I thought I'd try to design my own cube. It's not finished yet. This is what I have so far. I plan to have 360 cards total. No duplicate cards. I plan to avoid overly specific flavor, as this is supposed to be something like the equivalent of a super-sized core-set-ish thingy. Also don't want it to be super-expensive, so I may avoid some cards simply due to their price. Some cards, like lightning bolt and counterspell, I'm avoiding because they are slightly above the mana curve power level I'm generally aiming for here, regardless of price, rarity, or generic-ness. I generally want to try and cover all my bases, and do most of the basic things different colors do, as well as have appropriate spells and creatures in every color, and most common 'iconic' creature types.

//Lands
1 x Shimmering Grotto
1 x Evolving Wilds
1 x Mystifying Maze
1 x Terramorphic Expanse
1 x Sulfur Falls
1 x Sunpetal Grove
1 x Woodland Cemetery
1 x Clifftop Retreat
1 x Dragonskull Summit
1 x Drowned Catacomb
1 x Glacial Fortress
1 x Hinterland Harbor
1 x Isolated Chapel
1 x Rootbound Crag
1 x Mana Confluence
1 x Unknown Shores
1 x Vivid Crag
1 x Vivid Creek
1 x Vivid Grove
1 x Vivid Marsh
1 x Vivid Meadow

//White
1 x Celestial Flare
1 x Planar Cleansing
1 x Silence
1 x Solemn Offering
1 x Pacifism
1 x Rain of Blades
1 x Safe Passage
1 x Day of Judgment
1 x Stave Off
1 x Condemn
1 x Indestructibility
1 x Banishing Light
1 x Oppressive Rays
1 x Reprisal
1 x Revoke Existence
1 x Arrest
1 x Martial Law
1 x Rest in Peace
1 x Righteous Charge
1 x Smite
1 x Sphere of Safety
1 x Cloudshift
1 x Faith's Shield
1 x Fiend Hunter
1 x Mentor of the Meek
1 x Midnight Guard
1 x Paraselene
1 x Rebuke
1 x Sanctuary Cat
1 x Wrath of God
1 x Stony Silence
1 x Devoted Retainer
1 x Elite Vanguard
1 x Lantern Kami
1 x Yoked Ox
1 x Soul Warden
1 x True Believer
1 x Veteran Cavalier
1 x Wall of Omens
1 x Youthful Knight
1 x Armored Warhorse
1 x Aven Squire
1 x Concordia Pegasus
1 x Courier Hawk
1 x Fencing Ace
1 x Glory Seeker
1 x Imposing Sovereign
1 x Keening Apparition
1 x Knight of Meadowgrain
1 x Knight of the White Orchid
1 x Leonin Skyhunter
1 x Nearheath Pilgrim
1 x Precinct Captain
1 x Stormfront Pegasus
1 x Accorder Paladin
1 x Alabaster Mage
1 x Glorious Anthem
1 x Benalish Veteran
1 x Benalish Knight
1 x Chapel Geist
1 x Cloudchaser Kestrel
1 x Court Street Denizen
1 x Eagle of the Watch
1 x Emancipation Angel
1 x Emissary of Hope
1 x Flickerwisp
1 x Frontline Medic
1 x Griffin Sentinel
1 x Intrepid Hero
1 x Loxodon Wayfarer
1 x Master of Diversion
1 x Mesa Enchantress
1 x Nightguard Patrol
1 x Niblis of the Mist
1 x Palace Guard
1 x Roc Egg
1 x Silverblade Paladin
1 x Skyhunter Skirmisher
1 x Sunspire Griffin
1 x Treasure Hunter
1 x Venerable Monk
1 x Village Bell-Ringer
1 x Voiceless Spirit
1 x Wild Griffin
1 x Attended Knight
1 x Auramancer
1 x Ballynock Cohort
1 x Banisher Priest
1 x Oblivion Ring
1 x Guardian Seraph
1 x Seraph of the Sword
1 x Seraph of Dawn
1 x Shepherd of the Lost
1 x Sunblast Angel
1 x Aegis Angel
1 x Archangel
1 x Victory's Herald
1 x Pentarch Ward
1 x Hyena Umbra
1 x Angelic Destiny
1 x Spirit Loop
1 x Mammoth Umbra
1 x Prison Term
1 x Guardian Zendikon
1 x Martial Law
1 x Path of Bravery
1 x Rule of Law
1 x High Ground
1 x Ivory Mask
1 x Angelic Benediction
1 x Worship

