Centering the Magic Online Vintage Cube
Posted on May 03, 2024
By Ryan Spain and Chris Wolf
The Magic Online Vintage Cube returns on May 8th for a two-week run, followed by a week off to polish the iteration, and then another two-week run with the updated list on May 29th.
The Changing of the Guard
For over a decade, Wizards of the Coast helmed the curation of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, a beloved staple among Magic Online events. Starting in late 2022, however, Daybreak Games took the MTGO reins and with it the curation responsibility for the Magic Online Vintage Cube, marking the beginning of a new era in the Cube's history.
Under Wizards, changes to the curation were relatively conservative, usually seeing a few dozen card adjustments in its 2-4 iterations a year. This was understandable given the slower pace at which they were printing cards powerful enough to unseat existing Vintage Cube cards during that era. Over time, as some of the powerful new cards gradually made their way in, many classic cards and archetypes became less and less competitive, diminishing the drafting experience and going against the “most powerful and fun cards and archetypes” curation philosophy of powered Vintage Cube.
Under Daybreak, we shifted the strategy dramatically, updating the Cube more times per year with larger updates each time. This aggressive approach to refreshing the contents invigorated the cube, introducing exciting new cards and archetypes while benching ineffective "trap cards" with low win rates. While the results of this approach were largely positive, it has not been without some cognitive-load and comfort costs to consider, with each major iteration seeing over 100 cards rotating in and out.
The Pendulum Swings
If the Cube were a pendulum where center represented the perfect “platonic ideal” Vintage Cube given the current card pool, how much should the pendulum swing away from “perfect center” from iteration to iteration? That’s an ongoing question for the curation team. The big pendulum swings under Daybreak’s early curation efforts were necessary to shake up the stagnant curation and recalibrate its contents to remove chaff and incorporate the powerful cards that had seen print in recent years. With an increased rate of Cube availability, continued variety has been important to keeping the experience fun and fresh, so we have continued to swing the pendulum wide under the archetypes philosophy outlined here.
While wider pendulum swings have been largely successful based on participation and general community feedback, the magnitude and frequency of changes has also presented challenges in terms of adaptability and consistency. Recognizing this, we plan to reduce the scope of future changes, seeking a balance that exceeds the conservative adjustments of Wizards' era but falls short of the sweeping changes seen recently.
This move towards less turnover from iteration to iteration while still maintaining the Cube’s freshness and strategic diversity begins with a "return-to-center" curation effort this time. Bringing the pendulum from a wide swing back to center requires another large changelist, but from here we are aiming to stabilize the cube's composition a bit more and have the pendulum swinging closer to center in general.
The iteration laid out at the end of this article debuts on May 8th, and after a two-week run, the Cube will pause for a week to allow for fine-tuning based on player feedback and win-rate data before it returns for another two-week session. So how did we approach this curation? What is the platonic ideal of the Magic Online Vintage Cube?
Getting Centered
What does a “center pendulum” Vintage Cube mean? Here’s a mission statement for the effort:
The ideal Magic Online Vintage Cube exists at the optimal intersection between maximum power, maximum fun, and reasonable color balance given the current card pool available.
Here’s how that works out in practice:
- The center-pendulum Cube contains mostly archetypes we intend to represent more than half the time, and that fall within a reasonable range of performance success (more on that below).
- You can’t please everyone with every decision, but the curation should be packed with the cards and archetypes players would expect to see in a "powered Vintage Cube," and every pack should have familiar favorites for a returning player to latch onto.
- The curation should explore new cards with Cube potential, so the experience stays on the “most powerful options” path as new cards are introduced to the pool.
- “Powerfully unfun” cards can be used, but sparingly. We have plans for a non-canon “Power Max” Vintage Cube coming up after the Discord voting showed lots of interest, but the core Magic Online Vintage Cube should not run every card that is justified on power level at the expense of fun, color balance, and cohesion.
Basically, what does a baseline iteration of the Magic Online Vintage Cube look like under the current curation team? That lens informed our approach to this update and will continue to inform the polish pass we will announce here in three weeks.
Performance Anxiety
Some players have lamented the incorporation of “bad” cards and archetypes into the Cube during the Daybreak Games run. While it’s unreasonable to expect that an archetype included for variety will swagger into the curation and topple the best-performing archetypes available, the pendulum-swing archetypes perform far better than a lot of detractors think. The data during our archetype experiments show that if an archetype has a reasonable plan, reasonable support, and has parts with reasonable baseline power, it’s actively difficult to introduce a truly “bad” archetype.
There is a bell curve of “win rate when in main deck” that barely budges regardless of the archetypes we try. It goes from a few cards at ~45% to a few cards at ~55%, with a big bulge at ~50% where you would expect. When we remove an archetype that trends towards the bottom half of the bell curve for a different archetype that trends towards the bottom half of the bell curve, it means we are doing it right. We are adding variety to the experience without expanding the range of the performance bell curve or offering “trap archetypes” that fall outside the wrong end of the performance bell curve, which is perfect! We will continue to do this, but at a lower rate of change from iteration to iteration. If the cards in the incoming archetypes land above that 45% bottom and don’t push the cards in the top archetypes above 55%, we consider it a “performance success.” If most of the cards in an archetype fall below 45%, then it’s a trap archetype that is to be avoided—except for one. Read on through the archetype changes for this iteration to learn what we’ve added and removed, and which trap archetype we have welcomed back in!
Rotating Out
Dredge/Madness
This pair held their own in win rate during the last iteration of the Vintage Cube, but neither of these plans are on our “over 50% representation” list. We’ll go mad again someday, but not in this core-archetypes iteration.
Power Matters
The introduction of pump spells into the Magic Online Vintage Cube has been met with skepticism and raising of eyebrows, but we are here to tell you: the best of them performed quite well! That said, in keeping with our return-to-center approach, we’re letting go of most of them. Invigorate and Mutagenic Growth have earned their place outside of the supported archetype, so we’re letting them ride. Invigorate allows Green to have a little more play on the interactive front and Mutagenic Growth will stick around for Prowess support. Free spells are good in Vintage Cube, who knew?
Splinter Twin Combo
This package performs within the bell curve of win rate, but we cut it as a linear, parasitic mechanic that uses up a lot of slots on cards that don’t have a lot of good homes outside of this specific archetype. The Cube can withstand some “one-deck slots” and still be great fun, but this isn’t the archetype we want to use them on in this “return to center” iteration. See the incoming Storm archetype below to see where we are spending those slots!
Doomsday
Crafting a game-winning set of cards for your resolved Doomsday is a fun, high-level challenge that we will be bringing back soon. It’s another archetype that demands a few support cards that aren’t great in other decks, though, and we are going with another beloved combo package in Dream Halls for this swing at the center.
Dark Depths Combo
This combo has been a mainstay for a long time now but has already seen a decrease in support with the departure of Vampire Hexmage. We don’t consider this to be a staple of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, but rather a frequent guest, so you can expect this to return in many iterations ahead.
Rotating In
Storm
Good news—none of the archetypes we’ve introduced under Daybreak curation qualified as traps! However, one of the archetypes we are bringing for this “center pendulum” iteration does: good ol’ Storm! There are several cards coming in that are only playable in the Storm archetype and have a historical win rate below the 45% - 55% bell curve. It’s a trap! So why is an acknowledged trap archetype—the thing we try to avoid with our new swings—making it into our “platonic ideal” Magic Online Vintage Cube? Storm is an exception to the trap rule for several reasons:
- It’s a fun trap! It’s a sideways approach to winning that feels great when you pull it off.
