I'm a veteran boardgamer with some basic MTG experience (mostly the MTG ipad arena game against computer and some online opponents) and it was really fun. I want to play 2 player MTG with my partner, and wanted to print a cube because I don't want to spend $10,000+ or be restricted to only cheap common cards. And I love the idea of a cube because it's a self-enclosed "boardgame" so to speak.
I plan to self print the cards.
So if I wanted to print a cube for 2 players, which one of this should I choose? I don't know enough about magic to be able to evaluate these cubes effectively so I could really use some veteran magic players' opinion.
My requirements:
1) I want it to be highly interactive and fun. I like all the different "styles" of play - blue mana counterspelling, red aggressive decks, green ramp, etc so ideally you can draft a deck that works thematically with synergy.
2) Needs to survive hundreds of games of replay-ability. Based on what I've read on this subreddit so far, that likely means I stay away from just 180 card cubes because it will get boring pretty fast only playing the same 180 cards. So I'm thinking somewhere around a 250-360 count cube?
3) No budget limit because I'll be self-printing, so it's fine to include powerful vintage cards.
4) Powerful cards are fun, but I've heard some criticism on this forum (don't know if it's widely agreed upon or not) that the "powered" decks are not as fun to play because its just overpowered cards that end up being must draft cards so you get less interesting decks and they all just start becoming decks of "let's draft/collect all the most overpowered cards possible". But obviously it would be fun to pay with some powerful cards so I don't want to do a pauper or budget cube either since I'll be printing.
5) Want to maximize replayability (ideally can play hundreds of games and hopefully can continue to find new emergent gameplay/decks).
I did some searching around and these were the most popular cubes I could find that are around 360 cards or less. Which one of these should I choose based on my requirements above?
If you're looking for a small cube specifically for two people, I would recommend RyanOverdrive on CubeCubra and his "TwoBerts". They are smaller lists designed specifically with two person draft in mind. https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/1jd3
If you'd rather have something a little larger, then at 360 I really like Andy Mangold's Bun Magic Cube. I don't necessarily subscribe to his same idea of doubling up on some lands, but that's personal preference and should be easy swaps if you want to include different lands to keep the singleton nature.
If you want to go just a bit larger to 450 in order to get more draft out of your shuffles, I'd look at Rantipole's 450 list. This is an excellently built, well loved list from a veteran cuber. https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/lv1
And if you want to go up even just a bit more to really get the bang for your buck out of a shuffle, you certainly can't go wrong with wtwlf123's vintage list. Plenty of folks start their cube journey with his list and for good reason. He's been a voice in the community for a very long time and all of us cube vets respect his opinions greatly. https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/wtwlf123
I'm a veteran boardgamer with some basic MTG experience (mostly the MTG ipad arena game against computer and some online opponents) and it was really fun. I want to play 2 player MTG with my partner, and wanted to print a cube because I don't want to spend $10,000+ or be restricted to only cheap common cards. And I love the idea of a cube because it's a self-enclosed "boardgame" so to speak.
I plan to self print the cards.
So if I wanted to print a cube for 2 players, which one of this should I choose? I don't know enough about magic to be able to evaluate these cubes effectively so I could really use some veteran magic players' opinion.
My requirements:
1) I want it to be highly interactive and fun. I like all the different "styles" of play - blue mana counterspelling, red aggressive decks, green ramp, etc so ideally you can draft a deck that works thematically with synergy.
2) Needs to survive hundreds of games of replay-ability. Based on what I've read on this subreddit so far, that likely means I stay away from just 180 card cubes because it will get boring pretty fast only playing the same 180 cards. So I'm thinking somewhere around a 250-360 count cube?
3) No budget limit because I'll be self-printing, so it's fine to include powerful vintage cards.
4) Powerful cards are fun, but I've heard some criticism on this forum (don't know if it's widely agreed upon or not) that the "powered" decks are not as fun to play because its just overpowered cards that end up being must draft cards so you get less interesting decks and they all just start becoming decks of "let's draft/collect all the most overpowered cards possible". But obviously it would be fun to pay with some powerful cards so I don't want to do a pauper or budget cube either since I'll be printing.
5) Want to maximize replayability (ideally can play hundreds of games and hopefully can continue to find new emergent gameplay/decks).
I did some searching around and these were the most popular cubes I could find that are around 360 cards or less. Which one of these should I choose based on my requirements above?
Matignon's Cube, 360 unpowered
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/overview/8mg
Bun Magic Cube
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/overview/andymangold
SCGCON $10K Cube [Powered]
https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/overview/scgconcube
Modern no banlist 360
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/modern_nobanlist_360
Ando's Modern cube
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/amc
360 Unpowered (360 Card Cube)
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/360
philo.jh's Modernish 360
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/modernish
Versatile Vistas (360 Card Legacy+ Cube)
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/futurevistas
The Visserdrix Cube (375 Card Cube)
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/visserdrix
Jarvis 360 'Yube' (360 Card Cube)
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/yube
I'm happy to take any solid recommendations as well!
If you'd rather have something a little larger, then at 360 I really like Andy Mangold's Bun Magic Cube. I don't necessarily subscribe to his same idea of doubling up on some lands, but that's personal preference and should be easy swaps if you want to include different lands to keep the singleton nature.
If you want to go just a bit larger to 450 in order to get more draft out of your shuffles, I'd look at Rantipole's 450 list. This is an excellently built, well loved list from a veteran cuber. https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/list/lv1
And if you want to go up even just a bit more to really get the bang for your buck out of a shuffle, you certainly can't go wrong with wtwlf123's vintage list. Plenty of folks start their cube journey with his list and for good reason. He's been a voice in the community for a very long time and all of us cube vets respect his opinions greatly. https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/wtwlf123
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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