New Horizons for Magic Online Vintage Cube
Posted on Jun 21, 2024
By Chris Wolf & Ryan Spain
Greetings, Vintage Cube enthusiasts! Welcome to the Modern Horizons 3 update of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, which goes live for a three-week run starting next Wednesday, June 26th! As expected, the latest installment of the straight-to-Modern series is packed with powerful, intriguing options for Vintage Cube—so many that not everything that deserves a shot made it in this time, but there are always future iterations right around the corner, so we will get to them in due time!
Speaking of things we will get to, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote on Discord for what themes and archetypes from the options offered that you’d most like to see in the future. It was an informative result, and we will be looking to bring you a Power Max themed Cube with the initiative and other nonsense when it makes sense in our schedule, and we can fully deliver on the premise. For now, we will focus on the significant power infusion of a Modern Horizons set. With a lot of directions to go, where did the horizon lead us in this iteration?
Incoming Archetypes
Graveyard Matters
We did not expect Bazaar of Baghdad and Survival of the Fittest to make such a swift return, but MH3 makes a very compelling case for them.
While we aren’t digging as deep as on this archetype as we did last time, we did want to honor the arrival of these new bangers. And it doesn’t even end with the three cards that end in “goyf.” Detective’s Phoenix, Malevolent Rumble and Bloodbraid Challenger further suggest increased support for graveyard shenanigans. Psychic Frog is no slouch either, and Wight of the Reliquary interacts both with the graveyard and the next returning archetype.
Lands
Marit Lage is back with another way to break her from the ice in Shifting Woodlands, together with a new universal land tutor stapled on a decent body in Sowing Mycospawn. Wight of the Reliquary can help tutor them up together with its older brother Knight of the Reliquary and Crop Rotation. And it also doesn’t end here.
Fastbond can once again deliver copious amounts of landfall triggers with bouncelands. OTJ brought us Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and MH3 adds Springheart Nantuko, so we wanted to give the Landfall archetype another turn to shine as a lot of these cards intertwine nicely. Speaking of synergistic interactions…
While not really an archetype, this combo has been tearing up pretty much all the eternal Constructed formats, we figured it was worth mentioning. While the go-to Constructed piece Shuko isn’t justifiable in Vintage Cube, Lightning Greaves does a good impression of it while supporting other archetypes in the Cube, with Bristly Bill further helping the cause. Since we’re playing singleton here, you aren’t going to pull off Constructed-like turns with Nadu very often, if ever. But luckily all of these cards are great on rate.
Turning up the Heat
Not really a full archetype either, but nonetheless an interesting mention. Flare of Duplication holds some real promise in making Burn a real thing again, copying Fireblast or Fiery Confluence for massive amounts of damage. Couple that with the Char-obsoleting Ghostfire Slice and we might have a new old strategy on our hands—and if your opponent happens to control a multicolored permanent, you’re even looking at a better Lightning Bolt!
Doomsday
Celebrating its return this time as the combo deck alongside Storm is Doomsday. Nothing new here, just a variety swap to keep things fresh.
Leaving the Cube
Dream Halls
Dream Halls has captured many combo player’s hearts, but it’s also difficult support so many different variations of combo decks in the Cube at the same time. This time, we’re giving Doomsday the nod, but rest assured, the Halls to realize your Dreams will be back!
Subsiding the Storm
Last time we talked quite a bit about Storm and took steps and measures in hopes of improving its standing in the Vintage Cube archetype hierarchy. Unfortunately, our efforts didn’t improve things by much, and with the nature of the archetype being inherently parasitic—requiring cards to function that few or no other archetypes need—we are cutting back on the worst performers. Storm occupies a special place in a lot of player’s hearts and we feel that it should stick around, just not with extra support that wasn’t making it any more successful to draft.
Prowess
One of our more experimental archetypes last time around. It did not perform poorly, but is also easy to let go of. If you’ve become a real fan of Proft’s Eidetic Memory, let us know over on our Discord!
Big Mean Green
This has been a long time coming. Green Ramp is no longer what it once was, especially with Vintage Cube inching closer and closer to Eternal-Constructed gameplay. With a lot of cheap interaction and very efficient threats, ramping out big-mana creatures is a huge ask in modern Vintage Cube. If you’re trying to cast expensive stuff with your mana dorks, when they bolt the bird it devastates the plan and you stare at uncastable heavies until dead. If you are simply trying to speed out 3s and 4s, you can still cast some value beaters on curve and force your opponent to have more than just a removal spell for a cheap creature to beat you. We recognize that some of these departing cards are iconic and beloved by many, so they are likely to stop by for visits often.
Card Comments
That’s a high-level look at the changes, but as has become the standard under Daybreak, the card-by-card design comments will give you a closer look at all the swaps we made and why. We hope you enjoy this installment of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, and we look forward to seeing what cards from MH3 become new staples. Tell us what you think over in the Magic Online Discord!