- Player expectation and nostalgia. It has been the “crazy thing you can try” in the Magic Online Vintage Cube for most of its existence.
- Streamers enjoy “going for it” despite the risks. Watching a talented pilot pull off Storm wins is fun, exciting, and informative content.
- The archetype is supported by some iconic, powerful cards that are nice to get into the Cube, like Yawgmoth’s Will, Dark Ritual and its analogs, High Tide, and the payoff cards like Tendrils of Agony.
All that said, we are making a concerted effort this season to push the Storm win rate up from “trap” levels and closer to “weaker but legit” levels without using more slots than usual on “Storm only” inclusions. We are adding Bubbling Muck alongside High Tide to fuel net-positive land-untapping, and we have increased the number of cantrips available. The cantrips help Storm players to combo off more consistently, but are much less parasitic because they can be utilized by any blue deck, especially combo-oriented builds.
Dream Halls
Coming in fresh off its second-place finish in the Discord archetype poll (if you want to get in on votes of future polls and help guide the direction of the MTGO Vintage Cube, join here), it’s back to fill the Doomsday space. Dream Halls does ask for some support cards that aren’t all-stars in other decks but living the Dream (Halls) is a ton of fun that many players loved when we brought it in for the first time last year.
Artifacts Matter
Given that many artifacts are auto-includes in a powered Vintage Cube, “Artifacts Matter” never fully left, but we cut back on the total number of artifacts last iteration. For a baseline, center-pendulum Vintage Cube experience, there are few archetypes more obvious to bolster than Artifacts Matter.
Prowess
Prowess creatures benefitted greatly from last season’s Power Matters archetype, and OTJ gave us a new, more powerful option in Slickshot Show-Off. While largely focused on red and green, this time we’re looking to fuse this archetype with blue. The increased number of cantrips to support Storm will also benefit this archetype, as well as new additions in Duelist of the Mind and Proft’s Eidetic Memory, which also play well with draw-seven spells. While this is more of an incidental archetype than a primary focus, we still wanted to highlight it here.
The OTJ Trials
This major iteration has more cards from the latest set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction than is typical for a new set, especially in a “platonic ideal” iteration. It’s not that we are “trying to promote the new set” when we try out new cards—it’s that we have to battle-test the new candidates to understand their potential and strength in the environment. The high density of candidates in this set and the quick follow-up polish pass also supports trying more of the new cards now, as we can rotate out the worst-performing OTJ cards in favor of the best-performing historical analogs three weeks from now.
This means we leaned towards trying “close calls” from OTJ over not, as we can quickly correct course with this iteration. If you are someone who likes to maintain a paper version of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, consider waiting for the polished version of this Cube. We’ll announce the changes right here in three weeks!
Changing the Changes
Check out the card-by-card design notes on all the changes below for thoughts on each change, and note the new changelist format: an “In” list with comments, and a separate “Out” list with comments! The previous presentations of the changes showed a table with a column of cards coming in next to a column of cards going out. While sometimes there are deliberate one-for-one changes, it is often misleading to present one card as being “swapped” for another like this.
Presenting the ins and outs separately helps reinforce the “package” philosophy at work when considering changes from season to season. When there is an analog swap for power or variety, we will try to mention that in the comments, but separate in/out lists are a better reflection of how we go about curating the Magic Online Vintage Cube.
We hope you have a blast with this run, and as always, we look forward to considering your thoughts and feedback about the Magic Online Vintage Cube on Twitter/X, Discord, and the MTGO Forums!
Changelist
Cards In
| Color | Card In | Design Comment |
|---|---|---|
| White | Adanto Vanguard | Adanto Vanguard has been missed by many and is making its return here. Notably it also works very well with new addition Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar. |
| White | Aven Interrupter | Countermagic on a body that's reasonably costed. This should perform in both the white aggressive strategies and the UW tempo-style decks. |
| White | Collector's Cage | Collector's Cage is another new and interesting toy. The ability to cast something at instant speed here is powerful and important here, as is the stat-boost effect even after you've cashed in your card. Let's see if it lives up! |
| White | Esper Sentinel | Esper Sentinel is back to combat the increased amount of spell-based strategies while bolstering Artifacts Matter strategies. |
| White | Leyline Binding | While Domain isn't a full-on archetype here, we still have Triomes and Surveil Duals, which makes this card discounted at a consistent enough rate to be worth the slot. |
| White | Lion Sash | Lion Sash is clunky graveyard hate, but being tutorable with Stoneforge Mystic and increasing Artifacts Matter support jibes with the return-to-center principle. |
| White | Monastery Mentor | Off the bench because it does well in stormy environments. |
| White | Portable Hole | The efficient Portable Hole is back with increased support for artifact strategies. |
| White | Sanguine Evangelist | A miniature version of Hero of Bladehold that introduces a second body right away and when it dies. A solid three drop and a relatively new card to boot. |
| White | Steel Seraph | Steel Seraph is coming back - that's so metal! |
| White | Student of Warfare | A lot of you have been calling for the Student's return, so here it is! |
| White | Virtue of Loyalty | This has been on our shortlist of adds since its release, and now it finally gets its time to shine! |
| Blue | Aether Spellbomb | Cheap artifacts are always nice to have, so we're bringing back the Spellbombs together with the increased Artifacts Matter theme. |
| Blue | Akal Pakal, First Among Equals | Akal Pakal gets the Sai slot from the last time artifacts was heavily supported. Artifact strategies often face the issue of running out of cards because they run so many mana sources. The First Among Equals should help remedy those issues. |
| Blue | Chart a Course | Chart a Course is back for Careful Study, as our return-to-center approach prefers more generically useful cards over synergy-focused ones. |
| Blue | Dream Halls | The Halls are back to realize your dreams, wooo! |
| Blue | Duelist of the Mind | The Duelist is not only a good rate for a blue 2-drop, it also combos well with draw-sevens, which are plentiful in Vintage Cube. We decided that this effect is strong enough to warrant a small package, including Proft's Eidetic Memory. |
| Blue | Hard Evidence | The Craben Inspector is back. One extra-nice thing about it this time is that it provides blue with an immediate body to hold counters from your Proft's Eidetic Memory, but even without that interaction, it's a solid card for blue in an aggro-world. |
| Blue | High Tide | The tide is high and we're holding on--it's gonna be your stormy one! |
| Blue | Jace Reawakened | While we're still on the fence about new Jace's viability in terms of raw power, it has enough potential upside to warrant a slot here. We also wrapped it in a small package as discussed in Bring to Light's card comment. Cheating on mana is generally a good thing to be doing in Vintage Cube, and this combines very well with the draw-seven combo decks that rely on Narset and Leovold. Let's see how Jace fares! |
| Blue | Kitesail Larcenist | A good way for blue to interact with the board. |
