Many people decide on what cards to change from their cube when a new set comes out—the Magic Online Cube is no different. With the release of Avacyn Restored, some cards from the new set were added to the Magic Online Cube. This is the list that will be used at the Players Championship this year. While the July 3rd list doesn’t show changes, Lee Sharpe posted the changes to the cube on a Google Document found here.
One of the things about the changes is that I don’t know how they decided to cards—was it general perception from people who drafted it and direct feedback using results such as average finishes for cards in the deck/first picking (like what was done in the Magic Online mailing list when the Cube was on Magic Online for the first time) or just analysis internally? That said, here are the overall changes to the cube with Avacyn Restored along with some suggestions for the next round of changes.
Before going into the changes themselves, I do feel the need to address something that I’ve heard from a lot of people regarding this update: that it includes a ton of Avacyn Restored cards, using many more cards than have been used in most other cubes. I’ve heard people say that this was done to try to sell the set, but I don’t see that as being very realistic. With Avacyn Restored already having a ton of really good cube cards, like Silverblade Paladin, Griselbrand, Lightning Mauler, and Wolfir Silverheart, there isn’t a need to try to add suboptimal cards to a list to convince people to buy a set for cube because that really doesn’t make people buy packs (especially since people who mainly cube just get the singles through buying them or trading).
Instead, I think that some of the cards included were done to err on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion, because that gives them a tool to see how cards that are on the cusp of inclusion perform. In other words, it lets them and people drafting the cube get more information on exactly how the card performs rather than letting them speculate. I still think that there are a good amount of Avacyn Restored cards that should have been excluded, mind you.
White
Loyal Retainers -> Silverblade Paladin
Magus of the Tabernacle -> Restoration Angel
Iona, Shield of Emeria -> Avacyn, Angel of Hope
There weren’t many changes in white and from that and the "let’s upgrade a few cards," the impression that I get is that they didn’t want to change much. Silverblade Paladin gives so much damage (usually with surprise value added). Restoration Angel’s power shouldn’t surprise anyone (and because of the power of those two cards, they’re going to be upgrades almost always, especially since Loyal Retainers wasn’t that great aside from some Eldrazi shenanigans and Magus was a fine card in a mana cost and color of much better things). Terminus replacing Hallowed Burial seems like a change for a similar card (with some good potential upside). Iona being replaced by Avacyn looks like a downgrade, since Iona’s a better Reanimation target and better to cheat out early in the game.
Since the use of cards like color hosers and storm cards are unique to this cube and likely won’t get cut, I won’t suggest cutting too many of them. So here are some ideas for suggestions for the next iteration of the Magic Online Cube.
Suggestions
Ray of Revelation — > Kor Sanctifiers
A weakness that I’ve found in the Magic Online Cube is that the amount of answers for artifacts and enchantments is on the low side, especially for a cube of this size, and Kor Sanctifiers is one of the better ones in white. As I said earlier (and in many other articles), four mana is important in cube and thus has very strong competition, but Kor Sanctifiers cracks it pretty well since it is a decently priced Disenchant-on-a-stick which usually ends up getting maindecked more frequently than ones that are instants/sorceries. Ray doesn’t tend to do much unless the opponent is in Control Magic-heavy blue and even then, Kor Sanctifiers should do that job better.
Silver Knight — > Nearheath Pilgrim
The Pilgrim was recommended to me by Kenny Mayer as an aggressive card that can break apart aggro mirrors and as a card that can fit into midrange decks very well as well (as it turns out, even another midrange deck has trouble with a 4/4 lifelinking Indrik Stomphowler as well as a lifelinking Sun Titan). I’ve found that it is one of the better two-drops in white. As much as I do like the White/Silver Knight duo since they are solid cards that act as color hosers which are fine against other decks, I think it’s especially important that aggressive decks be able to play all of their drops. So having a good amount of 1W guys is important, especially in a cube like this with a low amount of mana fixing.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope —- > Entreat the Angels
As said earlier, Iona is a better Reanimation spell, but Entreat is a better overall "big mana" finisher than Avacyn or Iona even though both Angels are meant to be more of Reanimation targets than control finishers. Still, Entreat should give more to white than either of the them, as the cube’s Reanimation targets are still pretty solid right now.
