A friend introduced me to Magic the Gathering 6 or 7 years ago (he had played since it first came out). I got hooked right away and spent a crap ton of money on cards (more than I care to say). Got a bunch of my friends hooked too. It was like wildfire (pun intended). We played constructed (casual decks) pretty much every day for years. We all worked together and that was what we did at lunch. It was great fun. But after a time, like all good things, it came to an end. We lost interest (some of us changed jobs), and we just stopped playing. Too many sets, too many cards, it just got to be too hard to keep up with.
Fast forward a couple years and I stumbled onto cube format. What a great concept. It got me excited about the game again and I started reading and looking at cubes others had built (many on this site). Ultimately, I ended up throwing this cube together. I traded some of my old cards in and bought ones I was missing. Here are the fruits of that labor.
A few goals I had with this cube… I wanted a return more towards traditional magic. I have a soft spot for older cards. I like the card style better and I'm nostalgic. I also like the idea that each color has something unique that it can do (which no other color can do), and each color has strengths and weaknesses. As much as I liked Ravnica block, I did not care for how hard multi-colored was pushed for example. I realize that each set pushes a theme - which is what makes them expansion sets, but I wanted to find a balance in my cube. MBC is one of my favorite decks, but in a heavy multi-colored block, it's really not viable. So mana fixing has been limited in my cube. The last thing I want to see is 5 color decks playing "best-of-each-color". That undermines one of the basic principles of the game IMO (choosing a color and accepting its strengths and weaknesses).
Continuing on that vein, there were certain cards I intentionally excluded because they broke too hard from the color pie. Planar chaos was particularly guilty of this (again, I know it was the set mechanic). Some things made sense (damnation). Others didn't and where intentionally skipped even though they are powerful (mana tithe - counters belong in blue and only blue; psionic blast - blue has enough already it doesn't need burn). Some things probably don't belong in the cube but I left them in because I think they really help the color (harmonize).
I also am using a couple of lesser powerful cards because I don't believe continually increasing the power level of the cube is always the right decision. Take doom blade vs go for the throat. I think everyone would agree that go for the throat is better as it effects more creatures in cube. But I'm of the opinion that black should not have a two mana unconditional answer (with no drawbacks) for black creatures. That's not an effect black has typically ever had and I intend on keeping it that way. So sometimes more powerful is not always better IMO.
I also wanted to keep things fun. In fact, this is probably the most important thing. There are certain mechanics in the game which I think most casual players find un-fun (discard and land destruction to name a couple - there's nothing fun about losing because you had no cards and no land), so there are some cards I left out intentionally because I know they will lead to un-fun situations. That's not to say I removed all these effects - I didn't because they are defining characteristics of certain colors - but I tried to keep them in check and will not hesitate to make further cuts if someone finds a ways to build outofhandlanddestruction.dec and runs people over with it for example.
With that in mind, you will find notable exclusions from this cube. Here are the obvious ones and why they aren't here:
1. No Mythics. In particular, this includes Planeswalkers. I don't like them... at all. Adding a new card type has changed the game. Some would say for the better, but I say it's for the worse. It's changed too many dynamics. The game was designed around lands, enchantments, artifacts, spells and creatures. And I don't think that should have been messed with. It's too fundamental to the game. JustSayNoToPlaneswalkers.org As far as my ban against mythics, I feel like the game has had noticeable power creep since around the time of this new rarity. See my 5/28/12 post for more details.
2. Random discard. Discard is un-fun enough without making it based on dumb luck. There's enough luck in the game of magic with starting hands and mana screw, I don't need cards that basically ask you to flip a coin and if you get heads you lose your best card - this takes away too much strategy. I only have one random discard effect in the entire cube (Hypnotic Specter) and that's because it's nostalgic, easily removed, and doesn't have haste (so you have time to deal with it - barring a lightning grieved hippie or something). Even then I almost pulled it out (and may at some point in the future if it ends up pissing people off). And before anyone asks, I will never add mind twist to this cube... ever. I have a copy of that card and I'll toss it in my fireplace before I put it in the cube. That card is on par with persecute against s single color deck (another card that will kindle firewood before it gets put in a card sleeve).
3. Mega expensive / ultra powerful cards. The most expensive card in my cube is Tarmogoyf, and he's only in here because I had one and I don't think he's completely broken (he might be super cheap for his size most of the time, but he dies to pretty much all creature removal and he doesn't have evasion). Nothing else costs more than $40, and those were fetchlands and mirrodin swords (lands are important enough to justify it and I have a soft spot for equipment - which is why skullclamp is in the cube despite how stupidly broken it is). Notable exclusions from my cube based on price/power: Library of Alexandria ($200 and super busted) and Sol ring (not expensive, just too damn broken). These two cards will never be in this cube because they break the game too much - card draw and mana acceleration need to be priced correctly or they flat out ruin the game. Obviously, the power nine are not in here and never will be. It has been brought up by at least one poster that my cube still contains busted cards like balance and jitte. And to those posters I say those cards are on my watch list for banning.
