This is the biggest single cube update I've ever done. Life's gotten busy enough where I've found myself lagging behind the ever-increasing MtG release frequency for months at a time - it's been easier to assemble a giant list of in-progress changes and then catalogue it here once the sticky notes on my Desktop get too long.

Just in the past year or so, tons of amazing cards have been printed that offer a lot to a cube like this. Even the MTGO Vintage cube has seen more than its fair share of modern cards sneak into the list, which is no small feat. There's plenty of power to go around, and I'm excited to finally draft more often and see the new cards in action.

Due to the magnitude of the additions and changes, I'm going to break things down by color in the following sections. While some inclusions seem obvious, some are due to more nuanced balance/gameplay decisions that I want to lay out below. I'm including a shout-out at the end for cards that I'm excited about but honestly unsure how well they'll perform to serve as a 'chopping block' to make way for future changes as the dust settles. This update is swapping out ~70 slots (almost 1/5 of the whole cube), so it's safe to say I haven't predicted everything.

From an archetype perspective, these changes have left some strategies diluted enough that I want to question their support at all. For example, I'm concerned about the future of the Eggs / Second Sunrise deck, especially as the eggs themselves (and Dance of the Manse) are getting cut. Similarly, much of the former sacrifice cards are getting nixed, and I'm not super happy with 's creature suite even after these changes, so it'll likely get tweaked more. I've taken out a lot of spot removal for new pieces - perhaps that's too much. I also want to support a more classic 'burn' deck, but it might compete for space in the more artifact-leaning aggro shell. I haven't yet gone 'all-in' on the Lands package despite including more support in this update (for example, I could add Elvish Reclaimer, Sowing Mycospawn, etc.), but that could change. I need to get more reps in first with the list - time will tell.

Finally, it feels good to be back. I'm making a purposeful effort to cube more in 2025 and excited for it. I hope those that are following like the changes! Please playtest and leave a comment if you have any recommendations for next time.

White has the most changes of any color, primarily due to the face that a tremendous number of new high-quality artifact-focused pieces have been printed in recent sets. I'm drifting away from the Historic theme now that I believe there's enough 'meat' to support a traditional aggro shell that overlaps into other archetypes. The only card I'm shaky on is Illustrious Wanderglyph, but if it underperforms I've got a Glimmer Lens from the MTGO Vintage cube waiting to take its spot.

Blue, on the other hand, has the fewest changes of any of the colors. is pretty stacked already, but all of the newcomers here have something to offer. It's possible that Three Steps Ahead is just too cute (I want to find room for Mana Leak) but I want to see if the other modes end up leading to interesting plays. Similarly, I haven't seen many people talk about Intrude on the Mind, but it reads like a flashy artifact version of Sphix of Uthuun for 5 mana...which seems great to me. (Maybe it sucks. We'll see.)

Reanimator is back and it's back hard. I've been adding and cutting cards from this archetype forever, in part because I don't much care for hyper-parasitic cards (Putrid Imp)...but I'm coming to terms with the fact that drafters often have many choices in a pack and finding one that perfectly suits their strategy is more exciting (and rewarding) than finding 7 that are generally just 'fine'. I'm excited that we get meaningful additions to all aspects of the archetype: discard outlets, reanimation spells, new big targets, and even artifact-type hate that's still a respectable creature by iteslf (I love Ashnod's Harvester). I'm giving Warren Soultrader a shot because I think there's tons of hidden potential just within the list as-is. To make room, I've taken out clunky combo cards, sacrifice theme pieces, and some spot removal.

I'm very excited for - I've seen many of these new additions pull serious weight in the MTGO Vintage cube and have been waiting for the chance to showcase them in artifact-focused environments. They span a multitude of strategies, but more importantly they're just good. I think the color can still lean into the theme of artifact destruction more, and I'm mighty suspicious of Rose, Cutthroat Raider in place of Zealous Conscripts (an old favorite of mine) or another classic aggro finisher. Still, I am confident these will be a net plus to the color by offering more artifact presence and power.

Green's update was simple - inject some love into the lands theme, and replace underperformers with new powerhouses that either happen to also be artifacts or hate on them in useful ways. I'm watching this part of the list for holes in case I want to go even harder on the lands package (Elvish Reclaimer, etc.). I also want to potentially amp up the artifact hate that green offers to serve as a balance check against some of the nonsense other colors can get up to.

Here's where the changes get really experimental. Many of the multicolored cards have fallen into 'sacred cow' territory or have been getting preferential treatment due to nostalgia. That's not necessarily bad (it's my cube!) but I don't want to ignore some of the crazy new power out there that's well-suited for this list. For example, Cranial Ram, Kibo, No More Lies, Forth Eorlingas!, and Psychic Frog are all incredible adds that I'm excited to try.