Changelist-In
| Color | Card In | Design Comment |
|---|---|---|
| White | Ajani, Nacatl Pariah | One of MH3’s biggest hits, Ajani holds a lot of promise to become a Vintage Cube staple for years to come. |
| White | Eagles of the North | The Eagles are back from the bench. A reasonable inclusion in general, it has some extra appeal this time with Detective’s Phoenix in the mix looking for CMC to consume from the graveyard. |
| White | Ocelot Pride | Some folks are already calling this "White Ragavan" and it can snowball out of control, especially when combined with additional sources of lifegain. |
| White | Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd | Phelia is going to be an absolute banger for Vintage Cube. You can combine this with Containment Priest to permanently exile your opponent’s creatures, reset your Parallax Wave, or simply use it to blink your creatures for additional ETB triggers. |
| White | White Orchid Phantom | With many powerful, must-destroy lands like Tolarian Academy and Gaea’s Cradle around, White Orchid Phantom has the potential to do some important work for the decks that can handle the double white. |
| Blue | Dress Down | Dress Down is a great way to counter a Thassa’s Oracle win, plays well against Constructs and the growing ‘goyf count, and can set up your titans to stick around without having to escape them from the graveyard. Plus, it’s never truly a blank. |
| Blue | Gush | Gush is one of the best ways to immediately kill your opponent after resolving a Doomsday, but it also works with the Lands package and regular Storm. |
| Blue | Jace, Wielder of Mysteries | While this Jace can do some work outside of a Doomsday package, he’s back in the curation because of it. |
| Blue | Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student | Tamiyo enters the Vintage Cube with tons of potential—the front side provides continuous value and fuels cards like Tolarian Academy, and there’s a great Planeswalker waiting on the back. |
| Blue | Thassa's Oracle | Thoracle is back in support of Doomsday. |
| Black | Barrowgoyf | Lifelink is huge for black, and deathtouch ensures it has value even with fairly empty graveyards. Once it starts connecting, it generates value and keeps fueling itself. |
| Black | Bazaar of Baghdad | One of the two signposts of the Madness/Graveyard strategies. It can be used to fuel your graveyard for Hogaak and titans, used as a discard outlet for reanimation strategies, and madness and can be mitigated by Urborg and Yavimaya. |
| Black | Bloodghast | Bloodghast works well in the Survival/Bazaar strategies, and pairs well with Skullclamp and new addition Wight of the Reliquary. |
| Black | Crabomination | The crab monster is one of those reanimate-or-hard-cast threats that goes a long way. The body is somewhat lackluster, but getting a card out of your opponent’s hand is good value and likely to hit something useful, so it’s worth a tryout. |
| Black | Doomsday | Doomsday is back as Storm’s combo buddy for this iteration. |
| Black | Emperor of Bones | Emperor of Bones looks very promising. It’s a solid 2-drop that hates on graveyards and works well in Reanimator strategies with the instant-speed adapt mechanic. |
| Black | Nethergoyf | This ‘goyf only checks your own graveyard, but it’s cheap, and you should be doing the heavy lifting to enable it anyway—there are lots of ways to do so in this iteration! |
| Black | Shadowgrange Archfiend | Shadowgrange Archfiend is back with Survival and Bazaar, but this one goes well with any cheap discard outlet. |
| Black | Souls of the Lost | Souls of the Lost doubles as a graveyard fueler and a pay-off for doing so. |
| Black | Stitcher's Supplier | When there’s an extra focus on stocked graveyards, the Supplier helps meet the demand, and in addition to Hogaak and Vengevine there are also three ‘goyfs in the mix this time. |
| Red | Anger | Anger is mainly here as part of the Survival/Bazaar package, but don’t sleep on it! Red has a lot of incidental discard outlets these days, so it can be a worthy inclusion in many aggressive red decks. |
| Red | Anje's Ravager | Anje’s Ravager is back in conjunction with Survival and Bazaar, but it also works well in low-curve aggressive decks. |
| Red | Arena of Glory | One of two new utility lands making it into the curation from MH3. With the low floor of being a Mountain and high ceiling of giving up to two creatures haste, this an easy one to try out. |
| Red | Bitter Reunion | Bitter Reunion replaces Highway Robbery to add more enchantments to the Cube to benefit the ‘goyfs, and giving your Archon/Kroxa/Phlage haste is no joke! |
| Red | Blazing Rootwalla | Blazing Rootwalla is back to support Survival, Bazaar and Vengevine, while being serviceable as a red 1-drop. |
| Red | Detective's Phoenix | Detective’s Phoenix is a promising card from MH3 that works particularly well with the Survival/Bazaar package and provides a card-type two-for-one for the ‘goyfs, including the hard-to-get enchantment type. |
| Red | Flare of Duplication | This card has narrow applications and should go late, but the ceiling of copying Fireblast, Fiery Confluence or even a Time Walk (perhaps your opponent’s?) is compelling enough to give it a shot. |
| Red | Ghostfire Slice | Char used to be a Vintage Cube staple, but we’ve crept steadily towards better and (strictly) better options. In a lot of matchups, this will behave like a strictly better Lightning Bolt! While devoid can be a drawback with Fury and Pyrokinesis, overall, this is a burn spell that should leave its scorch mark on Vintage Cube. |
| Red | Harsh Mentor | It’s been a long time since Harsh Mentor has been in the curation, but now is a good time to bring him back, with more activated abilities around to punish than ever. |
