Here’s what I’m looking to include from this set, but I’m still not sure what’s going to make the final cut. Cube for reference https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/pbe
Likely:
Holy Cow: While I recognize this card is pretty similar to Inspiring Overseer, and likely the worse of the two, I think that white creature value/blink decks will appreciate another good etb and I like that this has flash.
Shepherd of the Clouds: For those of us still running Custodi Squire, this feels like a fairly straightforward upgrade. Missing big creatures is a little bit annoying but my cube has a pretty low curve and most of the artifacts/enchantments that I run fall under 3 MV anyway. Plus the mount text is easier to ignore than the inconsequential voting of Squire.
Marauding Sphinx: The floor of this card is pretty close to Serra Angel, and with blue having a fair number of ways to commit crimes I think this will a solid control finisher or ramp target, similar to Thryx, The Sudden Storm which I think will be the cut.
Hollow Marauder: This reminds me a lot of Writhing Necromass, a card that probably would be fine in my cube but is too similar to Gurmag Angler. The 2 toughness is rough but you're getting value a lot of the time even when it's removed.
Explosive Derailment: It’s no Abrade but in my cube this hits another ~10% of the creatures that Abrade doesn’t, and spree means you’ll occasionally get to 2 for 1 with this. Considering red’s lackluster options for maindeckable artifact removal (especially spells) I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one mentioned more.
Rambling Possum: The floor on this one is pretty high as a 3 mana 3/3 and I like how Saddling it is beneficial for both aggressive decks and ones that want to reuse etb effects.
Spinewoods Armadillo: A solid ramp payoff that also plays nicely with reanimator spells, the 3 life buffer is also nice for biding time against aggro.
Honest Rutstein: A cost reducer that doubles as a late game gravedigger, this fits exactly with Golgari’s gameplan in my cube.
Considering:
Nurturing Pixie: Kor Skyfisher for 1 mana but the floor of this card is significantly worse, and white has a lot of good one drops.
Metamorphic Blast: There's some 3 for 1 potential here but I’m afraid it’s going to be a little too close to Weave Fate most of the time.
Lively Dirge: I liked Call of the Death-Dweller when I ran it but the mana value being limited to 3 meant it was hard to get two creatures. Dirge’s higher limit and the ability to tutor a specific creature for one mana seems pretty appealing. The question is whether or not it stands up to the other reanimation effects.
Ruthless Lawbringer: A great signpost for what Orzhov does in my cube, but I’m not sure what to cut.
Pretty sure all of these will be good except for the case. I don't think I'd play "1RR sorcery, deal 3 and draw a card" and this is likely worse in two ways.
I agree its an iffy inclusion, but the closer parallel would be "1RR sorcery deal 3 and Anticipate", which is at least unique for a red card. I also appreciate that it's a red removal spell that is more attractive to a tokens/aggro drafter than one playing spellslinger/control. I was also considering Torch the Witness for this slot, since they're both sorcery speed removal spells that "draw" a card under the right circumstances, but the case's overall lower mana cost (when you include the cost to crack the clue) outranked the flexibility for me. It's likely neither is good enough.
One card I was on the fence about that I'm now probably adding after pre-releasing with it is Neighborhood Guardian. The fact that it can give +1/+1 to any creature makes it very flexible, and my own cube is better at pumping out small creatures than MKM limited.
Leering Onlooker: Plays nicely in token decks and self mill decks.
Case of the Burning Masks: Sorcery speed removal spell gives this card a reasonable floor but I don't imagine it will be difficult to solve for the free extra card.
Harried Dronesmith: This plays pretty similarly to Beetleback Chief but it can get really out of hand with stuff like Goblin Bombardment. Testing it alongside Chief but I'll probably cut the worse one down the line.
Hard-Hitting Question: Bite spells aren't the best but this is the most efficient one we've seen, I imagine it will be pretty easy to double spell with this one.
I've really been enjoying looking through the spreadsheet and the discussion that's happening here. To add my own feedback on some of the cards being talked about (in no particular order):
Sling-Gang Lieutenant: This is probably my favorite black 4 drop, it's excellent in sacrifice/token decks even if it's the only goblin in your deck. Gaining 3 and dealing 3 is a pretty big life swing and it gets even better with a single [[Blood Artist]] or similar effect in play. I would definitely recommend anyone on the fence give it a try.
