Since I have been taking a more focused approach on the thematic compatibility side of things, I got to thinking and I decided that I could lean a little bit more into the mechanics that comprised Theros. That's why several of the new replacements have Scry as an ability and are directly from the involved sets as opposed to straight up ambiguous replacements. Elo and interaction did have a hand in the choices.

Master of the Feast is awful in 4 player commander when everyone has 40 life, card advantage is too valuable to just give other players for free. By the time you get to attack with it even once, three additional cards have been drawn off of it. I wanted to bring back Tymaret, Chosen from Death as he allows for graveyard hate, which could be pretty useful in this cube.

Primeval Titan This could be either a really good or really bad addition. I wanted to add another Titan to the cube since I can't really do much with the multicolored Titans that are actually from Theros. At least with Primetime, whomever plays it will become public enemy #1 and hopefully will be late enough in the game other players will be able to respond. Additionally, there really isn't any bomb lands to be grabbed, leaving him mostly relegated to ramp and attacking which can still be a huge issue on its own. I think it will balance itself out, but that's yet to be determined.

Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix lost a lot of her support with the reduction blue card draw, so Thrasios, Triton Hero is the replacement and I think a pretty good fit overall.

This is sort of a continuation of the previous two updates. I felt that there was more to be done on the Elo, Interaction, and Cost Reduction side of things. Additionally, I found a couple cards that really do not mesh well with the rest of the cube (Not sure how I missed them before, oops).

Brimaz, King of Oreskos does not have enough direct token support in the cube, Brigone, Soldier of Meletis is better suited with more +1/+1 counter support.

Phyrexian Pegasus is pretty meh. I wanna give Eidolon of Inspiration a try.

With both Howling Mine and Thought Reflection gone, the support for that level of card draw that Alandra, Sky Dreamer needs has waned. Kiora, the Rising Tide will make a nice addition as a replacement Commander.

Tromokratis just cost so much, and I don't want anybody to pick that as their commander only to realize that there is not a ton of support for casting it. Cloaked Siren adds a bit more flash/flying support and adds a much needed 4 cost for blue.

Shipbreaker Kraken is a cost reduction from Kraken of the Straits, and I prefer the more direct interaction with the former.

In playing this cube, it has been determined that it's not easy casting three of the same color pip cards, Thought Reflection while nice, can be hard to cast for an ability that doesn't always give you immediate benefit. Kiora Bests the Sea God works so well in the cube, I had to bring it back.

Lampad of Death's Vigil is pretty meh. Gnarled Scarhide has utility outside of being used to buff up your own creatures, plus more enchantment support

Master of the Feast while a potentially explosive card early game, makes more sense when opponents don't have 40 life and there is only one of them. Black Oak of Odunos at least gives you an early blocker that lets you continue building your board state.

Cards like Ashiok's Adept are nice for generating card advantage, but unless you have anything to target it with early on, it kind of becomes a dead card on arrival. Ravenous Harpy can let you filter creatures your done with to power it up and has flying.

Since most decks are 2-4 color, Squelching Leeches doesn't get very big. Cavern Lampad is effectively unblockable in plenty of circumstances.

Archetype of Finality is so expensive for a passive ability like that. Champion of Stray Souls would allow for some fun graveyard shenanigans.

Here are the two "fixes" mentioned before. Bloodfeather Phoenix and Satyr Firedancer only have access to 3 spells that can fulfill their requirement, that's laughably low and effectively shuts down those cards.

Acolyte of the Inferno, monks are not a type in Theros. Prickleboar is outclassed by other options.

Sigiled Skink, Impetuous Sunchaser, Careless Celebrant, and Ox of Agonas are the replacements.

Backdraft Hellkite was a tough one to remove as mechanically it meshes well, but the name does not. Terror of the Peaks has always been a maybe and since the name and ability have that "Mythical" feel to it, it's slotted in.

I mentioned before how it can be tough to cast three of the same color pip cards, I am removing Arbor Colossus as the immediate payoff is not there for commonly being too hard to cast. Silklash Spiders' art isn't in the cube's style. Archetype of Endurance is too darn expensive for a passive ability like that.

Nylea's Emissary, Nessian Asp, and Nylea's Forerunner are the replacements.

Swiftfoot Boots has questionable art. Howling Mine has questionable art and since Alandra is gone, not as much utility outside of generic card draw. Sword of Vengeance shares too many mechanics with other equipable artifacts (that's not a bad thing btw, I just prefer cards not overlapping each other too much).

Wings of Hubris, Mind Stone, and Sword of Light and Shadow are the replacements.