Cube Summary
Cube Size: 450 Cards
Breakdown: 66 of each color, 60 multi-color (by guild), 60 colorless
Standard or Theme Cards: Standard with a heavy emphasis on pre-M10 cards.
Draft Frequency: TBD - hopefully monthly or semi-monthly
Average Draft Number: 5-8 players
Powered?: No
Portal? No
"Un" Cards?: No
Standard or Multi-player: Standard, but we may do some multi-player. The cube is built for standard though. I think the game works best one on one - tempo is a critical component to the game and that is effectively nullified in multi-player.
Sideboards?: Undecided, but hopefully not (I never liked side boarding). There aren't many if any narrow (sideboard only) cards in the cube, and that was intentional. There are lots of powerful enchantments and artifacts, so disenchant effects are main deck worthy (in theory anyway - mileage may vary). And I've built that effect into creatures as much as possible to prevent having to have a bunch of spells with that effect - creatures always do something even if their disenchant effect doesn't.
Proxies?: No, though I could add some at some point. Don't want to though so it's very unlikely.
Functional Reprints?: Yes
Perfect Creature/Non-Creature balance: No, but tried to get close. I went roughly 50/50 for red, black and white. Then went approximately 2:1 for blue and green (blue focused on spells and green focused on creatures).
Gold "As Printed" or "As Played"?: As played. Hybrid and gold cards are mixed together. Dual lands are classified with hybrid and gold cards.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No. I do want a healthy environment for agro and control (though I don't think control needs help with all the bustedness in the cube), so I tried to keep the curve low to keep agro viable. This will likely need tweaking over time.
Average CMC = 2.95
Black
I wanted to support reanimator (one of my favorite decks), and is one of the main reasons Akroma is still in the cube (as it's probably the best reanimation target of all time and hard casting it is not going to happen 9 times out of 10 even in a Wx control deck). Black has a lot of removal (as you would expect) and a decent number of aggressive creatures. Notable exclusions: Dark Confidant. He will get added at some point. I just don't have him and he's running way too expensive right now.
Blue has a multitude of counter abilities - both in spells and creatures. I like the control magic effects because of how much they can swing a game. I'm not supporting agro obviously, though there are some tempo cards here so I guess you could run Ux tempo. If you play blue, 99% chance you are playing some form of control though.
Burn is obviously the major focus of red. That and aggressive creatures. There are some nice fatties in there too. Flameblast Dragon is the worst 6 drop in the cube probably as it fails the terminate test miserably (and dies to doom blade too which is no bueno for a six drop), but if you un-tap with it, you are probably going to win. It has sweet art too, and I love the flavor (breathing fire to deal damage to creatures and players). So in it stays for now. Counterburn can probably protect him, so hoping it doesn't end up a total disappointment. I really like dragons.
I wanted to support Gx agro decks, so there are some efficient beaters here. But I like ramp decks a lot, so that was a primary focus which is why the mana curve is higher in green than most of the other colors (outside blue). Spell selection is limited, so nothing unexpected there I don't think. I like pump effects, as I think this is an iconic green ability, hence why stonewood invocation is in here and vines of vastwood.
My creature/spell split is 50/50 as I want to support both aggressive weenies and control. I may end up slanting this towards creatures though if white weenie ends up un-draftable with the selection I currently have in here. Anthem effects are a pretty iconic white ability, so I provide a lot of support for that. There are also some token generators here as building armies of token dudes is pretty fun and it synergizes well with anthem effects.
Each color combination got 6 cards. Two were always lands (Ravnica duals and Fetchlands - I don't own nor am I going to buy the alpha duals). The other 4 cards were picked to support the arch type (or types) most common for the color. So white/blue got control cards. Red/white got agro stuff. Etc.
11 of these are non-basic lands. I'm missing a couple of the obvious standouts (Maze of Ith, Wasteland). But I didn't have them or the $50+ needed to buy them. With the exception of three, all the artifact creatures are high costed nastiness (which I like - artifact creatures should be scary). I love equipment, so there's a healthy selection there with no real surprises. I'm only providing 6 mana artifacts, as I want to discourage running more than 2 colors unless you are in green (where most of the fixing is). One utility artifact that I LOVE and I never see anyone use is power conduit. I don't think anyone realizes how many broken things you can do with it. Turn your persist dude into an un-killable pumped up persist dude (by continually turning that -1/-1 into a +1/+1 each time it comes back) Take away soot counters from smokestack so that you never sacrifice anything but your opponent always does. Add a +1/+1 with that last vanishing counter, you're going to lose that creature anyway. This card just has so many uses.
