Big Changes

First off, I know its been awhile since I have posted. The reason being is that I was waiting for Max to come home for spring break. He has come and gone, and we were able to get some cube in while he was here. The two of us took the comments that people had been making and sat down and made a ton of changes. This latest group of changes greatly increases that power of each color as well as the cube over all. For each of these new cards, both Max and I agreed on putting them in.

In

White

Armageddon

Crovax, Ascendant Hero

Harm's Way

Mistmeadow Skulk

Stoneforge Mystic

Hokori, Dust Drinker

Breath of Life

Blue

Trinket Mage

Future Sight

Ancestral Visions

Court Hussar

Gilded Drake

Upheaval

Bonded Fetch

Exclude

Kederekt Leviathan

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Black

Entomb

Living Death

Necromancy

Buried Alive

Twisted Abomination

Korlash, Heir to Blackblade

Cemetery Reaper

Crypt Champion

Mutilate

Grinning Demon

Red

Urza's Rage

Word of Seizing

Dragonmaster Outcast

Gathan Raiders

Sulfur Elemental

Arc-Slogger

Ghost Fire

Green

Stunted Growth

Exploration

Molder Slug

Defense of the Heart

Elvish Visionary

Dosan, The Falling Leaf

Thornweald Archer

Mire Boa

Strength of the Tajuru

Seedborn Muse

Other

Firemane Angel

Flamekin Zealot

Mirari's Wake

Fires of Yavimaya

Woolly Thoctar

Golgari Guildmage

Wand of the Elements

Volrath's Stronghold

Ensnaring Bridge

Everflowing Chalice

Tangle Wire

Out

White

Otherworldly Journey

Pulse of the Fields

Soltari Visionary

Guardian Seraph

Adarkar Valkyrie

Return to Dust

Commander Eesha

Blue

Welkin Tern

Stormscape Apprentice

Impulse

Drift of Phantasms

Govern the Guildless

Horizon Drake

Boomerang

Sejiri Merfolk

Treasure Hunt

Black

Wrench Mind

Nightscape Familiar

Mesmeric Fiend

Nightscape Battlemage

Strangling Soot

Necravolver

Rise from the Grave

Phyrexian Plaguelord

Ashling, the Extinguisher

Diabolic Servitude

Red

Ghost-lit Raider

Yuki-Onna

Lightning Axe

Slavering Nulls

Stalking Yeti

Skirk Marauder

Rakavolver

Green

Caller of the Claw

Bestial Menace

Centaur Chieftain

Evolution Charm

Spike Weaver

Sylvan Scrying

Anavolver

Centaur Glade

Yavimaya Dryad

Ravenous Baloth

Other

Bull Cerodon

Razia, Boros Archangel

Mycoid Shepherd

Apocalypse Hydra

Uril, the Miststalker

Rendclaw Trow

Mindwrack Liege

Cabal Coffers

Pithing Needle

Platinum Angel

Triskelavus

Thoughts

Alright, so after playing with the new cards, it is becoming clear that some things are just not being played. In an effort to take out some cards that have been going 15th as well as making some improvements, here are some changes to consider.

False Orders out (it was short lived, just wanted to give it a try) - Ball Lightning in

Skulking Ghost out - Bloodghast in

Sengir Nosferatu out - Braids in

Aura of Silence out - Land Tax in

Swerve out - Double Negative in

Just something to try

Wasp Lancer out- Sygg in

Changes - Blue

Though I agree with most of the additions, I find a major fault in the new blue. Blue is now only 44% creatures, which is far too low. I think Blue needs to get back up to 50% creatures, meaning that 5 spells need to turn into creatures. I also noted that blue has exactly three creatures that one would realistically play for less than 3 mana (Willbender never gets played face up).
Spells to come out, IMO:
Remand
Tolarian Winds (it's card disadvantage, blue has better ways to discard unused land)
Perilous Research
two of: Deep Analysis, Careful Consideration, Sift, Foresee (too much redundancy)

