WHITE
Academy Rector
Aegis of Honor
Adarkar Valkyrie
Ajani Goldmane
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Armageddon
Armored Ascension
Arrest
Austere Command
Aven Mindcensor
Aven Riftwatcher
Balance
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Blazing Archon
Calciderm
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
Cloudchaser Kestrel
Condemn
Crovax, Ascendant Hero
Crusade
Descendant of Kiyomaro
Disenchant
Divine Offering
Empyrial Armor
Enduring Renewal
Enlightened Tutor
Eternal Dragon
Faith's Fetters
Feudkiller's Verdict
Galepowder Mage
Genju of the Fields
Ghostly Prison
Glorious Anthem
Goldmeadow Harrier
Griffin Guide
Humility
Icatian Javelineers
Idyllic Tutor
Jareth, Leonine Titan
Kami of Ancient Law
Kataki, War's Wage
Knight of Meadowgrain
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Kinsbaile Cavalier
Longbow Archer
Mirror Entity
Momentary Blink
Mother of Runes
Oblivion Ring
Order of the White Shield
Order of Whiteclay
Pacifism
Paladin en-Vec
Pariah
Prison Term
Radiant's Dragoons
Replenish
Reveillark
Reya Dawnbringer
Rule of Law
Sacred Mesa
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Savannah Lions
Soltari Priest
Soul Warden
Spectral Procession
Stonecloaker
Stonehewer Giant
Story Circle
Swords to Plowshares
Temporal Isolation
Twilight Shepherd
Valor
White Knight
White Shield Crusader
Windborn Muse
Wing Shards
Wrath of God
Yosei, the Morning Star
BLUE
Aeon Chronicler
Aquamoeba
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Court Hussar
Body Double
Boomerang
Braingeyser
Brainstorm
Brine Elemental
Capsize
Clone
Collective Restraint
Compulsive Research
Confiscate
Consign to Dream
Control Magic
Counterspell
Cryptic Command
Cunning Wish
Deep Analysis
Desertion
Dissipate
Drift of Phantasms
Evacuation
Fact or Fiction
Fathom Seer
Force of Will
Force Spike
Frantic Search
Gifts Ungiven
Guile
Hydroblast
Impulse
Jace Beleren
Keiga, the Tide Star
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Looter il-Kor
Magus of the Future
Mana Drain
Mana Leak
Man-o'-War
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Memory Lapse
Merchant Scroll
Merfolk Looter
Mulldrifter
Mystical Teachings
Mystical Tutor
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Ophidian
Pestermite
Ponder
Propaganda
Psionic Blast
Ray of Command
Remand
Repeal
Repulse
Riftwing Cloudskate
Rhystic Study
Rushing River
Spell Snare
Spiketail Hatchling
Surgespanner
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Thieving Magpie
Threads of Disloyalty
Tidespout Tyrant
Tidings
Time Walk
Tinker
Trinket Mage
Unstable Mutation
Vendilion Clique
Venser, Shaper Savant
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Voidmage Prodigy
Waterfront Bouncer
Willbender
Wonder
BLACK
Animate Dead
Augur of Skulls
Avatar of Woe
Bad Moon
Beacon of Unrest
Bitterblossom
Black Knight
Bone Shredder
Braids, Cabal Minion
Chainer's Edict
Carnophage
Corpse Dance
Corrupt
Crypt Rats
Damnation
Dark Confidant
Dark Ritual
Darkblast
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer
Decree of Pain
Diabolic Edict
Diabolic Servitude
Duress
Entomb
Eyeblight's Ending
Festering Goblin
Funeral Charm
Graveborn Muse
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Hatred
Hymn to Tourach
Hypnotic Specter
Incremental Blight
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Knight of Stromgald
Liliana Vess
Living Death
Lord of the Undead
Magus of the Abyss
Makeshift Mannequin
Midnight Banshee
Mind Twist
Nameless Inversion
Nantuko Husk
Necromancy