5/28/12
First round of changes are being driven largely by my desire to purge mythic rares from my cube. That might seem arbitrary and sort of random, but there is a rationale for why I've decided to do it.
Keeping to the original intent of my cube, I want to focus more on traditional magic (and that shouldn't simply end with planeswalkers). There was significant power creep introduced into magic around the time of the M10 rule changes (which coincides closely with mythic rares and walkers). I don't want my cube to move in that direction. It almost feels like magic the gathering is starting to follow the path so many MMO's have followed with exponential gear scaling. It's a bad trend IMO that is breaking more things than it fixes. All in the name of selling new sets I guess. Thanks, but I'll pass.
Eidolon highlighted this very issue to me when he compared Grave Titan to Skeletal Vampire. When you look at these two side by side, the sheer power difference becomes jarring, and I don't think that is a good thing. Skeletal vampire was a very good card - people feared it coming down because it won games. Grave Titan is arguably twice as powerful and frankly that is just plain busted.
Looking at the cards I had in my cube, a good number of the most powerful creatures were recent mythic rares. That's a disturbing trend. So I've decided to eliminate all mythic from my cube. Some of these cuts hurt, I'm not going to lie, but I think the overall power level of the cube will benefit. Just to clarify, I'm only cutting mythic if they were never printed in any other rarity. So older cards cannot be excluded for being mythic rare as a reprint.
Again, I realize I'm in the minority here thinking weaker cards are better than stronger cards. But I think they can be when considered as part of a cube as a whole and not just on an individual level. If a single card makes tons of other cards obsolete, maybe that one card is broken and shouldn't be in the cube. I just don't agree swapping more powerful cards into your cube makes your cube better. So without further ado, my changes:
OUT => IN
Abyssal Persecutor => Graveborn Muse
The muse is a good CA generator and it synergizes with the other zombies I have in black. I wanted her in the cube but didn't have room for her. Without mythic rares, now I do.
Doom Blade => Terror
This change is for flavor. I don't want an unconditional 2 mana answer for every black creature in the cube. Terror is a classic cheap black removal spell, complete with the non-black/non-artifact clause. I like it.
Time Warp => Silent Departure
Not completely sold on silent departure because of the sorcery speed, but I actually think the flashback is good even if over costed. I can see this being significant late game. I think it's a card that will play better than it reads.
Frost Titan => Palinchron
Wanted Palinchron in there anyway. Of all the titans though, I feel like this one is the least broken and the one I want to make an exception for (but won't for now).
Molten-Tail Masticore => Bottle Gnomes
The gnome is good for control. I've seen it in a lot of lists and many people defend it, so seems like a good include.
Sword of Feast and Famine => Brittle Effigy
It hurts a lot to lose swords, it really does. But they are mythic, so out they go. Brittle Effigy seems like it might be a good removal solution for some decks playing colors short on removal.
Sword of Body and Mind => Basilisk Collar
At least I got another piece of equipment in there. These were the hardest cuts for me because I love equipment.
Wurmcoil Engine => Pentavus
I can see a lot of broken things you can do with Pentavus. Clearly a downgrade from Wurmcoil, but the engine is mythic and pretty broken. So out it goes
Olivia Voldaren => Blazing Specter
This is the second hardest cut for me because the flavor is wonderful and I really like vampires. But mythic is mythic. The specter is a card I wanted to try out anyway, so in it goes.
Thornling => Arbor Elf
Untapping a forest didn't seem that great to me at first, but I'm thinking now it is better than I thought. It supports ramp obviously, and can potentially do some broken things if you can re-use him multiple times in one turn. And it's another one drop, which are hard to come by (plus it's an elf).
Rampaging Baloths => Obstinate Baloth
Downgrade obviously, but life gain and anti-discard seem like really nice bonuses on an already solid 4/4 for 4.
Dragonmaster outcast => Stonewright
The outcast looked pretty sick, but I can see Stonewright doing some broken things with the right combination of creatures. I think you have to work harder with Stonewright, but that is a desirable thing. So I can live with this swap.
Hero of Oxid Ridge => Goblin Ruinblaster
This one hurts as I think Hero of Oxid Ridge is a well designed card (perfect for agro) and not too broken. But it's mythic, so I put another goblin in there to replace it. This is more land destruction though, so that has me worried (since my cube already has a lot of LD). This is the swap I like the least right now. Both land destruction and discard have protection from fun, so I get nervous each time I put another one of those cards in the cube.
Inferno Titan => Crater Hellion
Eidolan suggested I run the Hellion instead of Flameblast Dragon. I haven't taken out the dragon, but I am adding the Hellion because he is clearly good for control.
