I'm not enitrely sure, that I like Izzet Charm more than any of my other Izzet cards. It's certainly up there as an option, but not an auto include necessarily, IMO.
I'm also not a huge fan of Monastery Swiftspear in limited. I just don't like Prowess as a keyword particularly as it forces you to cast your non-creature spells before or during combat, instead of at the latest possible moment in order to get the payoff. I think this is very much a constructed card, but I might be wrong and change my opinion if proven wrong.
It's not entirely up to date with Experiment One and Chronicler of Heroes, but should still give some inspiration of every relevant card up until that point.
I don't think I like Webweaver Changeling enough to include it. It's obviously decent if it grants 5 life, but this is all but guaranteed on turn 5.
Auto Includes Vampire Sovereign: This card is incredibly strong and was already a premium UC in it's time. Dreg Mangler: Finally we got a good 4th Goglari Card. Ez include. Experiment One: This was a really really good UC Onedrop in it's time and is basically the first premium non-Mana Dork G Onedrop we've had till now.
In consideration: Advanced Stitchwing: This seems quite decent. A 3/5 Flying for 5 is fine and the ability to turn any 2 cards in your hand into a Zombify seems pretty decent actually. Seekers' Squire: A 1/2 that either draws a card or becomes a 2/3 Scry 1 booth seem like absolutely fine options to me, even though it's random. Lava Coil: I don't like burn, that can't go face all that much, but this is obviiously very efficient at what it does and the exile-clause can often be surprisingly relevant. Gnarlback Rhino: I really like 4/4 Tramples for cc4 and the upside of randomly being able to draw a card, if this becomes the target óf a pump spell seems quite nice. Cartel Aristocrat: I remember this being reasonably powerful at the time I could imagine playing this over something else. Fireblade Artist: This will probably replace Spike Jester, even though that card has performed extremely well ofr me. Bloodwater Entity: Obviously returning a spell to hand would be much more powerful, but this card would be broken or it wouldn't be common if it could do that. A 2/2 Flying prowess for 3 is quite decent though and putting a spell on top also definitely generates some value at the right point in the game. Probably not going to make the cut for me, but I still think this is a reasonable consideration.
I'm building a Kaladesh themed cube, which mostly consists of KLD and AER, but also includes some cards which belong to Kaladesh because of their artwork. The problem is, it's really hard to filter for these cards. I just recently found Mindless Automatons most recent printing. Does anyone know of any Kaladesh themed cards, which aren't from Origins or M19?
I'm surprised Arms of Hadar isn't getting more attention. Like everyone else I imagine I haven't had the chance to play with a one-sided Infest in Limited yet but in theory I'd be hard-pressed trying to find another black card that is as good as this one in Cube.
It was spoiled pretty late so there wasn't that much time to discuss it, but I agree with you that it has a huge staple potential. I think everyone here acknowledged the card and put it in their cube.
That said, I think I like Initiative more than Monarch because it actually advances the board state instead of just creating CA.
I think in limited Initiative will be more powerful, because you are getting actual effects instead of a random card.
Btw. you could also just exclude the Mechanics, that aren't meant for any format other than commander, instead of the whole set. I've only had bad feedback for the Monarch cards. It's also not the first thing I removed, even though it was strong. I also excluded the Aura/Hexproof archetype a while ago, because people simply didn't like non-interactive mechanics. Monarch/Initiative are basically just as non-interactive.
Also passing on excellent fixing doesn't really seem to do much good, IMO. I think, that the Gates/Thriving Lands are pretty much the best tapped fixing we have and it reduces slots for basically strictly better Uncharted Havens, which will very rarely end up last pick, like the Duals often do.
I think it can definitely be said, that this set has been pretty incredible with regards to the amount of cubeable cards. Since I cut the Campi/Draw Duals in exchange for the Gates I now had 5 slots for monocolor cards and decided to add a whole bunch of new cards (Out > In):
I finally found time to look through the whole spoiler and read to all the the posts.
Regarding Breath Weapon and red control: I supported this archetype for a long time and it was quite decent even before Cannonade. There are certainly a few interesting cards in red, which support this archetype like Rukh Egg and I did actually quite like Wall of Heat as it's really hard to deal with and can basically prevent every X/2 from attacking.
I do like booth Clockwork Fox and Carefree Swinemaster. Clockwork Fox is very similar to Spore Crawler, which was actually a decent card in green before. The Swinemaster is a decent blocker, which can act as an opportunistic attacker. It also works fine with combat tricks.
I also realised, that no one has talked about Bronze Walrus. It's obviously no Llanowar Visionary, but Scry 2 is certainly valueable and being able to go into any deck and actually fix your mana instead of just seems really nice.
I'm also not sure whether or not I want to add Initiative cards, since I recently decided to cut the Monarch cards, due to feedback from my playgroup. Mechanics, which just stay in the command zone and can't be interacted with outside of combat can make it impossible for a deck, that is slightly behind to ever catch up.