Mentor of the Meek — > Pianna, Nomad Captain
Although Mentor of the Meek is better with token strategies, Pianna works better for aggressive strategies. There’s already Honor of the Pure and Glorious Anthem in this cube and strapping the latter onto a 2/2 (even if it only triggers when attacking) is very welcome to the deck and would be useful to add.
Angelic Destiny — > Sublime Archangel
As mentioned in my review of M13, Sublime Archangel can help to blow open defenses, and even if it isn’t attacking for five on its own or six with one other creature, attacking for four evasive damage makes it a very solid creature that should work well with aggressive decks as well as G/W decks with a lot of mana dorks. Angelic Destiny always feels like the odd card out in white aggressive decks as a weak version of something like Rancor and as a "creature buff." There are a lot of cards out there like Ajani Goldmane and other equipment that do that job much better.
Tithe — > Ajani, Caller of the Pride
There isn’t that much that links these two, but I’m sure that Ajani, Caller of the Pride will be included regardless and don’t think that Tithe quite makes the cut.
Whipcorder — > Knight of the White Orchid
White Knight — > Knight of Glory
Loyal Cathar — > Knight of Meadowgrain
These changes would represent a changing of the guard for aggressive creatures, helping to ease the mana costs for white aggressive decks. This (along with some more fixing, as will be discussed later) should help to make two-color aggressive decks better, as the restrictive costs are an issue that is impeding the two-color aggro decks in the Magic Online Cube.
Renewed Faith — > Kor Skyfisher
Wall of Reverence — > Karmic Guide
As discussed earlier, I don’t want to cut the hosers that are pretty unique to this cube. Renewed Faith and Wall of Reverence are cards that help against aggressive burn decks, but I think that Knight of Meadowgrain and Nearheath Pilgrim already help in that matchup. Karmic Guide is a card that I’m surprised isn’t in this cube (and I’m thinking there’s also room for Miraculous Recovery in this cube, but I couldn’t really find room for it.)
Blue
Waterfront Bouncer -> Delver of Secrets
Aether Adept -> Phantasmal Image
Neurok Commando -> Tandem Lookout
Lu Xun, Scholar General -> Lone Revenant
Thieving Magpie -> Dungeon Geists
Legacy’s Allure -> Brain Freeze
Opportunity -> Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
The changes in blue were pretty similar to white in terms of ideology—it looks like blue was also deemed to be fine, so there wasn’t much rocking of the boat for blue. Also, because some of the cards being brought in were better than their replacements (Fettergeist, Tamiyo, Phantasmal Image, Dungeon Geists), the change overall was positive. There were some misses, however, and Brain Freeze shows that storm isn’t leaving this cube any time soon.
Suggestions
Phantasmal Bear — > Sakashima’s Student
I can definitely appreciate supporting aggressive cards and strategies in cube as I still feel it’s a misunderstood strategy and archetype in cube. Phantasmal Bear feels like the odd card out in blue as, even with Delver of Secrets, and even though I think many people generally tend to overstate the drawbacks on aggressive creatures, I think the creature itself feels like the odd man out. The drawback is actually significant since many aggressive decks effectively utilize equipment. Sakashima’s Student has been very good as arguably the most "aggressive" Clone (although it’s obviously worse than Phantasmal Image and Phyrexian Metamorph) and would be a welcome addition to most blue decks.
Voidmage Prodigy — > Waterfront Bouncer
As said earlier, bringing in Delver of Secrets was good, but unfortunately it was at the cost of a card as strong as Waterfront Bouncer. Something like Voidmage Prodigy is a good bit weaker; it doesn’t really work very well as a countermagic or tempo type of card and would be a card that’d be easily taken out for the Merfolk.
Dissipate — > Standstill
Like Pillar of Flame, I find people tend to overestimate the potential upside on Dissipate’s exile when it sadly is irrelevant most of the time (at least nowhere near the amount to make up for the increased cost, especially since mana cost is so important with countermagic). Standstill does a good job of going into decks with small, aggressive beaters like Delver and Geist of Saint Traft, but it’s also a solid card to splash in aggressive builds with decent mana fixing. It’s also not hard to set up a board state where the opponent will have to play a spell to crack the Standstill.