Comet Storm => Starstorm
I actually like Starstorm better because I can cycle it. I like cards that do more than one thing. So no great lose here.
Baneslayer Angel => Lone Missionary
Baneslayer Angel is another perfect example of the power creep issues in Magic. Its a 5/5 flying non-legendary creature for 5 (which would already be over the power curve). Add the fact it also has first strike, lifelink and protection from demons and dragons, and well WTF? How can this thing not cost 6 or 7? Lone missionary is a cool card I wanted in the cube because I can see multiple archetypes playing it. It's a 2/1 for 2 which is serviceable for agro and it gains 4 life and potentially trades with something for control. Again, cards that do more than one thing are cool.
Sun Titan[/CARD] => Yosei, the Morning Star
Very happy to have Yosei back in the cube. There is something wrong when Yosei isn't good enough anymore and its exclusion really bothered me.
A friend introduced me to Magic the Gathering 6 or 7 years ago (he had played since it first came out). I got hooked right away and spent a crap ton of money on cards (more than I care to say). Got a bunch of my friends hooked too. It was like wildfire (pun intended). We played constructed (casual decks) pretty much every day for years. We all worked together and that was what we did at lunch. It was great fun. But after a time, like all good things, it came to an end. We lost interest (some of us changed jobs), and we just stopped playing. Too many sets, too many cards, it just got to be too hard to keep up with.
Fast forward a couple years and I stumbled onto cube format. What a great concept. It got me excited about the game again and I started reading and looking at cubes others had built (many on this site). Ultimately, I ended up throwing this cube together. I traded some of my old cards in and bought ones I was missing. Here are the fruits of that labor.
A few goals I had with this cube… I wanted a return more towards traditional magic. I have a soft spot for older cards. I like the card style better and I'm nostalgic. I also like the idea that each color has something unique that it can do (which no other color can do), and each color has strengths and weaknesses. As much as I liked Ravnica block, I did not care for how hard multi-colored was pushed for example. I realize that each set pushes a theme - which is what makes them expansion sets, but I wanted to find a balance in my cube. MBC is one of my favorite decks, but in a heavy multi-colored block, it's really not viable. So mana fixing has been limited in my cube. The last thing I want to see is 5 color decks playing "best-of-each-color". That undermines one of the basic principles of the game IMO (choosing a color and accepting its strengths and weaknesses).
Continuing on that vein, there were certain cards I intentionally excluded because they broke too hard from the color pie. Planar chaos was particularly guilty of this (again, I know it was the set mechanic). Some things made sense (damnation). Others didn't and where intentionally skipped even though they are powerful (mana tithe - counters belong in blue and only blue; psionic blast - blue has enough already it doesn't need burn). Some things probably don't belong in the cube but I left them in because I think they really help the color (harmonize).
I also am using a couple of lesser powerful cards because I don't believe continually increasing the power level of the cube is always the right decision. Take doom blade vs go for the throat. I think everyone would agree that go for the throat is better as it effects more creatures in cube. But I'm of the opinion that black should not have a two mana unconditional answer (with no drawbacks) for black creatures. That's not an effect black has typically ever had and I intend on keeping it that way. So sometimes more powerful is not always better IMO.
I also wanted to keep things fun. In fact, this is probably the most important thing. There are certain mechanics in the game which I think most casual players find un-fun (discard and land destruction to name a couple - there's nothing fun about losing because you had no cards and no land), so there are some cards I left out intentionally because I know they will lead to un-fun situations. That's not to say I removed all these effects - I didn't because they are defining characteristics of certain colors - but I tried to keep them in check and will not hesitate to make further cuts if someone finds a ways to build outofhandlanddestruction.dec and runs people over with it for example.
With that in mind, you will find notable exclusions from this cube. Here are the obvious ones and why they aren't here:
1. No Mythics. In particular, this includes Planeswalkers. I don't like them... at all. Adding a new card type has changed the game. Some would say for the better, but I say it's for the worse. It's changed too many dynamics. The game was designed around lands, enchantments, artifacts, spells and creatures. And I don't think that should have been messed with. It's too fundamental to the game. JustSayNoToPlaneswalkers.org As far as my ban against mythics, I feel like the game has had noticeable power creep since around the time of this new rarity. See my 5/28/12 post for more details.
2. Random discard. Discard is un-fun enough without making it based on dumb luck. There's enough luck in the game of magic with starting hands and mana screw, I don't need cards that basically ask you to flip a coin and if you get heads you lose your best card - this takes away too much strategy. I only have one random discard effect in the entire cube (Hypnotic Specter) and that's because it's nostalgic, easily removed, and doesn't have haste (so you have time to deal with it - barring a lightning grieved hippie or something). Even then I almost pulled it out (and may at some point in the future if it ends up pissing people off). And before anyone asks, I will never add mind twist to this cube... ever. I have a copy of that card and I'll toss it in my fireplace before I put it in the cube. That card is on par with persecute against s single color deck (another card that will kindle firewood before it gets put in a card sleeve).
