Backup Plan is awesome. Not only is it a powerful effect, but it's always on and there's nothing your opponent can do to counter it.
That's really what it comes down to for us. Lotus, Sol Ring, Recall, etc. are all powerful cards, but you still need to draw them. Not only are the conspiracies free spells that you are always casting, but Backup Plan is straight-up absurd in comparison to the other conspiracies.
I'm sure it's our house rule to allow free mulligans, but I don't understand what's so absurd about Backup Plan that it could be compared to Black Lotus. Don't get me wrong. I realize that free mulligans is a very powerful house rule to have. Our thought process on it, though, is that we're just gathering together to have a good time with our buddies, drink some beers, and sling some cardboard. No one wants to feel *****ty because you spent 30 minutes drafting, mulled to 5, and lost to a turn one Library.
Just so I'm understanding Backup Plan correctly, you draw two 7-card hands, pick the best one, and shuffle the other back in. Then you decide if you want to mulligan to 6? I see people around here giving such big props to Backup Plan and I read it think it's basically just a free mulligan for one person. I've been doing that at my house since I played SuiBlack in T2 in 1998 and it's for everyone.
Looking at both hands first is a tremendous advantage. But ya, giving away free mulligans is also kinda absurd. There's a reason why mulliganing requires you to go to 6.
Just so I'm understanding Backup Plan correctly, you draw two 7-card hands, pick the best one, and shuffle the other back in. Then you decide if you want to mulligan to 6? I see people around here giving such big props to Backup Plan and I read it think it's basically just a free mulligan for one person.
That's how it works, and getting to choose the better of 2 possible opening hands is quite a bit better than a single free mulligan because you know exactly what you're choosing from as opposed to choosing between the devil you know and the devil you don't. I'm seriously considering cutting it from my cube not only for power concerns, and the fact that there's no way for an opponent to interact with it, but also because I've had drafters who are experienced with MTG but newer to my cube get unusually salty to losing to Conspiracy cards (mostly because they underestimate them during the draft because they'd never drafted Conspiracy). I had similar problems with Power Play and ultimately cut it because it wasn't worth the drama.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
@calibretto As I mentioned in another post, being able to find certain cards at a much higher percentage makes Backup Plan pretty absurd. If you deck is trying to drop a Jace/Tinker/Jitte/Skullclamp/Survival/etc. and you get an extra 7 cards to find those cards before you even mulligan, then your chance of finding that card is so much higher. The quality of cards you're looking for and winning with in cube is so high that getting another 7 cards every game to find those cards and always start with the best hand out of 14 is kinda absolutely insane.
We allow pretty much all the mulligans you want on an honor system. We have had a couple guys who aren't regulars try to abuse it, but after they become repeat mulligan offenders, we have no issues calling them out on it. Free mulls doesn't mean "Mulligan until you find your fast mana/combo/perfect opener." It means, "Mulligan until you find a keepable hand." Literally since I've been playing Magic, my kitchen table has always been free mulligans and it's never once crossed my mind to just take one more mulligan so I can try to find my combo or whatever. But it does make sense that looking at the top 14 cards would increase your chances of finding that combo/perfect opener, especially in an environment where you're only playing 40 card decks and you're going to six cards on a mulligan. I do understand that free mulligans is a very powerful house rule, but to be honest, after a couple, you just get tired of shuffling. There's been plenty of times that I've opened on seven, saw one land, threw it back, side shuffled, drew seven, saw no lands, threw it back, pile shuffled, side shuffled, saw two lands and a bunch of 3-4 drops and said "**** it, I'm tired of shuffling." This isn't MTGO doing the heavy lifting for you at the speed of a click. Spending five to ten minutes shuffling and drawing cards is not fun or worth it, IMO, to try to get to that perfect hand.
Luckily you don't have to shuffle that much with the Backup Plan since you just look at the two hands of 7, keep one, and then shuffle the other one back in. I can't think of a time where I didn't keep one of the two hands of 7.
Luckily you don't have to shuffle that much with the Backup Plan since you just look at the two hands of 7, keep one, and then shuffle the other one back in. I can't think of a time where I didn't keep one of the two hands of 7.
We've had it happen a few times; it's super rare, but not impossible.
This article popped up on the Mothership. Considering it's intended at players who are completely new to Cube, how would you take their advice?
It's not bad advice. Keep it small, keep it simple, include cards/archetypes you and your playgroup want to play, make it singleton and make it color-balanced ...straightforward introductory cube advice.
FWIW we have a 1 free mulligan house rule and it works really well for us. We are definitely in the same boat as calibretto and are generally just looking to have a good time when we get together. Nothing kills the good vibe more than mulling to 5.
This article popped up on the Mothership. Considering it's intended at players who are completely new to Cube, how would you take their advice?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I've started a new thread on this article in the Articles, Podcasts, and Guides with my thoughts on it here.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Definitely interested to see what the Commander 2016 decks bring to the table with four colour. We splash a fourth colour in a CDE deck or two splashes in a two-colour deck quite often if Winston drafting, so depending on the offerings they could be of interest. Truthfully I would really like some new shard offerings as well. Not really excited about Esper, Jund or Grixis' options, so having more stuff in the vein of Tasigur and Alesha and co. would be great.
