyard Wurm on the other hard, while it will almost never come down on turn two, grows as the game goes on, and makes it quite easy to double spell later in the game thanks to its low MV.

And there we have it! The finale of my latest massive clean up! I'm really hoping these changes address green's issue. As always, I'd rather over-correct than under-correct, so I will be excited to see how all these changes fare. I'm expecting to have to make some tweaks later after the drafts, but not before (unless something goes horribly awry).

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask and get in touch! Until next time, see ya!

Good evening friends! I’m back, this time with changes to black and red, so let’s get into them!

Endless Ranks of the Dead is a fun build around, but it would never pop off. Zombies are much more about committing to the board and recurring their threats rather than using a slow enchantment to amass a huge number of them. Crowded Crypt is being added in its place, as I want to add another artifact to support Delirium, but also as a way for black to ramp a bit. It fits into a handful of different decks, and I’m interested to see if it’s any good. The extra ability to make Zombies is just added goodness.

Path of Peril always performed well. That said, drafters would often focus on the B/W Cleave cost and write this off as a gold card when drafting. Famine is taking its place as a board sweeper, since it doesn’t come with the extra color baggage, and drafters will be more likely to take it. That said, I do like Path of Peril, and will want to add it back one day.

Indulgent Aristocrat was cute in theory, but was in an awkward cross point between Vampires and Sacrifice. B/W won’t have a mass of vampires, and Vampires won’t usually want to sac their own creatures, even if you get counters. Instead, I am going in a completely different direction (though vamps will get some love in a second). Tooth Collector seems like quite the strong card, especially against Spirits, and especially with more Delirium support being added.

Victim of Night has always been solid, but over time, the BB cost has become a bit long in the tooth. Black has plenty of excellent removal spells, so I can afford to throw a Vampire-specific one in here with Feast of Blood.

Desperate Farmer has always been a workhorse, no pun intended. It never did anything wrong. In fact, it was always quite good. That said, I am looking to add Delirium support as well as ways to deal with x/1s. Liliana, the Last Hope checks all those boxes, and bumps Farmer out by proxy. I hope to add him back one day.

Speaking of another card that never did anything wrong, Archpriest of Shadows didn’t get much time here. It isn’t bad, and to be honest, this is one card I didn’t get to test enough…But I want black to have another x/1 killer, and this is the best swap for now. In its place comes Curse of Death’s Hold, a powerful curse that is a nightmare for a handful of decks. I’m not opposed to reversing this change should it not pan out the way I desire.

The more I played U/R spells, the more I realized Festival Crasher isn’t what it wanted to do. Kessig Flamebreather takes its spot as an additional way for Spells to ping and ding alongside Thermo Alchemist and close out games.

I’ve been wanting a bit more Wolf and Werewolf support in red, and I completely forgot about Runebound Werewolf. It comes in for Flame Channeler, who seemed good on paper, but never panned out, due to only counting spells that deal damage.

Like I said with Rise from the Tides, Spells don’t need big splashy tricks, and as such, Alchemist’s Gambit is out. No other deck played it, and Spells has better things to do. Like cast End the Festivities. This is another x/1 killer that was great in its format, and I’m hoping it can do similar things here.

Lambholt Raconteur might be a Werewolf as its creature type, but it was only a Spells card. In my effort to add some more wolf-y goodness to red, Fearful Villager, another solid common from VOW is replacing it. The idea here is to have a wolf that actually goes into the Werewolf decks and can help apply [pressure across the board.

It hurts me to say it, but it is time. Bye bye Burning Vengeance. Spells is the name of the game here, and that deck hardly wanted it, which was a red flag for me.Spells will get another card down below, but for now, Vengeance is coming out for Vigilante Justice. Red has always had a light Human theme, and not only does this help it a bit, but it also helps kill x/1s :^)

Village Messanger was unimpressive in Aggro and Werewolves. Village Ironsmith is hopefully a better aggressive werewolf that can fit into both of these decks.