| Blue | Mind's Desire | Storm returns in full force to fulfill your Mind's Desire. |
| Blue | Phantom Interference | The modern way to have Mystic Snake in the Cube! Modal cards like these tend to play very well in Cube and since it's new, there is additional incentive to try it here. Will this leave in the polish pass, or impress enough to stick? |
| Blue | Portent | An increase in the number of cheap cantrips supports Storm without being parasitic, as they can go into any deck that can cast them. Don't forget to commit crimes with this one! |
| Blue | Proft's Eidetic Memory | Proft's Eidetic Memory is coming in as support for a small Prowess package and combines with Duelist of the Mind to further support draw-seven strategies. It should do some good work considering the increased amounts of cantrips present here. |
| Blue | Serum Visions | Like Portent, an incoming cantrip to boost Storm without being parasitic. |
| Blue | Snap | Oh Snap! Combine this with High Tide, Bubbling Muck or Lotus Field to turn it into a ritual, or simply use it as a tempo play to bounce a creature that snuck through your counterspells. |
| Blue | Three Steps Ahead | Here's another new modal inclusion. It's not that Cancel, Catalog or Clone are particularly busted Magic cards, but when they're all stapled on one card, it offers an appealing set of options. |
| Blue | Treachery | Treachery isn't what it once was, but it's still good enough for Vintage Cube. No better time to prove it than with High Tide and Bubbling Muck in the mix! |
| Blue | Trinket Mage | With "Artifacts Matter" receiving more dedicated support this iteration, the Mage is coming back along with an increase in targets. |
| Blue | Turnabout | Turnabout is back to turn your lands about. |
| Black | Baleful Mastery | As the surveil on Pile On is not as relevant this season, we're swapping those again. Exile removal is often relevant, so the Mastery is well deserving of its slot. |
| Black | Beseech the Mirror | Beseech the Mirror has proven to be a flexible tutor that can also double as a second copy of Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, for example. Bargaining this should be fairly trivial with the heavy amount of artifact support present. |
| Black | Bolas's Citadel | Bolas's Citadel returns as one of the central pieces to modern storming while also being a great Tinker target, setting up a chance to win the game immediately |
| Black | Bubbling Muck | High Tide can generate a lot of mana, and Bubbling Muck can generate even more with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. |
| Black | Cabal Ritual | The Storm cabal is performing their rituals once again. |
| Black | Caustic Bronco | A new Dark Confidant variant. Time will tell how often the attack restriction will be a downside, but it's worth trying. |
| Black | Goryo's Vengeance | Goryo's Vengeance is back, but this time not "instead of" but in addition to Shallow Grave and Corpse Dance to give the Annihilator Eldrazis more synergies. |
| Black | Graveyard Trespasser | The Trespasser is back to hate on graveyards again and gain you some life in the process. It's also very good at commiting crimes! |
| Black | Harvester of Misery | Another new banger from OTJ/BIG. Modal cards are incredible when it comes to Cube, and self-discarding is a nice mechanic for Reanimator. |
| Black | Hostile Investigator | Four mana is a lot, but a 3-for-1 at face value with the ability to generate more as the game goes on is legit. Remember, it triggers on discard from anyone, so you get a clue from discarding to your Fable of the Mirror Breaker, or taking their best spell with a Duress. |
| Black | Imperial Seal | One of the worst universal tutors is still a universal tutor. We've also increased the number of cantrips that will get you your card immediately, so Imperial Seal should be the best worst tutor it can be, here. |
| Black | Infernal Grasp | As with Long Goodbye, we're increasing the total number of interactive spells to help combo decks contain creature strategies long enough to go off. |
| Black | Kaervek, the Punisher | Another potential banger from OTJ, this one even foregoes timing restrictions. So you can kill your opponents creature during their draw step and cast a discard spell you used previously from your graveyard. |
| Black | Long Goodbye | We're upping the total amount of removal in the Cube in an effort to tame Boros's dominance. Long Goodbye should come in handy in dealing with the recent influx of powerful Red 3-drops and more. |
| Black | Night's Whisper | Night's Whisper is back to provide additional card drawing for your Black decks. |
| Black | Phyrexian Fleshgorger | Another modal card. It's an artifact, it provides lifegain for your Snuff Out/Thoughtseize decks, and it's a reasonable plan-B reanimation plan. |
| Black | Rain of Filth | Rain of Filth was here before and is mainly supporting Storm, but can also combine with Titania, Protector of Argoth for a quick win via 5/3 Elementals. |
| Black | Tendrils of Agony | The most iconic way to close out a win with the Storm archetype. |
| Black | Tourach, Dread Cantor | The Dread Cantor returns after having made room for important synergy pieces in the last update. |
| Black | Wishclaw Talisman | Another inclusion that supports Storm without only supporting Storm. Wish for the card you need to render your opponent's wish moot! |
| Black | Yawgmoth's Will | He hasn't died yet, but we shall once again read Yawgmoth's will. |
| Red | "Name Sticker" Goblin | The card that took Legacy by storm is making its Vintage Cube debut with the return of Storm. |
| Red | Arc Trail | Arc Trail is coming back for Avacyn's Judgment with the Madness theme leaving. |
| Red | Birgi, God of Storytelling | Birgi is back as additional Storm support, but it's also something you can cheat into play with Jace Reawakened. Starting your Storm turn with a free Harnfel, Horn of Bounty is big game! |
| Red | Bonehoard Dracosaur | This relatively new "dragon" has been on our shortlist for inclusion since its release, and it's finally set to shine with the return of Seething Song and the debut of "Name Sticker" Goblin to power it out. |
| Red | Elemental Eruption | Mind's Desire meets Dragonstorm? Yes please! While this doesn't end the game immediately, it's the best storm spell on a nominal storm count. This card is reasonable at Storm 3, which is easily accomplished with just a Seething Song and a Bauble. Going off fully also protects you from any incoming assault, so it shouldn't be to hard to win the game with this. |
| Red | Generous Plunderer | Symmetrical effects often backfire, but with this one you get the choice. It also attacks in for a lot of damage if your opponent is running a lot of artifacts. We'll see where this card lands, but it's worth a trial run in the context of the quick follow-up polish run of this iteration. |
| Red | Highway Robbery | Plot synergizes well with Storm, and Red has been the premiere color to pair with Black for reanimation for a while, so this card should do work that belies its humble Tormenting Voice appearances. Unlike the Tormenting Voice and many other of its analogs, Highway Robbery isn't stuck in hand if you topdeck it on empty--that can feel like a Time Walk in a tough spot. |
| Red | Legion Extruder | This is another new card with exciting potential. Shooting down a thing while providing an artifact for Academy or to sacrifice to your Gut/Bombardiers and also being somewhat of an engine by itself bodes well for its impact. |
| Red | Magda, the Hoardmaster | Commiting crimes is not a tall order for your average red deck, and getting a Treasure Token out of it is pretty good value, but the ability to cash three of them in for a 4/4 token with flying and haste gives it enough extra oomph for a trial run, here. |
| Red | Mizzix's Mastery | Mizzix's Mastery is here to provide some redundancy for Dream Halls shenanigans, but also isn't embarassing in your regular Storm deck. |
| Red | Pyrite Spellbomb | Cheap artifacts are always nice to have, so we're bringing back the Spellbombs together with the increased Artifacts Matter theme. |