3. Mega expensive / ultra powerful cards. The most expensive card in my cube is Tarmogoyf, and he's only in here because I had one and I don't think he's completely broken (he might be super cheap for his size most of the time, but he dies to pretty much all creature removal and he doesn't have evasion). Nothing else costs more than $40, and those were fetchlands and mirrodin swords (lands are important enough to justify it and I have a soft spot for equipment - which is why skullclamp is in the cube despite how stupidly broken it is). Notable exclusions from my cube based on price/power: Library of Alexandria ($200 and super busted) and Sol ring (not expensive, just too damn broken). These two cards will never be in this cube because they break the game too much - card draw and mana acceleration need to be priced correctly or they flat out ruin the game. Obviously, the power nine are not in here and never will be. It has been brought up by at least one poster that my cube still contains busted cards like balance and jitte. And to those posters I say those cards are on my watch list for banning.
Cube Summary
Cube Size: 450 Cards
Breakdown: 66 of each color, 60 multi-color (by guild), 60 colorless
Standard or Theme Cards: Standard with a heavy emphasis on pre-M10 cards.
Draft Frequency: TBD - hopefully monthly or semi-monthly
Average Draft Number: 5-8 players
Powered?: No
Portal? No
"Un" Cards?: No
Standard or Multi-player: Standard, but we may do some multi-player. The cube is built for standard though. I think the game works best one on one - tempo is a critical component to the game and that is effectively nullified in multi-player.
Sideboards?: Undecided, but hopefully not (I never liked side boarding). There aren't many if any narrow (sideboard only) cards in the cube, and that was intentional. There are lots of powerful enchantments and artifacts, so disenchant effects are main deck worthy (in theory anyway - mileage may vary). And I've built that effect into creatures as much as possible to prevent having to have a bunch of spells with that effect - creatures always do something even if their disenchant effect doesn't.
Proxies?: No, though I could add some at some point. Don't want to though so it's very unlikely.
Functional Reprints?: Yes
Perfect Creature/Non-Creature balance: No, but tried to get close. I went roughly 50/50 for red, black and white. Then went approximately 2:1 for blue and green (blue focused on spells and green focused on creatures).
Gold "As Printed" or "As Played"?: As played. Hybrid and gold cards are mixed together. Dual lands are classified with hybrid and gold cards.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No. I do want a healthy environment for agro and control (though I don't think control needs help with all the bustedness in the cube), so I tried to keep the curve low to keep agro viable. This will likely need tweaking over time.
Average CMC = 2.95
Black
I wanted to support reanimator (one of my favorite decks), and is one of the main reasons Akroma is still in the cube (as it's probably the best reanimation target of all time and hard casting it is not going to happen 9 times out of 10 even in a Wx control deck). Black has a lot of removal (as you would expect) and a decent number of aggressive creatures. Notable exclusions: Dark Confidant. He will get added at some point. I just don't have him and he's running way too expensive right now.
1 Animate Dead
1 Bitterblossom
1 Necromancy
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Sarcomancy
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
--INSTANTS (10)
1 Contagion
1 Dark Ritual
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Disfigure
1 Terror
1 Makeshift Mannequin
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Smother
1 Snuff Out
1 Sudden Death
1 Volrath's Stronghold
--SORCERIES (14)
1 Barter in Blood
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dread Return
1 Duress
1 Exhume
1 Living Death
1 Mind Sludge
1 Mutilate
1 Profane Command
1 Reanimate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Carnophage
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Fume Spitter
1 Gravecrawler
1 Vampire Lacerator
--2CC
1 Black Knight
1 Bloodghast
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Tombstalker
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Bane of the Living
1 Bone Shredder
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Royal Assassin
1 Undead Gladiator
1 Vampire Nighthawk
--4CC
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Nekrataal
1 Skinrender
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Shriekmaw
--6CC+
1 Laquatus's Champion
1 Kokusho, The Evening Star
1 Skeletal Vampire
Blue
Blue has a multitude of counter abilities - both in spells and creatures. I like the control magic effects because of how much they can swing a game. I'm not supporting agro obviously, though there are some tempo cards here so I guess you could run Ux tempo. If you play blue, 99% chance you are playing some form of control though.
