As I grow older and my time becomes filled with the rigors of adulthood, I have to make the some hard choices. One of the hardest is how to allocate my Magic time. Between Drafts, Commander, and Magic Online, there is always more to do than there are minutes available. One thing I always manage to carve out time for, however, is my Cube.

So when Wizards releases multiple sets with rarity shifts, my interest is piqued. Both Conspiracy in the paper world and Vintage Masters in the digital realm had rarity-shifted cards. This presents a bit of a conundrum for me. While Conspiracy was designed largely with New World Order in mind, the cards in Vintage Masters most certainly were not. Even though my Cube draws on the entire history of Magic, I have worked rather hard to keep it balanced. The release of non-Standard releases means that, as a Cube builder, I face two paths. After much deliberation, I have decided on the following: If a card, printed at common anywhere, can serve the Cube, it will be worthy of consideration. Anything else is a disservice to the game.

I will not be making any Vintage Masters additions to the Cube in this update. I will be keeping my eyes on both Battle Screech and Beetleback Chief for the future, as both cards could help with the Boros tokens archetype. Chainer's Edict is certainly an exciting and high-powered option. Considering I am trying to temper the removal in my environment, it might be too strong.

Conspiracy presents different circumstances. I am adding one rarity-shifted card and a brand-new common. I am not considering the draft-matters cards. Conspiracies are cool, and the artifacts that alter the draft add an interesting dynamic, but they both draw their fun factor from having multiple copies available. My Cube is still Highlander, and as such, it does not follow to include cards that require extra copies.

More than this, I want my Cube to focus on the games played more than the draft. Making the draft a separate game could be fun once in a while. If I want to do that, though, I’ll just build a Multiplayer Draft Stack.

With all of that out of the way, let’s go on to the updates proper.

White

Triplicate Spirits fills a similar role. The Magic 2015 sorcery presents three bodies, and in a white deck, it is not hard to imagine it hitting the table on turn four. 3 evasive power that early is well worth a spell slot. Combine this with white’s dominating combat suite, and we have a card that could increase white’s mid- and late-game potency.

White will be losing Expendable Troops and Haazda Snare Squad. The former was a card that caught my eye but that has not lived up to expectations. I should have known this, as the card was designed with the Stack in mind. Haazda Snare Squad is a fine card but plays defense a little too well for an aggressive tapper. Master of Diversion is a similar card that also applies pressure.

Blue

Trained Condor never did much. I put it into the Cube to function as a pseudo-Simic card, but it never took off. Instead, it was just another flying creature. Coral Barrier is a stellar blocker that comes with some added value in an evasive attacker. Considering this update has taken a control card from blue, it only seems fair to give one back. The Squid is in.

Black

Again, there is not much to say. Undying is one of my favorite mechanics, as it comes with built-in card advantage. Sightless Ghoul is an expensive 2/2 at 4 mana, especially since it cannot play defense. Blocking is important since it is a key way of turning on undying. Problems it has a few. Wakedancer will almost always make 4 power for 3 mana—a great deal. There is not much else to say. Making 4 power immediately is better than 5 power the hard way.

Red

There are red cards I considered long and hard for this update but that I ultimately left in the to-be-considered pile. The first was Traitorous Blood. Act of Treason is a relatively recent addition to the Cube, and I have not been able to fully assess its power. Until I do, Traitorous Blood will continue to ride the pine.

Inferno Fist would help the Cube in multiple ways. It would reduce the amount of pure removal while also diversifying red’s spell suite. I almost (as in had-the-card-out-of-the-sleeve almost) replaced Shock with Inferno Fist.

But I couldn’t do it—not in this update.

I will be watching games closely in this Draft cycle to see if Inferno Fist would be an improvement over a random burn spell.

Green

Kor Skyfisher is an all-star. It comes down early enough to stop the beatdown and can attack with efficacy. It also allows the caster to reuse enters-the-battlefield abilities and can function as a form of mana-fixing. Basically, it does everything. So when I saw Invasive Species, I knew I wanted to find a spot for it in the Cube. While it may not fly, I am willing to give it a shot. Snake of the Golden Grove never did anything special. It was present but never mattered. That is a death mark for me, and it finds itself on the cutting-room floor.

Artifacts

These changes do little to shake up the Cube. Rather, they help expand upon the strategies I have been promoting for the past year. I must be doing something right since I see the number of smiles going up with each Draft. I am interested to see how Khans of Trakir shapes up for commons. The set may spur an adjustment in the gold section, but that is months away. Until then, it’s time for research. And by that, I mean Drafts. Here is a link to my updated Cube in case you want to take it for a spin. In case, y’know, you like grinding out games. Time is precious; use it to Cube.