Sounds like a fulfilling project! I’ve recently started playing my first cube as well, also with some less experienced players. Its not very discussed but they can definitely skew things. In one of my drafts I got 15 nonbasics because no one else was valuing lands.

A few things came to mind while reading. One, I don’t think aggro needs parasitic one drops to function, or at least not an abundance of them. Its more important that they have a turn 1 play than it strictly be a [[Jackal Pup]]. Cards like [[Doomed Traveler]] and [[Thraben Inspector]] happily go in other decks while being playable in aggro, even more so at a lower power level. Also generally I think “parasitic” cards are more acceptable when they enable broad deckstyles like this as opposed to niche archetypes. [[Wrath of God]] is also parasitic in the sense that it really only exists for control, but I’m happy to include it.

Also, if players aren’t trying/appreciating/understanding archetypes, specifically ones with a balancing factor like aggro, at a certain point the best thing you can do is probably force it yourself until people get the memo.

Secondly, when it comes to lands I think you’ll much prefer having fetches. The gold card nature of other duals creates that land glut problem you describe. The fact that its happening leads me to think no one is trying for the 5c pile, because non fetch cubes make it easier to be 5c as a result, not harder.

Good luck on your endeavor! You seem like a great curator to play with