Bloodchief's Thirst: This card has come in and out of my cube before, I think it's pretty good at what it does, but I like Cut Down and Fatal Push better and Thirst looks much worse by comparison. I was considering trying it out again over Disfigure but for now I'm going to be testing Sheoldred's Edict, since it seems like enough folks think it's worth the slot.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I'm definitely in the camp of only running this card for the nostalgia factor, but my playgroup loves it so I don't see it getting cut anytime soon. Anyone passing it over isn't missing out on too much if you ask me.
Riftwing Cloudskate: I think that you want to be supporting blink/flicker in blue for this card to be at it's strongest but either way it's still a solid blue creature. I think it's popularity is also partially due to blue not having great options for creatures at 2 mana that aren't looters.
My 450 cube had around 20-30 cards that were showing up in less than 15 of the cubes surveyed. Some of these cards I already cut or they are on their way out, but I did want to make a case for a few of them:
Law-Rune Enforcer: I get that not everyone wants this effect with how many good white 1 drops there are these days, but I'm surprised this card hasn't overtaken Gideon's Lawkeeper. The colorless activation cost really helps when you're stuck on a single white source, the extra toughness is nice, and the only meaningful targets you miss are a couple of bigger tokens.
Scattered Thoughts: Already mentioned a few posts back but I'd like to second that this card is just as good if not sometimes better than Fact or Fiction, especially if your blue section has graveyard synergies since you get to pick what goes where.
Dunland Crebain: I didn't expect to see this card so low on the survey (5 cubes), I personally think it's the best "3 drop that makes a token" that black has access to. Most of these effects give you an okay creature and 1/1 that is only good for chumping or sacrificing, but Crebain gives you a 2/2 and a 1/1 flier, both of which can meaningfully attack or trade in combat. The only downside is that Amass is a little but clunky.
Ghoulish Procession: This card isn't going to be for every cube, but it's a pretty fun build around for sacrifice decks. I wanted to give it a shout-out because it's unlike most aristocrat payoff cards we get at this rarity.
One last card I wanted to bring up is Reclamation Sage, it's the most popular card on the survey that my cube isn't running. Do folks still like playing it with all of the other options for artifact/enchantment removal we have now? When I was running it, it always felt like a sideboard card, great when it has a target but embarrassing when you don't, especially since you can't play it out and wait for a target like you can with Cankerbloom or Thrashing Brontodon.
LCI was a great set for peasant, here's the swaps I went with:
Raffine’s Informant > Vanguard of the Rose: Vanguard likely plays worse than Seasoned Hallowblade/Adanto Vanguard but still functions as an aggressive 2 drop with a sacrifice outlet that will be helpful for Mardu token decks. Informant doesn’t really support any white’s archetypes and was mostly filler.
Shrine of Loyal Legions > Helping Hand: Helping Hand is a new kind of effect for white that should play nicely with white’s excellent 1-3 cost creatures. Shrine was a little too slow as a token producer.
Enclave Cryptologist > Spyglass Siren: Siren is a flexible value creature that can smooth draws, put things in the graveyard, or be blinked for value. While Cryptologist is a fine card on its own, it continues to underperform in comparison to Merfolk Looter, Looter Il-kor, and The Modern Age.
Think Twice > River Herald Scout: Scout is a basically blue Merfolk Branchwalker but in a color with more graveyard synergy and more blink. Think Twice is the cut as a draw spell that, despite its utility as a double spell or a flashback card, is just too embarrassing of a rate in 2023.
Kitesail Freebooter > Deep-Cavern Bat: While the one extra toughness was appreciated, Freebooter was attacking much more than blocking and lifelink/the ability to exile creature cards is too good to pass up.
Ultimate Price > Bitter Triumph: Bitter Triumph will likely play out as as worse Infernal Grasp more often that not (I don't run any planeswalkers), but the option to not lose life may have its moments and it’s also nice to cut a removal spell with a mostly arbitrary restriction, especially after adding 10 more multicolor slots to this cube earlier this year.
Giant Cindermaw > Scytheclaw Raptor: Raptor and Cindermaw play similar roles as aggro creatures with an effect that makes fighting back more difficult, but Raptor’s will likely come up as a roadblock more often than Cindermaw’s.