Lone Revenant doesn’t look to be very good in Cube even with it having the promise of being a better Ophidian due to its lack of evasion, which is generally the death knell of "saboteur" creatures. Justin Parnell discussed Withdraw in an article and it would be solid as a tempo strategy card, but there are a lot of options available.
Temporal Mastery — > Confiscate
Time Warp’s pretty overcosted as is, and for the most part Mastery’s even worse in terms of overall effect. The better cards with miracle are solid when hard cast, but Temporal Mastery didn’t really follow in those footsteps. Confiscate is a bit pricey, but it’s a fine answer to opposing threats like planeswalkers and annoying creatures.
Aeon Chronicler — > Lu Xun, Scholar General
Like Temporal Master, Aeon Chronicler is pretty overcosted since it requires at least five mana to draw spells. There’s a fallacy in trying to compare X spells to similar cards ("Devil’s Play sucks: at one, it’s worse than Spark Spray and at two, it’s worse than Shock!"), but there also comes a point when an effect just requires so much mana to make it worthwhile. Aeon Chronicler fits into that category. Lu Xun fills this role for the most part, even if it "dies to removal" while getting in there.
As much as I like a three-mana creature that can singlehandedly take down creatures like Cloudthresher and Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Pestermite has been a solid performer in my cube as a supplement to blue tempo decks by tapping down opposing blockers/lands or even being an evasive body that can be flashed in EOT to carry a Sword. It also helps to supplement combos with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
Brine Elemental — > Aether Adept
Pickles lock is cute, but as I mentioned in my last article, it’s too situational and costly to be very good unless all of the pieces come together (including drawing them together) to be worthwhile. I think cutting Aether Adept was a mistake as it’s a very solid blue creature for all blue decks.
Fathom Seer — > Augur of Bolas
Augur of Bolas can be hard to get value from, but I found that it generally isn’t very hard and like Fathom Seer is at worst a 1/3 for 1U.
Black
Carnophage -> Guul Draz Assassin
Vampire Lacerator -> Putrid Imp
Nightscape Familiar -> Gloom Surgeon
Dauthi Slayer -> Skittering Skirge
Dauthi Marauder -> Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Phyrexian Negator -> Demonic Taskmaster
Abyssal Persecutor -> Throat Slitter
Kokusho, the Evening Star -> Griselbrand
Skeletal Vampire -> Massacre Wurm
Tainted Pact -> Diabolic Edict
Ambition’s Cost -> Unburial Rites
Skeletal Scrying -> Spinning Darkness
Sorin Markov -> Demonic Rising
Unlike blue and white, it looks like a lot of changes were made to shake up the composition of black to see if things can be changed since people have been saying that black is bad in Cube. Some virtual blanks like Phyrexian Negator were axed but others came in (Demonic Rising).
Suggestions
Headhunter — > Vampire Lacerator
Unearth — > Carnophage
Sadly, this headhunter is not Headhunter by Krokus. There have been a lot of "saboteur" creatures, and even though a lot of them are fine against creatures without blockers, the lack of evasion just kills these types of creatures with Headhunter being no exception.
I’m also kind of confused that Carnophage and Vampire Lacerator were cut but that Sarcomancy was kept in—I don’t think the drawback on Sarcomancy is that much better than Carnophage and Vampire Lacerator (if it is even better, that is). Black aggressive strategies have been successful in my cube for years and the two-power one-mana guys are essential (and cards like Dark Confidant and Hymn to Tourach support aggressive strategies very well). Even if the idea is to gut black aggro support, Sarcomancy and Dark Confidant should be cut as well and that’d be a mistake.
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade — > Sewer Nemesis
The purpose of Korlash is better served as Lashwrithe, but since this cube uses a literal method of card categorization (in other words, Lashwrithe is categorized as an artifact, not as a black card), something else would replace it; in this case, Sewer Nemesis. It usually ends up as at least a 4/4 if not better, especially when used in conjunction with cards like Hymn to Tourach and fetchlands, kind of like how Tombstalker works well when you’re filling your graveyard with a lot of things.
