Now, just recently there was just a Cube Power Ranking, which allow us to see the most powerful cards in each color and colorless to an extent. However, looking at the list, you’ll see that many 2 power aggro doesn’t make it (and rightfully so).
This make me wonder to myself, what are the true “core” of the cube?? At 180 cube, there’s probably only around 25-ish cards in each section. Would the right decision be to run the 18-20 cards in the cube power rankings and just add in the cards to fill in the cap? Would the cap be really filled that well to transit into a smooth drafting process? There’s now the curve to consider and not just the pure power of the card
Now, this is just a proposal for some cube forum activities. If majority of the forum think, no, it’s probably not worth the efforts, then this activities might not be worth running. I just thought it could be an useful exercise to see what cards sit on the throne right now, and possibly allow us to glimpse into the “true staple” of the cube format (Like possibly the flip Gideon 1 drop).
Then perhaps at the end, we can try running a draft or two.
If you think it could be nice, please state the cube size you would prefer crafting with other forumer as well.
I'd be down for this, it'd be good to rank cards by CMC in their respective colors (and maybe separate it by creature / non-creature?) and have that as reference for cube builders.
I think it'd be fun, but there's gotta be some serious thought about avoiding some fights (support black aggro? combo?) that are sure to rival the great Absorb wars of 2011.
I was just thinking the other day that this would be an interesting idea to float by antknee & usman for the podcast.
I'd be incredibly interested in this project however, also for personal reasons... I run a two- player mini cube, at 190 cards. There's a couple threads around here bout my and another's mini cube, which I'd link if this became a project.
Here's the thing, this would be a really interesting exercise on what really actually makes a "staple". When we pared our cube down from 400 to 190, it went way beyond sacred cow slaighter. Its waayyyy tougher than you'd think.n You really ask yourself some fundamental and deeper questions not only about your cube, but cube design in general. For us, we learned a TON about cube, and I support the idea. It gets fun when you start asking questions like:
"Which multicolor lands so I run?"
- or -
"Skinrenderer, shriekmaw, nekrataal, bone shredder...I think we only have room for two or three of these...which do we keep?"
- or -
"We've only room for 4 white 4-drops...how do we get white down to 4 4-drops?"
- or -
"Can I sufficiently support reanimation in black?"
Anyways, I think the forum would find this interesting, we really did. There's my 3 cents
Why don't you just have each person pick a card and that card goes into the cube, then when you have 270 or 360 you do a forum draft? Might end up a confused mess but maybe people will actually work together and make something interesting.
Re Absorb, it's probably on curve nowadays. You get counter + exile for the same cost as cancel.
I'm just throwing this out there, but I'm currently working on a budget 90 card 2-player peasant cube for what I call my "travel cube". I chose budget and peasant with the idea that when I'm traveling, I'll use this as my cube so I don't particularly have to care for it in the same way I do my 360 Powered or 93/94 cube. I can sort of make it my little *****. I can lose it, not sleeve it, replace card or update for a couple cents, etc. Anyway, I'm self-promoting a bit, but I wanted to say I support the notion of micro-cubing. It's a really fun exercise in cube design that really puts your skill as a cube designer to the test.
I've even been working through a lot of the specific issues listed so far in this thread:
"Which multicolor lands so I run?" You build to capitalize on the design restriction/card limit. Hybrid cards, otherwise accessible or mono-color-functional cards within color pairs, and non-land fixing with additional functionality are your friends. Utilize these and you don't have to dilute your cube with land. One of the design lessons you take from asking this questions is you have to look for the most versatile cards you can when filling such limited spots.(
"Skinrender, shriekmaw, nekrataal, bone shredder...I think we only have room for two or three of these...which do we keep?" One of these is not like the other...Skinrender! Skinrender can kill black creatures and artifact creatures, where the other three cannot. So what does this mean for your cube's card-number restriction? You have to play the most generally applicable card: Skinrender. Can you play the others? Sure, but Skinrender tops this list for me. Another lesson to be learned, but sort of building on my first point: cards with a broad reach trump better cards with a narrow reach. It helps diversify/deepen your play without expanding your card pool.
"We've only room for 4 white 4-drops...how do we get white down to 4 4-drops?" Lesson #3: With a huge numbers restriction, forcing archetypes by design and choosing the best fits accordingly will be your best bet at building a coherent cube. Keep an eye on pivotal cards that can play into more than one strategy. Diversity, diversity, diversity!
