Innistrad Update

Time for some changes!

WHITE
OUT: Mistmeadow Skulk and Shining Shoal
IN: Fiend Hunter and Mikaeus, the Lunarch

BLUE
OUT: Careful Consideration, Probe, Exclude
IN: Counterpart, Snapcaster Mage, and Forbidden Alchemy

BLACK
OUT: Ambition's Cost, Crypt Angel, Despise, Korlash Heir to Blackblade, Twisted Abomination, Stupor
IN: Liliana of the Veil, Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage, Moan of the Unhallowed, Bloodgift Demon, Rune-Scarred Demon, Sever the Bloodline

RED
OUT: Adamaro First to Desire, Arc Trail, Ghostfire, Fire Imp, Pyroclasm, Rakka Mar
IN: Reckless Waif, Bloodcrazed Neonate, Stromkirk Noble, Brimstone Volley, Devil's Play, Chaos Warp

GREEN
OUT: Ice Storm, Elvish Visionary, Stunted Growth, Silvos Rogue Elemental
IN: Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed, Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Kessig Cagebreakers

ARTIFACTS/COLORLESS
OUT: Bonehoard, Pentad Prism
IN: Manor Gargoyle, Mana Crypt

LANDS
OUT: Enemy Karoos
IN: Innistrad Lands

MULTICOLOR
OUT: Ghastlord of Fugue, Blightning
IN: Evil Twin, Olivia Voldaren

Generous Friends

Given that we have such generous friends who are willing to include some of their quite valuable cards in our cube, in order to not accidentally steal anything here is a list (currently incomplete) of what people have donated:

Jasper
Ancestral Recall

Ralph
Survival of the Fittest

Le
Karn Liberated
Red Sun's Zenith
Volition Reins
Sun Titan
Consecrated Sphinx
Baneslayer Angel
Koth of the Hammer
Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
Mirran Crusader
Avacyn's Pilgrim

Dave
Archon of Justice
Stoneforge Mystic
Mother of Runes
Swords to Plowshares
Reveillark
Eternal Dragon
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Bribery
Draining Whelk
Glen Elendra Archmage
Fact or Fiction
Mana Leak
Blue Sun's Zenith
Treasure Mage
Trinket Mage
Pestermite
Capsize
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sower of Temptation
Thirst for Knowledge
Forbid
Bitterblossom
Nantuko Shade
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Oona's Prowler
Puppeteer Clique
Ancient Grudge
Kuldotha Pheonix
Slagstorm
Siege-Gang Commander
Wildfire
Indrik Stomphowler
Arbor Elf
Cloudthresher
Ice Storm
Wood Elves
Primal Command (Chinese)
Oracle of Mul Daya
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Woodfall Primus
Loxodon Hierarch
Lightning Helix
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Trygon Predator
Stillmoon Cavalier
Azorius Guildmage
Broodmate Dragon
Murderous Redcap
Firespout
Loxodon Hierarch
Indrik Stomphowler
Pernicious Deed
Voidslime
Broodmate Dragon
Epochrasite
Dimir Signet
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Feast and Famine
Tangle Wire
Sol Ring
Umezawa's Jitte
Artisan of Kozilek
Oblivion Stone
Dimir Aqueduct
Arcane Sanctum
Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
Breeding Pool
Windswept Heath
Polluted Delta
Wooded Foothills
Bloodstained Mire
Flooded Strand
Scalding Tarn
Tropical Island
Savannah
Gemstone Mine
Opposition
Sarkhan the Mad
Future Sight

Neil Patrick Harris in the Cube

NPH, aka New Phyrexia is out making it time for some changes. We're making changes for the auto-includes, but for all the other cards we want other opinions before we put them in. They are listed below, along with cards from the corresponding section that are most likely to receive the axe in favor of the new card:

White contenders: Blade Splicer, Inquisitor Exarch, Elesh Norn, Porcelain Legionnaire, Mistral Charger, Stormfront Pegasus
White shitters: Silver Knight, Auriok Champion, Mistmeadow Skulk, Shrieking Grotesque, Leonin Skyhunter, Kor Aeronaut, Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Guardian of the Guildpact, Leonin Relic-Warder

