So... been noticing that a few of the cubes from board members tend to have these sizes that fall between 360-450 (I recall at least 370 and 400). Is this a practice that happens because of the variance it introduces? Because people feel like testing cards without making cuts? Because it's nice to have a section of pet cards that you can fill on a whim? Just wondering. I have a 360 cube and I cringe everything I need to take something out to make room for a card I finally got.
400 is the "I don't want to go all the way up to 450 but want some variance and also to have cards for Booster Tutor/Lore Seeker" size. 375 could just be for a little variance, or because they run Lore Seeker. Its mostly just because of the added variance, I think.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Rest in RIP My Signature, I guess. 2015-2016, we hardly knew ye.
Total side note but I like how people are discussing running this over itself.
Well, it has to be said that Kolaghan is clearly better than Kolaghan. Considering what BR decks usually want and how stiff the competition in this guild is, there is no way that I would run Kolaghan over Kolaghan! Kolaghan might make it in as the sixth guild card or so. Kolaghan on the other hand ranks several places below that.
It was so funny to me when they described this as a downgrade to the original Zurgo during the Pax East panel. I was thinking if this is a downgrade, they should really "downgrade" all legendary creatures. Haha.
My deck designing is quite concise at this point:
1. Come up with deck idea
2. Realize this idea is somehow fundamentally similar to another deck I have or that is commonly played in my group
3. Decide I don't want to disassemble one of my existing decks
4. Give up and do nothing
I don't see the point of this new shroud mechanic. It's strictly worse than Hexproof. Threshold is pretty bad too, Delirium is a much better mechanic and probably easier to activate.
Otherwise this card is a pretty neat guy. Dodges removal and grows into a Primal Huntbeast. 3/5
I run 400 cards because it's a nice round number, not because it's "not finished" or "not optimized", which strikes me as hilariously condescending. It's no more arbitrary than 450 cards or 360 cards.
/\ /\ /\ In his defense, 360 and 450 aren't arbitrary. They're the minimum number of cards needed to run 8 and 10-man drafts, respectively. So if you want to run the tightest list possible while still catering to the size group you have, that becomes the default target number. I wouldn't consider 405 an arbitrary number either, if you're catering to a 9 person playgroup. We occasionally get 10, but we often like to do 5-man Sealed events, which requires 450.
I like to have a few more cards than the bare minimum for variance. But I also run an extra 15 cards for Lore Seeker for those times when we do draft the entire cube and still need that card to work right. I'd do a similar additional 15 card expansion if I played Booster Tutor.
My cube is currently 488 (unintentional, I severely miscounted when I thought i was going to have 480) but I just didn't want to cut down 8 cards without testing. Took me months to really even test as my friends were just getting back into Magic, and were never really big drafters at first. Now i'm still at 488, but I'm going to expand to 500 for the even number with my Conspiracy update. I run a Peasant cube, so I can't run Lore Seeker, but, I DO have Booster Tutor in my cube. The main reason I shy away from the even Draft numbers is variance. There is always variance in a real draft, and I feel like it's part of the format, and if we were to always draft every single card in my cube, it would get boring after a while. I always love it when someone who has drafted my cube a ton still says "wait, you have THIS in here?" Makes me feel like the variance is making the experience more fun because you always see something new or different.
Unless you want to draft the whole pool every time, it matters very little if you have a 415, a 417 or a 421 cube. A lot of people have an inner 'anal round number freak' who will insist on clean numbers like 425 or 450 or 475, but this seems pretty arbitrary to me. Not that there is anything wrong with those numbers, but what is so special about them? I do accept the idea that by setting yourself a clear limit, you force yourself to think things through and be ruthless in the adding and cutting, but this is just a psychological tool, not a goal on itself.
Sticking to a round number helps make calculating ratios and overall mana curves a lot easier. Mine is 400 even, in order to accommodate Lore Seeker and a couple castings of Booster Tutor. (The guy that imprinted Booster Tutor on Scepter was just SOL.)
I'm perfectly happy with 500 even though I mostly only draft with 8. But it came in handy for this weekend when we drafted 10, had a Lore Seeker, and a Booster Tutor multiple times. (We errata'd it to say once there are no new packs to open, just fetch a card from the SB)
Variance is one of the reasons for the number, but also metagaming. When you're always drafting the entire cube, I think it benefits the people who know the contents more than new players. Playing around certain cards is something only the regular drafters can do because they know the archetypes and key cards. But with extra cards, you're never sure if cards are in the draft or not, and it makes it a lot harder to justify playing around a certain card until they show it to you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The GameCube, a 500 cube with a medium power level and a focus on fun and fringe playables rather than immediately shutting your opponent down with the best cards ever printed.
Modem Masters, a 500 cube that tries to capture the essence of a Modern Masters set draft. 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 of each rare, few mythics. Includes minor changes for balance reasons to give certain archetypes the tools they need to succeed.
I've got 435 right now because I'm slowly working my way to 450 as I acquire cards, but I'm in no hurry to do so. For me, I don't get to draft with a full 8 very often at all, but I don't mind trading consistency in archetype support for variance in each draft.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Unless you're goal is to actually use the entire cube on occasion I fail to see how a round numbered cube is more optimized than an oddly numbered one. It's happenstance that we have ten fingers.
My cube is currently exactly 400 but will soon be a different number + or - 5 because of m15 changes. I had 414 for a long time.
I run my cube so that I experience as little dilution of power level as possible in order to accommodate as many archetypes and strategies as possible. Right now in the peasant world taht's just about 380-390 cards or so but I am accommodating some extra things that ballooned me to 400.
