This was a real fun project to do. I'll probably work on it quite a bit more but it's great to see some old friends again. (Like remember when Arc-Slogger was a good card?)
So it's been years since I've had a traditional cube. Been looking through other people's lists and I've decided to put together a new list and proxy it out. Things that I've noticed.
1. The amount of creatures that are just vanilla or french vanilla creatures once they hit the board is pretty high. In an effort to get value out of every creature immediately once it hits the field I think we have sacrifice more interesting board states. This isn't a negative, just an observation. But one that I want to try to account for by making an effort to include more creatures that have global and activated abilities on the field. More Brightlings and Benalish Marshals.
2. White is in a situation that red was in years ago. Everything in the color is either a dude or removal. I need to look for more cards that make more interesting deck building choices. Like opposition, recurring nightmare, sneak attack or birthing pod.
3. It's always interesting after a hiatus to see what cards you once thought were 100% cube staples that you don't see in lists. Serendib Efreet was about as much of a staple as a cube could have but I see it not be used in lists from people I respect the opinion on. There are other such cards but that was the first one that really stood out to me.
4. Conversely I'm amazed at the cards that I've never felt were that good that are still in people's list. I've never liked Flickerwisp but yet it's still being played in good numbers. Glad to see Faith's Fetters finally kick the bucket.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
The best advice I can give you is to just finish something. Even if it's not 100% perfect. It's so easy to get worried about the small details to the point where you never finish something. But if you get something out you can always edit it later.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
If a mod wants to delete this, I understand. It probably belongs more so in the cube list forum. But I felt this was different enough where I might be able to get away with a post here.
I have spent a stupid amount of time on this project, and would be thrilled if you fine people could take a look. At some point I might do an article style write up of this that talks some about the design and development history of this project. But now is not that time. I still have way too much play testing to do.
Anyways, this is my Bohemian cube. A beta-themed proxy cube that attempts to blend the modern with the old in order to create an experience that resembles the beginning years of Magic while updating them to the sensibilities a modern magic player.
I'm sure there are cards that are too strong, too weak, too "modern" and too old. I'm sure not everyone will like each piece of art (which is kind of the point), and I'm sure some people will find the experience of reading old syntax with new art too confusing. But still any direct feedback you could give on your impression of this would be amazing. Especially if you find any typo's or anything incorrect about any of these cards. (Earlier today I noticed I forgot to make sure that the cycling lands etb tapped.)
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Been wanting to have a cube that I could just leave at the LGS and not care if cards get stolen. I considered just remaking my list in MSE and printing it out, but I instead decided to go all out and spend way too much time and do something that probably is stupid. So far I'm about 1/8th of the way done in my endeavor.
I need to go back and do a ton of editing. Small typos, changing syntax as the project evolved, and messing up a few things (forgot to add "Until end of turn" on lumbering falls.)
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Woo, after neglecting my cube for the last year I finally got around to making my real cube match my cube tutor cube. Now to order the dozen or so cards I need and the 20 or so tokens.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Featuing over fifteen thousand magic cards, now you can draft any deck that you ever wanted to.
I uploaded every set one at a time. I didn't upload alpha, beta, and unlimited though, just beta. Sets with no new cards weren't added. So no revised-xth core sets. I bulk added all the M201X core sets and removed all the duplicates. (same thing happened with starter and portal). I only added the new commander cards but I did add the entirety of conspiracy.
*no un-cards but if people want I would add them in.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
That's an interesting idea. Instead of doing enemy colors I split it up and did RW/BG/UR/GW/UB so each color is represented twice. GW is enchantress and UB is artifact based.
Currently I'm a little heavy on this section with 55/50 cards.
Black: It was a little difficult to get to enough black cards. I'm considering adding a second Disciple. Some of the odd creatures like Moriock Rigger/Scavenger probably aren't going to be permanent additions. Doubt Priest of Yawgmoth is good enough, but I've had one sitting in a box for years that I've always wanted to do something with.
Blue: Blue has so many good cards for this section it was hard to keep it down to this few. In all honestly this entire section could easily just be blue cards. I'm not sure if Academy is going to be too good or not so I'm keeping it on the side for now. Ensoul Artifact is a cute enchantment so it might come in at some point.