Anemic is the best word to describe Markov Retribution. It never did enough even in the decks that wanted it. [[Rending Flame takes its spot as a burn spell that has bonus upside against Spirits, but more importantly can rip apart larger creatures, which is something I feel like the cube was in need of.

Fangblade Brigand has the werewolf problem of being a creature with begrudgingly fine stats, no keywords or effects, and an activated ability. It should be good, but just often falls short. Conduit of Storms can help aggressive decks ramp a bit better, much like Chandra, Dressed to Kill and Alluring Suitor, while also having an activated ability that it can use to become a larger threat and help fill out a turn better than Brigand. I’m not opposed to reversing this if need be, but I would be shocked if I had to.

Wildfire Devils were a fun card in theory, but rarely played out like I wanted them to. Creatures are a big focus in this cube, so not every deck had instants and sorceries to nab. Moonrager’s Slash returns as another bolt for spells, and one that has overlap with werewolves.

Finally, with Madness on the decline, Insolent Neonate isn’t as important. That said, I still wanted a cheap, aggressive vampire, and Blood Petal Celebrant fits the bill perfectly. It does everything I want, and leaves a blood token behind when it dies! What’s not to love?

I’ll be back tomorrow with the changes to green. Those will be quite the upheaval for that color I believe, so I am excited to see how it pans out. Until then, have a good evening!

I'm back with some more tweaks, and pretty easy ones at that.

Both Sacred Fire and Sunrise Cavalier are acceptable cards, but rarely make the cut, even in R/W decks. Ride Down returns as Boros's more aggressive removal spell, and Angelfire Ignition turns up the heat, giving R/W aggro a bit more reach. Slower decks have gotten a lot of tool recently, so I don't mind putting some more aggressive options in gold slots specifically.

Ghoulcaller's Harvest bad. That's it. That's the tweet. Old Stickfingers is the best option for G/B that I have, so in he goes!

When making my "precons", I realized U/G didn't have any cards that self milled. Not only that, but I missed this little spider. Croaking Counterpart was a fun experiment, but ultimately falls short compared to the spider.

With Disturb on the decline in the cube, Devoted Grafkeeper is looking worse and worse. While I know Dorothea, Vengeful Victim IS another Disturb card, I feel like she now fits better with Spirit's more aggressive and tempo-oriented nature.

A change to humans that I have made in my mind is the theme of "resiliency". I want humans to be a resilient deck that can pressure at most points during the game. As such, Sigarda, Font of Hope is replacing Sigarda Heron's Grace. Rarely would I ever need the ability to create tokens, though I am sure the ability to play Humans from the top of my deck will be much more relevant. If this change is too much, I don't mind reverting it in the slightest.

Finally, my testing with the three color cards have come to a close. While I am still skeptical of three of them, two of their ilk have thoroughly unimpressed me. Saint Traft and Rem Karolus and Jeleva, Scourge of Nephalia are out, and are replaces by two artifacts in the meantime: Terrarion and Blazing Torch. These will make more sense a bit later, but for now I think this is appropriate. If the other three disappoint me was well, I may just end up adding an extra card to each color instead.

And that's it for Multicolor and Colorless! Next will be Black and Red, followed by green! These changes are going to be a bit bigger which is why I am saving them for the back end. Until then, see ya!

Morning everyone!

Today I bring you the first in my next iteration of tweaks to the cube.

I'll be heading to Commander Sealed in Rochester next month, and will be having my annual Halloween Draft the month after, so I am hoping to make some changes before then and let things settle a bit before having more hands on the format.

I've been doing a lot of testing, iteration, thought experimenting, and more importantly, playing since the last bit of changes. As an experiment, I had put together 10 "precon" decks for the cube, one of each 2 color combo, not only to have a way to quickly play with friends, but as a general checkup on each two color pair.

My thought process here was "What would each deck look like if it had no repeating cards, and if they were of similar power level?".