Blue contenders: Phyrexian Metamorph, Phyrexian Ingester, Standstill, Forbid
Blue shitters: Probe, Brainstorm, Ponder, Memory Lapse, Infiltrator il-Kor, Domestication, Court Hussar, Telling Time

Black contenders: Dismember, Life's Finale, Sheoldred, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Stupor, Despise
Black shitters: Dauthi Marauder, Stinkweed Imp, Crypt Angel, Last Gasp, Decree of Pain, Hand of Cruelty, Smother, Kagemaro, Ob Nixilis, Twisted Abomination, Skeletal Vampire

Red contenders: Act of Aggression, Urabrask the Hidden, Volt Charge, Moltensteel Dragon, Molten Rain, Pillage, Jackal Pup
Red shitters: Flameblast Dragon, Urza's Rage, Ghostfire, Countryside Crusher, Pain Kami, Gathan Raiders, Changling Berserker

Green contenders: Primeval Titan, Arbor Elf, Fyndhorn Elves, Elves of Deep Shadow, Rofellos, Cloud Thrasher, Brutalizer Exarch, Primal Command, Ice Storm, Oracle of Mul Daya, Woodfall Primus
Green shitters: Abundance, Birds of Paradise, Masked Admirers, Ohran Viper, Iwamori of the Open Fist

Artifact Contenders: Etched Monstrosity, Spellskite, Black Vise
Artifact Shitters: Scroll Rack, Masticore, Molten-Tail Masticore, Juggernaut, Mask of Memory

Thinking of cutting down multicolor further, since it is our largest section and has a lot of filler cards that make the cut only because they are cards #9 and #10 of a color pair (*cough* U/R *cough*)

Multicolor shitters:
Deft Duelist, Ith High Arcanist
Divinity of Pride, Gerrard's Verdict, Castigate
Captain's Maneuver, Brion Stoutarm, Soltari Guerrillas
Glare of Subdual, Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Sygg River Cutthroat, Wydwen the Biting Gale, Cavern Harpy, Ghastlord of Fugue
Izzet Chronarch, Wand of the Elements, Spellbound Dragon, Dominus of Fealty, Prophetic Bolt, Nucklavee
Temporal Spring, Coiling Oracle, Lorescale Coatl, Cold-Eye Selkie
Defiler of Souls, Torrent of Souls, Wrecking Ball, Demigod of Revenge
Deity of Scars, Glissa the Traitor, Grave-Shell Scarab
Burning-Tree Shaman, Rumbling Slum, Vexing Shusher, Vithian Renegades

Land contenders: Shelldock Isle
Land shitters: Soldevi Excavations


Green
Beast from Within in for Squall Line

Artifact
(FOIL!) Sword of War and Peace in for Aether Vial
(FOIL!) Batterskull in for Engineered Explosives

Additionally, the following foils have been added:
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Frost Titan
Grave Titan
Garruk Wildspeaker
Orzhov Basilica
Contested War Zone
Birds of Paradise
Hero of Oxid Ridge
Golbin Wardriver
Accorder Paladin

In: Lotus cobra
Out: Thornweald Archer











In: Blue Sun's Zenith
Out: Conundrum Sphinx











In: Mortarpod
Out: Myr Turbine

Green Sucks Less!

Granted we've only done one draft with the new cards, but we had three green players and the green decks did some exciting things. I drafted a committed ramp deck that sought to end the game with an early Vigor or Eldrazi Conscription, a timely Rude Awakening, or a large Gelatinous Genesis. Against Phil I played turn 3 Triskelion turn 4 Gelatinous Genesis for x=3, proceeding to crush crush him, and I won multiple games with entwined Rude Awakening. We'll see how green fares in future drafts.

Playing with the new cards and talking with our play group revealed some minor changes that needed to be made, and also that we're bat-shit crazy.

Diabolic Servitude in for Dark Ritual
Somehow Servitude got cut, and we've been thinking of putting it back in for a while. Ritual has been okay but not amazing.