| Red | Rite of Flame | We're also bringing Rite of Flame back, which can also be used to power out your everyday red threats when it's not ramping you to the new Storm payoff in red. |
| Red | Runaway Steam-Kin | Runaway Steam-Kin was cut for being a little too narrow, but has a good number of additional applications this time around. It intersects nicely with everything red is doing here, whether it be trying to ramp out big Dragons/Dinosaurs quickly, putting the prowess beats on your opponent, or fully storming off with Elemental Eruption. |
| Red | Seething Song | The Song is back, supporting Storm primarilly, but also to power out an increased number of red five drops. |
| Red | Slickshot Show-Off | Arguably OTJ's biggest overall hit, it's too bad it wasn't availble for last iteration's Power Matters archetype. That said, we are keeping around some of the best performers in that archetype for the Prowess archetype this time, which Slickshot Show-Off shows off like nothing else. |
| Red | Thundermaw Hellkite | The Hellkite is back! It's hard to run all of the viable five-mana dragons, so we're trying to cycle them in and out at a reasonable rate. Thundermaw has been riding the bench the longest, so we're bringing it back this time. Combine this with Railway Brawler for double the fun! |
| Red | Unholy Heat | Once again, increasing the total amount of interactive spells. |
| Green | Arbor Elf | Mainly here to untap your Utopia Sprawl'd Forest, but can also work with Lotus Field if you throw a Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth into the mix! |
| Green | Bristly Bill, Spine Sower | It impersonates a Luminarch Aspirant for a while when cast on turn two, and when you run out of lands for it, you have a mana sink to keep counting. |
| Green | Courser of Kruphix | Cards like Exploration and Fastbond got worse without the Courser, so we're bringing it back as part of return to center. |
| Green | Eureka | E=MC²! Bringing back an old classic for this one, with some additional creature-cheat support in Green. Eureka trends towards the lower end of the success curve, but it isn't an outright trap if built around and played thoughtfully. |
| Green | Garruk Wildspeaker | We're welcoming back O.G. Garruk for generating extra mana with Utopia Sprawl, Lotus Field or even High Tide and Bubbling Muck if you're feeling creative! |
| Green | Goldvein Hydra | Goldvein Hydra has looked promising both as a "fair play" and as a payoff for making lots of mana with Gaea's Cradle, or even infinite with Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy and Basalt Monolith. |
| Green | Nature's Claim | With the additional Artifacts Matter support, we're also bringing back additional hate. |
| Green | Nishoba Brawler | The Nishoba has made it back to brawl with the Surveil Lands. |
| Green | Ornery Tumblewagg | A green Luminarch Aspirant that snowballs out of control very quickly, especially with lots of +1/+1 counter support present. |
| Green | Paradise Druid | Paradise Druid is another way for Green to make all kinds of mana while being removal-proof until you decide to use it, which is a nice way to ensure your splash. |
| Green | Pick Your Poison | A card that is seeing a lot of constructed play. It might look like inconsistent artifact removal, but it has a "secret mode" of providing an answer to a reanimated Archon, Atraxa or Griselbrand. |
| Green | Railway Brawler | This elephant should do some work as a modal 4 or 5 drop that buffs up everything you put into play afterwards, including Pest Infestation tokens! We are expecting this to be at its best combined with the various hasters in Gruul. |
| Green | Ranger Class | Grizzly Bear with ongoing utility is historically a good Magic card with a great floor. Plus, there is a minor "+1/+1 counters matter" subtheme with the new additions Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and Ornery Tumblewagg. |
| Green | Regrowth | Anyone with a Time Walk wants to see this card go around the table and into their deck, but it also has some relevance in Storm and Storm-style decks, so we're bringing back the classic for this run. |
| Green | Sandstorm Salvager | A green Blade Splicer variant, but this puts counters on all your tokens, including Cats, Pests, Elementals and whatever else your deck is capable of producing. |
| Green | Smuggler's Surprise | Surprise! This is Vintage Cube and we're smuggling creatures into play. This also has some flexibility to it, which is always a good place to be for Cube in general. |
| Green | Tough Cookie | Tough Cookie allows Green to dip its feet into Artifacts Matter as well. It offers two artifacts to help out your Karnstructs and Tolarian Academy, as well as providing a serious lategame threat with its activated ability. |
| Green | Utopia Sprawl | Utopia Sprawl is back with its best buddy Arbor Elf and a myriad of other untappers to fix and ramp your mana as you please. |
| Green | Vaultborn Tyrant | Likely the biggest slam-dunk for Cube. It works in all kinds of different creature-cheat variations and is reasonable to hard cast. |
| Azorius | Assimilation Aegis | The O-Ring effect restricted to creatures leaves something to be desired in today's Vintage Cube, but this one is an artifact that's fetchable with Stoneforge Mystic and pitches to both Solitude and Force of Will. Add the ability to turn your creatures into the one you exiled, and there are enough upsides to warrant giving this card a try. |
| Azorius | Shorikai, Genesis Engine | With the increased Artifacts Matter support, we're also bringing back Shorikai, Genesis Engine, together with Manifold Key. If you were hesitant to try this in your artifact shells the first time we ran it, consider giving it a go this time around. |
| Dimir | Darkslick Shores | Sunken Ruins was mainly in to support the extreme color requirements of Doomsday decks, so we're swapping these back. |
| Dimir | Lazav, Wearer of Faces | This card can provide a lot of value for a very low amount of investment, as well as doing the "big thing" of turning into an Archon of Cruelty every now and then. |
| Dimir | Lim-Dul's Vault | Another powerful old Magic card that comes in as non-parasitic support of Storm. This can be a powerful tool in setting up your big Storm turns! |
| Golgari | Abrupt Decay | With Witherbloom Command's ability to fill your graveyard mattering less here, we decided to swap Abrupt Decay in for variety. With the increased number of powerful 3-drops, this should always have a good target to decay away. |
| Golgari | Pillage the Bog | Golgari is short on exciting options now that Dredge support is gone, but this one definitely piqued our interest, especially with the re-addition of Storm. |
| Golgari | The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride | A walking Greater Good without the discard, and a real beater to boot. This will be a ride you will enjoy more than your opponent! |
| Gruul | Escape to the Wilds | Escape to the Wilds is back without most of what could be considered its "traditional home" in the Lands archetype, but with the influx in red rituals, having a way to draw a bunch of cards is a nice thing to have access to. |
| Gruul | Manamorphose | Manamorphose is back with a lot of good homes in this iteration of the Cube. |
| Izzet | Magma Opus | With Dream Halls returning, you also get to cast your Magma Opus with Mizzix's Mastery on Turn 3 again! |
| Izzet | Spirebluff Canal | With Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker rotating out again and an aggressive Izzet archetype coming in, we are swapping Spirebluff Canal back in for Cascade Bluffs. |
| Orzhov | Ashen Rider | There is increased "creature-cheat" in this iteration, so the Rider is back to get them coming and going! |
| Rakdos | Restless Vents | Restless Vents is coming in for Lavaclaw Reaches with the departure of Blossoming Tortoise. |
| Rakdos | Talisman of Indulgence | Bringing back this Talisman with more Artifacts Matter support and the return of Storm made sense. |