This gave me a lot of insight into how the decks do, can, and "should" function when built relatively competently, but also what I should be aiming for with my changes moving forward.

This is the first of a number of tweaks I'll be making, and I will be updating them on waves. First with be white and blue, then multicolor and colorless, black and red, and finally green. I have some big changes in mind for green, since I feel like it's strayed a bit from where I want it, so that will be getting a section of its own.

Enough pretense though, let's see what is getting swapped!

Moonrland Rescuer is a neat card, but the B/W sac deck doesn't need a six mana way to recur its creatures. On the other hand, Battle at the Helvault is a card that any white deck would be interested in, from aggro, to tempo, to midrange. Not only that, but it is absolutely stunning to look at, depicts the crux of the first Innistrad block, and is quite powerful imo. I'm excited to see this change. It's also the cube's first saga!

Distracting Geist, along with a lot of the other Disturb creatures, trade being below rate for having flexibility in the yard. With the way Spirits have been going, it would rather have on rate creatures that do well early, that mediocre ones that provide value late. As such, Niblis of the Urn swoops in as an aggressive flier that fufills the same role, but does so in a way that Spirits will now appreciate more.

Traveling Minister was good in VOW thanks to the life gain synergies, but not many of those are here. If they ever show up, this will be one of the first cards to return, but in the meantime, Gallows Warden enters the cube as a way to assist Spirits with some changes I'll be making in black and red. I am acutely aware of the flurry of 1/1 fliers and x/1s now in the cube, and plan of providing counter measures to them. That said, I don't want Spirits to JUST fold to these effects, so my hope is that Gallows Warden provides good play patterns of protecting Spirits, but doing so a bit later in the game after super early threats are dealt with.

Descend Upon the Sinful is an excellent card, but I am simply worried that it having "Delirium" on it will bait players into thinking that that is something the color supports. As such, Terminus comes in as a functional replacement, and the first Miracle in the cube!

I originally put Cleaver Skaab in as a fun card for Zombie support, but it is unneeded. It is understatted and has no immediate impact. Deranged Assistant's inclusion has been long overdue. It is excellent in nearly ever blue-based strategy, and helps each deck get ahead in either mana or cards in the graveyard. Welcome to the cube! Sorry it took so long!

Spirit Away was added two patches ago as a replacement for Geralf's Mindcrusher. While I do miss Mindcrusher and think I may have undervalued it, I am not at the point where I want to reverse that change yet. Instead, like I did with green, I want to give blue a second planeswalker: Jace, Unraveller of Myserties. While not as powerful as Tamiyo, I am hoping he provides enough utility to blue decks to warrant his inclusion. card advantage and removal can go along way with all the options blue has for interacting nowadays.

Mischievous Catgeist falls into the same trap as a lot of its other Disturb cohorts. As such, it is getting replaced with Occult Epiphany. Epiphany may not put you up on cards, but it can provide a number of bodies while also giving you plenty of card selection. Not only that, but it is a welcome addition to nearly any blue deck now, as opposed to being just for Spirits or Self Mill (though that was even tenuous at best).

Again, like other Disturb cards, Overwhelmed Archivist has unfortunately been underwhelming. It's too unimpactful for Spirits, and too useless for Self Mill. My hope with Latch Seeker is that it provides an aggressive creature for Spirits, while also providing an answerable, yet inevitable clock for slower blue decks like Self Mill or Spells.

One of my biggest takeaways from my "precon" building was that spells was all about small little incremental advantages, and it didn't need "big" spells to go over the top. All the synergies that compound one another is enough to snowball things in their favor. As such, Rise from the Tides is out, and Devastation Tide is in. I want blue to have a board wipe still, but it's other two options, Engulf the SHore and Consuming Tide are just bad. Devastation Tide not only buys time, something the slower blue decks need, but can be cast for cheap with Miracle. I don't know if it will be good, but I do know that it felt very bad not having a sweeper in blue.