Btw. Will of the Council isn't really a multiplayer mechanic in 1 vs 1. I really like Custodi Squire. The text could basically be reduced to "When Custodi Squire enters the battlefield return an artifact, creature, or enchantment card in your graveyard to your hand." Apart from that it and Tyrant's Choice are the only commons with that mechanic anyway.
An quick update after playing the set for a while now: Inspiring Overseer and Jewel Thief are obviously just as broken as they looked at first sight. What a surprise.
Overperformers: Mayhem Patrol: I had my eyes pinned on this from the beginning and it definitely lived up to what I was expecting and even overperforming. A 2/2 Menace is very decent on it's own and the ability to Cycle it on turn 5+ is really really nice. Also the ability to give one of your 2/Xs or 3/Xs that 1 additional point of power out of nowhere, so that they can attack into a slightly bigger blocker "for free" is really useful. I think it's just plain wrong to not have this card in your cube. I would even say it qualifies as a staple among red 2 drops.
Girder Goons: I expected nothing and was pleasantly surprised. It's not so much the hard cast mode, that is interesing here, but the 4/4 haste for 4, that your opponent doesn't really want to block, because it replaces itself anyway, so they tend to tank it with their face, which is not always easily possible. I mean you could read it as: 3B Deal 4 damage to your opponent, unless they sacrifice a creature. Create a tapped 2/2 Zombie. Draw a card. The hard cast mode can obviously also be viable in some spots. Not saying you have to cube this, but it's certainly a consideration.
Plasma Jockey: Kind of similar to Goblin Heelcutter, expect that your opponent doesn't want to block ths. Even if your opponent puts 2/2s in front of this, you get a 2 for 1 trade. By no means a must play in cube, but definitely surprisingly strong in SNC draft.
Rooftop Nuisance: The name of the card says it all. It's really annoying. Removing 2 blockers from combat for 2 turns can be a huge swing in the middle of the damage race and you don't necessarily have to have a perfect sacrifice target, but simply being able to turn a Man-o'-War or something like that into this effect and also a card of the top can be quite viable. Also not a must play, but a surprisingly good tempo card.
I'm also not a huge fan of Monastery Swiftspear in limited. I just don't like Prowess as a keyword particularly as it forces you to cast your non-creature spells before or during combat, instead of at the latest possible moment in order to get the payoff. I think this is very much a constructed card, but I might be wrong and change my opinion if proven wrong.
I kinda hope we get a common downgrade of Grateful Apparition. It wouldn't be far off, since we've already got Thrummingbird.
It's not entirely up to date with Experiment One and Chronicler of Heroes, but should still give some inspiration of every relevant card up until that point.
Auto Includes
Vampire Sovereign: This card is incredibly strong and was already a premium UC in it's time.
Dreg Mangler: Finally we got a good 4th Goglari Card. Ez include.
Experiment One: This was a really really good UC Onedrop in it's time and is basically the first premium non-Mana Dork G Onedrop we've had till now.
In consideration:
Advanced Stitchwing: This seems quite decent. A 3/5 Flying for 5 is fine and the ability to turn any 2 cards in your hand into a Zombify seems pretty decent actually.
Seekers' Squire: A 1/2 that either draws a card or becomes a 2/3 Scry 1 booth seem like absolutely fine options to me, even though it's random.
Lava Coil: I don't like burn, that can't go face all that much, but this is obviiously very efficient at what it does and the exile-clause can often be surprisingly relevant.
Gnarlback Rhino: I really like 4/4 Tramples for cc4 and the upside of randomly being able to draw a card, if this becomes the target óf a pump spell seems quite nice.
Cartel Aristocrat: I remember this being reasonably powerful at the time I could imagine playing this over something else.
Fireblade Artist: This will probably replace Spike Jester, even though that card has performed extremely well ofr me.
Bloodwater Entity: Obviously returning a spell to hand would be much more powerful, but this card would be broken or it wouldn't be common if it could do that. A 2/2 Flying prowess for 3 is quite decent though and putting a spell on top also definitely generates some value at the right point in the game. Probably not going to make the cut for me, but I still think this is a reasonable consideration.
I think in limited Initiative will be more powerful, because you are getting actual effects instead of a random card.
Btw. you could also just exclude the Mechanics, that aren't meant for any format other than commander, instead of the whole set. I've only had bad feedback for the Monarch cards. It's also not the first thing I removed, even though it was strong. I also excluded the Aura/Hexproof archetype a while ago, because people simply didn't like non-interactive mechanics. Monarch/Initiative are basically just as non-interactive.
Also passing on excellent fixing doesn't really seem to do much good, IMO. I think, that the Gates/Thriving Lands are pretty much the best tapped fixing we have and it reduces slots for basically strictly better Uncharted Havens, which will very rarely end up last pick, like the Duals often do.
→ Skybridge Towers > Black Dragon Gate: What can I say. The Thriving Lands where amazing and so are these. 5 Slots for basically perfect fixing.