Plasma Jockey > Geological Appraiser: Appraiser a nice value creature for red than will likely play just as well in fast decks as slow ones. Plasma Jockey played as a second Goblin Heelcutter as anticipated, but the cube didn’t need two of these especially with Ahn-Crop Crasher being the gold standard for that effect
Kraul Harpooner > Cenote Scout: Scout is another great Explore card that finally gives green some better one drops to play. Harpooner is mostly just a 3/2 for 2 which doesn’t really make the cut like it used to.
Wall of Roots > Poison Dart Frog: Both of these cards offer ramp and a blocker, and while Wall does a better job of blocking early on, Frog provides any color of mana and can trade with anything late in the game.
Qasali Pridemage > Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar: Between counters, equipment, and combat tricks, Selesnya has a solid number of ways to make Kutzil’s ability relevant, even if it’s not a direct theme supported by the color pair. Pridemage has just been a placeholder as it’s mostly a harder to cast Cankerbloom/Cathar Commando.
Cruel Celebrant > Bartolome Del Presidio: Bartolome is an excellent free sacrifice outlet that can even sacrifice the occasional Food/Treasure token. Cruel Celebrant was a fine roleplayer but mono black has enough effects like that one.
Hedron Archive > Scampering Surveyor: While neither of these cards are strong colorless cards, Surveyor does a better job of supporting the occasional 3-4 color piles and Hedron Archive’s play rate was very low anyway. Hopefully this card paves the way for something closer to Solemn Simulacrum getting printed as uncommon in the future.
Thank you for doing this every year Calibretto. I really look forward to seeing the data from these cubes every year; I've even gotten into a habit of doing a "MTGS Average Cube Update" each year where I try to make room for cards I missed that I see are popular in other cubes.
As for the Ixalan cutoff, I don't think it's majorly important since new cards are often underrepresented in the data anyway.
The non-MTGS cubes that were included last year were a net positive in my opinion, I'd say include as many as you are willing to do the work to find that seem current.
Here's my cube for the record, it's been in the data for a couple of years now but just in case. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/pbe This post inspired me to finally fix up some blog posts and rewrite the overview.
After lurking for over 3 years I figured I should contribute my cube to this cause, it's been an amazingly helpful resource over the years. I also just finally migrated it over to CubeCobra.
Likely:
Holy Cow: While I recognize this card is pretty similar to Inspiring Overseer, and likely the worse of the two, I think that white creature value/blink decks will appreciate another good etb and I like that this has flash.
Requisition Raid: Strict upgrade over Basri’s Solidarity which has felt good but not great.
Shepherd of the Clouds: For those of us still running Custodi Squire, this feels like a fairly straightforward upgrade. Missing big creatures is a little bit annoying but my cube has a pretty low curve and most of the artifacts/enchantments that I run fall under 3 MV anyway. Plus the mount text is easier to ignore than the inconsequential voting of Squire.
Marauding Sphinx: The floor of this card is pretty close to Serra Angel, and with blue having a fair number of ways to commit crimes I think this will a solid control finisher or ramp target, similar to Thryx, The Sudden Storm which I think will be the cut.
Forsaken Miner: Another solid recursive one drop for black, the combo with Goblin Bombardment is great too.
Hollow Marauder: This reminds me a lot of Writhing Necromass, a card that probably would be fine in my cube but is too similar to Gurmag Angler. The 2 toughness is rough but you're getting value a lot of the time even when it's removed.
Explosive Derailment: It’s no Abrade but in my cube this hits another ~10% of the creatures that Abrade doesn’t, and spree means you’ll occasionally get to 2 for 1 with this. Considering red’s lackluster options for maindeckable artifact removal (especially spells) I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one mentioned more.
Rambling Possum: The floor on this one is pretty high as a 3 mana 3/3 and I like how Saddling it is beneficial for both aggressive decks and ones that want to reuse etb effects.
Spinewoods Armadillo: A solid ramp payoff that also plays nicely with reanimator spells, the 3 life buffer is also nice for biding time against aggro.
Honest Rutstein: A cost reducer that doubles as a late game gravedigger, this fits exactly with Golgari’s gameplan in my cube.
Considering:
Nurturing Pixie: Kor Skyfisher for 1 mana but the floor of this card is significantly worse, and white has a lot of good one drops.
Getaway Glamer: A white removal spell playing in a similar space to Touch The Spirit Realm with different upsides/downsides.
Slickshot Lockpicker: This looks like a cool card but not being able to reuse counterspells makes this look like a more restrictive Archaeomancer.
Phantom Interference: Great design but it doesn’t edge out Mana Leak, Miscalcuation, or Lose Focus.