And that's it for White and Blue! I'll be continuing my tweaks over the next few days, so I'll see you again then!

Evening, All!

After my reassessment of Zombies last time, I wanted to make sure to give a little love to the other typal deck that is part blue: Spirits!

Blue has been a problem color for a while, and now that I've got it handled and close to where I want it to be, I wanted to be sure to do a deep dive on Zombies and Spirits, since they were also suffering by proxy.

Spirit have gotten a little love previously, but I wanted to be sure to take the time and look at some nuts and bolts stuff, which is where today's changes come in...And oddly enough, most of them are centered in white. There is a reason for that though!

Since blue is getting sorted out, if I want Spirits to do well, I also need to see where they are lacking on the other half of their color pair. There are a few oddities that I noticed: lack of Spirits at MV 4, 5, and 6, lack of cards that say "Spirit", and general flat power level.

I have a few more changes coming down the pipe to address these later next week, but for now, let's look at what the swaps are!

First up is... Not a card directly for Spirits. Bear with me. Odric's Outrider has always been iffy. He was meant to be for the sac deck with a bit of emphasis on Humans...But the sac deck does care about going tall, and Humans don't have enough sac outlets. Mausoleum Guard returns as a nice cross between Sac, Humans, and Spirits. I don't expect it to do anything crazy, but having an option for three archetypes is sweet. Glad to have it back!

Here is the meat and potatoes of the changes! A while back I wanted to try out Hallowed Haunting and a few other enchantments to see if it could be a fun build around. As it turns out, trying to jam that into the cube while also chipping away at the enchantment Disturb Spirits isn't a good combination. Instead of trying to add those back in, I've opted to chip away at the enchantment package instead.

As such, Hallowed Haunting, Vessel of Ephemera, and Sigarda's Splendor are out, and replacing them are Hollowhenge Spirit, Spectral Procession, and Drogskol Shieldmate.

My hope with Hollowhenge Spirit and Drogskol Shieldmate is that by adding more Spirits with flash in white, it helps synergize with blue's plethora of counter spells as well as the numerous blue Spirits with flash. This promotes Spirit's tricky, tempo-like gameplay and gives them more windows to interact.

Spectral Procession is just one of the more efficient Spirit token makers available, and provides some good tension in deck building since it wants to be in a heavier white deck.

Thalia's Geistcaller has gotten worse the less Spirits have focused on the graveyard and the fewer Disturb creatures there are, so it's time to snip it. In it's place is Sanctifier of Souls. Sanctifier is a bit of a place holder for the time being, but it seems like a good enough card. We'll see if it survives the week. :^)

Dauntless Cathar has always been a workhorse card, but Spirits needed another aggressive flier. Enter Remorseful Cleric. Not only is it an aggressive flier, but it also provides some powerful grave hate to boot. I'm not entirely sold on this, since it can be pretty oppressive, but we'll see where it shakes out.

To go along with the other "flashy" Spirits, Restoration Angel finally makes its debut! Resto has always been powerful, which is why I've shied away from it a bit. Strong fliers always have the ability to make things harder to balance (coughAvacyncough), but now that there is a better reason to have strong cards with Flash, I want to try her out. Angelic Quartermaster is the cut here, since it's a decent flier, but counters play less of a role than one would expect. Easy swap.

Poppet Stitcher is a card that looked really good, but plays quite...Mediocre. Spells is the home where this goes most often, and in that deck, they will often want blockers for casting spells, not aggressive zombies. Tower Geist makes its return in its place. It was initially cut for Stitchwing Skaab. I said I wasn't opposed to reversing that change, and not that Stitchwing got cut recently, I wanted to do right by what I said and being the Geist back. It's always been a solid card.

