Artful Maneuver isn't a bad combat trick, especially for an aggressive deck. Other existing tricks have a bit more versatility though. It is superb with Prowess if you are pushing that, though. Center Soul is pretty bad. The rebound will only really help you avoid a blocker. The one mana variants of this card are better. Dromoka Warrior is probably better than some two drops people are running. I'm sure it'll sneak in peoples lists even though it's pretty boring. Glaring Aegis has a neat tap effect. It's a little awkward that the effect is good in aggressive decks, while the buff it gives isn't ideal for aggressive decks. Still, it's very comparable to Hammerhand and you can put synergies in that this works with (heroic, enchantment/aura, vigilance). Tough to judge this one. Herald of Dromoka I don't really like. Vigilance doesn't really do much for weenies. I'd run the 3/1 over this. Lightwalker is awesome! A superb enabler for +1/+1 counter cards. I love cards that have synergy like this, and will try to support this guy since the payoff is huge. Misthoof Kirin is just good value. People probably have a handfull of 2/1 fliers for 3 in their cubes, and the 3/2 version of this is just better. I also like adding morph cards to the cube because they make all the other morphs play better (more uncertainty for your opponent). This is the best white common and should go straight in everyone's cubes. Sandcrafter Mage is a pretty good workhorse card. the 3/3 for 3 worst case is actually pretty good for white, and there's a lot of upside. I'd be surprised if people didn't use this. Sandstorm Charger is a good fatty, which I think is pretty important in pauper cube to keep it from being aggro-infested. It's better than War Behemoth to boot. Student of Ojutai is interesting. The life gain will add up and it supports slower archetypes which I count as a good thing. Worth trying out.
Anticipate isn't good in this format. I agree with the previous posts about how card selection is weak in pauper cube. Card advantage spells should be run instead. I don't run Impulse and I don't runBrainstorm. Ponder you can at least use on turn 1 when you wouldn't do anything else, and it can smooth out your draws. And then Preordain is awesome because sometimes you bin two lands with it late game and it's basically like drawing 3 cards (and Impulse has the opposite problem where you see four cards you want but only get one). Contradict isn't the worst. Counter + draw a card is pretty sweet, and Exclude is one of the better blue cards. I run Traumatic Visions and use it as a counter pretty often. I doubt I'll end up adding this, but it's closer than people are giving it credit for. Ojutai Interceptor is decent. Some 3/1 fliers for 4 sneak in to my cube. The 4/2 option hits pretty hard, too. Ojutai's Summons has some neat synergy with Archaeomancer type cards. Doesn't look amazing, but worth trying out. Reduce in Stature is probably worse than other similar cards, but does have a unique angle. Sidisi's Faithful is a strict improvement to Kraken Hatchling. I think this card is much better than it looks if an 0/4 wall is something some players would want in your cube.
Butcher's Glee might be a worthwhile trick. A pretty easy 1-for-1 trade and you gain a ton of life. Coat with Venom meanwhile is much more situational to get a 1-for-1 trade and has no upside. It's bad. Defeat looks like it would cost 1 mana in most sets. Too narrow compared to the removal that is available throughout history (though it will be good in limited for this set). Flatten is obviously less efficient also while we're at it. Dutiful Attendant is one of the better cards to use with sacrifice outlets. There's a few cards like this now that are adding up and it might make for an archetype. Hand of Silumgar is a superb two drop. Works in both aggro and control. Not exciting but I'd be surprised if people didn't run this. Don't be blinded by cards that are *slightly* better in aggro. The fact that this is good in any black deck really makes it a better inclusion for your cube. Kolaghan Skirmisher probably doesn't cut it. I think having a better two drop would outweigh the dash option, however I could be completely wrong. Worth trying out. Marsh Hulk is huge, but black has some pretty good expensive stuff already, so I'm not sold on it. Reckless Imp is awesome. I've seen people run Deepcavern Imp before, and this card puts that to shame. This should be an auto-include if there's any semblance of black aggro in your cube. Shambling Goblin is better than it's festering brother, but I don't think either are all that great. Silumgar Butcher is solid if you're supporting exploit. Vulturous Aven is amazing, and is 100% going to make me support exploit. Powerful effects like this make pauper cube intersting. Taking the card that is great situationally over the card that is just solid all the time is a good move IMO. Best black common in the set.