Metamorphic Blast: There's some 3 for 1 potential here but I’m afraid it’s going to be a little too close to Weave Fate most of the time.
Lively Dirge: I liked Call of the Death-Dweller when I ran it but the mana value being limited to 3 meant it was hard to get two creatures. Dirge’s higher limit and the ability to tutor a specific creature for one mana seems pretty appealing. The question is whether or not it stands up to the other reanimation effects.
Ruthless Lawbringer: A great signpost for what Orzhov does in my cube, but I’m not sure what to cut.
I agree its an iffy inclusion, but the closer parallel would be "1RR sorcery deal 3 and Anticipate", which is at least unique for a red card. I also appreciate that it's a red removal spell that is more attractive to a tokens/aggro drafter than one playing spellslinger/control. I was also considering Torch the Witness for this slot, since they're both sorcery speed removal spells that "draw" a card under the right circumstances, but the case's overall lower mana cost (when you include the cost to crack the clue) outranked the flexibility for me. It's likely neither is good enough.
One card I was on the fence about that I'm now probably adding after pre-releasing with it is Neighborhood Guardian. The fact that it can give +1/+1 to any creature makes it very flexible, and my own cube is better at pumping out small creatures than MKM limited.
Snarling Gorehound: This card is operating in a pretty similar space to Dragon's Rage Channeler, with less upside, but in a color that likes surveil more.
Leering Onlooker: Plays nicely in token decks and self mill decks.
Case of the Burning Masks: Sorcery speed removal spell gives this card a reasonable floor but I don't imagine it will be difficult to solve for the free extra card.
Harried Dronesmith: This plays pretty similarly to Beetleback Chief but it can get really out of hand with stuff like Goblin Bombardment. Testing it alongside Chief but I'll probably cut the worse one down the line.
Hard-Hitting Question: Bite spells aren't the best but this is the most efficient one we've seen, I imagine it will be pretty easy to double spell with this one.
Escape Tunnel: Upgrade to Evolving Wilds
My cube for reference: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pbe
Sling-Gang Lieutenant: This is probably my favorite black 4 drop, it's excellent in sacrifice/token decks even if it's the only goblin in your deck. Gaining 3 and dealing 3 is a pretty big life swing and it gets even better with a single [[Blood Artist]] or similar effect in play. I would definitely recommend anyone on the fence give it a try.
Bloodchief's Thirst: This card has come in and out of my cube before, I think it's pretty good at what it does, but I like Cut Down and Fatal Push better and Thirst looks much worse by comparison. I was considering trying it out again over Disfigure but for now I'm going to be testing Sheoldred's Edict, since it seems like enough folks think it's worth the slot.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I'm definitely in the camp of only running this card for the nostalgia factor, but my playgroup loves it so I don't see it getting cut anytime soon. Anyone passing it over isn't missing out on too much if you ask me.
Riftwing Cloudskate: I think that you want to be supporting blink/flicker in blue for this card to be at it's strongest but either way it's still a solid blue creature. I think it's popularity is also partially due to blue not having great options for creatures at 2 mana that aren't looters.
My 450 cube had around 20-30 cards that were showing up in less than 15 of the cubes surveyed. Some of these cards I already cut or they are on their way out, but I did want to make a case for a few of them:
Law-Rune Enforcer: I get that not everyone wants this effect with how many good white 1 drops there are these days, but I'm surprised this card hasn't overtaken Gideon's Lawkeeper. The colorless activation cost really helps when you're stuck on a single white source, the extra toughness is nice, and the only meaningful targets you miss are a couple of bigger tokens.
Scattered Thoughts: Already mentioned a few posts back but I'd like to second that this card is just as good if not sometimes better than Fact or Fiction, especially if your blue section has graveyard synergies since you get to pick what goes where.
Dunland Crebain: I didn't expect to see this card so low on the survey (5 cubes), I personally think it's the best "3 drop that makes a token" that black has access to. Most of these effects give you an okay creature and 1/1 that is only good for chumping or sacrificing, but Crebain gives you a 2/2 and a 1/1 flier, both of which can meaningfully attack or trade in combat. The only downside is that Amass is a little but clunky.
Ghoulish Procession: This card isn't going to be for every cube, but it's a pretty fun build around for sacrifice decks. I wanted to give it a shout-out because it's unlike most aristocrat payoff cards we get at this rarity.