→ Waterfront District > Citadel Gate: "
→ Tramway Station > Cliffgate: "
→ Racers' Ring > Manor Gate: "
→ Botanical Plaza > Sea Gate: "
→ Silverquill Campus > Roving Harper: Sure it's no Inspiring Overseer, but so is every blue card no Mulldrifter. A "free" 2/2 is still really strong.
→ Prismari Campus > Breath Weapon: I like getting more Wraths in pauper, which deal more than 1.
→ Witherbloom Campus > Winter Eladrin: Yeah... Man-o'-War I guess.
→ Lorehold Campus > Undercellar Myconid: I really want Swarm to be a Naya archetype and while R and W have more than enough good cards I was always hoping they would print more 2 for 1 green creatures. This is mostly here for archetype support, rather than raw power level.
→ Spore Crawler > Cloakwood Swarmkeeper: "
→ Terrain Elemental > Carefree Swinemaster: "
→ Shimmerdrift Vale > Bronze Walrus: I think a watered down colorless Llanowar Visionary, that can fix mana is still good enough.
→ Cruel Witness > Stunning Strike: I really like how they worded this, whith the combat clause. Makes it really flexible.
→ Ballynock Cohort > Greatsword of Tyr: I've always really liked this type of effect and I think with the fact, that it perpetually grows and is really fairly costed overall it might actually be worth it.
→ Daybreak Chimera > Blessed Hippogriff: I was surprised to see that the spell is actually just 1 mana. It really doesn't go much cheaper than that and the 2 for 1 potential for this card is really high.
→ Clawing Torment > Arms of Hadar: A one-sided pseudo wrath seems pretty insane actually. This might actually be a staple.
→ Boot Nipper > Guildsworn Prowler: This seems like a decent upgrade.
On my watchlsit are Clockwork Fox, Sea Hag and Mold Folk for my black sacrifice theme.
Edit: Since my playgroup has voted to kick monarch out, I'm not gonna include Initiative for obvious reasons.
Regarding Breath Weapon and red control: I supported this archetype for a long time and it was quite decent even before Cannonade. There are certainly a few interesting cards in red, which support this archetype like Rukh Egg and I did actually quite like Wall of Heat as it's really hard to deal with and can basically prevent every X/2 from attacking.
Blur is kind of interesting if you support the Archaeomancer etc - Ghostly Flicker/Displace/Ephemerate Combo as this can simply draw a card for 3 mana as often as you like with an Archaeomancer-like creature on the board.
I do like booth Clockwork Fox and Carefree Swinemaster. Clockwork Fox is very similar to Spore Crawler, which was actually a decent card in green before. The Swinemaster is a decent blocker, which can act as an opportunistic attacker. It also works fine with combat tricks.
I also realised, that no one has talked about Bronze Walrus. It's obviously no Llanowar Visionary, but Scry 2 is certainly valueable and being able to go into any deck and actually fix your mana instead of just seems really nice.
Btw. Will of the Council isn't really a multiplayer mechanic in 1 vs 1. I really like Custodi Squire. The text could basically be reduced to "When Custodi Squire enters the battlefield return an artifact, creature, or enchantment card in your graveyard to your hand." Apart from that it and Tyrant's Choice are the only commons with that mechanic anyway.
Apaarently the first effect takes place immediately.
Inspiring Overseer and Jewel Thief are obviously just as broken as they looked at first sight. What a surprise.
Overperformers:
Mayhem Patrol: I had my eyes pinned on this from the beginning and it definitely lived up to what I was expecting and even overperforming. A 2/2 Menace is very decent on it's own and the ability to Cycle it on turn 5+ is really really nice. Also the ability to give one of your 2/Xs or 3/Xs that 1 additional point of power out of nowhere, so that they can attack into a slightly bigger blocker "for free" is really useful. I think it's just plain wrong to not have this card in your cube. I would even say it qualifies as a staple among red 2 drops.
Girder Goons: I expected nothing and was pleasantly surprised. It's not so much the hard cast mode, that is interesing here, but the 4/4 haste for 4, that your opponent doesn't really want to block, because it replaces itself anyway, so they tend to tank it with their face, which is not always easily possible. I mean you could read it as: 3B Deal 4 damage to your opponent, unless they sacrifice a creature. Create a tapped 2/2 Zombie. Draw a card. The hard cast mode can obviously also be viable in some spots. Not saying you have to cube this, but it's certainly a consideration.
Plasma Jockey: Kind of similar to Goblin Heelcutter, expect that your opponent doesn't want to block ths. Even if your opponent puts 2/2s in front of this, you get a 2 for 1 trade. By no means a must play in cube, but definitely surprisingly strong in SNC draft.
Rooftop Nuisance: The name of the card says it all. It's really annoying. Removing 2 blockers from combat for 2 turns can be a huge swing in the middle of the damage race and you don't necessarily have to have a perfect sacrifice target, but simply being able to turn a Man-o'-War or something like that into this effect and also a card of the top can be quite viable. Also not a must play, but a surprisingly good tempo card.