| Red | Kumano Faces Kakkazan | With a reduction in red one-drops in this iteration, bringing back some low-curve firepower for the heavy red strategies made sense. It also introduces more card types for the ‘goyfs while simultaneously helping battle the graveyard-focused creature strategies. |
| Red | Obsidian Charmaw | This dragon has been pacing the sidelines looking to get in the game, and in an iteration with the highest amount of nonbasic lands worth blowing up ever, the time has come. |
| Red | Pyrogoyf | One of the more exciting Vintage Cube cards coming out of MH3, this ‘goyf/Flametongue Kavu hybrid looks ridiculous. It hits any target and triggers off other ‘goyfs, so if you manage to copy it, you get double the fun! |
| Red | Reckless Pyrosurfer | A two-mana 2/2 haste with upside is a respectable baseline for a red creature, and this one has a high ceiling when combined with fetch lands thanks to the battle cry mechanic stacking. Try it with Goblin Rabblemaster! |
| Red | Squee, Goblin Nabob | Squee can turn Survival and Bazaar into real value engines while also repeatedly fueling any discard effects such as Psychic Frog. |
| Red | Tribal Flames | With the heavier focus on lands and multicolor strategies in this iteration, it’s a good time to bring back Tribal Flames to join the other domain cards in the curation. |
| Red | Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle | The pillar for combo kills with your Lands decks when combined with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Prismatic Omen, and Scapeshift or Primeval Titan. |
| Green | Arboreal Grazer | Arboreal Grazer provides a defensive body and gets extra lands into play for the decks that care about that. |
| Green | Basking Rootwalla | Basking Rootwalla is back to support Survival, Bazaar and Vengevine. |
| Green | Courser of Kruphix | Courser is back with some serious support for the Lands archetype. |
| Green | Crop Rotation | Crop Rotation comes back for Lands support, and helps you chip all the ice off Marit Lage more consistently. |
| Green | Dryad of the Ilysian Grove | Huge with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and very serviceable otherwise. |
| Green | Elvish Reclaimer | Elvish Reclaimer bridges the gap between many of the supported strategies for green in this iteration. It can tutor up a Gaea’s Cradle for midrange decks, a Bazaar of Baghdad for graveyard decks, and is a Swiss Army knife in the Lands archetype. |
| Green | Fanatic of Rhonas | The jury is still out on Fanatic of Rhonas, but it could serve as a good replacement for Rofellos, and considering all the graveyard shenanigans around, it should play well here. The 4 toughness is respectable and makes it hard to remove, which is a good place for your mana dork to be. |
| Green | Life from the Loam | Life from the Loam has a lot of applications in Vintage Cube, but it doesn’t come together often enough to warrant regular inclusion. With newly added Six and Shifting Woodland in the mix, though, this is a good time for it to come off the bench. |
| Green | Malevolent Rumble | A very respectable common coming out of MH3 that does a little bit of everything, and pairs especially well with all the graveyard support. |
| Green | Primeval Titan | The Titan is back, and with proper support, including Field of the Dead, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and all the old classics! |
| Green | Prismatic Omen | Here to enable Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. |
| Green | Reclamation Sage | With Pest Infestation and Fiery Confluence continuing to offer multi-target artifact hate and Survival of the Fittest returning, Reclamation Sage comes in for Force of Vigor. |
| Green | Sakura-Tribe Elder | The venerable snake is back as a ramp spell that blocks and supports the landfall mechanic. |
| Green | Satyr Wayfinder | Satyr Wayfinder helps fill your graveyard or digs for that busted land you built your deck around and leaves a body behind for interactions like Recurring Nightmare. |
| Green | Scapeshift | Scapeshift is back to combo with Field of the Dead and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. |
| Green | Shifting Woodland | This is similar to Arena of Glory in that the floor is close to basic Forest, but the ceiling ... oh boy! Copy a Dark Depths in your graveyard to make Marit Lage or copy an Archon of Cruelty. Heck, you can even copy Emrakul with the shuffle trigger still on the stack! |
| Green | Six | Wrenn and ... No! It’s just Six! And a wild one. We even added back Life from the Loam for you to go even wilder with this one, but we expect it do plenty of good work on its own. |
| Green | Sowing Mycospawn | The real kicker here is just the basic cast trigger. Being able to tutor up any land and have it ETB is very strong as-is, but getting an immediate use out of your Gaea’s Cradle or Strip Mine is a huge bonus. This card has major potential. |
| Green | Springheart Nantuko | Springheart Nantuko is another promising card, not only to combo with Nadu, Winged Wisdom and landfall in general, but also to make multiple copies of your best threat. Say ... Pyrogoyf? |
| Green | Survival of the Fittest | One of two signposts of the Madness/Graveyard archetypes. Try running this in conjunction with Vengevine, Rootwallas and Anger for quick kills, or with Squee, Goblin Nabob or Master of Death to create your own value engine, or both! |
| Green | Vengevine | Vengevine gives Survival of the Fittest an alternate combo-card role, while also being a reasonable hard-cast. While Vengevine’s star has faded over time from its glory days, it earns its keep in the right decks. |
| Boros | Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury | Look! It’s Uro’s ... fiery sister? A three-mana Lightning Helix at sorcery speed is lackluster, but if you can escape it, your opponent is in for a furious assault. |