//Blue
1 x Cancel
1 x Clone
1 x Disperse
1 x Divination
1 x Index
1 x Mind Sculpt
1 x Sleep
1 x Unsummon
1 x Æther Adept
1 x Frost Breath
1 x Mana Leak
1 x Redirect
1 x Augury Owl
1 x Call to Mind
1 x Foresee
1 x Tome Scour
1 x Levitation
1 x Mind Spring
1 x Telepathy
1 x Time Warp
1 x Zephyr Sprite
1 x Oracle's Insight
1 x Ætherize
1 x Cyclonic Rift
1 x Dispel
1 x Inspiration
1 x Opportunity
1 x Mind Control
1 x Psychic Spiral
1 x Stealer of Secrets
1 x Claustrophobia
1 x Curiosity
1 x Dissipate
1 x Favorable Winds
1 x Laboratory Maniac
1 x Lantern Spirit
1 x Think Twice
1 x Thought Scour
1 x Kraken Hatchling
1 x Triton Shorethief
1 x Wingcrafter
1 x Remand
1 x Dream Stalker
1 x Fog Bank
1 x Maritime Guard
1 x Merfolk Looter
1 x Omenspeaker
1 x Plated Seastrider
1 x Seacoast Drake
1 x Surveilling Sprite
1 x Welkin Tern
1 x Coral Merfolk
1 x Deepwater Hypnotist
1 x Azure Mage
1 x Stitched Drake
1 x Stormbound Geist
1 x Tandem Lookout
1 x Temporal Adept
1 x Tideforce Elemental
1 x Trained Condor
1 x Wake Thrasher
1 x Wall of Air
1 x Watercourser
1 x Wind Drake
1 x Scroll Thief
1 x Sea Gate Oracle
1 x Skywinder Drake
1 x Spiketail Drakeling
1 x Latch Seeker
1 x Merchant of Secrets
1 x Niblis of the Breath
1 x Pestermite
1 x Phantom Warrior
1 x Psychic Membrane
1 x Puppeteer
1 x Cloud Elemental
1 x Courtly Provocateur
1 x Daring Apprentice
1 x Deceiver Exarch
1 x Dewdrop Spy
1 x Dream Thief
1 x Drift of Phantasms
1 x Fettergeist
1 x Fog Elemental
1 x Horizon Drake
1 x Guard Gomazoa
1 x Horseshoe Crab
1 x Laboratory Maniac
1 x Blind Phantasm
1 x Bonded Fetch
1 x Calcite Snapper
1 x Conundrum Sphinx
1 x Cerulean Sphinx
1 x Goliath Sphinx
1 x Horizon Scholar
1 x Prognostic Sphinx
1 x Windreader Sphinx
1 x Belltower Sphinx
1 x Stratus Walk
1 x Phantom Wings
1 x Drake Umbra
1 x Eel Umbra
1 x Protective Bubble
1 x Robe of Mirrors
1 x Sensory Deprivation
1 x Mystic Restraints
1 x Agoraphobia
1 x Claustrophobia
1 x Skygames
1 x Dismiss into Dream
1 x Dissipation Field
1 x Frozen Æther
1 x Memory Erosion
1 x Treasure Trove