That being said, some of the multicolored pairs don't have as many home-run artifact-focused cards...so I'm trying some new ideas. For example, Roxanne will get replaced instantly with a Minsc and Boo if she underperforms, Anim Pakal will get replaced with Otharri or some other recent superstar, and Thalia and the Gitrog Monster will make way for something else if Lands players don't use them to great effect.

As time's gone on, I've found it easier to lump multiple sets' worth of changes into mega-updates for two reasons. First, there's just so much product nowadays and life busy enough that I can't always keep up. Second, I prefer to have time to test new cards and give them 'time to marinate' to see whether I like how they affect the cube before 'officially' adding them in. Time and real-life testing will tell, of course.

This time, I'll keep the post short. There have been plenty of interesting peasant-relevant cards released lately - so many, in fact, that I may have missed some when evaluating for this cube. The power level of uncommon cards has morphed in recent years, which invites a lot of change to the list. That's a good thing!

This update brings upgrades across the board for a variety of archetypes and strategies. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the additions. I finally got to rid the list of low-hanging fruit and supercharge themes with new ones. I'm particularly excited for sacrifice, flavors of flash, and aggro to get meaningful boosts.

WOW - it has been a LONG time. Feels like ages since I've had the opportunity to post a comprehensive update to this cube. I've been busy!

Safe to say - there has been a lot of time (and new sets) for new cards to shake up peasant rarity recently. Many excellent cards have been printed in the past year or so, and have provided a great opportunity to refine strategies in the list, tweak balance, and to showcase some of the new heavy-hitters. There are a lot of changes this time around since this is a culmination of several sets worth of changes at once, so I will summarize here.

The goals behind these changes are twofold:

First, simply put, many great cards got printed or downshifted to peasant rarity. In many cases, there are easy swaps to be made due to power level / fun factor (Commander Masters, for example, was huge for this reason) or extra versatility that makes the cube run more smoothly (Requisition Raid in place of Basri's Solidarity, for example).

Second, new cards have been able to fill in voids from a balance perspective. This enables taking out stinkers to allow for certain archetypes to play better, and for general tweaking based on player feedback and my own opinions about what's performing too well or not well enough. For example, I disliked the sheer volume of 1/1 tokens gumming up board states, so we added more "small" sweepers, damage effects, and sacrifice outlets that also contribute to certain game plans (Frolicking Familiar, Shrouded Shepherd, etc.).

I'll briefly explain details below per color, but hope testers like the changes! Please playtest and leave a comment if you have any recommendations for next time.

I'm moving white away from "just make tons of 1/1 tokens and hope that's enough" strategies. The color is still plenty strong and supports a healthy range of archetypes, but there are plenty of new cards here that will boost all the non-token strategies (which I found to be one of the stronger / more annoying types of decks to face). I'm particularly excited about Kirtar's Wrath being a true peasant sweeper for control builds and Cheeky House-Mouse as one of the best Savannah Lion variants ever printed.

Blue has a few quality-of-life updates that aim to inject some interesting cards that support cube balance and some generically great new adds. I'm adding more tools for hard control and tempo builds at the cost of "generic blink/value" engine cards - these have gotten boring frankly, and the blink decks are strong enough already. I'm taking a chance on the Crab being a secret all-star, excited for Phantom Interference as a new mainstay, and really hoping Frolicking Familiar has what it takes...because the art is Top 5 cutest in all of MtG.

Black's changes are slimmer - the new adds are true upgrades though. Gonti is amazing even in full-powered cubes, so I'm excited to have the opportunity to play him here. Forsaken Miner might be the best aggro card we've ever seen. I'm cutting Syr Konrad not because he's weak, but because tracking all the triggers and constant re-reading the card to know when he activates has gotten in the way of games more than once.

Red's changes are few and simple. Aggro has gotten some new tools lately. 1-mana 2/1's are always welcome, and I'm interested to see if the Coyote over-performs as a hasty threat. I'm still slightly unsure about the Warmonger (4-drop creature options at peasant aren't amazing in terms of finishers) - but we'll see.

Green got some amazing upgrades. It has a new big boy (Crusher), a fantastic downshift from Rishkar, a nearly-strict upgrade from the Explore-merfolk, and a small balance adjustment owing to the details I explained at the beginning of this post.

Upgrades here over the last year or so have been amazing. Downshifts thanks to Commander Masters (Judith) alongside some genuinely mythic-level uncommons (Khenra Spellspear) will join the fray this update and give a serious boost to their respective archetypes. I've had a bias for prowess, but will watch it closely to see if it's starting to become too much.

Hello again! WoTC's been pumping out products like there's no tomorrow so it's been challenging to keep up. However, the past couple of sets have been great for peasant rarity! I'm excited to make these few changes to improve a variety of archetypes like aggro, ramp, and blink.