I may get laughed at but my cube number is shockingly more than nearly everyone here. My cube number is currently at 665. My goal is to get to the 765 mark. Why? I want to be able to handle a 16 person draft. Or an 8 man sealed. With 1 draft set left over so there is some variance. I've drafted my cube around 20 times (it's very new) and it's been a blast because I get the, "you have this in here?!" Comment all the time! Which I love! Yes it may be a lot but most decks have still been very powerful and competitive with one another so far. I'm very happy with it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGUSULTI ELEVENSBGU
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
Unless you're goal is to actually use the entire cube on occasion I fail to see how a round numbered cube is more optimized than an oddly numbered one.
It's the same reason why people play 40 card decks instead of 47 card ones when they draft. When only the minimum number of cards needed are included, that's pretty much the definition of optimizing it. So if you expect to see 10 people as your max, building a 450 card cube is the tightest list you can play that will still accommodate what you need when you're maxed out. The numbers aren't arbitrary, and they do make a difference in how "tight" the list can be.
It helps to control archetype balance, mana balance, etc when you have a tight list. On the other hand, I could see going up a few cards to relax that for the same reason I sometimes play 41 cards in limited to smooth my mana slightly.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
An accurate description of myself:
Quote from Megiddo »
You're the dude who just lies a lot and makes people hate you and then magically becomes town later, right?
I may get laughed at but my cube number is shockingly more than nearly everyone here. My cube number is currently at 665. My goal is to get to the 765 mark. Why? I want to be able to handle a 16 person draft. Or an 8 man sealed. With 1 draft set left over so there is some variance. I've drafted my cube around 20 times (it's very new) and it's been a blast because I get the, "you have this in here?!" Comment all the time! Which I love! Yes it may be a lot but most decks have still been very powerful and competitive with one another so far. I'm very happy with it.
I run a 720 card cube, mainly because we play sealed just as often as we draft, and that is what is required for a 8 man sealed. I also enjoy variance, and only using half the draft pool each time we draft gives a lot of variance that leads to a fun environment.
Sweet! I'm not the only one then!
Yeah I want some extra cards because I'd like to add in the wishes. I heard how people play them in cube and I LOVE that idea! If I want to do that, I have to run extra cards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BGUSULTI ELEVENSBGU
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
I have a 740 and I love it. I like players being able to see totally different cards after repeated drafts. It does get tough, sometimes, to optimize. I'm always making swaps and looking for new cards. Fixing definitely matters a whole lot.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Can you name all of the creature types with at least 20 cards? Try my Sporcle Quiz! Last Updated: 6/29/20 (Core Set 2021).
I specifically made my cube 512 cards because 512 is 8^3, or 8 cubed. 512 was the most reasonable number for me to do this with, as 7^3 is only 343 and 9^3 is 729. It's just something that I think makes my cube feel a little more unique and fun.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Modern
Commander
Cube
<a href="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/588020-unpowered-themed-enchantment-an-enchanted-evening">An Enchanted Evening Cube </a>
My Cube on Cube Tutor
I like to have a few more cards than the bare minimum for variance. But I also run an extra 15 cards for Lore Seeker for those times when we do draft the entire cube and still need that card to work right. I'd do a similar additional 15 card expansion if I played Booster Tutor.
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!
Legacy - GW Enchantress
Modern - U Urzatron (In construction)
Multiplayer - B ZOMBIES
Casual - B Suicide Black
Casual - WURx Krark-Clan Ironworks
Pauper - URBx Affinity
Pauper - B Pestilence
Pauper - W Steel Soldiers
EDH - W Isamaru, Hound of Konda 1V1
EDH - GRB Kresh the Bloodbraided
EDH - GW Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
EDH - UR Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
EDH - RB Lyzolda, The Blood Witch
EDH - UW Bruna, Light of Alabaster (Reworking)
EDH - UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
EDH - UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
EDH - WUG Phelddagrif
EDH - BGR Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
Pauper EDH - G Garruk's Packleader
Pauper EDH - RG Bloodbraid Elf
CUBE:
500 Peasant Cube (52% Foil) Cube Tutor Page
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
Variance is one of the reasons for the number, but also metagaming. When you're always drafting the entire cube, I think it benefits the people who know the contents more than new players. Playing around certain cards is something only the regular drafters can do because they know the archetypes and key cards. But with extra cards, you're never sure if cards are in the draft or not, and it makes it a lot harder to justify playing around a certain card until they show it to you.
Modem Masters, a 500 cube that tries to capture the essence of a Modern Masters set draft. 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 of each rare, few mythics. Includes minor changes for balance reasons to give certain archetypes the tools they need to succeed.
Draft my cube!
Watch me stream!
My cube is currently exactly 400 but will soon be a different number + or - 5 because of m15 changes. I had 414 for a long time.
I run my cube so that I experience as little dilution of power level as possible in order to accommodate as many archetypes and strategies as possible. Right now in the peasant world taht's just about 380-390 cards or so but I am accommodating some extra things that ballooned me to 400.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
It's the same reason why people play 40 card decks instead of 47 card ones when they draft. When only the minimum number of cards needed are included, that's pretty much the definition of optimizing it. So if you expect to see 10 people as your max, building a 450 card cube is the tightest list you can play that will still accommodate what you need when you're maxed out. The numbers aren't arbitrary, and they do make a difference in how "tight" the list can be.
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!
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
I run a 720 card cube, mainly because we play sealed just as often as we draft, and that is what is required for a 8 man sealed. I also enjoy variance, and only using half the draft pool each time we draft gives a lot of variance that leads to a fun environment.
Yeah I want some extra cards because I'd like to add in the wishes. I heard how people play them in cube and I LOVE that idea! If I want to do that, I have to run extra cards.
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
My 720 Peasant Cube
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor