This cube's goal is to be the lowest barrier to entry for beginner Magic players to cube draft, perhaps even draft in general.

Constraints and Choices:

• Only evergreen keywords (yes to scry, no to cycling)
• Preference for short rules text and vanilla, French vanilla, or virtual vanilla creatures
• Hinting toward two-color decks: In addition to dual lands, there are two cycles of two-color cards across the color pairs. Each monocolor section includes four cards (one for each other color) that rewards pairing the two with an activated ability or other bonus. Then, each color pair has a nonbasic land with an activated ability requiring both colors.
• A few old-frame cards: One of Magic's great advantages as a game is its longevity and history. Many of us paper boomers can recall some moment seeing a certain card as a landmark in loving Magic. Including Mirage Incinerate and Fifth Edition Shivan Dragon really stands out surrounded by modern cards and has a chance of pulling a player into investigating Magic's past.
• Specific art and flavor text choices: I don't think it's necessarily decisive, but at the margin, I chose the card versions I thought would be most likely to win over a new player. Examples: the original art for Macabre Waltz, the Grakk flavor text for Pacifism, the "Guilty" flavor text for Divine Verdict
• Appeals to a range of sensibilities: I've been to a few FNMs in my time, and there is a demographic that finds cards like Hot Soup hilarious. Reflecting some horror appeal (Curse of the Bloody Tome, Carnophage, Macabre Waltz) goes a long way, too.
• No planeswalkers: So much rules baggage for a card type that usually overwhelms regular Limited play. Not great!

These choices naturally led to some outcomes:

• It's an extreme budget cube (well under $100 to buy all the cards). This also makes it a more attainable thing to give away.
• It's a core set cube - many of the optimal, simple cards are from core sets. I found it especially encouraging to pull from M10 (one of the simplest, most evocative beginner products ever) and M13 (one of the best draft formats ever).