I would like to make a cube full of just the most bottom of the barrel cards I can get my hands on.
But I still want it to be interesting, somehow. Not just a pile of squires and zephyr spirits.
How should I begin?
So far I have clash cards (with as much synergy that I could find), soulshift, and auras, paying way too much mana for things as an endgame (Aladdin's ring, ring of three wishes, the hive, etc). I also am including as many weird buildarounds as possible, like crucible of fire
--
One nice thing to do with this is that I get to play with a bunch of Meme cards too. So if there are any below-rate meme cards that you can think of that actually make for an interesting gamestate, leave them here.
I made a Reject Rare cube. It was something I'd been working on for a while (well, if you define "working on" to include tossing cards into an ever-growing pile). I discovered three things.
1. Rejected/bad cards end up that way for several reasons, but the most common is that they're too expensive for what they do. I dubbed my first major update to the Reject Rare Cube "The Cheapening," and I specifically sought cards with lower CMCs.
2. The cards still have to be good enough to be playable in a deck. So they can be bad but not cover-your-eyes awful.
3. Players will need multi-lands to cast their spells, especially if you include multicolored cards. Finding bad-but-not-too-bad ones was a challenge, and I may have stretched the definition of a "reject rare" a bit in the land section. However, I'd rather err on the side of players being able to cast their spells.
We've drafted it a few times. It's different, interesting, lower-powered, and fun. People get to play with cards they scoffed at in Constructed formats and may not remember from drafting whatever set it came out in.
Do you have examples from your list, Dr? I'd be interested in seeing if you found interesting cards.
Also bloodhunter bat is too bad for this cube
//
A meme card could be anything, I suppose. Something with a reputation of being "the worst playable card" like mindless null, for example. Or a meme like storm crow.
Or scornful egotist (if there was some reason to actually run it)
Hero of Iroas is in there because I have an enchantment sub-theme. (I had Tethered Griffin in for a while too, but he wasn't "online" enough to work out. With a few more enchantments, he might sneak back in.) He's not great on his own, but if you have a few auras, the mana saving is nice. Plus, he can randomly get a +1/+1 counter here and there.
Goblin Diplomats is fun. It's usually a beater early in the game, but then you can use it to make your opponent's creatures attack. That's obviously situational, but when it works, it's a beating. And this is a card few players will have played with. If they have, it was in limited.
Skyfire Kirin is another. It doesn't trigger often but when it does, it's great. And the rest of the time, a Roc of Kher Ridges isn't the worst threat to have on the board. This is a card that may work better for you; I'm operating under the reject rare/mythic restriction, and the spirits and arcane spells available are... generally uninspiring.
I'm sure there are plenty of bad but interesting spirits, and soulshift synergies with dredge, which sorta synergizes with knowing the top card of your library.
I'm wary of the parasitic nature but I can look into it
Honestly, I think you'd be better off building an "Un-" cube with conspiracy cards included and anything printed in regular sets that feel like they belonged in the Un- world (example: Falling Star, Raging River, Booby Trap). I think there's a few lists out there of just goofy and fun cards that aren't utterly uninteresting/unplayable. Good luck!
Oh man, Zephyr Spirit is a real stinker. Don't know if I've seen that card before.
Chimney Imp is always a crowd-pleaser in all "intentionally bad" cubes I've seen people create before.
Return of the Nightstalkers is my favorite lol card of all time. Describing what this card does, out loud, to your playgroup is a recipe for a great time. The last line of text is always good for a few laughs.
Yeah, that's the key--the cards can't be too bad. They can be interesting, or "skill-testing," or have synergy with other cards, but they can't be outright bad. No one wants to draft bad cards. From what I see so far, you've avoided the trap of adding objectively bad cards, and I can see some of the themes you're building.
Yeah, thanks.
Running into Crucible of fire opened my eyes to the possibilities of having a bunch of weird buildarounds (that can actually, you know, work).
And I added a grizzly bear for every color. Every color that has one (sorry blue)
One card type I want to look at is "I'm decently big, but I have a terrible downside" like shah of naar isle or goblin goon. In this format, being a 3/3 is pretty large so a sibilant spirit or indentured djinn is probably preetty good. Maybe even too good, funny enough
I have a cube like this at home, and its actually like 60-70% foiled, haha. I have a list half typed up. I'll see if I can torture myself and finish it.
1 card off, but I don't know what artifact or land to add.