| Rakdos | Valki, God of Lies | Valki is back with its best buddy Bring to Light and new Jace Reawakened to cheat it into play, while still working as a big planeswalker in Lurrus companions. |
| Selesnya | Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar | Kutzil works well with the influx of +1/+1 counters with OTJ and with Exalted triggers, largely bricks your opponents counterspells, and protects your Natural Order. Selesnya is also historically a "problem-child" in Vintage Cube, so we're willing to give more cards a try in hopes of finding something that sticks. |
| Simic | Oko, the Ringleader | A promising new Planeswalker that puts a lot of power on the board. We don't think it's the second coming of the original, but it has enough potential to be a worthy inclusion. |
| Simic | Sail into the West | Sail into the West is here as another draw-seven effect for Dream Halls and Fastbond. The "may" clause means it doesn't play as well with Hullbreacher or Narset as the other draw-sevens, but it still gets the job done! |
| Multicolor | Bring to Light | We're bringing back the Light, together with a small package suggested by Jace Reawakened to combine with Delayed Blast Fireball and Valki, God of Lies, supporting multicolored strategies in general. |
| Multicolor | Cruel Ultimatum | Once again, you can exact the ultimate cruelty upon your opponents with Dream Halls, Mizzix's Mastery, or Relic of Sauron plus some time. |
| Multicolor | Huatli, Poet of Unity | A throwback to old Nissa, Vastwood Seer, who also flips for value. Plus, there are even a couple of Dinosaurs in the Cube now to fetch with the Saga. |
| Multicolor | Lotus Field | Lotus Field is coming in as a package deal with all the untappers in to support High Tide and Bubbling Muck. This can also help fill your graveyard for Underworld Breach and can potentially go infinite with Courser of Kruphix/Fastbond/Crucible of Worlds, due to being able to continuously sacrifice itself to its own ability, tapping the other land for mana every time. |
| Multicolor | Mana Confluence | Adding back another piece of universal fixing for decks with more than two colors (and two-color decks in "take what fixing I can get" mode). |
| Multicolor | Relic of Sauron | It's time to upgrade Thran Dynamo with the Relic. It is better than the Dynamo in practice despite the loss of a mana, as you can keep a counterspell up after tapping out for it. It also fixes your mana towards casting Bolas's Citadel and draws you cards when the game goes long. It's a banger! |
| Multicolor | Thopter Foundry | Of course there is the classic combo with Sword of the Meek for an untold number of tokens, but you can also use it in conjuction with Retrofitter Foundry to spit out 4/4's more quickly, or to get rid of your One Ring/Coveted Jewel. |
| Colorless | Aetherflux Reservoir | A solid Storm payoff, but more it also does work with Bolas's Citadel and the Sensei's Divining Top/Helm of Awakening/Mystic Forge combo. |
| Colorless | Candelabra of Tawnos | Candelabra is back to untap your Tolarian Academy and more, with High Tide, Bubbling Muck and Lotus Field joining the party as well. |
| Colorless | Helm of Awakening | Helm of Awakening returns with all the Storm support, but not only that, it also combos with Sensei's Divining Top + Mystic Forge! |
| Colorless | Manifold Key | Manifold Key is good in Vintage Cube even without Time Vault. Mana Vault, the Monoliths, and Shorikai combo nicely, to name a few. Plus, you can make your huge Karnstructs unblockable to swing through pesky blockers. |
| Colorless | Mystic Forge | Mystic Forge is also back as a draw engine for heavy artifact decks, as well as a great combo with Sensei's Divining Top. |
| Colorless | Nettlecyst | Bringing back the Karnstruct armor for the increased Artifacts Matter support. |
| Colorless | Nexus of Becoming | Great off of Mishra's Workshop while lending some additional support to creature-cheating strategies. Turn your spare Talismans in blockers/threats, and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn still has Annihilator 6 even as a 3/3! |
| Colorless | Sword of the Meek | Thopter/Sword is back in the mix! Combine this with Thopter Foundry for a lot or even up to infinite tokens (combined with Urza, Lord High Artificer). |
| Colorless | Triplicate Titan | With the addition of more "creature-cheat" pieces, we're bringing back the Titan. |
Cards Out
| Color | Card Out | Design Comment |
|---|---|---|
| White | Eagles of the North | The Eagles are definitely the worst of the Land-cycler cycle and we feel Timeless Dragon already does a good enough job that this one isn't necessary. |
| White | Get Lost | Get Lost is replacement-level removal and we're bringing back both Portable Hole and Leyline Binding, so this one can consider itself replaced. |
| White | Guardian of New Benalia | As discarding matters less, these are rotating out again. |
| White | Novice Inspector | Everyone loves a Thraben Inspector, so why not have two? Because there are many viable options for one mana white creatures, and the redundancy here isn't doing more for the Cube than variety. |
| White | Ranger-Captain of Eos | It might seem odd to rotate out an answer to Storm as Storm rotates in, but this is a competitive slot and Storm doesn't need containing. |
| White | Recruiter of the Guard | Recruiter has more to it than Splinter Twin support, but it loses enough value without Splinter Twin being here to justify leaving along with it. |
| White | Restoration Angel | Restoration Angel isn't primarily a combo piece for Kiki-Jiki, but there are other great options here, and Restoration Angle implies a package that isn't in this iteration. |
| White | Seasoned Hallowblade | As discarding matters less, these are rotating out again. |
| White | Sungold Sentinel | Swapping this one out for Lion Sash. |
| White | The Restoration of Eiganjo | As discarding matters less, these are rotating out again. |
| White | Weathered Wayfarer | Weathered Wayfarer had a good run, tutoring up Library of Alexandria, Gaea's Cradle and Strip Mine, but will warm the bench for this run at least. |
| White | Werefox Bodyguard | Bodyguard was fine, but also not very exciting, and there are never enough slots anyway. |
| Blue | Astral Dragon | Astral Dragon often went late, so we'll seek a more appealing blue option. |
| Blue | Careful Study | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Deceiver Exarch | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Ethereal Forager | Both Ethereal Forager and Murktide Regent are fine threats for blue, but without heavy amounts of self-mill and the likes, they are difficult to support alongside the delve spells, which are preferable this season with Storm and Dream Halls in the mix. |
| Blue | Fact or Fiction | Fact or Fiction is getting benched again for falling down the power ladder. We feel the cheaper versions of filtering for and drawing cards are more worthwhile these days, but you can still expect this to be back at some point for nostalgic fun. FoF piles are interesting to craft! |
| Blue | Jace, Wielder of Mysteries | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Mental Note | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Murktide Regent | Both Ethereal Forager and Murktide Regent are fine threats for blue, but without heavy amounts of self-mill and the likes, they are difficult to support alongside the delve spells, which are preferable this season with Storm and Dream Halls in the mix. |
| Blue | Pestermite | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Picklock Prankster | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Rona, Herald of Invasion | Rona is making room for Duelist of the Mind this go-around, but is always in consideration for a slot. |
| Blue | Thassa's Oracle | Archetype rotating out. |
| Blue | Vendilion Clique | With a steady influx of new, powerful and exciting cards and only a limited number of slots available, it's a tall task to keep all the nostalgic cards around. We've decided to bench Vendilion Clique for the first time ever with the intention of bringing it back sooner, rather than later. |