Atarka Efreet is a great card. Red has a strong morph theme going already, and the possibility to unmorph this and slam for 6 damage is huge. And then it randomly pings something? This is my favorite common in the set. Windmill slam it into the cube and don't look back. Hardened Berserker is also great. 3/2 for 3 is fine on the vanilla test, and then the ability on it is great. Another auto-include. Kolaghan Aspirant is good but there's too much competition in red. Probably won't make the cut. Kolaghan Stormsinger is decent. I would never play it in raging goblin mode, but the ability to give something else haste for one mana isn't bad. The bonus points for morph variety might get me to try it out. Magmatic Chasm is great. People should be running Falter already, and this is a second one. Auto-include. Sabertooth Outrider is interesting. Is it better than the 4/3s for 2RR that fill out the cube? I'm not sure, but if it is, then it'll make it. If it isn't, then it won't, since there are so many of those. I'm going to guess it is, since the first strike makes it pretty brutal. Sprinting Warbrute is pretty good. There's a few other fat haste beaters like this in red, TBD which are the best. Twin Bolt is an auto-include. Two damage for two mana is fine, and if you kill two things with 1 toughness (which people chock their cubes full of), then the card becomes an insane advantage.
Aerie Bowmasters is great. I'm not sure why people are so iffy about it. 3/4 reach for 2GG is good enough to make people's cubes as-is. The morph path isn't going to be used too much, but it's still upside. Sometimes you need a 2/2 on turn 3, sometimes you have so much mana this is just a 4/5. Good reach cards are important in pauper cube, and this blanks most of the fliers you're going to go up against. Atarka Beastbreaker isn't going to make my cube, since green doesn't want bears. If you are running aggressive bears, though, then this is a decent one. Conifer Strider is one of the better hexproof creatures. The one toughness doesn't really matter here because of the hexproof. Slap an aura on it and go to town, or just get lucky and have your opponent not have anything efficient to trade with it. If you play this is green/red and burn away little blockers it hits like a truck. Worth giving a shot, especially if you run auras. Dragon-Scarred Bear has a great formidable ability. If formidable becomes reasonable to assemble, then this card should be used. Epic Confrontation is great green removal. I don't see why anyone wouldn't include this. Glade Watcher is a very interesting card. It works really well with big green archetypes. Some people run Acridian, and this is way better IMO. Guardian Shield-Bearer is great. It's not too hard to make the +1/+1 counter be worth a card, and then you're left with a 3/2 which is worth a card. Having the option to just play this on turn 2 to beat down or trade is what makes it great, though. Add on the morph uncertainty factor (more morphs makes them all better) and I think this is a card people should be using. Segmented Krotiq is a good fatty. There's a couple good green fatties now, but I think the morph ones (and Krosan Tusker) are the best. I will be using this. Sheltered Aerie is a good ramp card. I am running Dawn's Reflection, and this is just better. The ability to on turn for cast this and a 3 drop is a pretty big swing. I think this is better than Rampant Growth. Edit: Misread this. It only ramps 1, making it worse than tons of existing options. Stampeding Elk Herd is a good card. 5/5 for 5 is the type of thing that green wants, and it can give trample to fatties who lack it. It looks like a premier 5 drop to me.
Ancestral Statue is good. If you have ETB effects abound, I can see this being great. Though even just casting it on turn 4 as your first creature in a control deck is fine. Custodian of the Trove is pretty bad. There isn't enough late game power for this to be good in pauper cube, and the archetypes who would be interested in something like this will generally have something stronger in their colors. Vial of Dragonfire is ok. One mana more than the existing options, but I run the existing options, and they see play sometimes. I think it's a nice effect to round out your cube with. There's some artifact matters cards that work with it to boot.
I think this set is great. Everyone but blue made out like a bandit. Lots of powerful cards, and none of the mechanics don't translate well to cube. Exploit pushes that a bit (you really have to run enablers), but there's enough cards throughout Magic's history that play into this that I don't think it's an issue.