Gloom Surgeon — > Knight of Infamy
Demonic Rising — > Liliana of the Dark Realms
Liliana’s pretty underrated right now because she isn’t doing that much in Constructed, but I’ve found her to be very good in cube. If she is protected and can +1 once, she can usually take over a game. Although the potential best-case scenario for Demonic Uprising can happen, it, like with Lone Revenant, doesn’t happen that often and isn’t very good competition with other five-drops in Cube.
Spinning Darkness — > Disciple of Bolas
Persecute — > Nether Void
The scenario for Persecute to be good (nabbing 3+ cards) can happen and if it is a hoser of mono-color decks it has a purpose, but it overall is weaker than other cards like Disciple of Bolas. Nether Void is a poor man’s Armageddon/Ravages, but even so, it’s a solid disruption card and even works well with cards like equipment that have activated abilities.
Plague Sliver — > Chainer’s Edict
Skitheryx, the Blight Dragon — > Black Sun’s Zenith
These are a couple of removal spells that I’m surprised haven’t made it into the Magic Online Cube, especially Chainer’s Edict. Diabolic Edict came in, but Chainer’s isn’t too far behind, power level-wise (and may very well be better in the slower matches.)Â
Phyrexian Rager — > Liliana’s Specter
Liliana’s Specter looks to be the better three-mana card advantage card, and it having evasion is also very nice with equipment.
Demonic Taskmaster — > Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Ob Nixilis is another card that I’m surprised didn’t make it in yet; I find people tend to underrate it because they realize that it’s good with fetchlands and get disappointed when there are fewer fetchlands in larger cubes, but it’s still a very solid finisher that clocks the opponent for three with land drops (which isn’t hard in control decks or B/G decks.) Demonic Taskmaster is better than Demonic Rising, but it still doesn’t seem to be that great in this cube due to the significance of its drawback.
Visara the Dreadful — > Sorin Markov
I’m actually not the biggest fan of Sorin Markov (in smaller cube lists), but he should easily fit into larger lists like this one as he’s at least a better finisher than Visara and Laquatus’s Champion. He is arguably better than Liliana Vess since he can get into Mindslaver mode quickly and can destroy decks that can’t amass a big creature to race his +2.
Laquatus’s Champion — > Kokusho, the Evening Star
One of the more striking things was cutting Kokusho but keeping Laquatus’s Champion. In smaller cubes like mine (450 cards), the Kamigawa Dragons are fading due to the strong competition, but in a larger list there’s more than enough room for Kokusho. I understand wanting to have an "aggro leaning" finisher like the Champ to act as a Lava Axe, but Kokusho does more for black (especially if the cube is leaning more towards black control overall, which it appears the black section is heading towards.)
Plague Sliver — > Abyssal Persecutor
Okiba-Gang Shinobi — > Bloodline Keeper
This represents a changing in the guard from some four-mana black creatures to some others (Shinobi’s going to be used for its four-mana ninjutsu much more often than its five-mana hard cast) and signifies overall upgrades from being bigger (the former change) and a creature that has better late-game potential. It’s true that a hit from Shinobi can take a good chunk out of the opponent’s life, but like with Throat Slitter, its cost seems pretty awkward and the lack of evasion hurts its future chances of dealing damage.
Throat Slitter — > Nantuko Shade
Phyrexian Crusader — > Blood Artist
Blood Artist is another card that I’ve found people tend to overplay in Cube (like Primeval Titan), but similar to Primeval Titan, it is still very good in Cube because it helps to break apart creature-based mirrors, especially aggro ones.
Red
Stromkirk Noble -> Vexing Devil
Goblin Wardriver -> Plated Geopede
Fire Ambush -> Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
Destructive Force -> Rite of Ruin
Banefire -> Bonfire of the Damned
I actually think red didn’t really improve that much due to some major downgrades and the non-inclusion of some really good red cards from AVR. I find that many people underrate Tibalt due to fear of random discard (note Zac Hill tweets talking about how Tibalt  is underrated) but it’s still a solid card for aggressive decks. As I said in my AVR review, you just have to be more careful with its Looting than with other cards, but admittedly, it’s a card that I wouldn’t be too sad to be cut if public opinion forces that change.