| Blue | Venser, Shaper Savant | Venser ends up interacting with something, but has no clear home or job, so it will sit out for now. |
| Blue | Waker of Waves | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Ayara, Widow of the Realm | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Bazaar of Baghdad | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Bitterblossom | Another iconic card that hasn't withstood the test of time well, so this is likely to sit out unless it is supporting a specific archetype. With this version it was more important to support Storm and Reanimator than to keep around a card no longer pulling its weight. |
| Black | Bloodghast | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Damnation | Damnation is mainly a sideboard card these days, since Black doesn't do the control thing very well. With an increased number of spot-removal spells, Damnation shouldn't be sorely missed. |
| Black | Dogged Detective | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Doomsday | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Dreams of Steel and Oil | Dreams of Steel and Oil performed reasonably, but with an increased emphasis on combo this season and this being mainly a disruptive piece for "fair" decks, we can bench this with ease. |
| Black | Gurmag Angler | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Inverter of Truth | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Living Death | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Lord Skitter, Sewer King | Swapping this one out for Graveyard Trespasser again with the departure of Pack Rats. |
| Black | Misery's Shadow | Swapping out "generic 2-drops" here in favor of the new card Caustic Bronco. |
| Black | Ophiomancer | Withstanding the test of time a little bit better than Bitterblossom, Ophiomancer has still left something to be desired in recent years. We're also cutting a lot of the sacrifice support this season, so the snake-summoning shaman will ride the bench for the first time. |
| Black | Pack Rat | It was fun to have Pack Rat back for a while, but we are putting it on the bench again for now. |
| Black | Pile On | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Rankle, Master of Pranks | With a lighter emphasis on creatures in Black and much of the token support leaving, Rankle will sit this one out. |
| Black | Shadowgrange Archfiend | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Souls of the Lost | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Stalactite Stalker | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Stitcher's Supplier | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Tortured Existence | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Woe Strider | Archetype rotating out. |
| Black | Yawgmoth, Thran Physician | Yawgmoth will ride the bench this season, leaving behind his Will = additional combo support requires some space at the expense of creature-based strategies. |
| Red | Anger | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Anje's Ravager | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Avacyn's Judgment | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Bitter Reunion | Bitter Reunion is a good role player in Vintage Cube, but not essential for anything in particular. Expect this one to rotate in and out frequently. |
| Red | Blazing Rootwalla | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Bomat Courier | Bomar Courier has been less consistent at getting in damage and therefore drawing less cards over the years. It's still servicable, but we're letting it ride the bench this time. |
| Red | Demand Answers | We expect Highway Robbers to do a better job than this, partly because the plot mechanic plays so well with Storm. |
| Red | Fugitive Codebreaker | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Goblin Bombardment | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Inferno Titan | Inferno Titan has occupied the space of "fine to reanimate, but also castable" for a long time. Creatures have been getting a lot bigger on average, though, and the Titan doesn't always kill what you need to these days. |
| Red | Kari Zev, Skyship Raider | Kari Zev does well at providing fodder for Gut and Bombardiers, but is also fairly replaceable and OTJ/BIG had some good ones we wanted to try out. |
| Red | Khenra Spellspear | Khenra Spellspear would definitely still be good here, but slots are always limited, and Slickshot Show-Off is definitely the newer and more exciting version of this effect. |
| Red | Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Monstrous Rage | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Rampaging Ferocidon | Rampaging Ferocidon is a solid card and almost always has a combo to hate on, be it Splinter Twin or Thopter/Sword, but it also faces steep competition in its slot as a Red 3-drop and therefore often ends up in sideboards. Expect this to come back periodically. |
| Red | Reckless Charge | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Splinter Twin | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Squee, Goblin Nabob | Archetype rotating out. |
| Red | Zealous Conscripts | Zealous Conscripts, much like Restoration Angel, doesn't require the Splinter Twin combo to be a good card, but for signalling purposes, we'll have it ride the bench as well. |
| Green | Basking Rootwalla | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Become Immense | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Berserk | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Blossoming Tortoise | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Cavalier of Thorns | With neither Lands nor Dredge present, this card loses a lot of its equity and is therefore getting benched. |
| Green | Court of Garenbrig | This Court landed within the performance curve, but was often hit-or-miss. Either you dominate the game, or you donate the Monarchy to your opponent. That's gameplay that leads to regret and disappointment, so we're letting it go. |
| Green | Crop Rotation | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Deeproot Wayfinder | Deeproot Wayfinder is a solid card, but also very much replacable, so that's what we're doing here. |
| Green | Elvish Reclaimer | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Fauna Shaman | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Fyndhorn Elves | Arbor Elf takes the cake this time for its synergy with Utopia Sprawl. |
| Green | Hooting Mandrills | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Life from the Loam | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Primeval Titan | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Royal Treatment | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Satyr Wayfinder | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Sharp-Eyed Rookie | Sharp-Eyed Rookie was solid, but also did not outperform our expectations, so we're giving other twos a shot here. |
| Green | Survival of the Fittest | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Vengevine | Archetype rotating out. |
| Green | Wall of Roots | With Green becoming increasingly aggressive, Wall of Roots often isn't required in contributing to your gameplan, therefore we're letting it sit out this one, with the intention of returning it soon. |
| Green | Wrenn and Realmbreaker | Wrenn and Realmbreaker is a fine planeswalker, but without the self-mill mattering its much less appealing. |
| Azorius | No More Lies | A good counterspell, but not something that should always occupy a multicolor slot, since those are rare. We are back to heavily supporting artifacts, hence we are using these slots accordingly. Expect this to be a frequent guest though. |
| Azorius | Spell Queller | Another quality counterspell, this one on an evasive body, but again not something that should always occupy the multicolor slot in a color pair with competitive options. |
| Dimir | Master of Death | Archetype rotating out. |
| Dimir | Sunken Ruins | With Doomsday leaving, we're swapping this back for Darkslick Shores. |
| Dimir | Wail of the Forgotten | Archetype rotating out. |
| Golgari | Deathrite Shaman | Archetype rotating out. |