| Boros | Showdown of the Skalds | Showdown is back, living its best life being great card draw for your Fastbond/Exploration Omnath-colored decks, also working with Nadu there, besides being just a great way to refuel for Boros. |
| Dimir | Master of Death | Mainly a combo with Survival and Bazaar, but unlike Squee, this one is reasonable to cast. |
| Dimir | Psychic Frog | This looks to be one of the best Cube cards coming out of MH3. It’s a big reason for bringing Survival/Bazaar back this iteration because it plays so well with Madness, Reanimation, Squee, Master of Death, and so much more. |
| Golgari | Deathrite Shaman | Deathrite Shaman was an experiment the last time Survival/Bazaar were in the Cube, and it exceeded expectations by quite a bit, so it’s back, even with trimmed support for those archetypes. |
| Golgari | Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis | One of the best payoffs for Survival and Bazaar, especially when “Angered”... your opponent will lose with great haste! |
| Golgari | Wight of the Reliquary | Wight of the Reliquary is one of those perfect Cube cards because it kind of does it all. Works well with Bloodghast, Dark Depths, can grow huge with self-mill, while also being a very cheap creature. Consider us excited! |
| Golgari | Witherbloom Command | Witherbloom Command will once again be our Golgari removal of choice, due to its synergy with a lot of the cards present in this iteration. |
| Gruul | Bloodbraid Challenger | Who doesn’t remember Bloodbraid ... oh, wait! This costs more, but it’s also bigger and it has Escape? Graveyards, Survival, you know what’s up! |
| Gruul | Escape to the Wilds | We’re Escaping to the Wilds again with Lands as a supported archetype! One of the key draw spells for those decks, while also doing the thing they care about the most: putting extra lands into play. |
| Gruul | Gruul Turf | We’re only bringing in three bouncelands this time and adding them to the existing fixing rather than swapping them out, so they are more delineated as "combo pieces" for the decks that truly want them. You can use them for multiple Landfall-triggers with the likes of Fastbond and Exploration, as well as using them as slow card-advantage, but beware of opposing land-destruction! |
| Rakdos | Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger | Kroxa is back and especially threatening with this much graveyard support, and specifically Anger to haste your giant into combat for an immediate second trigger, probably spelling doom for your opponent. |
| Selesnya | Knight of the Reliquary | Knight is back! Why, you ask? Well… it tutors up lands. |
| Selesnya | Selesnya Sanctuary | See Gruul Turf. |
| Selesnya | Simic Growth Chamber | See Gruul Turf. |
| Simic | Bonny Pall, Clearcutter | This ox-herding giant ramps up your mana and the total number of lands in play, so this should come in handy. |
| Simic | Nadu, Winged Wisdom | Some of the loudest chatter leading up to the release of MH3 was around this card. Was it a design mistake? Is it going to break Constructed? Without the ability to build a pure combo deck around it, Nadu won’t break Vintage Cube, but it’s still a card with a fantastic ability at an efficient rate. To maximize the combo ability, be sure to pick up Bristly Bill or Lightning Greaves! |
| Simic | Planar Genesis | Impulse that allows you to put a land card directly on the battlefield, why not? |
| Multicolor | Golos, Tireless Pilgrim | Golos can work in a variety of strategies and is a particularly good fit for an iteration where we’re trying to find specific lands and assembling domain. |
| Colorless | Dark Depths | The Depths are back with more tutors than ever. Use Sylvan Safekeeper to protect your Marit Lage, Lightning Greaves to haste it, and Shadowspear to make it trample over opposing chump blockers. |
| Colorless | Expedition Map | Expedition Map plays well with all the great nonbasics in Vintage Cube in general, and there are even more than usual this time around. |
| Colorless | Field of the Dead | A cornerstone of the Lands archetype, rewarding your for putting extra Lands onto the battlefield that combined well with Scapeshift. Don’t miss on using your Bouncelands to repeatedly trigger this once you’ve reached the threshold of seven different lands! |
| Colorless | Lightning Greaves | We welcome back the Greaves to combo with Nadu, Winged Wisdom in addition to protecting your big reanimation targets while getting them in the red zone right away. |
| Colorless | Porcelain Legionnaire | Porcelain Legionnaire is back as a colorless aggressive 2-drop with a three-mana mode in white decks. |
| Colorless | Thespian's Stage | Here to help you make a Marit Lage with Dark Depths. |
| Colorless | Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger | Last time we tried focusing more on the Annihilator Eldrazi coupled with Goryo’s Vengeance, but the Ceaseless Hunger makes a return for this iteration. |
Changelist-Out
| Color | Card Out | Design Comment |
|---|---|---|
| White | Adanto Vanguard | As a purely aggressive 2-drop, this Vampire is the easiest cut for Ajani/Phelia coming in. |
| White | Collector's Cage | Collector's Cage was definitely fun and enabled some novel situations but is not hard to let go of overall. |
| White | Enlightened Tutor | Enlightened Tutor rarely sees play, and while it is nice to have cards in white that aren't purely aggro or midrange, we can bench this without a heavy heart. |
| White | Leonin Relic-Warder | Relic-Warder passes the torch to another WW creature, but one that goes after nonbasics rather than artifacts or enchantments. |
| White | Monastery Mentor | With the speed of the format ever increasing, the Mentor loses its footing, but is likely to make a return at some point. |
| White | Sanguine Evangelist | Can't really go wrong with value creatures like these in white, but also not critical for its success. Expect this bat-wielding vampire to come back at some point as well. |