//Black
1 x Murder
1 x Diabolic Tutor
1 x Mind Rot
1 x Shrivel
1 x Vile Rebirth
1 x Mutilate
1 x Ravenous Rats
1 x Sign in Blood
1 x Disentomb
1 x Distress
1 x Smallpox
1 x Corrupt
1 x Phylactery Lich
1 x Duress
1 x Royal Assassin
1 x Hero's Downfall
1 x Lash of the Whip
1 x Worst Fears
1 x Cremate
1 x Crypt Incursion
1 x Devour Flesh
1 x Killing Glare
1 x Barter in Blood
1 x Black Cat
1 x Corpse Lunge
1 x Dead Weight
1 x Exquisite Blood
1 x Heartless Summoning
1 x Necrobite
1 x Tragic Slip
1 x Tribute to Hunger
1 x Typhoid Rats
1 x Undying Evil
1 x Unhallowed Pact
1 x Pulse Tracker
1 x Tenacious Dead
1 x Tormented Soul
1 x Viscera Seer
1 x Asphodel Wanderer
1 x Festering Goblin
1 x Muck Rats
1 x Will-o'-the-Wisp
1 x Walking Corpse
1 x Highborn Ghoul
1 x Onyx Mage
1 x Blood Artist
1 x Blood Scrivener
1 x Blood Seeker
1 x Child of Night
1 x Drudge Skeletons
1 x Foul Imp
1 x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 x Scrib Nibblers
1 x Serpent Warrior
1 x Sewer Shambler
1 x Slate Street Ruffian
1 x Skulking Knight
1 x Soulcage Fiend
1 x Spiderwig Boggart
1 x Vampire Nighthawk
1 x Vampire Aristocrat
1 x Vesper Ghoul
1 x Wall of Blood
1 x Wall of Bone
1 x Sadistic Augermage
1 x Royal Assassin
1 x Bloodflow Connoisseur
1 x Bloodrage Vampire
1 x Bloodhusk Ritualist
1 x Cadaver Imp
1 x Corrosive Mentor
1 x Cunning Lethemancer
1 x Daggerclaw Imp
1 x Dead Reveler
1 x Doomed Necromancer
1 x Dread Warlock
1 x Dusk Urchins
1 x Emissary of Despair
1 x Faerie Macabre
1 x Fleshbag Marauder
1 x Ghostly Changeling
1 x Giant Scorpion
1 x Hidden Horror
1 x Hypnotic Specter
1 x Liliana's Specter
1 x Looming Shade
1 x Markov Patrician
1 x Moonglove Changeling
1 x Necroskitter
1 x Needle Specter
1 x Nezumi Ronin
1 x Offalsnout
1 x Ogre Marauder
1 x Abyssal Nocturnus
1 x Arrogant Bloodlord
1 x Barony Vampire
1 x Big Game Hunter
1 x Blind Zealot
1 x Desecration Demon
1 x Pestilence Demon
1 x Rune-Scarred Demon
1 x Bloodgift Demon
1 x Eater of Hope
1 x Harvester of Souls
1 x Scourgemark
1 x Grisly Transformation
1 x Necromancer's Magemark
1 x Fallen Ideal
1 x Skeletal Grimace
1 x Cast into Darkness
1 x Quag Sickness
1 x Stab Wound
1 x Underworld Connections
1 x Grave Pact
1 x Underworld Dreams
1 x Triumph of Cruelty