| Golgari | Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis | Archetype rotating out. |
| Golgari | Insidious Roots | Archetype rotating out. |
| Golgari | Witherbloom Command | Archetype rotating out. |
| Gruul | Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald | Archetype rotating out. |
| Izzet | Cascade Bluffs | With Kiki-Jiki leaving, we're swapping this back for Spirebluff Canal. |
| Izzet | Galvanic Iteration | Archetype rotating out. |
| Orzhov | Priest of Fell Rites | Archetype rotating out. |
| Rakdos | Fulminator Mage | Archetype rotating out. |
| Rakdos | Lavaclaw Reaches | Restless Vents is coming in for Lavaclaw Reaches with the departure of Blossoming Tortoise, being the better overall man-land. |
| Selesnya | Knight of Autumn | Knight of Autumn is solid and will always be there to fill our Selesnya slots if need be. In the meantime we're exploring other options. |
| Simic | Unruly Krasis | Archetype rotating out. |
| Simic | Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath | Uro will be making room in this run, so we can try some new options. Expect this to be back soon. |
| Multicolor | Raffine, Scheming Seer | Raffine was nice, but "wedge" cards are hard to fit in frequently, but if you are a big fan, expect to see this around periodically. |
| Colorless | Altar of Dementia | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Dark Depths | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Emrakul, the Promised End | While being a good payoff for infinite mana, most of the colorless big idiots leave something to be desired in today's era of Vintage Cube. We decided to go with the Annihilator Eldrazi in conjuction with Goryo's Vengeance this time around. |
| Colorless | Hangarback Walker | Hangarback Walker is always solid, never incredibly exciting and will ride the bench, until certain environmental factors warrant its return. |
| Colorless | Hollow One | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Lightning Greaves | The Greaves were neither beloved, nor did they perform particularly well, so we'll let them ride the bench again. |
| Colorless | Mutavault | The colorless creature-lands mostly bolster mono-colored aggressive strategies, which really don't need the support these days, so we're swapping it out for Mana Confluence as multicolor-strategies become more and more prevalent. |
| Colorless | Porcelain Legionnaire | Operating as a colorless aggressive 2-drop makes this flexible enough to include in any iteration, but at the same time it's also fairly replacable, so we're benching it this time around. |
| Colorless | The Underworld Cookbook | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Thespian's Stage | Archetype rotating out. |
| Colorless | Thran Dynamo | See Relic of Sauron's card comment. |
| Colorless | Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger | While being a good payoff for infinite mana, most of the colorless big idiots leave something to be desired in today's era of Vintage Cube. We decided to go with the Annihilator Eldrazi in conjuction with Goryo's Vengeance this time around. |
Full List
| Card | Color |
|---|---|
| Adanto Vanguard | White |
| Adeline, Resplendent Cathar | White |
| Aven Interrupter | White |
| Balance | White |
| Benevolent Bodyguard | White |
| Blade Splicer | White |
| Cathar Commando | White |
| Collector's Cage | White |
| Containment Priest | White |
| Council's Judgment | White |
| Damn | White |
| Elite Spellbinder | White |
| Elspeth, Knight-Errant | White |
| Enlightened Tutor | 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 |
| Leonin Relic-Warder | White |
| Leyline Binding | White |
| Lion Sash | White |
| Loran of the Third Path | White |
| Luminarch Aspirant | White |
| Mana Tithe | White |
| Monastery Mentor | White |
| Mother of Runes | White |
| Mox Pearl | White |
| Oust | White |
| Palace Jailer | White |
| Parallax Wave | White |
| Path to Exile | White |
| Portable Hole | White |
| Prismatic Ending | White |
| Reprieve | White |
| Samwise the Stouthearted | White |
| Sanguine Evangelist | 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 |
| Student of Warfare | 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 |
| Winds of Abandon | White |
| Wrath of God | White |
| Aether Spellbomb | Blue |
| Akal Pakal, First Among Equals | 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 |
| Dream Halls | 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 |
| Hard Evidence | Blue |
| High Tide | Blue |
| Hullbreacher | Blue |
| Jace Reawakened | Blue |
| Jace, the Mind Sculptor | Blue |
| Jace, Vryn's Prodigy | 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 |
| Mind's Desire | Blue |
| Miscalculation | Blue |
| Mox Sapphire | Blue |
| Mystic Confluence | Blue |
| Mystical Tutor | Blue |
| Narset, Parter of Veils | Blue |
| Otawara, Soaring City | Blue |
| Phantasmal Image | Blue |
| Phantom Interference | Blue |
| Ponder | Blue |
| Portent | Blue |
| Preordain | Blue |
| Proft's Eidetic Memory | Blue |
| Remand | Blue |
| Serum Visions | Blue |
| Shelldock Isle | Blue |
| Show and Tell | Blue |
| Snap | Blue |
| Snapcaster Mage | Blue |
| Spell Pierce | Blue |
| Spellseeker | Blue |
| Stern Scolding | Blue |
| Subtlety | Blue |
| Thieving Skydiver | Blue |
| Thought Scour | Blue |
| Three Steps Ahead | 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 |
| Turnabout | Blue |
| Upheaval | Blue |
| Urza, Lord High Artificer | Blue |
| Animate Dead | Black |
| Archon of Cruelty | Black |
| Baleful Mastery | Black |
| Beseech the Mirror | Black |
| Bitter Triumph | Black |
| Bolas's Citadel | Black |
| Bone Shards | Black |
| Bubbling Muck | Black |
| Cabal Ritual | Black |
| Caustic Bronco | Black |
| Collective Brutality | Black |
| Concealing Curtains | Black |
| Corpse Dance | Black |
| Cut Down | Black |
| Dark Confidant | Black |
| Dark Ritual | Black |
| Dauthi Voidwalker | Black |
| Deep-Cavern Bat | Black |
| Demonic Tutor | Black |
| Duress | Black |
| Entomb | Black |
| Evolved Sleeper | Black |
| Exhume | Black |
| Fatal Push | Black |
| Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor | Black |
| Goryo's Vengeance | Black |
| Grave Titan | Black |
| Graveyard Trespasser | Black |
| Grief | Black |
| Griselbrand | Black |
| Harvester of Misery | Black |
| Hostile Investigator | Black |
| Hymn to Tourach | Black |
| Imperial Seal | Black |
| Infernal Grasp | Black |
| Inquisition of Kozilek | Black |
| Kaervek, the Punisher | Black |
| Life/Death | Black |
| Liliana of the Veil | Black |
| Long Goodbye | Black |
| Mind Twist | Black |
| Mox Jet | Black |
| Necromancy | Black |
| Night's Whisper | Black |
| Orcish Bowmasters | Black |
| Phyrexian Fleshgorger | Black |
| Preacher of the Schism | Black |
| Rain of Filth | Black |
| Reanimate | Black |
| Recurring Nightmare | Black |
| Shallow Grave | Black |
| Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | Black |
| Sheoldred's Edict | Black |
| Snuff Out | Black |
| Tenacious Underdog | Black |
| Tendrils of Agony | Black |
| Thoughtseize | Black |
| Tourach, Dread Cantor | 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 | Black |
| "Name Sticker" Goblin | Red |
| Abrade | Red |
| Arc Trail | Red |
| Birgi, God of Storytelling | 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 |
| Dragon's Rage Channeler | Red |
| Dreadhorde Arcanist | 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 |
| Flametongue Kavu | Red |
| Fury | Red |
| Generous Plunderer | Red |
| Goblin Rabblemaster | Red |
| Goldspan Dragon | Red |
| Grim Lavamancer | Red |
| Gut, True Soul Zealot | Red |
| Headliner Scarlett | Red |
| Highway Robbery | Red |
| Inti, Seneschal of the Sun | Red |
| Laelia, the Blade Reforged | Red |
| Lava Dart | Red |
| Legion Extruder | Red |
| Lightning Bolt | Red |
| Magda, Brazen Outlaw | Red |
| Magda, the Hoardmaster | Red |
| Mine Collapse | Red |
| Mizzix's Mastery | Red |
| Monastery Swiftspear | Red |
| Mox Ruby | Red |
| Oliphaunt | Red |
| Pyrite Spellbomb | Red |
| Pyrokinesis | Red |
| Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer | Red |
| Rampaging Raptor | Red |