| White | Student of Warfare | Student gives way for the new and exciting Ocelot Pride. |
| Blue | Akal Pakal, First Among Equals | Artifacts enjoyed heavy support this past iteration, so we're pulling some of that back to make room for other archetypes. |
| Blue | Dream Halls | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Hard Evidence | Craben Inspector is being upgraded to Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student. |
| Blue | High Tide | We're pulling the worst performers from the Storm card pool and keeping the best of them around so it can still come together nicely when open. |
| Blue | Jace Reawakened | Archetype-based swap. |
| Blue | Mind's Desire | We're pulling the worst performers from the Storm card pool and keeping the best of them around so it can still come together nicely when open. |
| Blue | Proft's Eidetic Memory | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Simulacrum Synthesizer | Artifacts enjoyed heavy support this past iteration, so we're pulling some of that back to make room for other archetypes. |
| Blue | Stoic Sphinx | Archetype-based swap. |
| Blue | Three Steps Ahead | Archetype-based swap. |
| Blue | Turnabout | We're pulling the worst performers from the Storm card pool and keeping the best of them around so it can still come together nicely when open. |
| Black | Beseech the Mirror | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Goryo's Vengeance | We tried Goryo's with the full Annihilator Eldrazi package, but it did not perform well, so we're walking it back. Good try. |
| Black | Graveyard Trespasser | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Hostile Investigator | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Kaervek, the Punisher | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Long Goodbye | Long Goodbye is a solid card, but also doesn't feel super necessary. |
| Black | Phyrexian Fleshgorger | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Tenacious Underdog | Archetype-based swap. |
| Black | Tourach, Dread Cantor | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | "Name Sticker" Goblin | This enables some cool stuff in Vintage Cube, but it’s not a card that exists in this form on tabletop, so we’re benching it, at least for now. |
| Red | Birgi, God of Storytelling | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Dreadhorde Arcanist | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Flametongue Kavu | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Grim Lavamancer | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Highway Robbery | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Lava Dart | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Magda, the Hoardmaster | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Mizzix's Mastery | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Monastery Swiftspear | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Runaway Steam-Kin | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Simian Spirit Guide | Archetype-based swap. |
| Red | Slickshot Show-Off | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Soul-Scar Mage | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Thundermaw Hellkite | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Arbor Elf | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Craterhoof Behemoth | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Elvish Spirit Guide | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Force of Vigor | Hating a little less strongly on artifacts in this version, due to it receiving a slight nerf to begin with. |
| Green | Garruk Relentless | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Garruk Wildspeaker | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Goldvein Hydra | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Gruff Triplets | Vaultborn Tyrant supersedes Gruff Triplets as the flexible Flash/Reanimation card, that's fairly castable and we feel like there doesn't have to be an unlimited amount of these. |
| Green | Legolas's Quick Reflexes | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Nissa, Ascended Animist | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Ornery Tumblewagg | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Railway Brawler | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Ranger Class | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Regrowth | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Sandstorm Salvager | Archetype-based swap. |
| Green | Smuggler's Surprise | Smuggler's Surprise in fact surprised us, but we're also going a little less heavy on that kind of cheaty stuff, so we feel it's fair to swap it out. This was mainly here on trial, but after delivering a rather impressive performance, it could make a return at some point. |
| Green | Tough Cookie | Tough Cookie was on the weaker end generally speaking, but made for some nice, novel gameplay, draft and deckbuilding decisions, so we might bring it back at some point. |
| Green | Utopia Sprawl | Archetype-based swap. |
| Boros | Winota, Joiner of Forces | Archetype-based swap. |
| Dimir | Lazav, Wearer of Faces | Psychic Frog take-over! |
| Dimir | Lim-Dul's Vault | Archetype-based swap. |
| Golgari | Glissa Sunslayer | Archetype-based swap. |
| Golgari | The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride | Archetype-based swap. |
| Gruul | Halana and Alena, Partners | Archetype-based swap. |
| Izzet | Magma Opus | Archetype rotating out. |
| Orzhov | Ashen Rider | Archetype-based swap. |
| Selesnya | Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar | Archetype-based swap. |
| Simic | Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy | Archetype-based swap. |
| Multicolor | Cruel Ultimatum | Archetype rotating out. |