Creatures to consider, with my preferences in BOLD:
Aquamaeba (not stellar, but only costs 2 and is a discard outlet for recursion decks)
Sejiri Merfolk
Aven Fisher
Aven Fogbringer
Phantom Monster
Belltower Sphinx
Briarberry Cohort
Cheatyface (I snuck it onto this list without you noticing, now it's in the cube)
Cloud Spirit
Crookclaw Transmuter
Djinn of Wishes
Errant Ephemeron
Fathom Seer
Infiltrator il-Kor
Linessa, Zephyr Mage
Magus of the Future
Parasitic Strix
Phantom Monster
Phantom Warrior
Plaxmanta
Possessed Aven
Riptide Survivor
Soratami Rainshaper
Tradewind Rider
Voyager Drake
Wall of Frost
Welkin Tern

Changes - Blue

So everyone I have been drafting with seams to think Thieving Magpie is terrible, so lets try something else:

Voidmage Prodigy in - Thieving Magpie out

Neither of these are that exciting, but the Prodigy had so far had a much higher approval rate.

Changes - Blue

So at one point this came out, and things have gone full circle and a worse card has some how taken its place:

Thirst for Knowledge in - Dream Cache out

This is more or less a no brainer.

Changes - Artifacts

So Grim Monolith has been a great addition to the Cube, and it got me thinking about getting this card in:

Mana Vault in - Bonesplitter out

So not only does Mana Vault seam like a better Grim Monolith, but Bonesplitter is both by far the weakest equipment and is almost never played. I am looking forward to giving Mana Vault a try!

Changes - Multi Color

So we were talking and decided that Black does not need more things that kills itself. This change is also moving away from something that this combination does not really want to do.

Wydwen, The Biting Gale in - Moroii out

While Wydwen did get worse with the new rules changes, she is still more versatile than Moroii. For the most part Moroii was also not played all that often. U/B is also not a super aggressive color pair and Moroii is sorta awkward in that sense as well. Black has a ton of cards that do damage to itself, and Moroii was by far was the weakest of them. These two cards are very similar but Wydwen just does more and is more resilient.

Thoughts

So here are some cards that Max and I are on the edge about. Some of them we want to give a try and don't know what to take out. For others, we know what they would replace but aren't sure if they are better. And lastly, some just seam good but we have no idea if they should even be in.

Thirst for Knowledge

Perilous Research

Voidmage Prodigy

Viashino Cutthroat

Viashino Sandstalker

Rain of Salt

Glare of Subdual

I could see any of these cards being in (well maybe not Rain of Salt, but if others think its good I would be down to try it), but we don't really know what should go out to make room. Post people! Let us know your opinion about these cards and your thoughts if you think you have a good swap.

One more thing, we do feel that we have enough counters in the current cube, so if the Voidmage were to come in one of the first things to consider going out would be another counter, but other suggestions are welcome as well.

Something that is more of a discussion is this:

Arc Lightning vs Forked Lightning

Is 3 for 3 divided better than 4 for 4 divided?

Let us know what you think because we are not really sure!

For each of these, Max and I will make changes that we think are correct. If we get any feedback we will also take that into consideration when making our decisions.

Changes - Green

So Max and I were looking over the Green slot and noticed that we only have two things that cost 6, a good solution that we came up with is this:

Rampaging Baloths in - Spectral Force out

The Spectral Force has never been played that much, and often ended up being a sideboard card. The Baloths on the other hand is really cost efficient with a highly relevant ability. I also have a little issue with the Force having that black restriction as well. In addition, I have been wanting to get the Baloths in and this seams like a good replacement.

Changes - Black

This change comes from a reminder by Findlay that better removal spells have been printed:

Eyeblight's Ending in - Dark Banishing out

This is a good replacement and one that should have been made sooner. While Dark Banishing does not allow for regeneration, I think the only creature that actually has regenerate is Troll Ascetic which can't be targeted anyway. That said, we for sure have more black creatures then both creatures with regenerate and creatures that count as elves.

Changes - Green

So we don't even have the cube together and we already want to make the first change:

Plow Under in - Hunting Pack out

Hunting Pack was hardly played to begin with, and neither Max or I are huge fans. Plow Under seams like a card that we all forgot about; it seams like just the sort of power boost that green could use.