I am not a fan of making these many changes to the cube in the span of only a couple of months. I felt though that this was necessary in order to continue in the direction I want to take it.

As always thanks for checking out the cube, stay tuned for future updates!

This is a continuation of the previous update. There were additional cards that I missed when reviewing the new foundations set, so in addition to adding a few of those, I took the opportunity to replace some existing cards in the cube. Some recent changes that I want to continue to focus on are increasing the amount of higher elo picks, direct interaction, more balanced spread of casting costs and better synergy (Which I suppose is the longer term strategy anyway, but I digress).

I swapped several cards out in White, Blue, Red and Green to focus more on direct interaction. I want to be less generalist with the cards overall, so that's what spurred several of these changes. Swapping cards like Pyrohemia with cards like The Triumph of Anax allow for the more direct interaction that I am seeking.

Increased whites' enchantment count by 1

Red got a new a commander, so it's now more on par with the other colors in terms of commander choice.

Since I have been trying to continuously refine the card list to be more in line with the vorthos side of things, Scroll Rack and Oblivion Stone started to feel pretty out of place in the cube. The replacements are also a little more in-line with the mechanics of the rest of the cube.

If you are reading this, thank you for looking at the cube!

This is a bigger update that I have been waiting for and am very excited about.

From this point forward I am willing to consider custom cards as a potential solution to fill in gaps that I can't fill with official magic cards (I will only consider it as a last resort). The one card that spurred this decision is actually The Prismatic Piper (It was the fill in Commander for those that couldn't find another mono-colored Commander) I wanted something that would both be balanced and not an automatic pick for everyone.
Enter Echo of the gods.

The typing is pretty self explanatory, I wanted the card to be able to trigger "Constellation" in addition to the lore role that it plays. Additionally, since the "Echos" would be an extension of all of the Gods, each one although not individualistic, still would play incredibly important roles on the plane of Theros, hence the Legendary typing.

I kept both abilities from The Prismatic Piper as it is still the purpose of the card

I added Tap Scry 1 so the card can generate its own value, while simultaneously not being too much. Realistically in the cube the earliest in certain circumstances you could even capitalize on the ability is turn 4. It fits the overall theme of Scrying in the Theros set and fits with the theme of the "Echo" passing on knowledge to its listeners.

I can definitely say that if it left the battlefield and I had to pay commander tax for it, I would probably never play it again the rest of the game. I also wanted to play into the idea of the "Echos" being eternal since they are a spirit and showing up when needed to "pass on" their knowledge. The ability feels just clunky enough to not be overpowered, while simultaneously continuing to provide value and not just being a dead card once removed. (I understand that there are combos that could work with that, but I am not concerned with that in the cube.)

The flavor text then really ties all the lore considerations together. I wouldn't be bummed if I had to choose this because I wasn't able to draft another commander in the color I need. Overall, I am quite happy with this card.

Now let's talk the new card replacements, from the new Foundations set.

1. Phalanx Leader → Eidolon of Astral Winds

• I've mention before why I don't like Heroic, and this felt like a good replacement. It adds another enchantment and more constellation.

1. Thassa's Rebuff → Disperse

• I realized that in an effort to add more interaction, I may have added slightly too much counter magic. I wanted to keep the interaction while removing the counterspell.

1. Displacement Wave → Drag Under

• A little more direct interaction that also supports the card draw archetype

1. Kiora Bests the Sea God → Sphinx's Tutelage

• Sphinx's Tutelage got the Constellation treatment so it has to be added, additionally it supports card draw as well.

1. Underworld Rage-Hound → Slumbering Cerberus

• Same with Heroic, I don't like the escape mechanic. Besides I think this is a better trade off anyway.

1. Arasta of the Endless Web → Braulios of Pheres Band

• I like Braulios a lot and I think that it fits as a better commander. Arasta, felt like there wasn't much support for her style.

One of the other main points of change with these cards was adjustments based on mana cost, just further rebalancing of costs.

Overall, I think that this is a new exciting direction for the cube as this opens up new avenues for customization that would allow for improvements that I otherwise would not be able to make. For now, Echos of the Gods will be the only custom card, but I do anticipate that changing at some point in the near future.
As always, thanks for visiting this passion project of mine, till next time!

Now that I have not been trying to add a ton of new cards to the cube, I have had the opportunity to be a little more scrutinous with card choices. The art on Forge of Heroes leaves some questions that I really don't think I can defend, like is the design similar enough to Ancient Greek architecture, the armor off to the sides looks awfully mid-evil, etc. The replacement Lotus Field removes the question of if it is thematically compatible.