Hoping to get a few draft nights among friends to test these out soon. Till next time!

It's been a while! I've been nearly too busy to cube these past few months. This latest set of changes includes Dominaria United, Double Masters 2022, and the various other supplemental products to date. The Brothers' War is right on my heels, so I'm due for another update soon, but for now, there are a lot of changes I'm excited for.

Generally, this update brings together a few upgrades to replace slots that have been underperforming. Cards like Spellskite and Platinum Empyrion, etc. weren't good enough on their own, and while I need a critical mass of artifacts to support their archetypes, I want to be careful that I'm not just tossing in bad cards because of their subtypes.

Specifically, you may notice this update contains a lot of black, particularly from the Necron W40K commander deck. My previous blog updates have mentioned how black's artifact options are somewhat weak and I was forced to inject fairly 'standard' archetypes in the color instead. This product essentially solved that problem by enabling the use of a ton of great artifact creatures that perform similarly to their substitutes. I'll monitor if this is overkill, but overall, I'm happy at the opportunity to give them a shot.

Notes for future updates:

1. Brother's War is coming out soon, and no doubt it will have cards perfect for this cube. There's a good chance I'll have to make a larger update sooner rather than later to accommodate interesting new cards!
2. Now that has more artifact support, particularly for the sacrifice theme, I need to re-evaluate if reanimator has a place in the cube. I've been trimming cards from the archetype slowly but surely to make room since I generally don't like the parasitic nature of the deck while drafting.
3. I've been toying with adding a small package of cards to boost the lands sub-theme. Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Elvish Reclaimer, etc. Maybe it'll make it for next time.
4. There are a few cards that are just barely below the line that may make it in the list very soon. These are Moonsnare Prototype and Rise and Shine. I truly don't know what to cut to make room though. I'm hoping the BRO set will help guide me once it's time for new adds.
5. As the artifact density goes up, I want to beef up 's artifact destruction package. I'll need to be careful to balance room in the color with the treasure decks and RDW.

Rise and Shine
Moonsnare Prototype
Dark Depths

It's been a while! I've been nearly too busy to cube these past few months. This latest set of changes includes Dominaria United, Double Masters 2022, and the various other supplemental products to date. The Brothers' War is right on my heels, so I'm due for another update soon, but for now, there are a lot of changes I'm excited for.

Generally speaking, these sets helped some archetypes that needed a little more definition, as well as kicked out some more generic cards for very powerful single-color cards with off-color kickers. I like these since kicker plays great in limited to begin with, and it allows people who are smart about mana fixing to get a little extra value out of their spells if they can accommodate the kick.

Specifically, I'm curious to see how these changes boost the and grindy decks, the aggressive decks, and the prowess archetypes. I'm optimistic!

Baldur's Gate time! This is Part 1 of 2 regarding some transitional changes to the cube, with the second half coming alongside Double Masters. The goal of these changes is to further sharpen up some of the archetypes, paying particular attention to the following:

1. Reanimator. Black is in an awkward spot in this cube since the artifact synergies are generally weak. That leaves combo (leaning on heavy tutoring), sacrifice, control, and reanimator as the color's primary archetypes. At first, I thought I could make the color work by stripping some of 's parasitic reanimator cards, but it isn't working well. You just need a critical mass of discard outlets and wordy reanimation spells for the deck to be worth drafting, and I want some version of it in the cube. So, you'll see more cards like this working their way back into the list at the expense of more generic black cards that may be more powerful in a wider variety of decks. I personally hate stuff like Dance of the Dead and Shallow Grave for being excessively complex and/or caring about graveyard order. Also, the instant-speed spells of this type are only really effective in typical vintage cubes because you can respond to Eldrazi's shuffle triggers to bring them back for a turn, which I don't have in my list. Fortunately, we got Altar of Bhaal and Nautiloid Ship this set to help out while preserving the artifact theme, so I'm optimistic.

2. Green. I want to be careful in differentiating ramp from mono-brown artifact ramp by having the effects be on creatures. Similarly, I want to continue to allow Green to hate hard on artifacts while successfully doing its thing (getting bodies on the board & lands in play). You'll see some small tweaks with Double Masters to this effect.

Baldur's Gate time. Just a few small changes to go around for this set. gets a few tweaks to include Githzerai Monk as a better top-end flicker target, and Accorder Paladin returns after a long haitus - turns out I was getting too cute with white 2 drops, and the Paladin provides a ton of up-front power.

Secondly, the adventure dragon cycle is incredibly strong, and I'm happy to bring the and versions to the cube as top-end options for their colors in controlling decks.

Finally, I'll be back soon with Double Masters updates - there are some great rarity downshifts in there that I'm excited to include here.

Till next time!