//Red
1 x Act of Treason
1 x Demolish
1 x Shock
1 x Smelt
1 x Wild Guess
1 x Fervor
1 x Fireball
1 x Fling
1 x Incinerate
1 x Reverberate
1 x Prodigal Pyromancer
1 x Pyretic Ritual
1 x Pyroclasm
1 x Panic Attack
1 x Fall of the Hammer
1 x Lightning Strike
1 x Annihilating Fire
1 x Ember Beast
1 x Skullcrack
1 x Battle Hymn
1 x Dangerous Wager
1 x Harvest Pyre
1 x Infernal Plunge
1 x Pillar of Flame
1 x Reforge the Soul
1 x Thunderbolt
1 x Traitorous Blood
1 x Zealous Conscripts
1 x Bellows Lizard
1 x Goblin Arsonist
1 x Raging Goblin
1 x Stonewright
1 x Dwarven Trader
1 x Goblin Striker
1 x Goblin Wardriver
1 x Impetuous Sunchaser
1 x Mogg Flunkies
1 x Lightning Mauler
1 x Mudbrawler Cohort
1 x Pyre Charger
1 x Riot Piker
1 x Sparkmage Apprentice
1 x Torch Fiend
1 x Goblin Piker
1 x Goblin Shortcutter
1 x Crimson Mage
1 x Viashino Racketeer
1 x Viashino Bladescout
1 x War Elemental
1 x Warmind Infantry
1 x Whip Sergeant
1 x Pyreheart Wolf
1 x Rage Nimbus
1 x Reckless Brute
1 x Regathan Firecat
1 x Ronin Houndmaster
1 x Rockslide Elemental
1 x Ruinous Minotaur
1 x Rummaging Goblin
1 x Simian Spirit Guide
1 x Sparkspitter
1 x Splatter Thug
1 x Thunder-Thrash Elder
1 x Taurean Mauler
1 x Goblin Roughrider
1 x Goblin Ruinblaster
1 x Guttersnipe
1 x Hellfire Mongrel
1 x Hissing Iguanar
1 x Inner-Flame Acolyte
1 x Kessig Wolf
1 x Manic Vandal
1 x Markov Blademaster
1 x Mindsparker
1 x Minotaur Skullcleaver
1 x Molten Ravager
1 x Mudbutton Torchrunner
1 x Goblin Artillery
1 x Goblin Chariot
1 x Academy Raider
1 x Æther Membrane
1 x Akki Drillmaster
1 x Akki Coalflinger
1 x Ball Lightning
1 x Battle Rampart
1 x Blisterstick Shaman
1 x Bloodrock Cyclops
1 x Blood Ogre
1 x Bloodscale Prowler
1 x Bogardan Firefiend
1 x Brimstone Mage
1 x Chandra's Phoenix
1 x Chandra's Spitfire
1 x Cinder Pyromancer
1 x Countryside Crusher
1 x Crossway Vampire
1 x Cunning Sparkmage
1 x Dragon Egg
1 x Ember Beast
1 x Exuberant Firestoker
1 x Feral Ridgewolf
1 x Ferrovore
1 x Fervent Cathar
1 x Fiery Hellhound
1 x Flamespeaker Adept
1 x Flaring Flame-Kin
1 x Flowstone Channeler
1 x Furnace Whelp
1 x Ancient Hellkite
1 x Hellkite Charger
1 x Predator Dragon
1 x Shivan Dragon
1 x Volcanic Dragon
1 x Undying Rage
1 x Dragon Mantle
1 x Lust for War
1 x Instill Furor
1 x Guise of Fire
1 x Racecourse Fury
1 x Barrage of Expendables
1 x Raid Bombardment
1 x Rage Reflection
1 x Warstorm Surge