Suggestions for something really strange but playable?
Notes:
Ended up with a lot of spirit synergy and enchantment synergy.
There's a lot of "if you have a million mana, spend it" (aladdin's ring) to get through the inevitable late-game. I am very interested in this.
Ended up with a dragon subtheme somehow
Managed to fit in muraganda petroglyphs and Where ancients tread
I'm pretty sure super slow mill is actualy good like in Ravnica draft. Hair-strung koto gets there?
But I still want it to be interesting, somehow. Not just a pile of squires and zephyr spirits.
How should I begin?
So far I have clash cards (with as much synergy that I could find), soulshift, and auras, paying way too much mana for things as an endgame (Aladdin's ring, ring of three wishes, the hive, etc). I also am including as many weird buildarounds as possible, like crucible of fire
--
One nice thing to do with this is that I get to play with a bunch of Meme cards too. So if there are any below-rate meme cards that you can think of that actually make for an interesting gamestate, leave them here.
The start
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/77311
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Storm Crow
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1. Rejected/bad cards end up that way for several reasons, but the most common is that they're too expensive for what they do. I dubbed my first major update to the Reject Rare Cube "The Cheapening," and I specifically sought cards with lower CMCs.
2. The cards still have to be good enough to be playable in a deck. So they can be bad but not cover-your-eyes awful.
3. Players will need multi-lands to cast their spells, especially if you include multicolored cards. Finding bad-but-not-too-bad ones was a challenge, and I may have stretched the definition of a "reject rare" a bit in the land section. However, I'd rather err on the side of players being able to cast their spells.
We've drafted it a few times. It's different, interesting, lower-powered, and fun. People get to play with cards they scoffed at in Constructed formats and may not remember from drafting whatever set it came out in.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
Also bloodhunter bat is too bad for this cube
//
A meme card could be anything, I suppose. Something with a reputation of being "the worst playable card" like mindless null, for example. Or a meme like storm crow.
Or scornful egotist (if there was some reason to actually run it)
Heres what I have right now
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/77311
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Hero of Iroas is in there because I have an enchantment sub-theme. (I had Tethered Griffin in for a while too, but he wasn't "online" enough to work out. With a few more enchantments, he might sneak back in.) He's not great on his own, but if you have a few auras, the mana saving is nice. Plus, he can randomly get a +1/+1 counter here and there.
Goblin Diplomats is fun. It's usually a beater early in the game, but then you can use it to make your opponent's creatures attack. That's obviously situational, but when it works, it's a beating. And this is a card few players will have played with. If they have, it was in limited.
Skyfire Kirin is another. It doesn't trigger often but when it does, it's great. And the rest of the time, a Roc of Kher Ridges isn't the worst threat to have on the board. This is a card that may work better for you; I'm operating under the reject rare/mythic restriction, and the spirits and arcane spells available are... generally uninspiring.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
I'm sure there are plenty of bad but interesting spirits, and soulshift synergies with dredge, which sorta synergizes with knowing the top card of your library.
I'm wary of the parasitic nature but I can look into it
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Chimney Imp is always a crowd-pleaser in all "intentionally bad" cubes I've seen people create before.
Return of the Nightstalkers is my favorite lol card of all time. Describing what this card does, out loud, to your playgroup is a recipe for a great time. The last line of text is always good for a few laughs.
And Wood Elemental is always ...something.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I just added in the duel deck walkers.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
Running into Crucible of fire opened my eyes to the possibilities of having a bunch of weird buildarounds (that can actually, you know, work).
And I added a grizzly bear for every color. Every color that has one (sorry blue)
yes
YES
Muraganda petroglyghs here I come
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
WGURBLands!WGURB
WGUInfectWGU
Legacy Lands Primer
Top 8 SCG Oakland 2014
Helpdesk
My Cube on CubeTutor
1 card off, but I don't know what artifact or land to add.
Suggestions for something really strange but playable?
Notes:
Ended up with a lot of spirit synergy and enchantment synergy.
There's a lot of "if you have a million mana, spend it" (aladdin's ring) to get through the inevitable late-game. I am very interested in this.
Ended up with a dragon subtheme somehow
Managed to fit in muraganda petroglyphs and Where ancients tread
I'm pretty sure super slow mill is actualy good like in Ravnica draft. Hair-strung koto gets there?
//
I'm leaning towards nullstone gargoyle, to give fist of suns and geosurge something else to do.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article