1 Crystal Shard
1 Vedalken Shackles
--ENCHANTMENTS (6)
1 Legacy's Allure
1 Standstill
1 Control Magic
1 Opposition
1 Future Sight
1 Treachery
--INSTANTS (23)
1 Condescend
1 Repeal
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Syncopate
1 Brainstorm
1 Force Spike
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Counterspell
1 Impulse
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Remand
1 Capsize
1 Forbid
1 Frantic Search
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dismiss
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Desertion
1 Pact of Negation
1 Halimar Depths
1 Academy Ruins
1 Faerie Conclave
--SORCERIES (9)
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Preordain
1 Tinker
1 Deep Analysis
1 Rite of Replication
1 Bribery
1 Silent Departure
1 Time Spiral
1 Upheaval
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellskite
1 Waterfront Bouncer
--3CC
1 Man-o'-War
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Willbender
1 Dungeon Geists
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Thieving Magpie
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
--5CC
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Morphling
1 Mulldrifter
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Palinchron
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Red
Burn is obviously the major focus of red. That and aggressive creatures. There are some nice fatties in there too. Flameblast Dragon is the worst 6 drop in the cube probably as it fails the terminate test miserably (and dies to doom blade too which is no bueno for a six drop), but if you un-tap with it, you are probably going to win. It has sweet art too, and I love the flavor (breathing fire to deal damage to creatures and players). So in it stays for now. Counterburn can probably protect him, so hoping it doesn't end up a total disappointment. I really like dragons.
1 Impending Disaster
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Words of War
--INSTANTS (14)
1 Beacon of Destruction
1 Burst Lightning
1 Char
1 Fireblast
1 Flame Javelin
1 Incinerate
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Magma Jet
1 Seething Song
1 Staggershock
1 Starstorm
1 Urza's Rage
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Word of Seizing
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Ghitu Encampment
--SORCERIES (13)
1 Aftershock
1 Arc Lightning
1 BaneFire
1 Chain Lightning
1 Earthquake
1 Fireball
1 Firebolt
1 Forked Bolt
1 Molten Rain
1 Pillage
1 Pyroclasm
1 Reckless Charge
1 Wildfire
1 Shrine of Burning Rage
1 Stonewright
1 Goblin Welder
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Jackal Pup
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Stromkirk Noble
--2CC
1 Goblin Wardriver
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Ember Hauler
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Lightning Mauler
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Plated Geopede
1 Stigma Lasher
1 Stormblood Berserker
1 Torch Fiend
1 Blistering Firecat
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Hell's Thunder
1 Zo-Zu the Punisher
--4CC
1 Archwing Dragon
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
--5CC
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skizzik
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Flameblast Dragon
1 Crater Hellion
Green
I wanted to support Gx agro decks, so there are some efficient beaters here. But I like ramp decks a lot, so that was a primary focus which is why the mana curve is higher in green than most of the other colors (outside blue). Spell selection is limited, so nothing unexpected there I don't think. I like pump effects, as I think this is an iconic green ability, hence why stonewood invocation is in here and vines of vastwood.
1 Elephant Guide
1 Pattern of Rebirth
1 Rancor
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
--INSTANTS (4)
1 Beast Within
1 Harrow
1 Stonewood Invocation
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Treetop Village
1 Yavimaya Hollow
--SORCERIES (12)
1 Call of the Herd
1 Creeping Mold
1 Explore
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Harmonize
1 Hurricane
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Plow Under
1 Primal Command
1 Regrowth
1 Restock
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Arbor Elf
1 Basking Rootwalla
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Pouncing Jaguar
1 Twinblade Slasher
1 Wild Dogs
--2CC
1 Albino Troll
1 Fauna Shaman
1 River Boa
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Skinshifter
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Wall of Roots
1 Werebear
1 Wild Mongrel
1 Eternal Witness
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Nantuko Vigilante
1 Troll Ascetic
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Yavimaya Elder
--4CC
1 Blastoderm
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Phantom Centaur
1 Spike Weaver
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Acidic Slime
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Genesis
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Mycoloth
--6CC+
1 Silvos, Rogue Elemental
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Woodfall Primus
White
My creature/spell split is 50/50 as I want to support both aggressive weenies and control. I may end up slanting this towards creatures though if white weenie ends up un-draftable with the selection I currently have in here. Anthem effects are a pretty iconic white ability, so I provide a lot of support for that. There are also some token generators here as building armies of token dudes is pretty fun and it synergizes well with anthem effects.