//Green
1 x Bramblecrush
1 x Elvish Mystic
1 x Fog
1 x Giant Growth
1 x Kalonian Tusker
1 x Naturalize
1 x Plummet
1 x Ground Seal
1 x Prey Upon
1 x Acidic Slime
1 x Dungrove Elder
1 x Rampant Growth
1 x Reclaim
1 x Cultivate
1 x Nature's Spiral
1 x Cudgel Troll
1 x Deadly Recluse
1 x Howl of the Night Pack
1 x Overrun
1 x Sylvan Caryatid
1 x Unravel the Æther
1 x Vulpine Goliath
1 x Alpha Authority
1 x Brushstrider
1 x Burst of Strength
1 x Mending Touch
1 x Serene Remembrance
1 x Ambush Viper
1 x Bower Passage
1 x Ranger's Guile
1 x Terrifying Presence
1 x Triumph of Ferocity
1 x Norwood Ranger
1 x Tree Monkey
1 x Tukatongue Thallid
1 x Wall of Vines
1 x Nacatl Savage
1 x Nightshade Peddler
1 x Scavenging Ooze
1 x Tajuru Preserver
1 x Vinelasher Kudzu
1 x Jade Mage
1 x Dawntreader Elk
1 x Cylian Elf
1 x Ashcoat Bear
1 x Muraganda Petroglyphs
1 x Gaea's Anthem
1 x Ulvenwald Bear
1 x Verduran Enchantress
1 x Viridian Shaman
1 x Wolfir Avenger
1 x Wood Elves
1 x Yeva's Forcemage
1 x Scion of the Wild
1 x Slaughterhorn
1 x Snapping Creeper
1 x Spawnwrithe
1 x Sporecap Spider
1 x Sacred Wolf
1 x Giant Badger
1 x Gilt-Leaf Seer
1 x Gloomwidow
1 x Gluttonous Slime
1 x Grazing Gladehart
1 x Leatherback Baloth
1 x Loaming Shaman
1 x Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
1 x Orchard Spirit
1 x Farhaven Elf
1 x Eternal Witness
1 x Awakener Druid
1 x Brindle Boar
1 x Borderland Ranger
1 x Carven Caryatid
1 x Centaur Courser
1 x Court Archers
1 x Daggerback Basilisk
1 x Vastwood Hydra
1 x Primordial Hydra
1 x Kalonian Hydra
1 x Boar Umbra
1 x Spider Umbra
1 x Snake Umbra
1 x Aspect of Mongoose
1 x Rancor
1 x Abundant Growth
1 x Serpent Skin
1 x Trollhide
1 x Savage Silhouette
1 x Alpha Authority
1 x Utopia Vow
1 x Lure
1 x Squirrel Nest
1 x Into the Wilds
1 x Primeval Bounty

//Colorless
1 x Elixir of Immortality
1 x Ring of Three Wishes
1 x Sands of Delirium
1 x Staff of Nin
1 x Tormod's Crypt
1 x Manalith
1 x Quicksilver Amulet
1 x Swiftfoot Boots
1 x Crystal Ball
1 x Ornithopter
1 x Platinum Angel
1 x Whispersilk Cloak
1 x Darksteel Colossus
1 x Pithing Needle
1 x Opaline Unicorn
1 x Springleaf Drum
1 x Traveler's Amulet
1 x Chromatic Lantern
1 x Codex Shredder
1 x Prophetic Prism
1 x Conjurer's Closet
1 x Arcbound Worker
1 x Razorgrass Screen
1 x Signal Pest
1 x Steel Wall
1 x Metallic Sliver
1 x Bronze Sable
1 x Hovermyr
1 x Haunted Guardian
1 x Perilous Myr
1 x Spincrusher
1 x Armored Transport
1 x Pilgrim's Eye
1 x Wall of Spears
1 x Bottle Gnomes
1 x Burnished Hart
1 x Opaline Unicorn
1 x Stonework Puma
1 x Solemn Simulacrum
1 x Platinum Emperion
1 x Stone Golem
1 x Glass Golem
1 x Hexplate Golem
1 x Guardian of the Ages
1 x Grappling Hook
1 x Haunted Plate Mail
1 x Infiltration Lens
1 x Leonin Scimitar
1 x Moonsilver Spear
1 x Paradise Mantle
1 x Shuko
1 x Spidersilk Net
1 x Sword of Vengeance
1 x Bonesplitter
1 x Chariot of Victory
1 x Darksteel Axe
1 x Darksteel Plate
1 x Gorgon Flail
1 x Accorder's Shield
1 x Adventuring Gear
1 x Argentum Armor
1 x Expedition Map
1 x Mana Cylix
1 x Shriekhorn
1 x Dolmen Gate
1 x Millstone
1 x Thorn of Amethyst
1 x Torpor Orb
1 x Armillary Sphere
1 x Cloudstone Curio
1 x Darksteel Ingot
1 x Hall of Triumph
1 x Oblivion Stone
1 x Pristine Talisman
1 x Veilstone Amulet
1 x Cloud Key
1 x Icy Manipulator
1 x Jayemdae Tome
1 x Trading Post
1 x Witchbane Orb

//Multi-Color
1 x Destructive Revelry
1 x Dramatic Rescue
1 x Dreadbore
1 x Castigate
1 x Glimpse the Unthinkable
1 x Seeds of Strength
1 x Lightning Helix
1 x Abrupt Decay
1 x Hydroform
1 x Swerve
1 x Goblin Outlander
1 x Nacatl Outlander
1 x Valeron Outlander
1 x Vedalken Outlander
1 x Zombie Outlander

Blue needs Wind Drake like woah. Blue also has stupidly expensive finishers, which, since it seems like you're going more for a blue tempo-y feel, should fit in fine.