| Multicolor | Leovold, Emissary of Trest | Archetype-based swap. |
| Multicolor | Mana Confluence | Making room for a smattering of nonbasic lands. |
| Colorless | Aetherflux Reservoir | Reservoir theoretically works as a Storm payoff, but often enough doesn't perform all that well. It does do work with Bolas's Citadel still, but as mentioned in the article, we're pulling a lot of the fringe Storm support this time around. |
| Colorless | Candelabra of Tawnos | With High Tide leaving, that leaves Candelabra with Tolarian Academy as it's only use-case, so we're letting it ride the bench for this run at least. |
| Colorless | Helm of Awakening | Helm of Awakening leaves together with Aetherflux Reservoir and Mystic Forge. |
| Colorless | Kozilek, Butcher of Truth | We tried Goryo's with the full Annihilator Eldrazi package, but it did not perform well, so we're walking it back. Good try. |
| Colorless | Mutagenic Growth | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Mystic Forge | Artifacts enjoyed heavy support this past iteration, so we're pulling some of that back to make room for other archetypes. |
| Colorless | Nettlecyst | Artifacts enjoyed heavy support this past iteration, so we're pulling some of that back to make room for other archetypes. |
| Colorless | Nexus of Becoming | Nexus of Becoming was a nice bridge between cheaty and artifact strategies, but definitely doesn't qualify as a Vintage Cube all-star, so expect this one to be here periodically. |
Full List
| Color | Card Name |
|---|---|
| White | Adeline, Resplendent Cathar |
| White | Ajani, Nacatl Pariah |
| White | Aven Interrupter |
| White | Balance |
| White | Benevolent Bodyguard |
| White | Blade Splicer |
| White | Cathar Commando |
| White | Containment Priest |
| White | Council's Judgment |
| White | Damn |
| White | Eagles of the North |
| White | Elite Spellbinder |
| White | Elspeth, Knight-Errant |
| White | Ephemerate |
| White | Esper Sentinel |
| White | Flickerwisp |
| White | Giver of Runes |
| White | Glimmer Lens |
| White | Guardian Scalelord |
| White | Hero of Bladehold |
| White | Intrepid Adversary |
| White | Karakas |
| White | Leyline Binding |
| White | Lion Sash |
| White | Loran of the Third Path |
| White | Luminarch Aspirant |
| White | Mana Tithe |
| White | Mother of Runes |
| White | Mox Pearl |
| White | Ocelot Pride |
| White | Oust |
| White | Palace Jailer |
| White | Parallax Wave |
| White | Path to Exile |
| White | Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd |
| White | Portable Hole |
| White | Prismatic Ending |
| White | Reprieve |
| White | Samwise the Stouthearted |
| White | Selfless Spirit |
| White | Serra Paragon |
| White | Sevinne's Reclamation |
| White | Skyclave Apparition |
| White | Solitude |
| White | Staff of the Storyteller |
| White | Steel Seraph |
| White | Stoneforge Mystic |
| White | Sunfall |
| White | Swords to Plowshares |
| White | Thalia, Guardian of Thraben |
| White | The Wandering Emperor |
| White | Thraben Inspector |
| White | Timeless Dragon |
| White | Touch the Spirit Realm |
| White | Unexpectedly Absent |
| White | Usher of the Fallen |
| White | Virtue of Loyalty |
| White | White Orchid Phantom |
| White | Winds of Abandon |
| White | Wrath of God |
| Blue | Aether Spellbomb |
| Blue | Ancestral Recall |
| Blue | Brain Freeze |
| Blue | Brainstorm |
| Blue | Brazen Borrower |
| Blue | Chart a Course |
| Blue | Chrome Host Seedshark |
| Blue | Consider |
| Blue | Counterspell |
| Blue | Cryptic Coat |
| Blue | Cryptic Command |
| Blue | Daze |
| Blue | Dig Through Time |
| Blue | Displacer Kitten |
| Blue | Dress Down |
| Blue | Duelist of the Mind |
| Blue | Echo of Eons |
| Blue | Faerie Mastermind |
| Blue | Flash |
| Blue | Force of Negation |
| Blue | Force of Will |
| Blue | Forensic Gadgeteer |
| Blue | Frantic Search |
| Blue | Gitaxian Probe |
| Blue | Gush |
| Blue | Hullbreacher |
| Blue | Jace, the Mind Sculptor |
| Blue | Jace, Vryn's Prodigy |
| Blue | Jace, Wielder of Mysteries |
| Blue | Kappa Cannoneer |
| Blue | Kitesail Larcenist |
| Blue | Ledger Shredder |
| Blue | Lórien Revealed |
| Blue | Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel |
| Blue | Mana Drain |
| Blue | Mana Leak |
| Blue | Memory Lapse |
| Blue | Miscalculation |
| Blue | Mox Sapphire |
| Blue | Mystic Confluence |
| Blue | Mystical Tutor |
| Blue | Narset, Parter of Veils |
| Blue | Otawara, Soaring City |
| Blue | Phantasmal Image |
| Blue | Ponder |
| Blue | Preordain |
| Blue | Remand |
| Blue | Serum Visions |
| Blue | Shelldock Isle |
| Blue | Show and Tell |
| Blue | Smirking Spelljacker |
| Blue | Snapcaster Mage |
| Blue | Spell Pierce |
| Blue | Spellseeker |
| Blue | Stern Scolding |
| Blue | Subtlety |
| Blue | Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student |
| Blue | Thassa's Oracle |
| Blue | Thieving Skydiver |
| Blue | Thought Scour |
| Blue | Time Spiral |
| Blue | Time Walk |
| Blue | Time Warp |
| Blue | Timetwister |
| Blue | Tinker |
| Blue | Tishana's Tidebinder |
| Blue | Tolarian Academy |
| Blue | Treachery |
| Blue | Treasure Cruise |
| Blue | Trinket Mage |
| Blue | True-Name Nemesis |
| Blue | Upheaval |
| Blue | Urza, Lord High Artificer |
| Black | Animate Dead |
| Black | Archon of Cruelty |
| Black | Baleful Mastery |
| Black | Barrowgoyf |
| Black | Bazaar of Baghdad |
| Black | Bitter Triumph |
| Black | Bloodghast |
| Black | Bolas's Citadel |
| Black | Bone Shards |
| Black | Cabal Ritual |
| Black | Caustic Bronco |
| Black | Collective Brutality |
| Black | Concealing Curtains |
| Black | Corpse Dance |
| Black | Crabomination |
| Black | Cut Down |
| Black | Dark Confidant |
| Black | Dark Petition |
| Black | Dark Ritual |
| Black | Dauthi Voidwalker |
| Black | Deep-Cavern Bat |
| Black | Demonic Tutor |
| Black | Doomsday |
| Black | Duress |