edit:
Some cards I didn't mention but should have: Elusive Spellfist isn't a Kiln Fiend. Only getting +1 power does not make you want to spam a bunch of spells and hit big, because you're only getting 1 damage per spell. I don't see this as a win condition in a spell heavy deck, because it's just so slow. What it is actually pretty good at, though, is blocking. 1/3 two drops aren't too far from being usable in defensive blue decks. And this guy can kill bears instead of just walling them, as well as poke through board stalls late. I don't think this is great, but it's interesting and could be worth a try. I like prowess more, though. Jeskai Sage is way better than this guy, for instance. Palace Familiar isn't exciting at all, but it's a good filler card. I can imagine decks that would be happy to slot this in, and it'll be great in Dragon's limited with exploit and bolster. Large cubes may want to use this, especially if they aren't trying to support blue aggro. Foul-Tongue Shriek is awful. I see some people rating it, but please don't play it. Life gain isn't good in a deck that wants this, and it's so much worse than the Trumpet Blasts of the world. Sarkhan's Rage is a card I glossed over at first, but after taking another look at the burn options it has potential. The only thing keeping it in the game is being an instant. The cards in the same realm as this, expensive instant speed burn, are Lightning Blast and Riddle of Lightning. I think both of those are stronger, as usually even just 3 damage is enough to deal with what you need to. All that said, I like having some variety in my burn spells. Just putting a bunch of Incinerates in makes things boring (and if you put too much in makes red just too good). I'll be giving this a try. Volcanic Rush is a card I think is bad. Five mana is too much for this kind of effect. Play the three mana variants or the falters.
Lots of people are talking about cutting Cultbrand Cinder for Rakdos Shred-Freak for the B/R hybrid slot. This is probably a good time to have a discussion about Cultbrand Cinder. At first I added it because it was the best B/R hybrid I could find, and thought it would be a decent filler card. After playing with it enough though I have come to appreciate it's value. Often times it'll flat out kill a creature. There are a ton of very good creatures in pauper cube with one toughness. Even if you can't out-right kill a creature, putting a -1/-1 counter on a creature will probably be able to marginalize it. Being left with a 3/3 is pretty nice, as 3/3s in pauper cube tend to beat pretty hard. Especially in red and black where you don't get much bigger.
Shred-Freak on the other hand is just a dime-a-dozen two drop. If it were either mono-red or mono-black, it might not even make it into some people's cubes. Is it really much better than another 2/1 for 2?
Azorius Arrester - This fits well with white's theme (in my cube at least) of fast aggression. On turn 2 it's on curve. On later turns it helps you punch through damage. White has a ton of better 2 drops, so I wouldn't be shocked if someone doesn't want this. Cubed
Concordia Pegasus - I actually really like this card, but it doesn't fit at all with white in my cube. If white is slower/flying based in your cubes, consider it. It's very efficient. Depends
Keening Apparition - Shoutout to very large cubes, here's a third Kami of Ancient Law. It's a spirit, which is a more relevant creature type than Unicorn, so you may want to replace the ronom guy with this as your second. Size matters
Sunspire Griffin - If you're still running Cloud Crusader you should probably have replaced them with these guys by now. I think that these guys are great and am happy to have another. Cubed
Swift Justice - In the world of tricks, this one is pretty good. I like other tricks that go better with aggressive decks more though. Probably not
Stealer of Secrets - These cards are very good in control/removal decks. I'll probably fit another in, althought I think having a 1/3 is better than a 2/2 in this situation. Depends
Voidweilder - I love me an Aethersnipe, and having a 1/4 tacked on is very nice. There's a limit to how many expensive blue creatures you can fit, and this is only the 4th best version of this card. Depends (but I will add it)
Dead Reveler - Black is pretty weak at 3 drops. I think that this is better than a 3/2 vanilla, so it'll make it into my cube. Probably
Grim Roustabout - I like the flexibility of this card. Some black decks want the blocker, some want the bear who is hard to block. This guy looks very nice, just make sure you can commit to the aggression once you put the counter on it. Probably
Perilous Shade - This card is amazing. The best card for us in the set.
1) It can block right away after playing it on turn 4.
2) It is not vulnerable to removal when your mana is down. 3) You can play it in two color decks because of the half colorless activation cost.
Shades are very good cards, but are limited by being very black-intensive. This one being great in a two color deck really puts it over the top, as well as the great body size. Late game this is unstoppable, and when you drop it it'll help get you to late game. Staple
Terrus Wurm - Worth noting for being very fat. If you want a late game option, this one is a great add. Depends
Gore-House Chainwalker - 3 power 2 drops are nice. I'm not as in love with it as everyone else, but it definitely beats out stuff like Ashmouth Hound. Cubed
Splatter Thus - A 2/2 first striker for 3 is pretty good on defense when you need it. 3/3 first strikers are hard to block. I don't see how you leave this out. Cubed
Tenement Crasher - I actually run Flameborn Hellion in my cube, and am pretty happy with it. Nothing I'd rather see in top-deck mode, and it's pretty easy to catch people off-guard with it. This is a strict upgrade, but I don't think everyone wants red six drops. Depends
Drudge Beetle - Grizzly Bear is very far from playable in green, and the Scavenge cost is huge for just two counters. I'm probably leaving this on the sideline. Probably not
Korozda Monitor - Four mana 3/3 is pretty mediocre in green, but three counters is fairly significant later. Expensive to scavenge, but turning your mana dork into a 4/4 is very nice. There are too many good green 4 drops, though. Probably not
Centaur Healer - This is a very nice mid-range card, and should be on the list when considering g/w gold cards. Depends
Goblin Electomancer - This looks like a solid card for red/blue. It's got some very stiff competition, but I think it'd be really fun to have around. Depends
Hussar Patrol - Great card in a weak gold color combo. Cubed
Sluiceway Scorpion - This a very good. g/b has some strong cards, but I think this actually competes with them. It's like having Consume Strength as a creature. Staple
Spawn of Rix Maadi - With the amount of removal in these colors, a 6/4 for 5 that can't block sounds like a good deal. Depends
Frostburn Weird - Great blue card, mediocre red card. Still, I'll probably use this over Noggle Bandit as my u/r hybrid choice. Probably
You really have to consider limited, where Burden of Guilt is pretty strong.