I wanted to like Dance with Calamity, but after a handful of testing and a few grid drafts, this just isn't what spells wants or needs. Since I am adding a bunch of 1/1 Spirits into the cube though, something that I think the Spells deck needs in a Forked Bolt variant. I thought about Dual Shot and End the Festivities, but for now I am going to go with Avacyn's Judgment. Not only is it another Avacyn card, but it is a nice intersection between Forked Bolt, Fireball, Spells, and Vampires. Hopefully it turn out well :)

Last, we have Sunstreak Phoenix making room for Smoldering Werewolf. Phoenix was here as a way for red to play with the graveyard a bit, but between not having haste, and entering tapped, it was thoroughly underwhelming. Like Avacyn's Judgment, Smoldering Werewolf is here to address the 1/1s in the room. It was initially cut when 1/1s dropped in number, but with their resurgence, I want to make sure I provide some checks to them so they don't get too wacky and wild. Red could use a couple extra Werewolves too, so that's just a nice bonus.

There we have it! 10 more changes for the cube!

I'll be having a few more go through later this week, so we'll see how things are afterwards! As always, I'm feeling quite good about the health of the cube and am interested to see what other things will require attention once I'm done with this bout.

Regardless, have a lovely evening, and see you next time!

Evening, all!

I'm back again with another number of changes!

I've had sometime with the cube to playtest and draft a bit, and I must say, I'm quite pleased with how things have been going so far! That said, Some things can still be tweaked, and that's what I'm here today to do!

One of my personal issues recently is the lack of "pull" I ever feel to play Zombies. It's got solid cards, but I rarely see it ever come together.

I have three goals with these changes:
-Double down on Zombies's ability to be recursive
-Give them a bit more power
-Add more cards that say "Zombie" and provide synergy/rewards for Zombies

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Sinister Concoction is one of the holdovers from when Delirium played a larger role in the cube. Nowadays, removal that puts you down cards is not where it's at. Replacing it is Dark Salvation. Salvation is removal, token creation, and zombie-matters all in one. I cut is a while back, but I don't think I
ended up giving it a fair shake.

Slaughter Specialist is an aggressive Vampire for B/R, and a big beater for G/B, but I don't think either is hurting for a card like this right now. Black has a plethora of two drops, and can stand to lose a couple. Tomb Tyrant is another Zombie anthem, on top of providing a way to recur them as well. It is conditional and a bit annoying, but it is better to have that effect than not I think.

Archghoul of Thraben has been wholly unimpressive. 90% of the time it's a vanilla creature, and feels awful. I could be biased since Zombies decks are a bit of a rarity, but I just haven't had a good time with Archghoul so far. Subbing in for it is Ravenous Rotbelly; a much better zombie payoff. Having an oversized Fleshbag Marauder is sick, and with ways to recur it, it can get downright nasty. Interested to see how this plays.

Remember when I said black could stand to lose a few two drops? Well, for that reason, Doomed Dissenter gets the boot for Haunted Dead. Both Zombies and B/W want these cards, so the change here is just to clip another cheap spell without massively hurting B/W. Haunted Dead is a recursive Zombie that fits with the tenants for my changes above. It originally was cut for Butcher Ghoul to give black more cheap fodder at 2 cmc, but I don't think it needs it with advent of Reassembling Skeleton.

Skirsdag Flayer was a fun inclusion from a few patches ago, but I just don't think black needs repeatable removal. From Under the Floorboards returns as a way to strengthen Zombies as well as B/W, while also giving Vampires another potential card to pitch to Blood!

Speaking of, as much as I love Blood, Vampire's Kiss, just seemed a bit too much like "air" a lot of the time. In its place comes Ghoulcaller's Chant, another sorcery that will help push my agenda of recursive Zombies.

A few patches ago I added some Skaabs back in to help give cards for Zombies and Self Mill to fight over. Of them Stitchwing Skaab has consistently underperformed. In its place is Laboratory Brute, another Zombie for these two decks to fight over. Brute was initially cut for being too similar to Armored Skaab, but I've gotten over that kind of unhelpful thinking. Happy to have you back!