| Black | Emperor of Bones |
| Black | Entomb |
| Black | Evolved Sleeper |
| Black | Exhume |
| Black | Fatal Push |
| Black | Grave Titan |
| Black | Grief |
| Black | Griselbrand |
| Black | Harvester of Misery |
| Black | Hymn to Tourach |
| Black | Imperial Seal |
| Black | Infernal Grasp |
| Black | Inquisition of Kozilek |
| Black | Life/Death |
| Black | Liliana of the Veil |
| Black | Mind Twist |
| Black | Mox Jet |
| Black | Necromancy |
| Black | Nethergoyf |
| Black | Night's Whisper |
| Black | Orcish Bowmasters |
| Black | Preacher of the Schism |
| Black | Rain of Filth |
| Black | Reanimate |
| Black | Recurring Nightmare |
| Black | Shadowgrange Archfiend |
| Black | Shallow Grave |
| Black | Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
| Black | Sheoldred's Edict |
| Black | Snuff Out |
| Black | Souls of the Lost |
| Black | Stitcher's Supplier |
| Black | Tendrils of Agony |
| Black | Thoughtseize |
| Black | Toxic Deluge |
| Black | Troll of Khazad-dûm |
| Black | Unearth |
| Black | Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth |
| Black | Vampiric Tutor |
| Black | Virtue of Persistence |
| Black | Wishclaw Talisman |
| Black | Yawgmoth's Will |
| Red | Abrade |
| Red | Anger |
| Red | Anje's Ravager |
| Red | Arc Trail |
| Red | Arena of Glory |
| Red | Bitter Reunion |
| Red | Blazing Rootwalla |
| Red | Bonecrusher Giant |
| Red | Bonehoard Dracosaur |
| Red | Broadside Bombardiers |
| Red | Burst Lightning |
| Red | Chain Lightning |
| Red | Chandra, Torch of Defiance |
| Red | Death-Greeter's Champion |
| Red | Delayed Blast Fireball |
| Red | Detective's Phoenix |
| Red | Dragon's Rage Channeler |
| Red | Elemental Eruption |
| Red | Embereth Shieldbreaker |
| Red | Etali, Primal Conqueror |
| Red | Fable of the Mirror-Breaker |
| Red | Faithless Looting |
| Red | Fiery Confluence |
| Red | Fireblast |
| Red | Firebolt |
| Red | Flame Slash |
| Red | Flare of Duplication |
| Red | Fury |
| Red | Generous Plunderer |
| Red | Ghostfire Slice |
| Red | Goblin Rabblemaster |
| Red | Goldspan Dragon |
| Red | Gut, True Soul Zealot |
| Red | Harsh Mentor |
| Red | Headliner Scarlett |
| Red | Inti, Seneschal of the Sun |
| Red | Kumano Faces Kakkazan |
| Red | Laelia, the Blade Reforged |
| Red | Legion Extruder |
| Red | Lightning Bolt |
| Red | Magda, Brazen Outlaw |
| Red | Mine Collapse |
| Red | Mox Ruby |
| Red | Obsidian Charmaw |
| Red | Oliphaunt |
| Red | Pyrogoyf |
| Red | Pyrokinesis |
| Red | Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer |
| Red | Rampaging Raptor |
| Red | Reckless Pyrosurfer |
| Red | Rite of Flame |
| Red | Robber of the Rich |
| Red | Scrapwork Mutt |
| Red | Seasoned Pyromancer |
| Red | Seething Song |
| Red | Sneak Attack |
| Red | Squee, Goblin Nabob |
| Red | Through the Breach |
| Red | Tribal Flames |
| Red | Trumpeting Carnosaur |
| Red | Underworld Breach |
| Red | Unholy Heat |
| Red | Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle |
| Red | Voldaren Epicure |
| Red | Wheel of Fortune |
| Green | Arboreal Grazer |
| Green | Augur of Autumn |
| Green | Avacyn's Pilgrim |
| Green | Basking Rootwalla |
| Green | Birds of Paradise |
| Green | Boseiju, Who Endures |
| Green | Bristly Bill, Spine Sower |
| Green | Channel |
| Green | Courser of Kruphix |
| Green | Crop Rotation |
| Green | Delighted Halfling |
| Green | Dryad of the Ilysian Grove |
| Green | Elvish Mystic |
| Green | Elvish Reclaimer |
| Green | Endurance |
| Green | Esika's Chariot |
| Green | Eternal Witness |
| Green | Eureka |
| Green | Exploration |
| Green | Fanatic of Rhonas |
| Green | Fastbond |
| Green | Gaea's Cradle |
| Green | Generous Ent |
| Green | Green Sun's Zenith |
| Green | Haywire Mite |
| Green | Hexdrinker |
| Green | Ignoble Hierarch |
| Green | Life from the Loam |
| Green | Llanowar Elves |
| Green | Lotus Cobra |
| Green | Malevolent Rumble |
| Green | Mox Emerald |
| Green | Natural Order |
| Green | Nishoba Brawler |
| Green | Nissa, Who Shakes the World |
| Green | Noble Hierarch |
| Green | Oath of Druids |
| Green | Once Upon a Time |
| Green | Outland Liberator |
| Green | Paradise Druid |
| Green | Pest Infestation |
| Green | Pick Your Poison |
| Green | Primeval Titan |
| Green | Prismatic Omen |
| Green | Questing Beast |
| Green | Ramunap Excavator |
| Green | Reclamation Sage |
| Green | Sakura-Tribe Elder |
| Green | Satyr Wayfinder |
| Green | Scapeshift |
| Green | Scavenging Ooze |
| Green | Sentinel of the Nameless City |
| Green | Shifting Woodland |
| Green | Six |
| Green | Sowing Mycospawn |
| Green | Springheart Nantuko |
| Green | Survival of the Fittest |
| Green | Sylvan Caryatid |
| Green | Sylvan Library |
| Green | Sylvan Safekeeper |
| Green | Tarmogoyf |
| Green | Tireless Tracker |
| Green | Titania, Protector of Argoth |
| Green | Ulvenwald Oddity |
| Green | Vaultborn Tyrant |
| Green | Vengevine |
| Green | Woodfall Primus |
| Green | Worldspine Wurm |
| Green | Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth |
| Boros | Arid Mesa |
| Selesnya | Arwen, Mortal Queen |
| Multicolor | Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
| Rakdos | Badlands |
| Dimir | Baleful Strix |
| Golgari | Bayou |
| Rakdos | Blackcleave Cliffs |
| Rakdos | Blood Crypt |
| Gruul | Bloodbraid Challenger |
| Rakdos | Bloodstained Mire |
| Rakdos | Bloodtithe Harvester |
| Golgari | Blooming Marsh |
| Simic | Bonny Pall, Clearcutter |
| Simic | Botanical Sanctum |
| Simic | Breeding Pool |
| Multicolor | Bring to Light |
| Rakdos | Carnage Interpreter |
| Azorius | Celestial Colonnade |
| Gruul | Commercial District |
| Orzhov | Concealed Courtyard |
| Gruul | Copperline Gorge |
| Dimir | Creeping Tar Pit |
| Izzet | Dack Fayden |
| Dimir | Darkslick Shores |
| Golgari | Deathrite Shaman |
| Boros | Elegant Parlor |
| Gruul | Escape to the Wilds |