Green needs on-curve or ahead of curve beats across the entire curve, like Rumbling Baloth and Centaur Courser.

I feel like your red creatures aren't aggressive enough, particularly in the middle of the curve. Mog Flunkies are always nice.

Black needs vampires! Or, you know, a couple of crazy beats somewhere in there.

White needs sorcery-speed/enchantment-speed removal, Serra Angel, etc.

These comments are all geared toward color pie though. I think you should ask yourself why it is you're building a cube. Is this for random drafting? Then you need bombs. Is this to teach players how to draft? Then you need to diversify, add some depth. Is this to improve your drafting? Then having thematic subsets to each color, along with themes that bridge across multiple colors, is clutch. The cubes I play are Pauper and Power. Pauper is fun, because it's a harder multi-colored set to draft, and Power is just awesome bc you get to play these insane cards against other players playing equally insane cards. Anyway, some focus of where you want to go would help with suggestions, but I think you have a decent start.

Yeah, I only barely got started on the creatures in particular. I ran across a few while looking through the M based core sets and recent sets that I thought should go into this, and grabbed some one drops near the end, but I haven't gone through and filled in creatures yet properly.

At this point, I just want to try to make a relatively balanced cube. Power level is intended to be relatively low, but reliable, with things generally being worth their mana cost, at least compared to the rest in the Cube. My original 'key cards' that I'm using to guage power level ideas were keeping the range between Cancel and Dissipate, and between Murder and Hero's Downfall. I'm mostly avoiding highly efficient and reliable early curve stuff like Lightning Bolt, Thoughtsieze, Path to Exile, and such.

cubetutor.com is your best friend.

I just went through and added some 2 drop creatures for each of the 5 colors and colorless. General intended power level should be starting to become more apparent.

Needs fewer unplayables.

I'd avoid using many lands. It tends to make playing three or more colors overly viable, thus reducing meaningful picks based on color or power.

Spirit en-Dal is an amazing addition.

Spire Tracer and Silhana Ledgewalker are bombs for green if you can enchant them. Scryb Ranger is also something that can turn the tides of battle highly.

~SE++

By what standards are you considering something unplayable here?

Is it the ones with excessive mana costs?

Stuff that you wouldn't play in Standard?

Stuff that you wouldn't play in Modern?

The mana costs thing I might have to deal with soon. You usually can't play stuff with ginormous mana costs in limited. Standard/Modern playability though, I generally am not aiming for that, I'm aiming more towards block draft/sealed level of playability, perhaps even on the higher end of that, but with less extreme peaks and valleys than normal.

Spirit en-Dal seems a little too flavor specific for me.

Spire Tracer is a maybe.

Silhana Ledgewalker is a bit more powerful than I want to put on a 2 drop for this list (I removed the Gladecover Scout I had in earlier, I'm thinking that I might limit hexproof to 3 cmc and up, with no built in evasion).

Scryb Ranger is going against one of the design principles I have planned for adding in later on. I only want to have the 'protection from' for a specific color on some higher end stuff like 4+ drops or maybe on this cycle: Goblin Outlander, Nacatl Outlander, Valeron Outlander, Vedalken Outlander, Zombie Outlander

I avoided Doom Blade for similar reasons. Basically, I don't want too much color specific hosing, especially not easier to cast ones. Or too much stuff with color-specific weaknesses.

Yeah, I don't want too many lands. I think one set of color pair lands is more than enough, possibly too much. Not sure. Either way, I don't plan on adding any more color fixing lands than I already have, and some of what is there now may be dropped from the final list.