Scuttletide has been a fine card. Not great, but nor awful. I want to try out Compelling Deterrence for now in its stead. There is a high chance that I revert this change, but I wanted to give blue a few more Zombie-matters cards.

Fettergeist is another card that has been fine. Not awful but not impressive. Flip the Switch returns giving us another counterspell as well as a way to make a Zombie at instant-speed, even if it is Decayed. This gives both Spirits and Zombies their own counterspell at 3 cmc each!

The final Zombie-centric swap here is Grimgrin, Corpse-Born for Gisa and Geralf. It might seem a little silly to cut a sac outlet after including more recursion, but the Zombie deck already has a sac outlet in Wilhelt the Rotcleaver, and isn't revolved around sacrificing as its main gimmick. Gisa and Geralf on the other hand gives Zombies more self mill, as well as a way to recur potent threats over and over. Zombies should have no more issue with lack of recursion now.

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There are a few more changes to go, but they don't revolve around Zombies anymore. These are just some swaps I made that felt correct, as opposed to something with a major goal in mind.

Fire of Undeath was a way for Vampires to have a bit more reach late game, but Red has so many burn spells and ways to close out the game, I find it a bit unnecessary. In its spot comes the similar Geistblast. On its "front half]] it's identical, but with its "back half", it gives Spells another option later to try and go over the top.

Jerren, Corrupted Bishop is one of the coolest cards out of Midnight Hunt, but he has too many conditions to meet and isn't particularly consistent whatsoever. In his place is another token maker, Call the Bloodline. Call the Bloodline is a deceptively powerful card, and helps multiple archetypes.

Entomb is excellent. Initially when I added it, I was worried it would be bad, but unsurprisingly, it isn't! It isn't so good that I am cutting it for power reasons; I just don't think Black needs it. Black is one of (if not the) strongest colors in the cube, and this level of consistency isn't necessary. Favorite of mine, Distended Mindbender takes its place. I love Eldrazi as well as ways to interact with an opponent's hand, so this checks both boxes!

Blue has been good. I've been VERY happy with the sweeping changes I made over the last few months. That said, I want to see how card I can push it. I want to find the line.

Cobbled Lancer is mediocre. Increasing Devotion is a blue Fireball. Let's see how it turns out.

Murder of Crows has always been a card that is good but lacks direct synergy. Breath of the Sleepless is the opposite, quite bad outside of decks where it doesn't have synergy. I was concerned with amount of tapping previously, but it has proven an excellent way to help stymy aggressive and give blue decks more play. Hopefully this Spirits card continues that trend.

I don't think anyone has ever drafted and cast Engulf the Shore and been happy about it, not just in my cube, but in general. Know what I am happy to cast though? Another Eldrazi! Elder Deep-Fiend slithers its way into the cube as another way to stem aggression, leverage tempo, or turn a game in your favor.

Geralf's Mindcrusher has always been another card that is fine. It is often the 24th card in Zombie and Self Mill decks, and rarely sees play. I want to see way Spirit Away does instead. It's more expensive, but is another powerful late game card that can swing matches.

Finally, Turn Aside is getting cut for Bone to Ash. I don't know if aggressive/tempo oriented blue decks need this as a way of cheaply interacting with removal. I am not opposed to adding it in again, but it might be a bit superfluous at the moment. Speaking of, I want to continue my trend with going heavy on conterspells aimed for slower decks. Bone to Ash is a great way for slower decks to try and break parity and pull away from faster ones once they've stabilized, while also synergizing very well with some of the fancy new Flash spells!

There we go, another small bit of changes in the books!

Over the past year or so, I certainly feel like I've hit my stride in terms of identifying and addressing issues, and I am excited to see what texture these changes add to the cube.

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns on any of these changes, please let me know, I'd love to chat!

Until next time!

Evening, folks!