Seance may be the worst card in the set. It's clearly a johnny card (and a well-designed one), but it's incredibly hard to make it do anything.
Spiteful Shadows, Favor the Woods, and Lost in the Woods are other clear choices.
Everyone is hating on Archangel's Light, but that card can gain you a pretty large amount of life. Take the fact that it is a mythic out of the evaluations and I don't think you can really pick it as the worst.
I'm honestly surprised that Pestilence is no 1 on almost every list. I mean, I knew that it would win the poll in all likelihood but it's just not Hymn to Tourach kind of amazing.
Pestilence is great at any point of a game. Hymn is only great early on.
I have Pestilence, Crypt Rats, and Hymn banned, but I'll put them in just so the ratings are consistent. I'm considering adding Disturbed Burial (and capsize) to the banned list because they're just absurdly good.
Some note: Ray of Command is an incredibly easy 2-for-1. It absolutely wrecks my opponent every time I play it. It's one of the best cards in cube and there isn't really anything else like it.
Flood is mana intensive, but the ability to lock out multiple creatures is really powerful. You have to be heavy blue, but I usually don't have a problem building decks that can use flood easily.
Shaper Parasite is a great creature. You kill something and you get a 2/3 left over.
I don't like Man-o'-war or AEther Adept as much as everyone else. I think the draw spells and removal spells are more valuable. I also think people are valuing them too far apart, mana isn't a huge in my experience, even without much fixing. You aren't going to splash Man-o'-war either.
Counterspell is kind of a dime a dozen in my opinion. It isn't much better than the other softer counters.
Kor Chant sometimes takes a little working for, but it's usually just a two-for-one. It's a complete blowout, and deserves to be ranked as one of the top white cards.
I like Cage of Hands because you can put it on small creatures and not worry about having wasted it. It's really good against decks that have a bomb you have to save removal for, since it has value when you draw it, and later on can shut down their bomb (say a Twisted Abomination or an Errant Ephemeron). I run it over the other 3 mana pacifisms, and over pacifism, because it has a unique application.
I run Puncturing Light also, mostly because I don't want all of white's removal to be auras. It kills most creatures, and having an instant speed option is nice.
Fortify is an amazing card in an aggressive white deck. It's very good at finishing out games, and you can often steal a game when your opponent doesn't consider it. If things aren't going so well you can use the +0/+2 to get some good blocks in, so it's never really dead. It's one of the best aggro enablers imo, which is why I rated it highly.
White is kind of weird, because a large quantity of its cards go in the aggro deck. Stuff like Benalish Cavalry and Youthful Knight are awesome in that deck, but if you aren't aggressive they're pretty bad. Do you rate them high or not? I decided to rate the archetype enablers high (kabuto moth, hookmaster, fortify) and left the bears off, because you can replace them pretty easily.
Also, there's only so much white removal that should reasonably fit into a cube. Cards like Pacifism in a vacuum are better than cards like Kor Skyfisher, but because there's a limit to the removal you run, most cubes won't use pacifism. I chose not to rate any removal spells I don't run. This includes Arrest and Recumbent Bliss.
Nobody is rating Sunlance. It kills most creatures and is very mana efficient. You all like Disfigure, but not Sunlance?
We've also talked about Kabuto Moth before. Everyone thinks it's mediocre even though it basically makes your creatures unblockable and it's very hard to attack into.
Center Soul is pretty bad. The rebound will only really help you avoid a blocker. The one mana variants of this card are better.