Suggestions
Akroma, Angel of Fury — > Lightning Mauler
Lightning Mauler was one of the cards from Avacyn Restored that I was surprised wasn’t included in the recent update. Cubists have long wanted a 2/1 haste for 1R, and while this isn’t exactly that, it isn’t hard for that to happen (especially since red-based aggressive decks don’t have a hard time getting a one-mana guy out on T1, or at least they shouldn’t!). Akroma represents having a creature that can be used in the early and late stages of the game, but I generally found it wasn’t that good at either step so it seems like a good cut for what has been a staple.
Thunderblust — > Zealous Conscripts
Zealous Conscripts does a lot for blowing out opponents (like Bonfire) and is also extremely good against decks with singular threats. Adam Prosak talked about how Thunderblust was a card that should be cut, and I agree. It was one of the lower-end five-drops in the Magic Online Cube. Thankfully, we have some really good five-drops to replace it, Conscripts being one of them.
Beacon of Destruction — > Searing Spear
Volcanic Fallout — > Flames of the Firebrand
Both of the burn cards are cards that have been staples in cubes since M13 came out. I think that replacing Fallout and Beacon will give red decks more efficiency—Beacon of Destruction especially is very inefficient for a burn spell and Volcanic Fallout doesn’t do that much for the color (especially since there’s Pyroclasm, Earthquake, and Rolling Earthquake.)
Vulshok Refugee — > Imperial Recruiter
The Magic Online Cube has an emphasis on helping to support archetype drafting, so the inclusion of Imperial Recruiter will help to improve decks that can effectively utilize its trigger. This is generally manifest in the more midrange and control red decks that seek to look for guys like Mulldrifter and Solemn Simulacrum. It can be used in aggressive decks but the body is too small for that and I wouldn’t recommend it, but the uses it has will give a lot to red.
Vexing Devil — > Stromkirk Noble
The change from Noble to Devil was one of the biggest downgrades in this update, if not the biggest downgrade. In many red decks, the change was a downgrade. I can see Vexing Devil being better in decks that focus heavily on burn, but many decks would rather have the Noble since it’s a creature that can grow. It’s one of the better saboteur creatures and much better than a lot of the saboteur creatures like Throat Slitter and Headhunter, especially due to it having such a low cost and supplementing red beatdown so well, which Vexing Devil doesn’t do as well.
Going from Pillar of Flame to Firebolt was also a big downgrade. This may have been another case of best-case scenario mentality where they thought of how it hoses things like Reanimation and cards like Geralf’s Messenger / Kitchen Finks, but often it acts like a very inefficient burn spell, whereas the relevancy on Firebolt happens much more.
Goblin Goon is meant to be a control hoser, but Reckless Waif would be a better one; I’ve never have really seen Goblin Goon do that much in the first place. It seems like another card, like Neurok Commando and Headhunter, that seeks to beat up opposing decks that are reliant on using a few creatures, but that doesn’t really happen either. Reckless Waif has been very solid in my cube, with it being not hard to flip (pass, burn something at opponent’s end step) and supplementing beatdown strategies very well as a solid source of quick damage, which sadly, Goblin Goon doesn’t do very well.
Rite of Ruin — > Faithless Looting
I really wanted to like Rite of Ruin in Cube. I’m a big fan of the Wildfire deck, but Rite of Ruin just isn’t very good for it. There was a draft where I ended up being in Wildfire and saw a late Rite of Ruin and figured that I’d not take it since there was something better and that I’d let it table (it did). Even when it did, I didn’t want it since it was a poor fit for the deck. It could also become Devastation, but I’m honestly surprised that Faithless Looting hasn’t made its way into this cube, especially given how much support is given to Reanimation/big creatures (Sneak Attack in red.)
Slith Firewalker — > Stonewright
Stonewright is another creature that I was surprised to not see in the recent update as it’s a solid one-drop (I’ve found that the number of one-drops in the Magic Online Cube is low, making drafting aggressive decks difficult because you can’t get enough early beaters to have a good aggro deck) that retains value in the late game. Like many other creatures, Slith Firewalker is good against other decks with few creatures and this is actually one of the better ones, but it still suffers a lot due to lack of evasion.
