MTG Salvation

In 2007 with the printing of Lorwyn, there was a massive update to the creature type lines of over 1200 cards with many creature types added, removed, and obsoleted. This only affects a few cards in most traditional cubes, but there are some common tribal actions which might not be obvious if you're running older versions of a particular card. Having running a version with clear and current wording on all your cards can help prevent confusion and disagreements among players, and let everyone get the most out of the cards they draft. I'm only focusing on cards run in traditional cubes, but if you're building or managing a tribal cube, there are far more card updates you'll want to be aware of (here's a comprehensive article on the Grand Creature Type Update)

Here's the list, most of these do have a version available in print with the updated creature types, I've marked the ones that do not with an asterisk (*):

Creatures Updated With "Human" Added to Their Type Line
Common Tribal Interactions: Stromkirk Noble, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Champion of the Parish, Mayor of Avabruck, Silver-Inlaid Dagger, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Mother of Runes
Academy Rector*
Braids, Cabal Minion
Nekrataal
Grim Lavamancer
Imperial Recruiter
Keldon Vandals*
Avalanche Riders
Yavimaya Elder

Other Relevant Tribal Additions (the most common cube interactions are in parentheses)
Karmic Guide - Angel (Restoration Angel, Archangel Avacyn)
Ghitu Encampment - Warrior (Blood-Chin Rager)
Faerie Conclave - Faerie (Spellstutter Sprite)
Waterfront Bouncer* - Merfolk (Coralhelm Commander)
Dauthi Horror* - Beast Dauthi Horror (Thing in the Ice)
Stronghold Assassin - Zombie (Gravecrawler, Graveborn Muse, Relentless Dead, Cemetery Reaper, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Sarcomancy, and see Cadaverous Bloom's post below for more example of Zombies-matter cards) While there are plenty more Zombies that are more commonly played in cube, this is the only retconned one I could find that might be considered for some cubes. Or at least it was until Cadaverous Bloom pointed out this one....
Coffin Queen - Zombie Wizard (See above for interactions)
Wall of Blossoms - Plant (Avenger of Zendikar)
Wall of Roots - Plant (Avenger of Zendikar)
Solemn Simulacrum - Golem (Blade Splicer, Precursor Golem)
Sundering Titan - Golem (Blade Splicer, Precursor Golem)
Darksteel Colossus - Golem (Blade Splicer, Precursor Golem)

Other Retconned Cube Cards That Probably Don't Matter (Yet)
For the sake of thoroughness, here are some cube cards that have updated types in their Oracle wording that probably won't matter, but might if you're running something like Adaptive Automaton or other unusual tribes matter cards, or if new tribal enablers are printed.

Savannah Lions - Lions Cat
Soltari Monk* - Soltari Cleric
Soltari Priest* - Soltari Cleric
Soltari Trooper* - Soltari Soldier
Soltari Champion* - Soltari Soldier
Dauthi Horror* - Beast Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer - Dauthi Soldier
Dauthi Marauder* - Dauthi Minion
Fire Imp* - Imp
Birds of Paradise - Mana Birds Bird
Elves of Deep Shadow - Elves Elf Druid
Fyndhorn Elves - Elves Elf Druid
Jungle Lion* - Cat
Llanowar Elves - Elves Elf Druid
Krosan Tusker - Boar Beast
Treetop Village - Ape
Masticore - Masticore

I've tried to be as thorough as I can, but I'm sure I've missed something. If anyone can think of any more potentially relevant tribal updates to cube cards please post them here.

Great post, Spike Rogue!

Two cards I can think of off the top of my head that may be worth mentioning.

• Krosan Tusker went from Beast to Boar Beast, and all foil versions of the card are Beasts only.
• Archangel Avacyn also cares about the Angel type for Karmic Guide, and is a pretty popular Cube addition.

Adding both, thanks! Could there be Boar tribal in our future?

We've already got Dogfolk, Catfolk, Elephantfolk, Rhinofolk, Snakefolk, and Werewolves. I think it's just a matter of time before we get Boarfolk. On that note I'm surprised we don't have Bearfolk yet.

The full EMA spoiler is out, and it looks like we finally have a version of Braids with the Human type! They kept the original art, too.

You missed Imperial Recruiter going from Advisor (P3K) -> Human Advisor (Judge Printing).
Fyndhorn, Llanowar, and Elves of Deep Shadow all benefit from Joraga Treespeaker, but the creature type is close enough that it works intuitively.
Can also add Sarcomancy onto the list of "Zombies Matter" cards.

Two things I learned from this post:
I need to go pickup a timeshifted Wall of Roots for that fringe Avenger of Zendikar Interaction because I never realized that was a thing.
The Dauthi Horror + Thing in the Ice interaction makes me want to cut Dauthi Horror because that just makes absolutely 0 sense and there isn't a printing of Dauthi Horror available to fix this.

Other Tribal Interactions/Creature Types to be aware of that might have something random retconned outside of typical lists:
Ophiomancer - Snake
Goblin Rabblemaster/Siege Gang Commander - Goblin
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - Vampires

You missed Imperial Recruiter going from Advisor (P3K) -> Human Advisor (Judge Printing).
Fyndhorn, Llanowar, and Elves of Deep Shadow all benefit from Joraga Treespeaker, but the creature type is close enough that it works intuitively.
Can also add Sarcomancy onto the list of "Zombies Matter" cards.