Agreed. Could be some new tribrid cards to replace some of the dodgier choices in my three color section. I actually like the Esper card though, but that's because I fully support Tinker/artifact deck, reanimator, and Sneak Attack/Eureka. SotSW can play in all of those arenas, plus be a finisher for control decks. That said, I could likely find another fatty to fill that role if some ridiculous Esper card gets printed. I wouldn't mind getting a great Bant or Naya card and moving Hierarch and/or Nacatl to green.
Drafted the Big Red deck this last weekend that I've kept a few cards around planted for. Koth was primarily used as a ritual, regularly ramping for 5+ mana. Really satisfying to see his second ability be used to such great effect. Sin Prodder was also particularly threatening. Magmatic Force, a card I've been testing, was cool but not as impactful as it needed to be, as I kind of expected. Could just as easily have been Bogardan Hellkite, which I also run but failed to draft .
Overall, one of the most fun decks I've drafted in recent memory.
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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That's the remarkable thing about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse
Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
I was just thinking about a ranking yesterday as I referred back to 2015's results. I also think the Power Ranking should probably be every two years. I don't know that enough changes come about in one year to really shake up the rankings. Maybe in one or two colors, but for the most part they'll look pretty much the same. I would like to see another Project Rank Everything where we literally rank the top X for each casting cost in each color. I don't believe one of those has been ran since 2010. I'm sure that looks very different today.
Looking for some proofreading help on a big cube project I've been working on. It's not complete but it's growing out of hand and would be nice to have some fresh eyes on the 'first draft' sections. Please PM me if interested.
I cannot run the ranking project for the year, but I'm deeply interested in participating. I'm wondering though: At what point should we do it?
Do we want to include Conspiracy 2? Kaladesh? Is there a volunteer for leading this project?
I think some people have only mentioned every other year,
I know for myself and others who are starting to create a cube, its nice to have more up to date information to refer to. maybe every 18 months now (since standard rotates on 18 months now).
That's really what it comes down to for us. Lotus, Sol Ring, Recall, etc. are all powerful cards, but you still need to draw them. Not only are the conspiracies free spells that you are always casting, but Backup Plan is straight-up absurd in comparison to the other conspiracies.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Just so I'm understanding Backup Plan correctly, you draw two 7-card hands, pick the best one, and shuffle the other back in. Then you decide if you want to mulligan to 6? I see people around here giving such big props to Backup Plan and I read it think it's basically just a free mulligan for one person. I've been doing that at my house since I played SuiBlack in T2 in 1998 and it's for everyone.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
That's how it works, and getting to choose the better of 2 possible opening hands is quite a bit better than a single free mulligan because you know exactly what you're choosing from as opposed to choosing between the devil you know and the devil you don't. I'm seriously considering cutting it from my cube not only for power concerns, and the fact that there's no way for an opponent to interact with it, but also because I've had drafters who are experienced with MTG but newer to my cube get unusually salty to losing to Conspiracy cards (mostly because they underestimate them during the draft because they'd never drafted Conspiracy). I had similar problems with Power Play and ultimately cut it because it wasn't worth the drama.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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We've had it happen a few times; it's super rare, but not impossible.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
It's not bad advice. Keep it small, keep it simple, include cards/archetypes you and your playgroup want to play, make it singleton and make it color-balanced ...straightforward introductory cube advice.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I've started a new thread on this article in the Articles, Podcasts, and Guides with my thoughts on it here.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
That is all.
Juju Alters - Altered MTG Cards
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Overall, one of the most fun decks I've drafted in recent memory.
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Creatures
1x Hangarback Walker
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Reassembling Skeleton
1x Sin Prodder
1x Shriekmaw
1x Inferno Titan
1x Magmatic Force
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Dark Ritual
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Incinerate
1x Seething Song
1x Staggershock
Sorceries
1x Flame Slash
1x Dreadbore
1x Exquisite Firecraft
1x Stone Rain
Enchantments
1x Form of the Dragon
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Coldsteel Heart
1x Mind Stone
1x Prismatic Lens
Lands
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Rishadan Port
1x Scalding Tarn
10x Mountain
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
Blade Splicer and Flickerwisp: ETB trigger
Hallowed Spiritkeeper: Dies trigger
Eldrazi Displacer: Activated ability
Brimaz, King of Oreskos: Attack trigger
Monastery Mentor: Noncreature spell trigger
Thalia, Heretic Cathar: Static ability
Nice to have so many varied options available. I'm hoping to move away from so many creatures being ETB-based in the future.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/articles-podcasts-and-guides/729392-set-p-review-my-top-20-eldritch-moon-cards-for
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I think some people have only mentioned every other year,
I know for myself and others who are starting to create a cube, its nice to have more up to date information to refer to. maybe every 18 months now (since standard rotates on 18 months now).
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569