Zo-Zu the Punisher in for Stingscourger
Been meaning to get this guy in for a while, since he is a house in monored.

Farhaven Elf in for Wildsize
This guy got left out of the changes to green but deserves to be in. Problem solved!

Sarkhan the Mad in for Void
Planeswalkers are OP, not sure what we were smoking when we took him out...

If there are other cards you want to see in or out, let us know!

With the release of Mirrodin Besieged comes time to update the cube. This time around though we are not just making card changes however.

We've decided that hybrid and gold as separate categories is not working out the way we would like. Firstly, that structure resulted in multiple cards that were very underwhelming but made the cut because we needed a fifth U/R hybrid or an eighth R/W gold. Secondly, with the way we build our draft pools, almost every hyrbid card was in an eight-man draft, taking a lot of the randomness out of that part of the pool. Hybrid and gold are now one category with 10 cards of each color pair, 6 tricolor cards and 5 colorless Eldrazi.

Now on with the changes!

White
In	Out
Mirran Crusader	White Knight
Leonin Skyhunter	Spectral Lynx
Accorder Paladin	Kami of Ancient Law
Leonin Relic-Warder	Harm's Way
Hero of Bladehold	Breath of Life
White Sun's Zenith	Fuedkiller's Verdict

Blue
In	Out
Consecrated Sphinx	Palinchron
Treasure Mage	Plaxmanta

Black
In	Out
Dauthi Marauder	Daggerclaw Imp
Go for the Throat	Nezumi Cutthroat
Black Sun's Zenith	Mutilate
Massacre Wurm	Laquatus's Champion

Red
In	Out
Ghostfire	Carbonize
Slagstorm	Molten Disaster
Goblin Wardriver	Sulfur Elemental
Hero of Oxid Ridge	Hoarding Dragon

Green
In	Out
Ifh-Biff Efreet	Deadwood Treefolk
Iwamori of the Open Fist	Kavu Titan
Abundance	Ohran Viper
Natural Order	Kodama of the North Tree
Silvos, Rogue Elemental	Reclaim
Farhaven Elf	Wall of Blossoms
Rude Awakening	Wild Mongrel
Gaea's Revenge	Civic Wayfinder
Gigapede	Borderland Ranger
Avenger of Zendikar	Bellowing Tanglewurm
Green Sun's Zenith	Imperious Perfect
Thrun, the Last Troll	Leatherback Baloth
Explore	Squirrel Nest
Terastodon	Garruk's Packleader
Sylvan Library	Lotus Cobra
Ondu Giant	Seedborn Muse

Land
In	Out
Karakas	Windbrisk Heights
Soldevi Excacations	Faerie Conclave
Contested Warzone	Urza's Factory
Evolving Wilds	Thawing Glaciers

Artifacts
In	Out
Sword of Feast and Famine	Livewire Lash
Thopter Assembly	Trigon of Rage
Myr Battlesphere	Stuffy Doll
Myr Turbine	Chimeric Mass
Spine of Ish Sah	Crystal Ball
Bonehoard	Empyrial Plate

Multicolor
In	Out
Glissa the Traitor	Gleancrawler
	Murkfiend Leige
	Overbeing of Myth
	Vorosh, the Hunter
	Firemane Angel
	Flame-Kin Zealot
	Skyknight Legionnaire
	Lightning Angel
	Oros, the Avenger
	Intet, the Dreamer
	Iridescent Angel
	Thistledown Liege
	Mirrorweave
	Watchwolf
	Mystic Enforcer
	Mercy Killing
	Inkfathom Infiltrator
	Moroii
	Dimir Guildmage
	Death Grasp
	Deathbringer Liege
	Orzhov Pontiff
	Sarkhan the Mad
	Ashenmoor Gouger
	Blazing Specter
	Cankerous Thirst
	Golgari Guildmage
	Consume Strength
	Plaxcaster Frogling
	Spellbreaker Behemoth
	Fires of Yavimaya
	Hull Breach
	Call the Skybreaker
	Double Negative
	Frenetic Efreet