Taurean Mauler —- > Cunning Sparkmage
Obliterate —- > Magus of the Scroll
Cunning Sparkmage is a card that I’ve been becoming more and more of a fan of since seeing it in a fewfriends’ cubes and it’s a card that I feel would be good in the online cube. It helps to supplement attacking creatures (and its immediacy makes me like it more than Fireslinger, even though I think Fireslinger’s drawback is nearly non-existent). Taurean Mauler just takes too long to grow and is a pretty low-hanging fruit in general in the grand scheme of three-drops in red. Magus of the Scroll also performs that task as well (albeit without haste) by being a body that can deal damage. I’ve not been a fan of Obliterate due to its high cost. Even though it combines really well with things like Venser the Sojourner and Wurmcoil Engine, its cost is just too much—if I’m spending eight mana on a spell, it’d better be a game-ending Genesis Wave, Rude Awakening, or a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.
Rorix Bladewing -> Thundermaw Hellkite
Like Thunderblust, I think Rorix’s time is long gone, and Thundermaw Hellkite just took it out for good, making it an easy change.
Countryside Crusher — > Keldon Vandals
As mentioned earlier, there seems to be a lack of spot removal for artifacts in this cube which is attached to bodies and hopefully some more will be introduced with these artifact-destroying creatures. There aren’t things like Signets or Moxen to destroy in this cube, but there are still a lot of juicy targets (like the Swords, Everflowing Chalice, Gilded Lotus, Molten-Tail Masticore, etc.)
Like in white, I also would have liked to have Rivalry (Sulfuric Vortex little brother) in this cube, but I couldn’t really think of a cut for it. I’m also kind of surprised that Squee, Goblin Nabob isn’t in the Magic Online Cube, especially given how much the cube focuses on interactions (I could see using it instead of Imperial Recruiter).
Green
Jungle Lion -> Ulvenwald Tracker
Overgrown Battlement -> Somberwald Sage
Quirion Dryad -> Scavenging Ooze
Vorapede -> Wolfir Silverheart
Stonewood Invocation -> Overrun
Life from the Loam -> All Suns’ Dawn
Overall, the changes in green were very solid with the addition of cards like Wolfir Silverheart and Scavenging Ooze, but it still feels like some gaps needed to be plugged in this update that went unnoticed, like artifact-destroying creatures.
Suggestions:
Brooding Saurian — > Yeva, Nature’s Herald
Yeva, Nature’s Herald does better at hosing blue than Brooding Saurian since you can cast creatures EOT to pick fights with countermagic. It also combos well with green ramp and other green creatures that enter the battlefield.
Flinthoof Boar is one of the better R/G creatures, but like Korlash, it’s in its respective printed color section (as opposed to archetype) due to the literal categorization method. Hystrodon was another card that I wanted to like as a "saboteur," especially since it has evasion, but it doesn’t have enough impact for the cost. Even though the Magic Online Cube is leaning towards midrange and control in green, I’m sure that it’ll have room for a R/G 3/3 that can get haste.
Lead the Stampede — > Thragtusk
Like with Rite of Ruin, I really wanted Lead the Stampede to be good in Cube, but it doesn’t really do that much; what decks really want Lead the Stampede? It has too little impact for three mana (typically nabbing 2-3 creatures for 2G, which is still pretty low impact) in both aggro decks and midrange (which typically doesn’t have the critical mass of creatures to effectively utilize it). Thragtusk doesn’t really need an introduction, and like with Sublime Archangel, I assume it’ll make its way into the Magic Online Cube.
Moldervine Cloak — > Wolfir Avenger
Weak aura, meh. Even with dredge, still weak. Like how Yeva is at worst-case a Simian Grunts-style creatures, so is Wolfir Avenger, but its regeneration also works very well with equipment (EOT flash in Avenger then equip with something and bash).
Leatherback Baloth — > Uktabi Orangutan
Seal of Primordium — > Viridian Shaman
As mentioned in red, there needs to be more artifact destruction and getting the cheaper artifact destruction guys is good (as they supplement the curve and get maindecked very often, helping decks deal with annoying artifacts that they may not have an out to and may not want to side in something like Naturalize for). Both cards are on the low end as the GGG cost even with mana Elves can be awkward for Leatherback Baloth, and Seal is on the lower end of Naturalize effects.
For the most part, this is an "easy change" as this represents an upgrade for five-mana green effects because Vorapede is a very hard to deal with creature that works very well in midrange decks, especially creature-based midrange mirrors.