Which brings me to my next point, moving forward I will be making comments and linking my research on the questions that some of the cards present in the Notes section of each of those respective cards. Check out the Notes I made on Lotus Field, its actually pretty interesting information.

Anyway, I am excited for the new Magic foundations set that is coming out. In the early previews it already contains a new Theros card, so we may actually be getting more cards that can be added. Till next time!

After the previous update I quickly realized that there were two cards I added that bothered me. First Spartan Veteran and second Sokrates, Athenian Teacher. They both have "Spartan" and "Athenian" in the name of the cards.

Even though I have used Ancient Greece as inspiration in terms of knowledge ie. was there irrigation in Ancient Greece? Since the answer is yes, then Irrigated Farmland is a compatible card due to the fact that the plane was modeled directly after Ancient Greece. However, using the logic that I have with all cards previously, continuity breaks with the knowledge that instead of Sparta its Akros and instead of Athens its Meletis. While the cities are direct analogs to the real thing, if I am to maintain the level of continuity that I am looking for then I cannot in good faith allow either of those cards to be added as they directly contradict the plane of Theros.
You may be asking yourself why allow a card like Kassandra, Eagle Bearer? Well my answer to that is simple; the card does not contain any information that directly conflicts with the plane of Theros, has the Theros style in ship/building construction in the art, her clothes are that Ancient Greece style and it is conceivable that there could be someone named Kassandra living on Theros, therefor her card fits the requirements.

This cube is the single most fun thing I have ever built with Magic cards and sticking so aggressively on theme has honestly made it even more fun, I have no intentions of stopping now. Till next time 🙂.

It’s that time again, we have plenty of new cards to consider! Modern Horizons 3 has brought us several new Theros based cards and Assassins Creed brought us some interesting ones as well. First, we will take a look at the changes with Modern Horizons 3.

• Most of the new cards introduced with Modern Horizons 3 replaced existing cards in the cube. Each of the new cards had a significantly higher ELO, fun new abilities, and overall felt more in line with this Cube.
• Blue received several card replacements based on ELO, increasing playability and interaction.
• Heroic continues to feel like a clunky ability and so I am going to continue to remove Heroic cards should better options become available.

Let’s talk about the Assassins Creed cards. The set offers several new Greek based cards however, I am still slightly unsure on including non-Theros Based cards that are not ambiguous. I’m speaking specifically of cards like Kassandra, Eagle Bearer and Sokrates, Athenian Teacher. However, since they are Ancient Greek based, I am potentially willing to make an exception for that, especially considering that the Legendary's in that set offer on theme abilities that match with the rest of the cube. Additionally, red gets a much-needed Legendary so I am willing to provide even more leeway on that front, as both Alexios and Kassandra are brother and sister, I want to have to have both.

• With the release of Assassins Creed, a new secret lair card was released with Ancient Greek based art on it, it has a fun ability for commander, so it was slotted in.
• The Spear of Leonidas will automatically be given to the player that drafts Kassandra, Eagle Bearer. Does not count towards overall card count and will not be put in the shuffle pool.

Overall, I am happy with the changes, it remains to be seen how much I actually like the Assassins Creed cards, but for now they seem to fit each color's role in the cube quite well. Sadly, the next update to the cube will likely not include any new set cards for potentially a long time as there doesn't appear to be any new sets that could even be remotely compatible with Theros coming anytime soon. Though, I will continue to make slight tweaks here and there as I really enjoy this cube and want to continue improving it.

Till next time!

Switching out Vela and Angrath for cards that fit the Archetype and theme slightly better. Additionally, I have read pretty extensively that aiming for two legends for each gold color is a good goal. With that in mind I decided that I don't "have" to find a third commander for each of those colors.
Knight-Errant of Eos is not Theros so idk what I was thinking there.
I am starting to realise that I am not a super big fan of flat destroy all creature effects as it can be hard to recover from that even for the caster, so I am swapping wrath of god for Tragic Arrogance.

After the second round of playing the cube and new set release, I thought it was time to make some changes. There are two new tri-color commanders from Theros I can use now.

I have not felt all that great about Tymeret and Anax, so I figured while I am making other changes I will switch them out.

After requesting some review of the cube, the general consensus is that there were too many gold cards and not enough lands. So, I have made several adjustments that I think will work quite well in favor of the direction that I want to take it.

Also, I will be versioning out these blog updates moving forward. This update starts version 3.0 of this project.
Version 3.0 - The changes are becoming more intentional and refined.
Version 2.0 - Was the transition from this being thrown together to being listed on cube cobra and figuring out what direction to take it.
Version 1.0 - The original thrown together design.