Necropotence
Nefashu
Nezumi Graverobber
Night of Souls' Betrayal
Nihilith
Null Profusion
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Oona's Prowler
Paralyze
Persecute
Pestilence
Phyrexian Arena
Plague Sliver
Priest of Gix
Profane Command
Reanimate
Rend Flesh
Sarcomancy
Shriekmaw
Skeletal Scrying
Skeletal Vampire
Skittering Skirge
Slaughter Pact
Smallpox
Smother
Stromgald Crusader
Sudden Death
Tendrils of Corruption
Terror
Thoughtseize
Twisted Abomination
Undead Warchief
Visara the Dreadful
RED
Akroma, Angel of Fury
Ancient Grudge
Anger
Avalanche Riders
Ball Lightning
Blood Knight
Bogardan Hellkite
Boom // Bust
Chandra Nalaar
Countryside Crusher
Dead // Gone
Demonfire
Earthquake
Empty the Warrens
Fiery Temper
Fire Imp
Fireblast
Firebolt
Flame Fusillade
Flame Javelin
Flamebreak
Flametongue Kavu
Fork
Gathan Raiders
Ghostfire
Goblin Bombardment
Goblin Matron
Goblin Recruiter
Godo, Bandit Warlord
Gorilla Shaman
Grapeshot
Greater Gargadon
Grinning Ignus
Guerrilla Tactics
Hearth Kami
Hostility
Incinerate
Insurrection
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Jokulhaups
Kamahl, Pit Fighter
Keldon Marauders
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kird Ape
Knollspine Dragon
Knollspine Invocation
Lash Out
Lava Hounds
Lightning Bolt
Magma Jet
Magus of the Arena
Magus of the Scroll
Mana Flare
Mogg Fanatic
Mogg War Marshal
Molten Rain
Orcish Lumberjack
Pandemonium
Pyroblast
Pyroclasm
Reckless Wurm
Rolling Thunder
Ryusei, the Falling Star
Seal of Fire
Shard Phoenix
Shivan Hellkite
Shock
Siege-Gang Commander
Squee, Goblin Nabob
Sudden Shock
Sulfur Elemental
Tarfire
Taurean Mauler
Thundermare
Tin Street Hooligan
Threaten
Tribal Flames
Wheel of Fortune
Wildfire
Word of Seizing
GREEN
Arrogant Wurm
Basking Rootwalla
Berserk
Birds of Paradise
Blanchwood Armor
Briarhorn
Call of the Herd
Caller of the Claw
Carven Caryatid
Civic Wayfinder
Chameleon Colossus
Channel
Chord of Calling
Cloudthresher
Cream of the Crop
Crop Rotation
Defense of the Heart
Devoted Druid
Essence Warden
Eternal Witness
Exploration
Fertile Ground
Fyndhorn Elves
Gaea’s Anthem
Garruk Wildspeaker
Giant Growth
Golgari Grave-Troll
Harmonize
Harrow
Hystrodon
Imperious Perfect
Indrik Stomphowler
Kodama of the North Tree
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Grip
Life from the Loam
Living Wish
Llanowar Elves
Might of Oaks
Mirri, Cat Warrior
Moldervine Cloak
Naturalize
Overrun
Phantom Centaur
Plow Under
Primal Command
Prismatic Omen
Protean Hulk
Quirion Ranger
Rancor
Regrowth
River Boa
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Saproling Burst
Scryb Ranger
Seal of Primordium
Seedborn Muse
Simian Grunts
Squall Line
Spawnwrithe
Spectral Force
Spidersilk Armor
Survival of the Fittest
Sylvan Scrying
Tarmogoyf
Thelonite Hermit
Tooth and Nail
Tower Above
Troll Ascetic
Uktabi Orangutan
Verdant Force
Vinelasher Kudzu
Viridian Shaman
Wall of Blossoms
Wall of Roots
Weatherseed Treefolk
Werebear
Wild Mongrel
Wood Elves
MULTICOLORED
Æthertow
Angel of Despair
Armadillo Cloak
Ashenmoor Liege
Azorius Guildmage
Boartusk Liege
Boggart Ram-Gang
Brion Stoutarm
Burning-Tree Shaman
Debtors' Knell
Desolation Giant
Doran, the Siege Tower
Electrolyze
Fiery Justice
Fire//Ice
Firemane Angel
Firespout
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Goblin Legionnaire
Grave-Shell Scarab
Izzet Chronarch
Kitchen Finks
Lightning Angel
Lightning Helix
Loxodon Hierarch
Memory Plunder
Mirrorweave
Mortify
Murderous Redcap
Mystic Enforcer
Mystic Snake