One last card I wanted to bring up is Reclamation Sage, it's the most popular card on the survey that my cube isn't running. Do folks still like playing it with all of the other options for artifact/enchantment removal we have now? When I was running it, it always felt like a sideboard card, great when it has a target but embarrassing when you don't, especially since you can't play it out and wait for a target like you can with Cankerbloom or Thrashing Brontodon.
*Edit: fixed tags*
Raffine’s Informant > Vanguard of the Rose: Vanguard likely plays worse than Seasoned Hallowblade/Adanto Vanguard but still functions as an aggressive 2 drop with a sacrifice outlet that will be helpful for Mardu token decks. Informant doesn’t really support any white’s archetypes and was mostly filler.
Shrine of Loyal Legions > Helping Hand: Helping Hand is a new kind of effect for white that should play nicely with white’s excellent 1-3 cost creatures. Shrine was a little too slow as a token producer.
Enclave Cryptologist > Spyglass Siren: Siren is a flexible value creature that can smooth draws, put things in the graveyard, or be blinked for value. While Cryptologist is a fine card on its own, it continues to underperform in comparison to Merfolk Looter, Looter Il-kor, and The Modern Age.
Think Twice > River Herald Scout: Scout is a basically blue Merfolk Branchwalker but in a color with more graveyard synergy and more blink. Think Twice is the cut as a draw spell that, despite its utility as a double spell or a flashback card, is just too embarrassing of a rate in 2023.
Supreme Will > Confounding Riddle: A supremely appreciated upgrade that helps out reanimator decks.
Kitesail Freebooter > Deep-Cavern Bat: While the one extra toughness was appreciated, Freebooter was attacking much more than blocking and lifelink/the ability to exile creature cards is too good to pass up.
Ultimate Price > Bitter Triumph: Bitter Triumph will likely play out as as worse Infernal Grasp more often that not (I don't run any planeswalkers), but the option to not lose life may have its moments and it’s also nice to cut a removal spell with a mostly arbitrary restriction, especially after adding 10 more multicolor slots to this cube earlier this year.
Giant Cindermaw > Scytheclaw Raptor: Raptor and Cindermaw play similar roles as aggro creatures with an effect that makes fighting back more difficult, but Raptor’s will likely come up as a roadblock more often than Cindermaw’s.
Plasma Jockey > Geological Appraiser: Appraiser a nice value creature for red than will likely play just as well in fast decks as slow ones. Plasma Jockey played as a second Goblin Heelcutter as anticipated, but the cube didn’t need two of these especially with Ahn-Crop Crasher being the gold standard for that effect
Kraul Harpooner > Cenote Scout: Scout is another great Explore card that finally gives green some better one drops to play. Harpooner is mostly just a 3/2 for 2 which doesn’t really make the cut like it used to.
Wall of Roots > Poison Dart Frog: Both of these cards offer ramp and a blocker, and while Wall does a better job of blocking early on, Frog provides any color of mana and can trade with anything late in the game.
Qasali Pridemage > Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar: Between counters, equipment, and combat tricks, Selesnya has a solid number of ways to make Kutzil’s ability relevant, even if it’s not a direct theme supported by the color pair. Pridemage has just been a placeholder as it’s mostly a harder to cast Cankerbloom/Cathar Commando.
Cruel Celebrant > Bartolome Del Presidio: Bartolome is an excellent free sacrifice outlet that can even sacrifice the occasional Food/Treasure token. Cruel Celebrant was a fine roleplayer but mono black has enough effects like that one.
Hedron Archive > Scampering Surveyor: While neither of these cards are strong colorless cards, Surveyor does a better job of supporting the occasional 3-4 color piles and Hedron Archive’s play rate was very low anyway. Hopefully this card paves the way for something closer to Solemn Simulacrum getting printed as uncommon in the future.
Cube for reference: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pbe
As for the Ixalan cutoff, I don't think it's majorly important since new cards are often underrepresented in the data anyway.
The non-MTGS cubes that were included last year were a net positive in my opinion, I'd say include as many as you are willing to do the work to find that seem current.
Here's my cube for the record, it's been in the data for a couple of years now but just in case. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/pbe This post inspired me to finally fix up some blog posts and rewrite the overview.
After lurking for over 3 years I figured I should contribute my cube to this cause, it's been an amazingly helpful resource over the years. I also just finally migrated it over to CubeCobra.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/5f9b1a885f760b02bf657c80