Tinker is a card I'm normally worried about. Currently it doesn't have a knock out amazing target like Inkwell Leviathan, Blightsteel, or Wurmcoil. The scariest things you can get are Bosh (which requires other expensive artifacts to be out), Memnarch (which requires a large mana requirement before it starts getting busted, Mindslaver (which is scarry) and Thopter Assembly (which is safe) I honestly think this si going to be used more so to grab a steel overseer, cranial plating, or Thopter foundry/sword fo the meek.
Red: Goblin Welder and atog are obvious inclusions. I'm sure there is a sac an artifact: deal X damage spell somewhere that could see play here also but I decided to go with Bosh.
White: Salvager is correct, I'm sure of that. Myrsmith probably is, Sanctum Garcoyle is probably not. Though I remember loving it with Esporza in Shards block draft. Esporza is a card I don't have enough ETB effects to warrant.
Green: Are there any pro-artifact green cards, I couldn't find any.
Multicolor: Foundry is a shoe in. Time Sieve I could see cutting. And I'm not sure if I want to include both Tezz 1 and 2 or not.
Lands: I decided to double up on Citadels and only include one snod/whispers. Academy is intentionally missing. I have it sitting to the side and I might include it after some real games happen.
Artifacts: The difficulty in this section (which wasn't that hard) was making sure these were artifacts that the other four archetypes would want to swipe. Seeing as I want these to be slower games I've decided to not go with more aggressive strategies. That being said I'm not sure if the Affinity cards should stay or not. (Memnite, Arbound worker/ravager, menite, myr enforcer) I'm ok with Mindslaver lock existing with Skeletal Shard/Ruins/ and Welder so that isn't an issue.
Sideboard Cards
Tolarian Academy: A little scary to include out of the gate.
Ensoul Artifact: Doubt its good enough
Karn, Silver Golem: Not sure what this would do, but attacking with mindslavers sounds fun.
Metalworker: See Academy
Master Transmuter: I think I have enough ways to cheat artifacts into play, but I could see including this.
Transmute Artifact I think I have enough search effect currently.
Depends on the card. Something important to the archetype like astral slide or Spiderspawning will get 2-3 copies. Something not all that important like Staggershock for the UR spell matters deck would only get one copy.
Also depends on the casting cost. There are a ton of 2-3 drops that help the "I want creatures to die" deck. But not so many white one drops. So probably will have atleast two copies of Doomed Traveler.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Ok, so I'm trying to build a cube with a focus on archetype rather than my traditional focus on the three main theaters. I think where most people get this wrong is they try to build a cube with an archetype for each of the 10 color combinations. I think that is probably too many archetypes to support fully.
So instead I'm doing one archetype for each of the enemy color pairs and then paying attention to what the other three colors can do to help out. Also I'm ignoring the singleton rule. Not enough Astral Slides and Spider Spawnings in the world. I also want to keep budget in mind. Which I think will be fun so I have to use some of the more interesting lands rather just shock/fetch/revised.
BG: Creatures in Graveyards matter
BW: Creatures GOING to the graveyard matters (this is going to be tough to differentiate from BG, and I'm worried about too much cross synergy)
UR: Non-creature spells matter
WR: Astral Slide Cycling shenanigans.
UR: I have absolutely no idea what the hell UG does that is interesting.
I've had a couple of ideas. Turbofog could be possible, but seems like it would be too hard for all the pieces to come together and very little cross support with the other colors. +1/+1 counter shenanigans seems dull. Tempo is so boring and is more of a good stuff.dec strategy that I want to avoid. Proliferate is my leading contendor.
I disagree. It's a good engine in the pox package.
Carrion Feeder didn't work out for me in Pox builds. Could you give examples of how it is used?
Sacrifice Gravecrawler/Rassembling Skeleton/Squee/Nether Traitor/Bloodghast to it.
Sacrifice a creature that is being blocked in combat and going to die anyways.
Sacrifice small creatures that are no longer relevant to the board.
