I'm planning on hosting a Cube draft at a local gaming mini-convention soon, and I'm looking for a link to a nice, short article that explains the basics of cube drafting to someone who is familiar to Magic, but not Cube. I'm supplying the cube, so they won't need to know anything about how to build a cube, but I'd like something that explains the basics of what a cube is and maybe some basic strategy suggestions on how to draft a Cube deck that won't get completely crushed.
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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.
Now you are staring at a pile of cards and have to make a deck out of it. Of the forty-two cards you drafted, you'll only be using about twenty-three of them in your deck (the rest will be lands).
I'll lay out the basics as a set of rules here. As with all rules, there are times to break them, but for a beginning drafter, I would stick to these until I was more experienced.
Rule 1. Play a forty-card deck. This may sound obvious, but it can be tempting to play that extra card when facing a tough decision about which card to cut. Don't fall for this trap. Play your forty best cards, and not a single one more.
Rule 2. Play seventeen lands. Do not skimp on this! seventeen lands is the minimum; don't play sixteen even if you think it's okay. You need seventeen lands for your deck to function in a normal Limited setting. Yes, there will be exceptions down the line, but seventeen lands is a great starting point.
Rule 3. Play at least fifteen creatures. This one is a bit more flexible, but if you find yourself with a draft deck containing ten or eleven creatures, you probably went wrong somewhere in your draft. If you have eighteen creatures, that's ok. Creatures are the most important thing in Limited, and having too many is far better than having too few. Again, this is more flexible than the lands; if you end up with fourteen creatures, it's fine.
Rule 4. Play a two-color deck. This is also a more flexible one down the line, but when you are starting out, your decks will perform better if you exercise discipline and stick to just two colors. You will experience better draws, fewer mulligans, and more consistent performance from your deck.
That's it. If you follow these rules, and think about them while you are drafting, you'll draft reasonable decks most of the time,\ and give yourself a shot at winning even if you are new to drafting.
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Draft my old school cube and I'll draft yours...hell, I'll draft it twice!
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.