Thelonite Hermit — > Worldly Tutor
Worldly Tutor isn’t as good as Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor, but it acts in a similar way since, in many decks with green creatures (especially archetypes like G/B and G/W), the creatures act like spells (your Terror is a Bone Shredder), so this would be a welcome addition to those strategies. I can understand wanting to have a lot of morph creatures to make guessing morphs more difficult, but the Hermit is an inefficient one.
Werebear — > Overgrown Battlement
I could honestly go either way with this, but the defense from the battlement fits the green ramp strategy better (although Werebear turning into a 4/4 does help supplement the strategy by being a beater in addition to a mana dork).
Awakening Zone — > Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth is of the more interesting ramp guys, again suggested by Kenny Mayer, in that it’s better in ramp-y style green decks that use guys like Somberwald Sage and other mana dorks with creatures that emulate spells (Mulldrifter, Skinrender, Wickerbough Elder) to just win out of nowhere by attacking for 15+ damage when the opponent was expecting to take much less damage. With cards like Somberwald Sage, a card like Awakening Zone doesn’t seem good enough when compared to the competition, even with the ramp-heavy focus on green.
Nostalgic Dreams — > Life from the Loam
One of the ways to make Nostalgic Dreams work in Cube is to make sure that you’re recurring cards that give card advantage (pitching a land and a mana dork for a Shriekmaw and a Nevinyrral’s Disk), but even still, that does require a bit too much setup and the card usually went late in my experience. I feel that Life from the Loam got a bad rap because people equate it with fetchlands and thus get disappointed when they can’t do that, but there are plenty of other ways to get big advantages out of it (mass LD like Wildfire, using it to negate drawbacks on cards like the Masticore trio, Smokestack/Braids).
Miscellaneous
Behemoth Sledge — > Sigarda, Host of Herons
Grim Backwoods -> Desolate Lighthouse
Vault of the Archangel -> Slayers’ Stronghold
Volrath’s Stronghold -> Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Most of the miscellaneous changes were upgrades due to the replacements being very good (especially Sigarda), but cutting Volrath’s Stronghold definitely seems like a very bad thing. Urborg isn’t a bad card at all since it helps with the low fixing in this cube, but even still, it can’t match the raw recursive power of the Stronghold.
Suggestions
As mentioned earlier, this is to replace Korlash as the living weapon ability and Phyrexian mana equip cost trumps the regeneration on Korlash. I also think Lashwrithe fits black decks (not mono-black) pretty well too, especially if they have evasive guys.
Tormod’s Crypt — > Bonesplitter
Bonesplitter was another card that I was surprised to not see used in the Magic Online Cube, as it’s a solid way to buff cheap creatures on the cheap (and from the looks of it, we won’t see another piece of Cube-worthy cheap equipment for a while), and while Tormod’s Crypt does perform the task of hosing graveyard decks, cards already in this cube like Relic of Progenitus do it much better than the Crypt, which usually was a very late pick.
Not to sound like a broken record, Triskelion is another card that I was surprised to see not in the Magic Online Cube since it does a fine job of being a mid-sized creature that can mow down several creatures with a decently sized body. Platinum Angel is pretty overcosted, and I’ve found that the best case of it being able to be protected by countermagic doesn’t happen that often. While it’s a nice Tinker target, that’s not really a reason to use it since other good artifact creatures like Myr Battlesphere and Wurmcoil Engine are great even without Tinker. There are some other cards like Duplicant or Jinxed Choker that are also solid as well that I would like to see too.
One thing that I’d also like to note is Max McCall tweet about wanting to cut the Swords from the online cube. I’m not really sure why he wants to cut them (for fear of them being too good or if they’re perceived to be not good enough), but it doesn’t seem like a positive change if that were to happen. The Swords tend to "lean aggro" and while it’s not a requirement for an aggro deck to have a Sword (and for years we only had two), cutting some of their best cards, especially since aggro is on the weak side in this cube, is an error that I hope is not implemented in the next update.
I hope that this article has given you some more information on the AVR update in the Magic Online Cube as well as some ideas to think about for when the cube comes back.
May all of your opening packs contain Sol Rings!
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http://idratherbecubing.wordpress.com – my blog featuring my cube lists.
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