Today I come bearing changes from March of the Machine and Aftermath. These changes are split into two groups: Cuts/Adds, and Swaps.

The difference between the two are that the Cuts/Adds were done without consideration for what is leaving and what is replacing it, while the Swaps were made with each card in mind. This might not seem like a huge difference, but it informed a lot of decisions when it came to changing actual cards.

Without further ado, let's dig into what I did! First up are the Cuts/Adds!

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In order to make room for the five three color cards I was interested in adding, some kind of restructuring had to be done.

I while back I was thinking about cutting a card from each two color pair, and these new cards gave me the perfect reason to do so. Not only would clipping a card from each give me enough room for the five new three color cards, but it would give me an extra flex slot in each mono color to play with as well!

Let's run through the cuts and my thought process for each real fast:

-Faithful Mending is fine, but as Spirits have shifted back towards tempo and less about the graveyard, Mending is a bit out of place.
-Obsessive Stitcher was a difficult cut, but the right one I think. U/B loses a powerful card, but instead keeps synergy with the other five cards it has. This was the toughest one though, and wouldn't be surprised if it found its way back in eventually.
-Blightning was a card that I added to help push Vampires as an aggressive deck. It's less synergistic that its multicolor cohorts, and Vampires don't need the help.
-Ulrich of the Krallenhorde was another tough one. I really like Werewolves that WANT to flip, but not being Daybound/Nightbound makes that very thing awkward nowadays.
-Leinore, Autumn Sovereign is a cut in a series of cuts I made targeting card advantage in aggressive decks. With all the graveyard shenanigans and Flashback spells, aggressive decks don't need raw card advantage as much as the slower decks do. I'm looking to trim that moving forward.
-Edgar, Charmed Groom, like a lot of these cards, is powerful, but lack sdirect synergy with his color combination. When compared against the other B/W cards, he sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't like that.
-Old Stickfingers is a legendary Boneyard Wurm, a card I cut a few patches ago. He is...Fine, but that's about it. If I need another way to get a lot of creatures in the bin, I can always add him back in, but I'd rather cut him for now.
-Eruth, Tormented Prophet was more of a "fun" add a little while ago, and isn't core to U/R's identity or strategy.
-Markov Waltzer is an acceptable card, but I like the other W/R options better. Simple as that.
-Vilespawnn Spider feels bad to cut, but I think it is more important for the U/G deck to have things to do IN their graveyard. Spider is solid, but not the right fit for the moment.

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As for Adds, we have the following:

-Edgar Markov
-Saint Traft and Rem Karolus
-Thalia and the Gitrog Monster
-Katilda and Lier
-Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

With March of the Machine, I finally had enough three color cards to add five of different combinations to the cube. I don't know how I will like them, if at all, but I plan on just throwing them in here and seeing what works and what doesn't!

As for the mono color additions, most of these are fun additions or ones that I wouldn't be able to justify otherwise, so I wanted to take advantage of the open slot and go a little wild :)

-Lone Rider is one of my most favorite cards of all time, and I think I have more than enough human and life gain synergies in the cube to make him work.
-Rise from the Tides was cut a little while back, but with it gone, I realized that I had no big, splashy blue sorceries anymore, so I wanted to give it another chance.
-Battle of Innistrad is a shoo-in for the Innistrad cube! Powerful, flavorful, (hopefully) fun, I couldn't think of a better card to add here for black.
-Dance with Calamity is another "fun-off" card. I couldn't in good conscience cut another card for something like this, but since I have the slot available, why not try it out? Red, like blue, had a lack of big, splashy spells, and this fills that role nicely.
-Garruk Relentless was cut when Wrenn and Seven came to town, but over the last few patches, Green (aside from the Werewolf deck) has shifted to more of a supporting color. This addition aims to do two things: first, give green another powerful card, and second, see what a single color having two Planeswalkers is like. The most a single color has ever had is one, so I am curious how two work out. This could help inform decision making moving forward.