I mean "unplayable in limited". As a general rule, anything that doesn't either win you the game, negate one or more of your opponents' cards, or get you more cards is probably not worth playing. Common examples of cards that don't fit include creatures with less than 2 power, less than 3 toughness, and no major abilities, like Sanctuary Cat and Tree Monkey, lifegain like Elixir of Immortality and Staff of the Death Magus, stalling effects like Fog and Silence, and cards like Spellbook and Witchbane Orb that just don't actually do anything that matters in most games.

Other examples of cards that are bad in limited include most auras (outside of Theros), such as Holy Strength and Magefire Wings, because they open you up to being 2 for 1'd if you opponent has removal, as well as expensive cards that don't win you the game, like Worldfire and Warp World.

Um... I just have to disagree with some things. 1 drops like Sanctuary Cat and Tree Monkey are fringe playable to fill out mana curves, and as chump-blockers. They can also tick away damage when your opponent has no blockers.

Elixir and the Staffs are actually pretty good in limited. They suck in constructed, because you've just plain old got better options most of the time, but lifegain is stronger than normal in limited, and elixir can provide pseudo-recursion of some of your better cards, as well as protect you from milling yourself out if you are using dredge type tricks or card draw in a limited game that drags on for some reason (which they occasionally do, especially if both players have lots of removal). Fog and Silence aren't great, I'll admit, but within color restrictions, they aren't really _that_ bad.

I'll give you Spellbook and Witchbane Orb, sometimes I was just throwing stuff at the wall.

Magefire Wings was my only non-creature option for RU besides Izzet Charm to complete a cycle of such.

I'm not sure Holy Strength is _that_ bad, given that it's a 1 drop, but I think I might take it out. Although I will point out that not only Theros auras are playable. There are some that are cantrips, re-usable (like Rancor), or grant removal resistance (like the totems), which are probably playable.

I agree on Worldfire and Warp World though.

Edit: Wait, no, the lifegain stuff was bad advice I got from a WotC mothership article! Ignore my stupidity there! It's not good without doing something besides the lifegain. **** the Staffs.

Edit2: took out Spellbook, Witchbane, the Staffs, Holy Strength, Worldfire, and Warp World, added that cycle of enemy color protection dual ally color creatures.

Edit3: Checked again, maybe I should replace Magefire Wings with Swerve?

Cato's advice is good, glad you came around. In general, Auras are bad when you have cheap, instant-speed removal.

UR is a tempo-based strategy that wins with an aggressive start and flinging a lot of spells. Reactive cards like swerve won't generally make the maindeck.

I'd go with Izzet Charm. It's versatile and it's removal. And you really should take out the mediocre 1 drops. Spending a card on something that will be blanked the moment the play a Grizzly Bears really isn't worth it. If you insist on having 1 drops, make them stuff like Gideon's Lawkeeper or Chronomaton that can be useful later in the game.

The big issue with cubes that are more budget focused or pauper is that a lot of the best removal is still cheap to buy/common/uncommon.

Izzet Charm goes against both the simplicity I'm aiming for, and the flavor restrictions I'm aiming for (avoiding overly specific flavor). Gideon's Lawkeeper has similar issues with flavor, but is more acceptable power wise. Chronomaton is higher power level than I'm planning on putting in my 1 drops.

Part of the issue is I want to have creatures without abilities at each CMC from 1-3 for each color and colorless if possible, and keep the colors roughly equal. Given that red's only option is Dwarven Trader at 1 drops without abilities... Reason for this is I want to include Muraganda Petroglyphs. I should add the glyphs now.

If you want to have Petroglyphs, add a token theme to your deck. It becomes a token anthem then.

You also add Glorious Anthem, Gaea's Anthem, Spear of Heliod, etc.

Added some anthems and 3 drop creatures for white, blue, black, and red (still need to do so for green and colorless).

Added 3 drops for green and colorless. Added iconic critters for the colors and colorless (angel, sphinx, demon, dragon, hydra, golem).

Edit: Added some enchantments and artifacts!

have you put your list on CubeTutor yet?

No, it's not finished and I don't have a membership there yet.

Edit: Here

http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/12780