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Oversoul of Dusk
Pernicious Deed
Putrefy
Rakdos Guildmage
Recoil
Savage Twister
Selesnya Guildmage
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Silkbind Faerie
Simic Sky Swallower
Stormbind
Suffocating Blast
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Teferi's Moat
Temporal Spring
Terminate
Trygon Predator
Vindicate
Void
Vulturous Zombie
Zur the Enchanter
ARTIFACTS
Azorius Signet
Bosh, Iron Golem
Bottle Gnomes
Coalition Relic
Crystal Shard
Cursed Scroll
Dimir Signet
Duplicant
Fellwar Stone
Gilded Lotus
Golgari Signet
Grim Poppet
Gruul Signet
Icy Manipulator
Izzet Signet
Juggernaut
Lightning Greaves
Lotus Petal
Loxodon Warhammer
Mox Diamond
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Nevinyrral's Disk
Orzhov Signet
Pithing Needle
Platinum Angel
Rakdos Signet
Razormane Masticore
Scroll Rack
Selesnya Signet
Sensei's Divining Top
Serrated Arrows
Simic Signet
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Solemn Simulacrum
Sundering Titan
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow
Tormod's Crypt
Triskelion
Umezawa's Jitte
LANDS
Academy Ruins
Azorius Chancery
Badlands
Bayou
Bazaar of Baghdad
Blood Crypt
Boros Garrison
Breeding Pool
Dimir Aqueduct
Godless Shrine
Golgari Rot Farm
Gruul Turf
Hallowed Fountain
Izzet Boilerworks
Library of Alexandria
Murmuring Bosk
Mutavault
Orzhov Basilica
Overgrown Tomb
Plateau
Rakdos Carnarium
Sacred Foundry
Savannah
Scrubland
Selesnya Sanctuary
Simic Growth Chamber
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Strip Mine
Taiga
Temple Garden
Terramorphic Expanse
Tolarian Academy
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Volcanic Island
Volrath's Stronghold
Watery Grave
Wasteland
Notes:
THE MOVE TO 540 CARDS
After hosting a 12 man event last weekend I am heartily glad that we increased the size of the Cube. It adds to the variation of the drafting experience, and the over all power level has actually increased (in part because of proxies, see below). I think that an 8 person Cube is the best starting number and a good number overall, but going up to a 12 person Cube is worth it if people are willing to invest the time and cards to do it well. If we make the decision to go to a 16 person Cube I will likely relinquish stewardship to another responsible party. I want no part in counting, sorting, alphabetizing, typing, linking, and keeping track of ownership for 720 Goddamned cards. 540 is a great number for drafting, but it took me over six hours just to add the NEW cards to this list.
PROXIES
Yeah, we're proxying, and I would advocate the practice for anyone who wants to use Power in their Cube. In addition to our inclusions of Power, are also proxying Bazaar of Baghadad and Library of Alexandria. Honestly I would not go too proxy crazy with a Cube because fun Cubes can be assembled without really expensive cards, and each Cube should have its own flavor that reflects its ownership. Our Cube seems to have acquired quite an Elder Dragon Highlander feel, without the multiplayer aspect, obviously. In fact I'd describe it like EDH for Limited, if that makes any sense.
POWER
After much discussion we included some. We have Time Walk and the Moxen. The others were excluded for being too broken (i.e. Black Lotus) or too weak (i.e. Timetwister). So far this has worked out for us. It seems unlikely that any but the most die hard Magic geeks would put real Power into a Cube, but if you can afford to, God bless you.