Sacrifice creatures that are going to the graveyard anyways (Shriekmaw/Mulldrifter/deranged hermit/etc)
You just have to realize that if you get a 1 drop to be a 3/3 it has done more than enough work.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5ec6e6d96c26474a6c1a602b
*Edit - Sweet Reanimator deck I drafted.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
1. The amount of creatures that are just vanilla or french vanilla creatures once they hit the board is pretty high. In an effort to get value out of every creature immediately once it hits the field I think we have sacrifice more interesting board states. This isn't a negative, just an observation. But one that I want to try to account for by making an effort to include more creatures that have global and activated abilities on the field. More Brightlings and Benalish Marshals.
2. White is in a situation that red was in years ago. Everything in the color is either a dude or removal. I need to look for more cards that make more interesting deck building choices. Like opposition, recurring nightmare, sneak attack or birthing pod.
3. It's always interesting after a hiatus to see what cards you once thought were 100% cube staples that you don't see in lists. Serendib Efreet was about as much of a staple as a cube could have but I see it not be used in lists from people I respect the opinion on. There are other such cards but that was the first one that really stood out to me.
4. Conversely I'm amazed at the cards that I've never felt were that good that are still in people's list. I've never liked Flickerwisp but yet it's still being played in good numbers. Glad to see Faith's Fetters finally kick the bucket.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/58137
I have spent a stupid amount of time on this project, and would be thrilled if you fine people could take a look. At some point I might do an article style write up of this that talks some about the design and development history of this project. But now is not that time. I still have way too much play testing to do.
Anyways, this is my Bohemian cube. A beta-themed proxy cube that attempts to blend the modern with the old in order to create an experience that resembles the beginning years of Magic while updating them to the sensibilities a modern magic player.
I'm sure there are cards that are too strong, too weak, too "modern" and too old. I'm sure not everyone will like each piece of art (which is kind of the point), and I'm sure some people will find the experience of reading old syntax with new art too confusing. But still any direct feedback you could give on your impression of this would be amazing. Especially if you find any typo's or anything incorrect about any of these cards. (Earlier today I noticed I forgot to make sure that the cycling lands etb tapped.)
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I need to go back and do a ton of editing. Small typos, changing syntax as the project evolved, and messing up a few things (forgot to add "Until end of turn" on lumbering falls.)
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Ever wanted to draft anything* in magic? Well now you can.
Big Box Cube
Featuing over fifteen thousand magic cards, now you can draft any deck that you ever wanted to.
I uploaded every set one at a time. I didn't upload alpha, beta, and unlimited though, just beta. Sets with no new cards weren't added. So no revised-xth core sets. I bulk added all the M201X core sets and removed all the duplicates. (same thing happened with starter and portal). I only added the new commander cards but I did add the entirety of conspiracy.
*no un-cards but if people want I would add them in.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Currently I'm a little heavy on this section with 55/50 cards.
Black: It was a little difficult to get to enough black cards. I'm considering adding a second Disciple. Some of the odd creatures like Moriock Rigger/Scavenger probably aren't going to be permanent additions. Doubt Priest of Yawgmoth is good enough, but I've had one sitting in a box for years that I've always wanted to do something with.
Blue: Blue has so many good cards for this section it was hard to keep it down to this few. In all honestly this entire section could easily just be blue cards. I'm not sure if Academy is going to be too good or not so I'm keeping it on the side for now. Ensoul Artifact is a cute enchantment so it might come in at some point.
Tinker is a card I'm normally worried about. Currently it doesn't have a knock out amazing target like Inkwell Leviathan, Blightsteel, or Wurmcoil. The scariest things you can get are Bosh (which requires other expensive artifacts to be out), Memnarch (which requires a large mana requirement before it starts getting busted, Mindslaver (which is scarry) and Thopter Assembly (which is safe) I honestly think this si going to be used more so to grab a steel overseer, cranial plating, or Thopter foundry/sword fo the meek.
Red: Goblin Welder and atog are obvious inclusions. I'm sure there is a sac an artifact: deal X damage spell somewhere that could see play here also but I decided to go with Bosh.
White: Salvager is correct, I'm sure of that. Myrsmith probably is, Sanctum Garcoyle is probably not. Though I remember loving it with Esporza in Shards block draft. Esporza is a card I don't have enough ETB effects to warrant.