| Izzet | Expressive Iteration |
| Multicolor | Fabled Passage |
| Dimir | Fallen Shinobi |
| Izzet | Fiery Islet |
| Boros | Figure of Destiny |
| Rakdos | Fire Covenant |
| Azorius | Flooded Strand |
| Boros | Forth Eorlingas! |
| Azorius | Fractured Identity |
| Orzhov | Godless Shrine |
| Multicolor | Golos, Tireless Pilgrim |
| Golgari | Grist, the Hunger Tide |
| Gruul | Gruul Turf |
| Azorius | Hallowed Fountain |
| Simic | Hedge Maze |
| Golgari | Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis |
| Selesnya | Horizon Canopy |
| Multicolor | Huatli, Poet of Unity |
| Multicolor | Indatha Triome |
| Boros | Inspiring Vantage |
| Multicolor | Jetmir's Garden |
| Dimir | Kaito Shizuki |
| Multicolor | Ketria Triome |
| Selesnya | Knight of the Reliquary |
| Rakdos | Kolaghan's Command |
| Rakdos | Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger |
| Orzhov | Lingering Souls |
| Orzhov | Lurrus of the Dream-Den |
| Selesnya | Lush Portico |
| Gruul | Manamorphose |
| Orzhov | Marsh Flats |
| Dimir | Master of Death |
| Azorius | Meticulous Archive |
| Gruul | Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes |
| Simic | Misty Rainforest |
| Simic | Nadu, Winged Wisdom |
| Azorius | No More Lies |
| Golgari | Nurturing Peatland |
| Simic | Oko, Thief of Crowns |
| Multicolor | Omnath, Locus of Creation |
| Gruul | Orcish Lumberjack |
| Boros | Otharri, Suns' Glory |
| Golgari | Overgrown Tomb |
| Boros | Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury |
| Golgari | Pillage the Bog |
| Simic | Planar Genesis |
| Boros | Plateau |
| Dimir | Polluted Delta |
| Multicolor | Prismatic Vista |
| Dimir | Psychic Frog |
| Selesnya | Qasali Pridemage |
| Multicolor | Raffine's Tower |
| Gruul | Raging Ravine |
| Rakdos | Raucous Theater |
| Multicolor | Raugrin Triome |
| Selesnya | Razorverge Thicket |
| Multicolor | Relic of Sauron |
| Rakdos | Restless Vents |
| Boros | Sacred Foundry |
| Izzet | Saheeli, Sublime Artificer |
| Simic | Sail into the West |
| Multicolor | Savai Triome |
| Selesnya | Savannah |
| Izzet | Scalding Tarn |
| Orzhov | Scrubland |
| Azorius | Seachrome Coast |
| Selesnya | Selesnya Sanctuary |
| Orzhov | Shadowy Backstreet |
| Azorius | Shorikai, Genesis Engine |
| Boros | Showdown of the Skalds |
| Orzhov | Silent Clearing |
| Selesnya | Simic Growth Chamber |
| Multicolor | Spara's Headquarters |
| Izzet | Spirebluff Canal |
| Izzet | Steam Vents |
| Gruul | Stomping Ground |
| Boros | Sunbaked Canyon |
| Gruul | Taiga |
| Boros | Talisman of Conviction |
| Izzet | Talisman of Creativity |
| Simic | Talisman of Curiosity |
| Dimir | Talisman of Dominance |
| Rakdos | Talisman of Indulgence |
| Azorius | Talisman of Progress |
| Simic | Tamiyo, Collector of Tales |
| Golgari | Tear Asunder |
| Azorius | Teferi, Hero of Dominaria |
| Azorius | Teferi, Time Raveler |
| Selesnya | Temple Garden |
| Gruul | Territorial Kavu |
| Izzet | Third Path Iconoclast |
| Multicolor | Thopter Foundry |
| Izzet | Thundering Falls |
| Orzhov | Tidehollow Sculler |
| Selesnya | Torsten, Founder of Benalia |
| Simic | Tropical Island |
| Azorius | Tundra |
| Dimir | Undercity Sewers |
| Golgari | Underground Mortuary |
| Dimir | Underground Sea |
| Simic | Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath |
| Rakdos | Valki, God of Lies |
| Golgari | Verdant Catacombs |
| Orzhov | Vindicate |
| Izzet | Volcanic Island |
| Simic | Waterlogged Grove |
| Dimir | Watery Grave |
| Golgari | Wight of the Reliquary |
| Selesnya | Windswept Heath |
| Golgari | Witherbloom Command |
| Gruul | Wooded Foothills |
| Gruul | Wrenn and Six |
| Multicolor | Xander's Lounge |
| Multicolor | Zagoth Triome |
| Multicolor | Ziatora's Proving Ground |
| Boros | Zirda, the Dawnwaker |
| Colorless | Agatha's Soul Cauldron |
| Colorless | Ancient Tomb |
| Colorless | Basalt Monolith |
| Colorless | Batterskull |
| Colorless | Black Lotus |
| Colorless | Blightsteel Colossus |
| Colorless | Chromatic Star |
| Colorless | Chrome Mox |
| Colorless | City of Traitors |
| Colorless | Coalition Relic |
| Colorless | Coveted Jewel |
| Colorless | Crucible of Worlds |
| Colorless | Currency Converter |
| Colorless | Dark Depths |
| Colorless | Dismember |
| Colorless | Emrakul, the Aeons Torn |
| Colorless | Everflowing Chalice |
| Colorless | Expedition Map |
| Colorless | Field of the Dead |
| Colorless | Grim Monolith |
| Colorless | Kaldra Compleat |
| Colorless | Karn, Scion of Urza |
| Colorless | Library of Alexandria |
| Colorless | Lightning Greaves |
| Colorless | Lion's Eye Diamond |
| Colorless | Lotus Petal |
| Colorless | Mana Crypt |
| Colorless | Mana Vault |
| Colorless | Manifold Key |
| Colorless | Memory Jar |
| Colorless | Mind Stone |
| Colorless | Mishra's Bauble |
| Colorless | Mishra's Research Desk |
| Colorless | Mishra's Workshop |
| Colorless | Mox Diamond |
| Colorless | Mox Opal |
| Colorless | Myr Battlesphere |
| Colorless | Palantír of Orthanc |
| Colorless | Pentad Prism |
| Colorless | Phyrexian Metamorph |
| Colorless | Phyrexian Revoker |
| Colorless | Porcelain Legionnaire |
| Colorless | Portal to Phyrexia |
| Colorless | Relic of Progenitus |
| Colorless | Retrofitter Foundry |
| Colorless | Sensei's Divining Top |
| Colorless | Shadowspear |
| Colorless | Skullclamp |
| Colorless | Smuggler's Copter |
| Colorless | Sol Ring |
| Colorless | Soul-Guide Lantern |
| Colorless | Strip Mine |
| Colorless | Sword of the Meek |
| Colorless | The Mightstone and Weakstone |
| Colorless | The One Ring |
| Colorless | Thespian's Stage |
| Colorless | Triplicate Titan |
| Colorless | Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger |
| Colorless | Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre |
| Colorless | Umezawa's Jitte |
| Colorless | Urza's Saga |
| Colorless | Walking Ballista |
| Colorless | Wasteland |
| Colorless | Zuran Orb |