I've made all of these changes except for the addition of the Joraga Treespeaker interaction, because I agree, I can't imagine anyone not understanding the "elves" and "elf" are the same thing.

Thanks for the heads up on all of the above, Ftz.

The Dauthi Horror + Thing in the Ice interaction makes me want to cut Dauthi Horror because that just makes absolutely 0 sense and there isn't a printing of Dauthi Horror available to fix this.

At least "Horror" is in the name, so that's a reminder of the interaction. I don't see them reprinting Shadow creatures again any time soon, but I also like Dauthi Horror too much to cut it, so I'm just making a mental note of it. Flavorwise, I actually kinda like the fact that Dauthi Horror isn't scared of that Thing in the Ice that couldn't block it in the first place.

Other Tribal Interactions/Creature Types to be aware of that might have something random retconned outside of typical lists:
Ophiomancer - Snake
Goblin Rabblemaster/Siege Gang Commander - Goblin
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - Vampires

I didn't mention it in my original post, but I did check over the complete lists of Oracle texted Snakes, Goblins, and Vampires and I couldn't find anything that was affected by retconning that sees any play in traditional cubes.

Goblins have been a relevant creature type since Alpha, so WoTC's been pretty consistent about keeping "Goblin" in the type line (although EMA did just give us the much-awaited update of Battle Squadron ). If anyone's running Goblin King, you might want an up-to-date version that shows that it doesn't pump itself, but otherwise there shouldn't be any problem with Goblin tribal interactions.

All "vipers", "cobras", "pythons", and "asps" have been retconned into Snakes, but most older creatures with those types are terrible. River Boa is the best older Snake, but that's always been printed with Snake in the type line. The best retconned snakes ever printed are probably the Portal cards Serpent Assassin and Fire Snake, so the Ophiomancer interaction shouldn't be a problem in the overwhelming majority of cubes.

Similarly, there aren't really any retconned Vampires to worry about for the Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or Falkenrath Gorger interactions unless someone out there's rocking Baron Sengir in their cube.

I hope some day wizards retcons tarkir's naga as snakes. Seems like a gross oversight to me, especially considering the already heavily anthropomorphized Orochi from kamigawa block.

Yeah I thought it was weird that the Rakshasas were cat demons but the Nagas weren't snake demons.

I hope some day wizards retcons tarkir's naga as snakes.

It did seem a bit strange to me that they chose to make a new creature type instead of making them Snakes, but I really hope they never retcon creature types again. Having multiple editions of the same card with different rules text add unnecessary confusion to a game that's already complicated enough.

I think the problem is more that the Orochi are snakes rather than that Tarkir's Nagas are nagas. Orochi are pretty much nagas, but it seems that Wizards was reluctant to introduce naga as a new creature type at that time.

It may be weird that creatures that are so similar have different creature types, but the same is true in a few other cases, too. Most prominently wolf and hound.

One that is relevant in my cube at times... Coffin Queen has gone from Wizard to Zombie Wizard.
Already a damned good card, now more easily recursable if you play with Zombie Tribal elements.

That's one I wouldn't have thought of, thanks for pointing it out. Since you actually run it, it's already less fringe than Stronghold Assassin. Are there any relevant Zombie interactions from MP cubes you know of besides the ones I mentioned?

Quote from Spike Rogue »

That's one I wouldn't have thought of, thanks for pointing it out. Since you actually run it, it's already less fringe than Stronghold Assassin. Are there any relevant Zombie interactions from MP cubes you know of besides the ones I mentioned?

Given the large number of tribal elements I've run in my cube in the past (half of which are out nowadays, but you get the idea)...

• Gains deathtouch from Death Baron.
• Recursed by Lord of the Undead and/or Unholy Grotto.
• Cheapened by Undead Warchief.
• Ups the Zombie count for Gempalm Polluter / Shepherd of Rot.
• Triggers Noxious Ghoul.

Noxious Ghoul triggers matter mostly because it's nowadays half of a brutal two-card Zombie Tribal combo - Noxious + Grave Betrayal. Only in slow formats are you able to pull off that level of nastiness.
I'm pretty sure Marauding Knight has been retconned to Zombie Knight, too. That's still in my cube as well (though it's lasted more out of its being a Knight than a Zombie... joins a swathe of other hard-to-deal-with Pro-something Knights, next to Knight Exemplar and Kinsbaile Cavalier).

I know that not many cubes run him (even though he is good in decks with important enchantments, like Mirari's Wake or Sneak Attack), but it should be mentioned that Academy Rector has become a human. Unfortunately, he is on the reserved list, so we will never get an updated version. Thanks a lot, Wizards.

Darksteel Colossus had no creature type in Darksteel, but became a Golem and was reprinted as such in M10. Again, might be relevant because of interaction with the Splicers and Precursor Golem.

Heh, giving Darksteel Colossus first strike is just adding insult to injury.... Thanks for pointing this out, I'd forgotten about the Precursor Golem interaction with Solemn Simulacrum, too. I've also added Academy Rector.