"...there's gotta be some serious thought about avoiding some fights (support black aggro? combo?)" The thing about cube design is that you have the freedom to make the experience unique. You can easily choose which archetypes to support and which to eschew without worrying about vacuum power level of cards. I chose discard and reanimator in my black section. Want to choose combo or aggro in yours? Go right ahead. Comparing cubes should be more apples and oranges and less apple to apple.
Could we sticky the other thread that is going on instead of this one? There's some great discussion going on there and this thread is kinda doing nothing.
For such a cube to be successful, I'd suggest to maximize on hybrid or phyrexian cost spells, and minimize on mana spells (BB/RR/UU/WW/GG). That way, in the event that you don't draft an optimum mana base, you can still play without mana screw.
For such a cube to be successful, I'd suggest to maximize on hybrid or phyrexian cost spells, and minimize on mana spells (BB/RR/UU/WW/GG). That way, in the event that you don't draft an optimum mana base, you can still play without mana screw.
You should post any thoughts about micro cubes here.
There's a guy on here who has an awesome 180-card "travel" cube. It's crazy how much you can pack into such a small cube when you start asking yourself what is "essential" and what isn't.
This make me wonder to myself, what are the true “core” of the cube?? At 180 cube, there’s probably only around 25-ish cards in each section. Would the right decision be to run the 18-20 cards in the cube power rankings and just add in the cards to fill in the cap? Would the cap be really filled that well to transit into a smooth drafting process? There’s now the curve to consider and not just the pure power of the card
Now, this is just a proposal for some cube forum activities. If majority of the forum think, no, it’s probably not worth the efforts, then this activities might not be worth running. I just thought it could be an useful exercise to see what cards sit on the throne right now, and possibly allow us to glimpse into the “true staple” of the cube format (Like possibly the flip Gideon 1 drop).
Then perhaps at the end, we can try running a draft or two.
If you think it could be nice, please state the cube size you would prefer crafting with other forumer as well.
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
My Cube on Cube Tutor
I'd be incredibly interested in this project however, also for personal reasons... I run a two- player mini cube, at 190 cards. There's a couple threads around here bout my and another's mini cube, which I'd link if this became a project.
Here's the thing, this would be a really interesting exercise on what really actually makes a "staple". When we pared our cube down from 400 to 190, it went way beyond sacred cow slaighter. Its waayyyy tougher than you'd think.n You really ask yourself some fundamental and deeper questions not only about your cube, but cube design in general. For us, we learned a TON about cube, and I support the idea. It gets fun when you start asking questions like:
"Which multicolor lands so I run?"
- or -
"Skinrenderer, shriekmaw, nekrataal, bone shredder...I think we only have room for two or three of these...which do we keep?"
- or -
"We've only room for 4 white 4-drops...how do we get white down to 4 4-drops?"
- or -
"Can I sufficiently support reanimation in black?"
Anyways, I think the forum would find this interesting, we really did. There's my 3 cents
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
Re Absorb, it's probably on curve nowadays. You get counter + exile for the same cost as cancel.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Just to see the possibilities...
I've even been working through a lot of the specific issues listed so far in this thread:
"Which multicolor lands so I run?" You build to capitalize on the design restriction/card limit. Hybrid cards, otherwise accessible or mono-color-functional cards within color pairs, and non-land fixing with additional functionality are your friends. Utilize these and you don't have to dilute your cube with land. One of the design lessons you take from asking this questions is you have to look for the most versatile cards you can when filling such limited spots.(
"Skinrender, shriekmaw, nekrataal, bone shredder...I think we only have room for two or three of these...which do we keep?" One of these is not like the other...Skinrender! Skinrender can kill black creatures and artifact creatures, where the other three cannot. So what does this mean for your cube's card-number restriction? You have to play the most generally applicable card: Skinrender. Can you play the others? Sure, but Skinrender tops this list for me. Another lesson to be learned, but sort of building on my first point: cards with a broad reach trump better cards with a narrow reach. It helps diversify/deepen your play without expanding your card pool.
"We've only room for 4 white 4-drops...how do we get white down to 4 4-drops?" Lesson #3: With a huge numbers restriction, forcing archetypes by design and choosing the best fits accordingly will be your best bet at building a coherent cube. Keep an eye on pivotal cards that can play into more than one strategy. Diversity, diversity, diversity!
"...there's gotta be some serious thought about avoiding some fights (support black aggro? combo?)" The thing about cube design is that you have the freedom to make the experience unique. You can easily choose which archetypes to support and which to eschew without worrying about vacuum power level of cards. I chose discard and reanimator in my black section. Want to choose combo or aggro in yours? Go right ahead. Comparing cubes should be more apples and oranges and less apple to apple.
Cheers
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
You should post any thoughts about micro cubes here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
TheGeb's Travel Cube