1 Griffin Guide
1 Divine Sacrament
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Glorious Anthem
1 Honor of the Pure
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Parallax Wave
1 Prison Term
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Temporal Isolation
1 Condemn
1 Disenchant
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Swords to Plowshares
--LANDS (2)
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
--SORCERIES (12)
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Armageddon
1 Austere Command
1 Balance
1 Cataclysm
1 Catastrophe
1 Day of Judgment
1 Decree of Justice
1 Martial Coup
1 Rout
1 Spectral Procession
1 Wrath of God
1 Scepter of Dominance
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Mother of Runes
1 Savannah Lions
1 Steppe Lynx
1 Student of Warfare
--2CC
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Lone Missionary
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Silver Knight
1 Soltari Monk
1 Soltari Priest
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Wall of Omens
1 War Priest of Thune
1 Flickerwisp
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mystic Crusader
1 Paladin en-Vec
1 Soltari Champion
1 Stonecloaker
--4CC
1 Calciderm
1 Emeria Angel
1 Exalted Angel
1 Kor Sanctifiers
--5CC
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Karmic Guide
1 Reveillark
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Multi-Color
Each color combination got 6 cards. Two were always lands (Ravnica duals and Fetchlands - I don't own nor am I going to buy the alpha duals). The other 4 cards were picked to support the arch type (or types) most common for the color. So white/blue got control cards. Red/white got agro stuff. Etc.
WWWUUU
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Momentary Blink
1 Absorb
1 Wall of Denial
1 Celestial Colonnade
WWWRRR
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Lightning Helix
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Spitemare
WWWGGG
1 Windswept Heath
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Mirari's Wake
WWWBBB
1 Marsh Flats
1 Lingering Souls
1 Mortify
1 Fetid Heath
1 Desolation Angel
UUURRR
1 Steam Vents
1 Fire // Ice
1 Electrolyze
1 Gelectrode
1 Niv-MIzzet, The Firemind
UUUGGG
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Snakeform
1 Trygon Predator
1 Mystic Snake
1 Simic Sky Swallower
UUUBBB
1 Watery Grave
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Psychatog
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
RRRGGG
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Kird Ape
1 Firespout
1 Stormbind
1 Bloodbraid Elf
RRRBBB
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Terminate
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Blazing Specter
1 Bituminous Blast
BBBGGG
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Putrefy
1 Spiritmonger
Colorless
11 of these are non-basic lands. I'm missing a couple of the obvious standouts (Maze of Ith, Wasteland). But I didn't have them or the $50+ needed to buy them. With the exception of three, all the artifact creatures are high costed nastiness (which I like - artifact creatures should be scary). I love equipment, so there's a healthy selection there with no real surprises. I'm only providing 6 mana artifacts, as I want to discourage running more than 2 colors unless you are in green (where most of the fixing is). One utility artifact that I LOVE and I never see anyone use is power conduit. I don't think anyone realizes how many broken things you can do with it. Turn your persist dude into an un-killable pumped up persist dude (by continually turning that -1/-1 into a +1/+1 each time it comes back) Take away soot counters from smokestack so that you never sacrifice anything but your opponent always does. Add a +1/+1 with that last vanishing counter, you're going to lose that creature anyway. This card just has so many uses.
1 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Brass
1 Dust Bowl
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mutavault
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Rishadan Port
1 Strip Mine
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Vesuva
--CREATURES (10)
1 Platinum Angel
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sundering Titan
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Juggernaut
1 Masticore
1 Perilous Myr
1 Pentavus
1 Bottle Gnomes
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Bonesplitter
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Skullclamp
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of LIght and Shadow
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Umezawa's Jitte
--MANA ARTIFACTS (6)
1 Coalition Relic
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Mind Stone
--UTILITY (23)
1 Aether Vial
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Crystal Ball
1 Erratic Portal
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Memory Jar
1 Mimic Vat
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Pithing Needle
1 Power Conduit
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Ring of Gix
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Smokestack
1 Staff of Domination
1 Tangle Wire
1 Voltaic Key
1 Winter Orb
5/28/12 CHANGES
5/28/12
First round of changes are being driven largely by my desire to purge mythic rares from my cube. That might seem arbitrary and sort of random, but there is a rationale for why I've decided to do it.
Keeping to the original intent of my cube, I want to focus more on traditional magic (and that shouldn't simply end with planeswalkers). There was significant power creep introduced into magic around the time of the M10 rule changes (which coincides closely with mythic rares and walkers). I don't want my cube to move in that direction. It almost feels like magic the gathering is starting to follow the path so many MMO's have followed with exponential gear scaling. It's a bad trend IMO that is breaking more things than it fixes. All in the name of selling new sets I guess. Thanks, but I'll pass.
Eidolon highlighted this very issue to me when he compared Grave Titan to Skeletal Vampire. When you look at these two side by side, the sheer power difference becomes jarring, and I don't think that is a good thing. Skeletal vampire was a very good card - people feared it coming down because it won games. Grave Titan is arguably twice as powerful and frankly that is just plain busted.
Looking at the cards I had in my cube, a good number of the most powerful creatures were recent mythic rares. That's a disturbing trend. So I've decided to eliminate all mythic from my cube. Some of these cuts hurt, I'm not going to lie, but I think the overall power level of the cube will benefit. Just to clarify, I'm only cutting mythic if they were never printed in any other rarity. So older cards cannot be excluded for being mythic rare as a reprint.