Dromoka Warrior is probably better than some two drops people are running. I'm sure it'll sneak in peoples lists even though it's pretty boring.
Glaring Aegis has a neat tap effect. It's a little awkward that the effect is good in aggressive decks, while the buff it gives isn't ideal for aggressive decks. Still, it's very comparable to Hammerhand and you can put synergies in that this works with (heroic, enchantment/aura, vigilance). Tough to judge this one.
Herald of Dromoka I don't really like. Vigilance doesn't really do much for weenies. I'd run the 3/1 over this.
Lightwalker is awesome! A superb enabler for +1/+1 counter cards. I love cards that have synergy like this, and will try to support this guy since the payoff is huge.
Misthoof Kirin is just good value. People probably have a handfull of 2/1 fliers for 3 in their cubes, and the 3/2 version of this is just better. I also like adding morph cards to the cube because they make all the other morphs play better (more uncertainty for your opponent). This is the best white common and should go straight in everyone's cubes.
Sandcrafter Mage is a pretty good workhorse card. the 3/3 for 3 worst case is actually pretty good for white, and there's a lot of upside. I'd be surprised if people didn't use this.
Sandstorm Charger is a good fatty, which I think is pretty important in pauper cube to keep it from being aggro-infested. It's better than War Behemoth to boot.
Student of Ojutai is interesting. The life gain will add up and it supports slower archetypes which I count as a good thing. Worth trying out.
Anticipate isn't good in this format. I agree with the previous posts about how card selection is weak in pauper cube. Card advantage spells should be run instead. I don't run Impulse and I don't runBrainstorm. Ponder you can at least use on turn 1 when you wouldn't do anything else, and it can smooth out your draws. And then Preordain is awesome because sometimes you bin two lands with it late game and it's basically like drawing 3 cards (and Impulse has the opposite problem where you see four cards you want but only get one).
Contradict isn't the worst. Counter + draw a card is pretty sweet, and Exclude is one of the better blue cards. I run Traumatic Visions and use it as a counter pretty often. I doubt I'll end up adding this, but it's closer than people are giving it credit for.
Ojutai Interceptor is decent. Some 3/1 fliers for 4 sneak in to my cube. The 4/2 option hits pretty hard, too.
Ojutai's Summons has some neat synergy with Archaeomancer type cards. Doesn't look amazing, but worth trying out.
Reduce in Stature is probably worse than other similar cards, but does have a unique angle.
Sidisi's Faithful is a strict improvement to Kraken Hatchling. I think this card is much better than it looks if an 0/4 wall is something some players would want in your cube.
Butcher's Glee might be a worthwhile trick. A pretty easy 1-for-1 trade and you gain a ton of life.
Coat with Venom meanwhile is much more situational to get a 1-for-1 trade and has no upside. It's bad.
Defeat looks like it would cost 1 mana in most sets. Too narrow compared to the removal that is available throughout history (though it will be good in limited for this set). Flatten is obviously less efficient also while we're at it.
Dutiful Attendant is one of the better cards to use with sacrifice outlets. There's a few cards like this now that are adding up and it might make for an archetype.
Hand of Silumgar is a superb two drop. Works in both aggro and control. Not exciting but I'd be surprised if people didn't run this. Don't be blinded by cards that are *slightly* better in aggro. The fact that this is good in any black deck really makes it a better inclusion for your cube.
Kolaghan Skirmisher probably doesn't cut it. I think having a better two drop would outweigh the dash option, however I could be completely wrong. Worth trying out.
Marsh Hulk is huge, but black has some pretty good expensive stuff already, so I'm not sold on it.
Reckless Imp is awesome. I've seen people run Deepcavern Imp before, and this card puts that to shame. This should be an auto-include if there's any semblance of black aggro in your cube.
Shambling Goblin is better than it's festering brother, but I don't think either are all that great.
Silumgar Butcher is solid if you're supporting exploit.
Vulturous Aven is amazing, and is 100% going to make me support exploit. Powerful effects like this make pauper cube intersting. Taking the card that is great situationally over the card that is just solid all the time is a good move IMO. Best black common in the set.
Atarka Efreet is a great card. Red has a strong morph theme going already, and the possibility to unmorph this and slam for 6 damage is huge. And then it randomly pings something? This is my favorite common in the set. Windmill slam it into the cube and don't look back.
Hardened Berserker is also great. 3/2 for 3 is fine on the vanilla test, and then the ability on it is great. Another auto-include.
Kolaghan Aspirant is good but there's too much competition in red. Probably won't make the cut.