Green: Are there any pro-artifact green cards, I couldn't find any.
Multicolor: Foundry is a shoe in. Time Sieve I could see cutting. And I'm not sure if I want to include both Tezz 1 and 2 or not.
Lands: I decided to double up on Citadels and only include one snod/whispers. Academy is intentionally missing. I have it sitting to the side and I might include it after some real games happen.
Artifacts: The difficulty in this section (which wasn't that hard) was making sure these were artifacts that the other four archetypes would want to swipe. Seeing as I want these to be slower games I've decided to not go with more aggressive strategies. That being said I'm not sure if the Affinity cards should stay or not. (Memnite, Arbound worker/ravager, menite, myr enforcer) I'm ok with Mindslaver lock existing with Skeletal Shard/Ruins/ and Welder so that isn't an issue.
Sideboard Cards
Tolarian Academy: A little scary to include out of the gate.
Ensoul Artifact: Doubt its good enough
Karn, Silver Golem: Not sure what this would do, but attacking with mindslavers sounds fun.
Metalworker: See Academy
Master Transmuter: I think I have enough ways to cheat artifacts into play, but I could see including this.
Transmute Artifact I think I have enough search effect currently.
1 Myrsmith
1 Auriok Salvagers
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
Blue (12)
1 Courier Capsule
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Fabricate
1 Master of Etherium
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Faerie Mechanist
1 Thopter Spy Network
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Reshape
Black (10)
1 Disciple of the Vualt
2 Executioner's Capsule
1 Painsmith
1 Puppet Conjurer
1 Priest of Yawgmoth
1 Moriok Rigger
1 Nim Lasher
1 Moriock Scavenger
1 Mephetic Ooze
Red (2)
1 Goblin Welder
1 Atog
1 Time Sieve
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Thopter Foundry
Land (5)
1 Academy Ruins
2 Darksteel Citadel
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of Whispers
Artifacts (20)
1 Mox Opal
1 Memnite
1 Ornithopter
2 Arcbound Worker
1 Hex Parasite
1 Arcbound Ravager
1 Cranial Plating
1 Dimir Signet
1 Steel Overseer
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Etched Champion
1 Skeleton Shard
1 Frogmite
1 Lodestone Myr
1 Mindslaver
1 Thopter Assembly
1 Memnarch
1 Myr Enforcer
1 Bosh, Iron Golem
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Ensoul Artifact
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Master Transmuter
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Also depends on the casting cost. There are a ton of 2-3 drops that help the "I want creatures to die" deck. But not so many white one drops. So probably will have atleast two copies of Doomed Traveler.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
So instead I'm doing one archetype for each of the enemy color pairs and then paying attention to what the other three colors can do to help out. Also I'm ignoring the singleton rule. Not enough Astral Slides and Spider Spawnings in the world. I also want to keep budget in mind. Which I think will be fun so I have to use some of the more interesting lands rather just shock/fetch/revised.
BG: Creatures in Graveyards matter
BW: Creatures GOING to the graveyard matters (this is going to be tough to differentiate from BG, and I'm worried about too much cross synergy)
UR: Non-creature spells matter
WR: Astral Slide Cycling shenanigans.
UR: I have absolutely no idea what the hell UG does that is interesting.
I've had a couple of ideas. Turbofog could be possible, but seems like it would be too hard for all the pieces to come together and very little cross support with the other colors. +1/+1 counter shenanigans seems dull. Tempo is so boring and is more of a good stuff.dec strategy that I want to avoid. Proliferate is my leading contendor.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I hadn't seen that guy. (BTW he costs 2G according to the salvation spoiler)
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Sacrifice Gravecrawler/Rassembling Skeleton/Squee/Nether Traitor/Bloodghast to it.
Sacrifice a creature that is being blocked in combat and going to die anyways.
Sacrifice small creatures that are no longer relevant to the board.
Sacrifice creatures that are going to the graveyard anyways (Shriekmaw/Mulldrifter/deranged hermit/etc)
You just have to realize that if you get a 1 drop to be a 3/3 it has done more than enough work.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor