Ok guys, I have a bit of a weird request. For a good while now I have been trying to make a M10/M11/M12/M13 style core set of my own with a creative little limited environment. With the card selection nearing completion, I now need to learn how to make my set (229 unique cards) draftable in a cube. The set has the standard breakdown of a Core set (101 commons, 56 uncommons, 57 rares and 15 mythics), and the booster is laid out the same (1 rare/mythic, 3 uncommons and 11 commons).
What I really need to know is how many of each common, uncommon, rare and mythic do I need to collect if the goal is to get as close to drafting, say, m12, as possible?
I've never made a cube before, and any help in this regard would be much appreciated.
Not sure where your 'standard breakdown' of large sets came from. Standard set size for a large set right now is 249 cards, and packs have 14 playables (1 R/MR, 3 UNC, 10 COM) plus a land. This is the way M12 and M13 were printed.
Magic sets are printed on sheets. Each uncut sheet has 121 spots on it (11x11). So in large sets, like the base sets, you'll have 3 sheets:
-a sheet with 121 different commons on it
-a sheet with two copies each of 60 different uncommons on it (and one waste slot that they just throw away - things like this are where those 'test print' cards you see occasionally come from)
-a sheet with two copies each of 53 different rares on it, and one copy each of 15 different mythics (53+53+15=121)
In each pack, you'll get one card from the rare/mythic sheet, three cards from the uncommon sheet, and ten cards from the common sheet. This means that one of every eight rare/mythic cards you open is actually mythic (15/121 = a bit less than 1/8). This is a 7-to-1 ratio when talking about odds, which is probably what Eidolon is thinking of.
The rare/mythic sheet makes this kinda weird. As you open packs, you're going to have ten times as many rares/mythics as you do commons. Of those rares/mythics, 1/8 (or 15/121) are going to actually be mythics.
If you were to open 121 perfect packs, you'd have 15 mythics (one copy of each), 106 rares (two copies each of 53 different rares), 363 uncommons (six copies each of 60 different uncommons, or close), and 1210 commons (10 copies each of 121 different commons). This is a total of 1694 cards.
For a more manageable cube, you probably need to just slice down these numbers by a percentage.
An option would be to adjust the number of cards in each rarity:
1 copy of 14 different Mythic
2 copies of 56 different Rares
7 copies of 54 different Uncommons
14 copies of 99 different Commons
It would be awesome to see someone foil this out in addition to getting all ~1k cards.
In all honesty I think going through all the sorting, shuffling, and making the packs is more of a bother than it is worth.
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Thanks so much everyone, this will be more than enough to get me started. It seems it won't be practical to cart this project around with me, but I could probably make up the packs at home so they are ready to go when I need them. I could even program the whole thing into magic set editor (that's how i've been building it) and generate the packs randomly from there.
I'm probably going to take eidolon232's suggestion and alter the set breakdown slightly to fit the cube. The idea would be to get a rotating "eternal" core set going, changing as each new set comes out with the new coolest top down designs. It'll be a big project, but at least i'll have something to work on. This at least gives me an idea of what I need to trade for.
I would make a version out of the cards you have now. Like, just put your favorite core set cards into the cube, try to balance it a bit, and then draft it a few times.
I think you will quickly see the types of things you want more and less of and then refine from there. If you are new to cube, just getting a version up and running will show you a lot about what you want from cube. At least, that's what happened to me.
http://cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/6454 This is my core set cube. It's only 360 cards, which means there are exactly 24 rares. I have between 1 and 4 copies of any particular common card, 1 or 2 of any given uncommon, and all rares are singleton. It's been pretty fun.
http://cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/6454 This is my core set cube. It's only 360 cards, which means there are exactly 24 rares. I have between 1 and 4 copies of any particular common card, 1 or 2 of any given uncommon, and all rares are singleton. It's been pretty fun.
What was the basis by which you included more or less of a given common or uncommon? Facilitating certain archetypes?
For the perfect core set, I think you should build your own, using existing cards. Use very "core set-ey" cards, like Doom Blade and Elvish Mystic. Build archetypes that are pretty generic, like UW skies, BR removal, green ramp, et cetera.
What I really need to know is how many of each common, uncommon, rare and mythic do I need to collect if the goal is to get as close to drafting, say, m12, as possible?
I've never made a cube before, and any help in this regard would be much appreciated.
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
360 Uncommons only Cube!
Magic sets are printed on sheets. Each uncut sheet has 121 spots on it (11x11). So in large sets, like the base sets, you'll have 3 sheets:
-a sheet with 121 different commons on it
-a sheet with two copies each of 60 different uncommons on it (and one waste slot that they just throw away - things like this are where those 'test print' cards you see occasionally come from)
-a sheet with two copies each of 53 different rares on it, and one copy each of 15 different mythics (53+53+15=121)
In each pack, you'll get one card from the rare/mythic sheet, three cards from the uncommon sheet, and ten cards from the common sheet. This means that one of every eight rare/mythic cards you open is actually mythic (15/121 = a bit less than 1/8). This is a 7-to-1 ratio when talking about odds, which is probably what Eidolon is thinking of.
The rare/mythic sheet makes this kinda weird. As you open packs, you're going to have ten times as many rares/mythics as you do commons. Of those rares/mythics, 1/8 (or 15/121) are going to actually be mythics.
If you were to open 121 perfect packs, you'd have 15 mythics (one copy of each), 106 rares (two copies each of 53 different rares), 363 uncommons (six copies each of 60 different uncommons, or close), and 1210 commons (10 copies each of 121 different commons). This is a total of 1694 cards.
For a more manageable cube, you probably need to just slice down these numbers by a percentage.
It would be awesome to see someone foil this out in addition to getting all ~1k cards.
In all honesty I think going through all the sorting, shuffling, and making the packs is more of a bother than it is worth.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I'm probably going to take eidolon232's suggestion and alter the set breakdown slightly to fit the cube. The idea would be to get a rotating "eternal" core set going, changing as each new set comes out with the new coolest top down designs. It'll be a big project, but at least i'll have something to work on. This at least gives me an idea of what I need to trade for.
Thanks again!
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
I think you will quickly see the types of things you want more and less of and then refine from there. If you are new to cube, just getting a version up and running will show you a lot about what you want from cube. At least, that's what happened to me.
What was the basis by which you included more or less of a given common or uncommon? Facilitating certain archetypes?
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
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My insanity knows no bounds.
Check out my expected lands table at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Airj6A6lYAz_dG05T2JETnVTak1xQ0tqOHNSdEJLWVE&hl=en_US#gid=0