Kolaghan Stormsinger is decent. I would never play it in raging goblin mode, but the ability to give something else haste for one mana isn't bad. The bonus points for morph variety might get me to try it out.
Magmatic Chasm is great. People should be running Falter already, and this is a second one. Auto-include.
Sabertooth Outrider is interesting. Is it better than the 4/3s for 2RR that fill out the cube? I'm not sure, but if it is, then it'll make it. If it isn't, then it won't, since there are so many of those. I'm going to guess it is, since the first strike makes it pretty brutal.
Sprinting Warbrute is pretty good. There's a few other fat haste beaters like this in red, TBD which are the best.
Twin Bolt is an auto-include. Two damage for two mana is fine, and if you kill two things with 1 toughness (which people chock their cubes full of), then the card becomes an insane advantage.
Aerie Bowmasters is great. I'm not sure why people are so iffy about it. 3/4 reach for 2GG is good enough to make people's cubes as-is. The morph path isn't going to be used too much, but it's still upside. Sometimes you need a 2/2 on turn 3, sometimes you have so much mana this is just a 4/5. Good reach cards are important in pauper cube, and this blanks most of the fliers you're going to go up against.
Atarka Beastbreaker isn't going to make my cube, since green doesn't want bears. If you are running aggressive bears, though, then this is a decent one.
Conifer Strider is one of the better hexproof creatures. The one toughness doesn't really matter here because of the hexproof. Slap an aura on it and go to town, or just get lucky and have your opponent not have anything efficient to trade with it. If you play this is green/red and burn away little blockers it hits like a truck. Worth giving a shot, especially if you run auras.
Dragon-Scarred Bear has a great formidable ability. If formidable becomes reasonable to assemble, then this card should be used.
Epic Confrontation is great green removal. I don't see why anyone wouldn't include this.
Glade Watcher is a very interesting card. It works really well with big green archetypes. Some people run Acridian, and this is way better IMO.
Guardian Shield-Bearer is great. It's not too hard to make the +1/+1 counter be worth a card, and then you're left with a 3/2 which is worth a card. Having the option to just play this on turn 2 to beat down or trade is what makes it great, though. Add on the morph uncertainty factor (more morphs makes them all better) and I think this is a card people should be using.
Segmented Krotiq is a good fatty. There's a couple good green fatties now, but I think the morph ones (and Krosan Tusker) are the best. I will be using this.
Sheltered Aerie is a good ramp card. I am running Dawn's Reflection, and this is just better. The ability to on turn for cast this and a 3 drop is a pretty big swing. I think this is better than Rampant Growth.Edit: Misread this. It only ramps 1, making it worse than tons of existing options.Stampeding Elk Herd is a good card. 5/5 for 5 is the type of thing that green wants, and it can give trample to fatties who lack it. It looks like a premier 5 drop to me.
Ancestral Statue is good. If you have ETB effects abound, I can see this being great. Though even just casting it on turn 4 as your first creature in a control deck is fine.
Custodian of the Trove is pretty bad. There isn't enough late game power for this to be good in pauper cube, and the archetypes who would be interested in something like this will generally have something stronger in their colors.
Vial of Dragonfire is ok. One mana more than the existing options, but I run the existing options, and they see play sometimes. I think it's a nice effect to round out your cube with. There's some artifact matters cards that work with it to boot.
I think this set is great. Everyone but blue made out like a bandit. Lots of powerful cards, and none of the mechanics don't translate well to cube. Exploit pushes that a bit (you really have to run enablers), but there's enough cards throughout Magic's history that play into this that I don't think it's an issue.
edit:
Some cards I didn't mention but should have:
Elusive Spellfist isn't a Kiln Fiend. Only getting +1 power does not make you want to spam a bunch of spells and hit big, because you're only getting 1 damage per spell. I don't see this as a win condition in a spell heavy deck, because it's just so slow. What it is actually pretty good at, though, is blocking. 1/3 two drops aren't too far from being usable in defensive blue decks. And this guy can kill bears instead of just walling them, as well as poke through board stalls late. I don't think this is great, but it's interesting and could be worth a try. I like prowess more, though. Jeskai Sage is way better than this guy, for instance.
Palace Familiar isn't exciting at all, but it's a good filler card. I can imagine decks that would be happy to slot this in, and it'll be great in Dragon's limited with exploit and bolster. Large cubes may want to use this, especially if they aren't trying to support blue aggro.
Foul-Tongue Shriek is awful. I see some people rating it, but please don't play it. Life gain isn't good in a deck that wants this, and it's so much worse than the Trumpet Blasts of the world.