| Rite of Flame | Red |
| Robber of the Rich | Red |
| Runaway Steam-Kin | Red |
| Scrapwork Mutt | Red |
| Seasoned Pyromancer | Red |
| Seething Song | Red |
| Slickshot Show-Off | Red |
| Sneak Attack | Red |
| Soul-Scar Mage | Red |
| Through the Breach | Red |
| Thundermaw Hellkite | Red |
| Trumpeting Carnosaur | Red |
| Underworld Breach | Red |
| Unholy Heat | Red |
| Voldaren Epicure | Red |
| Wheel of Fortune | Red |
| Arbor Elf | Green |
| Augur of Autumn | Green |
| Avacyn's Pilgrim | Green |
| Birds of Paradise | Green |
| Boseiju, Who Endures | Green |
| Bristly Bill, Spine Sower | Green |
| Channel | Green |
| Courser of Kruphix | Green |
| Craterhoof Behemoth | Green |
| Delighted Halfling | Green |
| Elvish Mystic | Green |
| Endurance | Green |
| Esika's Chariot | Green |
| Eternal Witness | Green |
| Eureka | Green |
| Exploration | Green |
| Fastbond | Green |
| Gaea's Cradle | Green |
| Garruk Wildspeaker | Green |
| Generous Ent | Green |
| Goldvein Hydra | Green |
| Green Sun's Zenith | Green |
| Gruff Triplets | Green |
| Haywire Mite | Green |
| Hexdrinker | Green |
| Ignoble Hierarch | Green |
| Invigorate | Green |
| Legolas's Quick Reflexes | Green |
| Llanowar Elves | Green |
| Lotus Cobra | Green |
| Mox Emerald | Green |
| Natural Order | Green |
| Nature's Claim | Green |
| Nishoba Brawler | Green |
| Nissa, Ascended Animist | Green |
| Nissa, Who Shakes the World | Green |
| Noble Hierarch | Green |
| Oath of Druids | Green |
| Once Upon a Time | Green |
| Ornery Tumblewagg | Green |
| Outland Liberator | Green |
| Paradise Druid | Green |
| Pest Infestation | Green |
| Pick Your Poison | Green |
| Questing Beast | Green |
| Railway Brawler | Green |
| Ramunap Excavator | Green |
| Ranger Class | Green |
| Regrowth | Green |
| Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary | Green |
| Sandstorm Salvager | Green |
| Scavenging Ooze | Green |
| Sentinel of the Nameless City | Green |
| Smuggler's Surprise | Green |
| Sylvan Caryatid | Green |
| Sylvan Library | Green |
| Sylvan Safekeeper | Green |
| Tarmogoyf | Green |
| Tireless Tracker | Green |
| Titania, Protector of Argoth | Green |
| Tough Cookie | Green |
| Ulvenwald Oddity | Green |
| Utopia Sprawl | Green |
| Vaultborn Tyrant | Green |
| Woodfall Primus | Green |
| Worldspine Wurm | Green |
| Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth | Green |
| Assimilation Aegis | Azorius |
| Celestial Colonnade | Azorius |
| Flooded Strand | Azorius |
| Fractured Identity | Azorius |
| Hallowed Fountain | Azorius |
| Meticulous Archive | Azorius |
| Seachrome Coast | Azorius |
| Shorikai, Genesis Engine | Azorius |
| Talisman of Progress | Azorius |
| Teferi, Hero of Dominaria | Azorius |
| Teferi, Time Raveler | Azorius |
| Tundra | Azorius |
| Arid Mesa | Boros |
| Elegant Parlor | Boros |
| Figure of Destiny | Boros |
| Forth Eorlingas! | Boros |
| Inspiring Vantage | Boros |
| Otharri, Suns' Glory | Boros |
| Plateau | Boros |
| Sacred Foundry | Boros |
| Showdown of the Skalds | Boros |
| Sunbaked Canyon | Boros |
| Talisman of Conviction | Boros |
| Zirda, the Dawnwaker | Boros |
| Baleful Strix | Dimir |
| Creeping Tar Pit | Dimir |
| Darkslick Shores | Dimir |
| Fallen Shinobi | Dimir |
| Kaito Shizuki | Dimir |
| Lazav, Wearer of Faces | Dimir |
| Lim-Dul's Vault | Dimir |
| Polluted Delta | Dimir |
| Talisman of Dominance | Dimir |
| Undercity Sewers | Dimir |
| Underground Sea | Dimir |
| Watery Grave | Dimir |
| Abrupt Decay | Golgari |
| Bayou | Golgari |
| Blooming Marsh | Golgari |
| Grist, the Hunger Tide | Golgari |
| Nurturing Peatland | Golgari |
| Overgrown Tomb | Golgari |
| Pillage the Bog | Golgari |
| Tear Asunder | Golgari |
| The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride | Golgari |
| Underground Mortuary | Golgari |
| Verdant Catacombs | Golgari |
| Commercial District | Gruul |
| Copperline Gorge | Gruul |
| Escape to the Wilds | Gruul |
| Manamorphose | Gruul |
| Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes | Gruul |
| Orcish Lumberjack | Gruul |
| Raging Ravine | Gruul |
| Stomping Ground | Gruul |
| Taiga | Gruul |
| Territorial Kavu | Gruul |
| Wooded Foothills | Gruul |
| Wrenn and Six | Gruul |
| Dack Fayden | Izzet |
| Expressive Iteration | Izzet |
| Fiery Islet | Izzet |
| Magma Opus | Izzet |
| Saheeli, Sublime Artificer | Izzet |
| Scalding Tarn | Izzet |
| Spirebluff Canal | Izzet |
| Steam Vents | Izzet |
| Talisman of Creativity | Izzet |
| Third Path Iconoclast | Izzet |
| Thundering Falls | Izzet |
| Volcanic Island | Izzet |
| Ashen Rider | Orzhov |
| Concealed Courtyard | Orzhov |
| Godless Shrine | Orzhov |
| Lingering Souls | Orzhov |
| Lurrus of the Dream-Den | Orzhov |
| Marsh Flats | Orzhov |
| Scrubland | Orzhov |
| Shadowy Backstreet | Orzhov |
| Silent Clearing | Orzhov |
| Tidehollow Sculler | Orzhov |
| Vindicate | Orzhov |
| Badlands | Rakdos |
| Blackcleave Cliffs | Rakdos |
| Blood Crypt | Rakdos |
| Bloodstained Mire | Rakdos |
| Bloodtithe Harvester | Rakdos |
| Carnage Interpreter | Rakdos |
| Fire Covenant | Rakdos |
| Kolaghan's Command | Rakdos |
| Raucous Theater | Rakdos |
| Restless Vents | Rakdos |
| Talisman of Indulgence | Rakdos |
| Valki, God of Lies | Rakdos |
| Arwen, Mortal Queen | Selesnya |
| Horizon Canopy | Selesnya |
| Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar | Selesnya |
| Lush Portico | Selesnya |
| Qasali Pridemage | Selesnya |
| Razorverge Thicket | Selesnya |
| Savannah | Selesnya |
| Temple Garden | Selesnya |
| Torsten, Founder of Benalia | Selesnya |
| Windswept Heath | Selesnya |
| Botanical Sanctum | Simic |
| Breeding Pool | Simic |
| Hedge Maze | Simic |
| Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy | Simic |
| Misty Rainforest | Simic |
| Oko, the Ringleader | Simic |
| Oko, Thief of Crowns | Simic |
| Sail into the West | Simic |
| Talisman of Curiosity | Simic |
| Tamiyo, Collector of Tales | Simic |
| Tropical Island | Simic |
| Waterlogged Grove | Simic |
| Atraxa, Grand Unifier | Multicolor |
| Bring to Light | Multicolor |
| Cruel Ultimatum | Multicolor |
| Huatli, Poet of Unity | Multicolor |
| Indatha Triome | Multicolor |
| Jetmir's Garden | Multicolor |
| Ketria Triome | Multicolor |
| Leovold, Emissary of Trest | Multicolor |
| Lotus Field | Multicolor |
| Mana Confluence | Multicolor |
| Omnath, Locus of Creation | Multicolor |
| Prismatic Vista | Multicolor |
| Raffine's Tower | Multicolor |
| Raugrin Triome | Multicolor |
| Relic of Sauron | Multicolor |
| Savai Triome | Multicolor |
| Spara's Headquarters | Multicolor |
| Thopter Foundry | Multicolor |
| Xander's Lounge | Multicolor |
| Zagoth Triome | Multicolor |
| Ziatora's Proving Ground | Multicolor |
| Aetherflux Reservoir | Colorless |
| Agatha's Soul Cauldron | Colorless |
| Ancient Tomb | Colorless |
| Basalt Monolith | Colorless |
| Batterskull | Colorless |
| Black Lotus | Colorless |
| Blightsteel Colossus | Colorless |
| Candelabra of Tawnos | Colorless |
| Chromatic Star | Colorless |
| Chrome Mox | Colorless |
| City of Traitors | Colorless |
| Coalition Relic | Colorless |
| Coveted Jewel | Colorless |
| Crucible of Worlds | Colorless |
| Currency Converter | Colorless |
| Dismember | Colorless |
| Emrakul, the Aeons Torn | Colorless |
| Everflowing Chalice | Colorless |
| Grim Monolith | Colorless |
| Helm of Awakening | Colorless |
| Kaldra Compleat | Colorless |
| Karn, Scion of Urza | Colorless |
| Kozilek, Butcher of Truth | Colorless |
| Library of Alexandria | 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 |
| Mutagenic Growth | Colorless |
| Myr Battlesphere | Colorless |
| Mystic Forge | Colorless |
| Nettlecyst | Colorless |
| Nexus of Becoming | Colorless |
| Palantír of Orthanc | Colorless |
| Pentad Prism | Colorless |
| Phyrexian Metamorph | Colorless |
| Phyrexian Revoker | 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 |
| Triplicate Titan | Colorless |
| Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre | Colorless |
| Umezawa's Jitte | Colorless |
| Urza's Saga | Colorless |
| Walking Ballista | Colorless |
| Wasteland | Colorless |
| Zuran Orb | Colorless |