Again, I realize I'm in the minority here thinking weaker cards are better than stronger cards. But I think they can be when considered as part of a cube as a whole and not just on an individual level. If a single card makes tons of other cards obsolete, maybe that one card is broken and shouldn't be in the cube. I just don't agree swapping more powerful cards into your cube makes your cube better. So without further ado, my changes:
OUT => IN
Abyssal Persecutor => Graveborn Muse
The muse is a good CA generator and it synergizes with the other zombies I have in black. I wanted her in the cube but didn't have room for her. Without mythic rares, now I do.
Grave Titan => Laquatus's Champion
Same situation. I wanted the champion in the cube. Now I have room.
Doom Blade => Terror
This change is for flavor. I don't want an unconditional 2 mana answer for every black creature in the cube. Terror is a classic cheap black removal spell, complete with the non-black/non-artifact clause. I like it.
Time Warp => Silent Departure
Not completely sold on silent departure because of the sorcery speed, but I actually think the flashback is good even if over costed. I can see this being significant late game. I think it's a card that will play better than it reads.
Frost Titan => Palinchron
Wanted Palinchron in there anyway. Of all the titans though, I feel like this one is the least broken and the one I want to make an exception for (but won't for now).
Molten-Tail Masticore => Bottle Gnomes
The gnome is good for control. I've seen it in a lot of lists and many people defend it, so seems like a good include.
Sword of Feast and Famine => Brittle Effigy
It hurts a lot to lose swords, it really does. But they are mythic, so out they go. Brittle Effigy seems like it might be a good removal solution for some decks playing colors short on removal.
Sword of War and Peace => Erratic Portal
I like bounce effects, and having another Crystal Shard that is colorless seems playable to me.
Sword of Body and Mind => Basilisk Collar
At least I got another piece of equipment in there. These were the hardest cuts for me because I love equipment.
Wurmcoil Engine => Pentavus
I can see a lot of broken things you can do with Pentavus. Clearly a downgrade from Wurmcoil, but the engine is mythic and pretty broken. So out it goes
Olivia Voldaren => Blazing Specter
This is the second hardest cut for me because the flavor is wonderful and I really like vampires. But mythic is mythic. The specter is a card I wanted to try out anyway, so in it goes.
Thrun, the last troll => Wall of Roots
Another card to support ramp. I wanted the wall in anyway.
Thornling => Arbor Elf
Untapping a forest didn't seem that great to me at first, but I'm thinking now it is better than I thought. It supports ramp obviously, and can potentially do some broken things if you can re-use him multiple times in one turn. And it's another one drop, which are hard to come by (plus it's an elf).
Rampaging Baloths => Obstinate Baloth
Downgrade obviously, but life gain and anti-discard seem like really nice bonuses on an already solid 4/4 for 4.
Dragonmaster outcast => Stonewright
The outcast looked pretty sick, but I can see Stonewright doing some broken things with the right combination of creatures. I think you have to work harder with Stonewright, but that is a desirable thing. So I can live with this swap.
Kargan Dragonlord => Ember Hauler
More goblins helps that sub theme even if the hauler is a downgrade.
Hero of Oxid Ridge => Goblin Ruinblaster
This one hurts as I think Hero of Oxid Ridge is a well designed card (perfect for agro) and not too broken. But it's mythic, so I put another goblin in there to replace it. This is more land destruction though, so that has me worried (since my cube already has a lot of LD). This is the swap I like the least right now. Both land destruction and discard have protection from fun, so I get nervous each time I put another one of those cards in the cube.
Inferno Titan => Crater Hellion
Eidolan suggested I run the Hellion instead of Flameblast Dragon. I haven't taken out the dragon, but I am adding the Hellion because he is clearly good for control.
Comet Storm => Starstorm
I actually like Starstorm better because I can cycle it. I like cards that do more than one thing. So no great lose here.
Baneslayer Angel => Lone Missionary
Baneslayer Angel is another perfect example of the power creep issues in Magic. Its a 5/5 flying non-legendary creature for 5 (which would already be over the power curve). Add the fact it also has first strike, lifelink and protection from demons and dragons, and well WTF? How can this thing not cost 6 or 7? Lone missionary is a cool card I wanted in the cube because I can see multiple archetypes playing it. It's a 2/1 for 2 which is serviceable for agro and it gains 4 life and potentially trades with something for control. Again, cards that do more than one thing are cool.
Sun Titan[/CARD] => Yosei, the Morning Star
Very happy to have Yosei back in the cube. There is something wrong when Yosei isn't good enough anymore and its exclusion really bothered me.