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With the Cuts/Adds out of the way, we're onto the meat and potatoes of things: the Swaps!

-Haunted Guardian was a card for the slower decks to give them an early blocker while also adding an artifact and creature to their yard for Delirium. As Delirium has waned in importance, a 2/1 defender with first strike is looking a bit more pitiful. Thunderstaff is a much more powerful defensive card, while also one that some aggressive decks may make use of. I'm interested to see how this performs and if it addresses the issues I am concerned about.
-Repository Skaab was already cut once, and was only added back since I wanted a zombie that could recur spells. Halo-Charged Skaab does that much better, even if it puts it to the top of the deck. Adding a 4/4 to the board, milling two cards, and recurring a spell is a nice little package.
-Laboratory Drudge was meant to be a build-around, but often fell short. It never performed well, and often was a cut, even in decks that it should theoretically excel in. In it's place I'm trying another zombie, Cleaver Skaab. This one is also slow, but gives blue another fun option to support the zombies archetype.
-Screaming Swarm was a plant for U/G, but didn't really do a whole lot. Replacing it is Nephalia Moondrakes. Like Swarm, Moondrakes is a sizable flier, but can help end the game out of the graveyard by giving your team flying in order to break a board stall.
-Back from the Brink was also added for U/G, but that archetype doesn't need expensive mana sinks, it needs cheap ways to stay in the game. Ongoing Investigation does that well, letting you turn your creatures in your yard into clues and life. Here's hoping this does what I want it to.
-Secrets of the Dead is in a place similar to Laboratory Drudge. In theory, it should perform well, but always seems to underperform, especially when compared to its comrades Burning Vengeance and Thalia's Geistcaller. Replacing it is Artful Dodge. I just wanted another way for aggressive and tempo-oriented blue decks to be evasive. I wouldn't be surprised if Secrets made it back in at some point, but I want to see how things feel without it.
-Stromkirk Bloodthief consistently underperforms. In its place is Markov Baron, a card that is easier to cast, sometimes has Flash, and is a permanent anthem. It's upside all around.
-Asylum Visitor is another card advantage-related cut. Vampires don't need that kind of reach. Replacing it is Exsanguinator Cavalry, a vampire that still applies pressure and can help filter, but doesn't net you cards in hand.
-Falkenrath Noble is one of four draining aristicrat-like effects in the cube. In order to make sure that these styel of cards aren't too plentiful, it is being swapped for Archpriest of Shadows. Archpriest still helps B/X decks through Backup and recursion, while also giving the Griselbrand deck another way to reanimate since they lost Obsessive Stitcher.
-Stromkirk Occultist is another victim of the card advantage cuts. The kind of reach I want B/R to have is the kind that its replacement Voldaren Thrillseeker provides: damage and aggression.
-Village Watch has always been a bit mediocre, but has held its slot due to being one of the few acceptable red Werewolves. Not longer. I have consigned myself to the fact that Werewolves will always be a green deck splashing red, and will very infrequently stretch to play subpar cards like this one. As such, that's why Charmbreaker Devils is replacing it. I figured it was better to add something a bit more powerful for another archetype than try and salvage something mediocre in service of one that wouldn't want it anyway.
-Contortionist Troupe was another card that always looked better than it performed. Instead of trying to make a card distribute counters conditionally, Dormant Grove is taking its spot so it can do so one each of your combats without issue. It may be more expensive, but I think it's definitely worth it.

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And there we have it, all the changes post-MOM!

I'm not fully sold on the three color cards, but I'm just happy to try them out for the moment. If they work, cool, if not, well, I guess I have five for free slots for mono colors.

Overall, I'm pleased with these changes. The cube feels the tightest it's ever been. Colors feel relatively balanced, gameplay and drafting is good, there are fun sub-archetypes and build-arounds, and there aren't any glaring flaws. I'm quite chuffed.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns on any of these changes, please let me know, I'd love to chat!

Until next time!