Sarkhan's Rage is a card I glossed over at first, but after taking another look at the burn options it has potential. The only thing keeping it in the game is being an instant. The cards in the same realm as this, expensive instant speed burn, are Lightning Blast and Riddle of Lightning. I think both of those are stronger, as usually even just 3 damage is enough to deal with what you need to. All that said, I like having some variety in my burn spells. Just putting a bunch of Incinerates in makes things boring (and if you put too much in makes red just too good). I'll be giving this a try.
Volcanic Rush is a card I think is bad. Five mana is too much for this kind of effect. Play the three mana variants or the falters.
Shred-Freak on the other hand is just a dime-a-dozen two drop. If it were either mono-red or mono-black, it might not even make it into some people's cubes. Is it really much better than another 2/1 for 2?
Azorius Arrester - This fits well with white's theme (in my cube at least) of fast aggression. On turn 2 it's on curve. On later turns it helps you punch through damage. White has a ton of better 2 drops, so I wouldn't be shocked if someone doesn't want this. Cubed
Concordia Pegasus - I actually really like this card, but it doesn't fit at all with white in my cube. If white is slower/flying based in your cubes, consider it. It's very efficient. Depends
Keening Apparition - Shoutout to very large cubes, here's a third Kami of Ancient Law. It's a spirit, which is a more relevant creature type than Unicorn, so you may want to replace the ronom guy with this as your second. Size matters
Sunspire Griffin - If you're still running Cloud Crusader you should probably have replaced them with these guys by now. I think that these guys are great and am happy to have another. Cubed
Swift Justice - In the world of tricks, this one is pretty good. I like other tricks that go better with aggressive decks more though. Probably not
Stealer of Secrets - These cards are very good in control/removal decks. I'll probably fit another in, althought I think having a 1/3 is better than a 2/2 in this situation. Depends
Voidweilder - I love me an Aethersnipe, and having a 1/4 tacked on is very nice. There's a limit to how many expensive blue creatures you can fit, and this is only the 4th best version of this card. Depends (but I will add it)
Dead Reveler - Black is pretty weak at 3 drops. I think that this is better than a 3/2 vanilla, so it'll make it into my cube. Probably
Grim Roustabout - I like the flexibility of this card. Some black decks want the blocker, some want the bear who is hard to block. This guy looks very nice, just make sure you can commit to the aggression once you put the counter on it. Probably
Perilous Shade - This card is amazing. The best card for us in the set.
1) It can block right away after playing it on turn 4.
2) It is not vulnerable to removal when your mana is down.
3) You can play it in two color decks because of the half colorless activation cost.
Shades are very good cards, but are limited by being very black-intensive. This one being great in a two color deck really puts it over the top, as well as the great body size. Late game this is unstoppable, and when you drop it it'll help get you to late game. Staple
Terrus Wurm - Worth noting for being very fat. If you want a late game option, this one is a great add. Depends
Gore-House Chainwalker - 3 power 2 drops are nice. I'm not as in love with it as everyone else, but it definitely beats out stuff like Ashmouth Hound. Cubed
Splatter Thus - A 2/2 first striker for 3 is pretty good on defense when you need it. 3/3 first strikers are hard to block. I don't see how you leave this out. Cubed
Tenement Crasher - I actually run Flameborn Hellion in my cube, and am pretty happy with it. Nothing I'd rather see in top-deck mode, and it's pretty easy to catch people off-guard with it. This is a strict upgrade, but I don't think everyone wants red six drops. Depends
Drudge Beetle - Grizzly Bear is very far from playable in green, and the Scavenge cost is huge for just two counters. I'm probably leaving this on the sideline. Probably not
Korozda Monitor - Four mana 3/3 is pretty mediocre in green, but three counters is fairly significant later. Expensive to scavenge, but turning your mana dork into a 4/4 is very nice. There are too many good green 4 drops, though. Probably not
Centaur Healer - This is a very nice mid-range card, and should be on the list when considering g/w gold cards. Depends
Goblin Electomancer - This looks like a solid card for red/blue. It's got some very stiff competition, but I think it'd be really fun to have around. Depends
Hussar Patrol - Great card in a weak gold color combo. Cubed
Sluiceway Scorpion - This a very good. g/b has some strong cards, but I think this actually competes with them. It's like having Consume Strength as a creature. Staple
Spawn of Rix Maadi - With the amount of removal in these colors, a 6/4 for 5 that can't block sounds like a good deal. Depends
Frostburn Weird - Great blue card, mediocre red card. Still, I'll probably use this over Noggle Bandit as my u/r hybrid choice. Probably
Seance may be the worst card in the set. It's clearly a johnny card (and a well-designed one), but it's incredibly hard to make it do anything.