BALANCE
We made efforts to balance out aggro strategies with more controlling cards. I think we have been mostly successful. I think the pendulum may need to swing a little back toward aggro, because I haven't seen a successful pure aggro deck thus far (Pseudonymous Drama Student's Mono Red Deck last night came pretty close). Midrange tempo or combo variants seem very powerful, and true control decks are possible but don't seem overwhelmingly great. I am getting a feeling (I haven't yet counted) we need to increase the ratio of creature to noncreature spells. This is something I'll be keeping at eye on for the future. I have also pushed for more Goblins, simply because the Cube is now 50% larger and we actually took Goblins out during the expansion. In my opinion there should be enough of them to make them the one really dangerous linear strategy in this Cube. People should need to make decisions about hating (objectively) less powerful Goblin cards in case one person at the table is drafting the awesome Goblin deck. We'll see. I might be overruled on this issue.
THE NAME
I would bet that not even half of the cards in the Cube are even mine anymore, so I dithered about as to whether to give it my name. I decided that only way to make the name sound more communal would be to name it after the Blog. Which shares a name with its creator. Who has made it clear that he is really, really not a fan of events that have included the Cube. So I just kept the old name, not out of hubris (well, okay, a little hubris!) but so that it wouldn't seem like some sort of sarcastic joke on Fugie. He's got it tough enough as it is.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without the incisive insight of Tabasco and The Captain we'd still have an un-Powered 8 person Cube and I'd be sitting in my room wondering why nobody wants to play with it. Thanks for the harassment, the help, and the cards! We could've called it the Tabastictain Cube or something if that didn't sound disgusting. Whatever, you get the idea.
Thanks to Harry Potter, Major_Luck, and everyone else who added cool foils or foreign cards. You know it looks great now.
Thanks to Pseudonymous Drama Student for the foil land, and for the advice. He told me, "Every card in this Cube has a purpose. You need some cards that make people ask, 'What is THAT doing in here?!'"
Thanks to everyone else who has helped "test" and generally been involved in the process. I hope it's been fun. We'll be talking about Eventide additions soon, and any card suggestions (old or new) are welcome in the comments!
My next project is updating the Owners Database, then returning cards that have been cut to their rightful owners. I promise, I am going to be working on it!
T
4 comments:
I vote that the cube be "Toniferous".
That's right bitches, I have my own adjective (for more about that ask The Captain).
Also it has become apparent that graveyard strategies are too effective. On Saturday and Tuesday, I was able to build a successful strategy based around abuse of the graveyard. We have T. Crypt, and Nezumi Graverobber (this guy always gets scooped up by people abusing the gy anyway), but I think we need more.
Some Ideas:
Withered Wretch (a zombie bear that is reusable hate)
Phyrexian Furnace (a colorless hate card that slowly eats away, at the very worst it eventually cantrips)
Shred Memory/Rapid Decay/Ebony Charm (all have other uses besides just being graveyard hate)
Coffin Purge (2 for 1)
Planar void (like Leyline of the void but much easier to cast)
Ground Seal (a green option that at the very worst cycles)
Unfortunately most of the hate is in black which is the color creating the problems in the first place.
Maybe instead of looking for ways to add graveyard hate, we should maybe just remove some of the recursion engines to make the theme less powerful.
I don't think that removing a newly viable drafting strategy with the cube is the right way to go. Simply including a few of the more palatable disruption cards should be sufficient, at least for now. Removing the strategy (or neutering it) is too much like jumping the gun on a banning in constructed, IMO.
Black reanimation spells:
Animate Dead
Beacon of Unrest
Corpse Dance
Diabolic Servitude
Makeshift Mannequin
Necromancy
Nezumi Graverobber
Reanimate
Ink Eyes, Servant of Oni (opp's yard)
Living Death (gy/play switch)
I reccomend cutting Diabloic Servitude and Corpse dance in favor of some hate. Graverobber doubles as both.
I would add Withered Wretch and Planar void for the above cards
I would advocate cutting Mirri, Cat Warrior for Ground Seal.
I think Felwar Stone can go to fit in Phyrexian Furnace, between the Moxen, Signets, Coalation Relic, and Sol Ring I think we have enough artifact mana and we could use another utility artifact.
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