Spiteful Shadows, Favor the Woods, and Lost in the Woods are other clear choices.
Everyone is hating on Archangel's Light, but that card can gain you a pretty large amount of life. Take the fact that it is a mythic out of the evaluations and I don't think you can really pick it as the worst.
Pestilence is great at any point of a game. Hymn is only great early on.
01|Pestilence
02|Hymn To Tourach
03|Crypt Rats
04|Disturbed Burial
05|Okiba-Gang Shinobi
06|Twisted Abomination
07|Liliana's Specter
08|Dead Ringers
09|Ashes to Ashes
10|Evincar's Justice
11|Death Denied
12|Chittering Rats
13|Snuff Out
14|Doom Blade
15|Mind Wrench
16|Crippling Fatigue
17|Faceless Butcher
18|Blind Zealot
19|Last Gasp
20|Ghastly Demise
02|Ray of Command
03|Errant Ephemeron
04|Mulldrifter
05|Foresee
06|Exclude
07|Flood
08|Deep Analysis
09|Compulsive Research
10|Narcolepsy
11|Claustrophobia
12|Shaper Parasite
13|Aethersnipe
14|Shimmering Glasskite
15|Counterspell
16|Man-o'-War
17|AEther Adept
18|Mystic Restraints
19|Calcite Snapper
20|Repeal
Some note:
Ray of Command is an incredibly easy 2-for-1. It absolutely wrecks my opponent every time I play it. It's one of the best cards in cube and there isn't really anything else like it.
Foresee/Deep Analysis/Compulsive Research/Mulldrifter - These are the reason you run blue. Powerful card advantage just wins games.
Flood is mana intensive, but the ability to lock out multiple creatures is really powerful. You have to be heavy blue, but I usually don't have a problem building decks that can use flood easily.
Shaper Parasite is a great creature. You kill something and you get a 2/3 left over.
I don't like Man-o'-war or AEther Adept as much as everyone else. I think the draw spells and removal spells are more valuable. I also think people are valuing them too far apart, mana isn't a huge in my experience, even without much fixing. You aren't going to splash Man-o'-war either.
Counterspell is kind of a dime a dozen in my opinion. It isn't much better than the other softer counters.
I like Cage of Hands because you can put it on small creatures and not worry about having wasted it. It's really good against decks that have a bomb you have to save removal for, since it has value when you draw it, and later on can shut down their bomb (say a Twisted Abomination or an Errant Ephemeron). I run it over the other 3 mana pacifisms, and over pacifism, because it has a unique application.
I run Puncturing Light also, mostly because I don't want all of white's removal to be auras. It kills most creatures, and having an instant speed option is nice.
Fortify is an amazing card in an aggressive white deck. It's very good at finishing out games, and you can often steal a game when your opponent doesn't consider it. If things aren't going so well you can use the +0/+2 to get some good blocks in, so it's never really dead. It's one of the best aggro enablers imo, which is why I rated it highly.
02|Faith's Fetters
03|Oblivion Ring
04|Kor Chant
05|Shelter
06|Blinding Beam
07|Temporal Isolation
08|Journey to Nowhere
09|Porcelain Legionnaire
10|Kabuto Moth
11|Kor Skyfisher
12|Kor Hookmaster
13|Fortify
14|Sunlance
15|Cage of Hands
16|Prismatic Strands
17|Stormfront Pegasus
18|Hallowed Healer
19|Burrenton Bombardier
20|Noble Templar
White is kind of weird, because a large quantity of its cards go in the aggro deck. Stuff like Benalish Cavalry and Youthful Knight are awesome in that deck, but if you aren't aggressive they're pretty bad. Do you rate them high or not? I decided to rate the archetype enablers high (kabuto moth, hookmaster, fortify) and left the bears off, because you can replace them pretty easily.
Also, there's only so much white removal that should reasonably fit into a cube. Cards like Pacifism in a vacuum are better than cards like Kor Skyfisher, but because there's a limit to the removal you run, most cubes won't use pacifism. I chose not to rate any removal spells I don't run. This includes Arrest and Recumbent Bliss.
Nobody is rating Sunlance. It kills most creatures and is very mana efficient. You all like Disfigure, but not Sunlance?
We've also talked about Kabuto Moth before. Everyone thinks it's mediocre even though it basically makes your creatures unblockable and it's very hard to attack into.