The Promotional and Non-Sanctioned Magic Card Thread
There are cards in magic history which are lesser-known in the cube, and in extension, the magic community. I was entirely oblivious to a few of them myself until I met a a playgroup that embraced them. I'm going to explain what some of these rarer cards in magic existence are, what my experiences with them has been and why you might want to consider them. The cards include: 5 Color Magic, Magic Online, Media promotion and Non-traditional cards.
I'd like to preface that the following cards for consideration aren't kosher. At all. Some cards have the potential to warp a player's outcome in games and it might cause a different, and potentially less enjoyable, experience for them. For some players, like myself, we search for new ways to bring a dynamic and unique experience to cubing. With my cube being appropriately titled, "Beyond Power" these cards were meant to find refuge within my cube.
Let's start with 5 Color Magic cards. They're a little less ridiculous in power level and should provide fair alternatives to guild sections or as a neat inclusion to a spot in your cube.
Mox Crystal
The "6th Mox". Originating from the earliest forms of table top magic, 5 Color Magic premiered at actual Magic sanctioned tournaments held across cities in the united states. 5 Color Magic is an entirely separate format in magic, now no-longer officially sanctioned, because it supports Ante - a mechanic that Richard Garfield abandoned quickly after the creation of Magic the Gathering. Mox Crystal was given to tournament winners as a sticker placed over a magic card which looked exactly as it appears above.
My experiences with Mox Crystal have been fairly straight-forward. Any free ramp, even when it only provides colorless mana, is an incredibly powerful effect. Anyone who plays powered cube understands that, regardless of what color deck you're playing, a first pick off-color mox will still beat-out some mega-bomb (almost always) in your colors. If you view Mox Crystal in this fashion it becomes an excellent inclusion. I'd play it over Mox Diamond if you run it.
Aku Fehling and Franky
I am not really sure when these were created and added to 5 Color Magic. I would imagine at one point tournament winners were given the opportunity to design a card to be officially supported in the format which resulted in these cards. Whatever the case, they're neat and I play them.
Aku Fehling, the Predictor
A Gruul/RUG powerhouse. When evaluating him in his worst-case scenario he's a 2/2 for 2 and cantrips himself when he's no longer relevant. With all of the various top-of-deck manipulation spells - Ponder, Preordain and Brainstorm to name a few - his high-end becomes absurdly powerful at RUG which is a fairly popular color archetype in powered cube. A lot of people run Sarkhan Vol however, I think he's become less and less relevant in cube and with Xenagos, the Reveler, Bloodbraid Elf and all of the other powerful 4-drops in Red and Green I think Aku Fehling becomes a welcome replacement to lower the Gruul curve.
Franky
An Izzet trickster. Immediately you will notice Franky's second ability is related to Ante. The playgroups I have seen run Franky decided translating the ability to straight-across affect all spells or activated abilities was far too powerful so instead, he has been errata'd to read for his second ability:
"Sacrifice Franky: Draw a card."
When played this way he becomes a pretty neat creature. Again, he's a bear at 2 which can shock something or cantrip. Often he cantrips if the shock or his body is no longer relevant. The modes on Franky is what makes him so powerful and I like him a lot. I've seen versions of him printed looking like the Cheshire Cat from Alice and Wonderland - which looks pretty neat, too! The "Big Three" in Izzet are Dack Fayden, Dack's Duplicate and Ral Zarek. The 4th slot has been up for contention for a long time and I think Franky can easily overpower Fire // Ice, Izzet Charm or Electrolyze.
Magic Online Cards
Currently there's one Magic Online card (to my knowledge) that only exists within that universe:
Gleemox
The "7th Mox". Gleemox is another self-explanatory card. It's uncontested as the best Mox, if you play it, and you should. I'd play it over Chrome Mox or just straight-up add it if you have room. Again, you should have room for this card.
Media Related Promotional Cards
There have been a few cards released over the years given as gifts to actors, studios or to be used as movie props. Some of these cards haven't even been discovered or officially recognized. For example there is rumored to exist a magic card, named after each actor and given to them, from the movie "Inception". One is known - Joseph Gordon-Levitt - and the rest are ambiguous as to their existence.
Drake Stone
Drake Stone was created to be gifted to, and used by the actor Toby Kebbell, in the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Drake Stone instantly becomes the best Dimir card in existence if you recognize him as a cube-worthy card, and I highly suggest you do. He makes UB Reanimator better, acts as an absurdly powerful removal spell and he's fairly costed. The only downside is his art, which isn't awful, but isn't anything to write home about either. I'd replace Psychatog or Shadowmage Infiltrator for him.
Robot Chicken
My understanding is that when the cast of "Robot Chicken" visited Pro Tour San Diego they were given a unique promotional magic card, Robot Chicken. The number of them in existence and the size of the card in relation to tournament-legal magic cards is up for discussion. The Chicken is a fairly unexciting bear for 4 which makes him on the low-end a pretty low power card. The Chicken's engine however, easily becomes absurd if allowed to survive on the battlefield. The only downside to it's engine is that once your opponent's field is clear of threats to destroy, any additional destroyed eggs you control forces you to assault your own board. Usually at this point the Chicken has done his job and targeting himself with an egg becomes a fine choice. How you find room for him is your choice but I do recommend giving him a try!
NO IMAGE AVAILABLE
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 1U - 2/1
Legendary Human Wizard
Sacrifice Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Copy target Instant or Sorcery spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.
As mentioned earlier, there was a card given to JGL himself after the release of the movie, Inception. I'm not sure which team at Wizard's decided to make him a card but the hit movie merited their support by gifting him a powerful magic card. I've only seen proxies that display his character as dressed in the movie. I think his sacrifice ability relates to the fact that, JGL being a fan of Magic the Gathering, had never gotten the opportunity to play with Time Walk. Wizard's made him a card that pokes fun of his plight by designing the card's ability to copy a spell two mana cost or less. If you're dicey on the existence of the card then by all means don't play it. I'm still working on getting the source image of the proxies that I've seen going around before I include it in my cube but I think he's strong enough to merit inclusion. If you've played around with Stratus Dancer or Willbender then I think this guy's inclusion would be about similar in play-style if you were trying to grasp how it might play.
Non-Traditional Magic Cards
These are cards which aren't "real" Magic cards that either playgroup communities created or have been adopted into cubes as neat mechanics. If the above cards have been too erroneous for you then check yourself out the door because things are about to get weird.
NO IMAGE AVAILABLE
Colin's Bag o' Tricks - 2 -
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, exile a card at random from the Cube. You may play cards under Colin's Bag o' Tricks as though they were in your hand.
I don't have my story 100% straight but my understanding is that there is a cube playgroup in Canada that has done cube tournaments and such for the last decade or longer and at one point they designed the card? Deep_Woods, a MTG Salvation user, has a brief discussion about it on his cube thread which has had no activity for years. I haven't drafted it personally but I have seen it used before. It's about the same power-level as Booster Tutor if you've ever played with that. It's neat but I don't run it.
There are also other cards that playgroup has designed like Wamposki's Bauble, McBain, Balls Out Goblin and more. I'd only ever consider Colin's Bag o' Tricks of any of them. At some point even I draw the line about how many fabricated magic cards I include in my cube.
Joker
In the early 90s when Magic first came out players were gifted a DCI Poker Deck when signing up for the "Legend Membership". Additionally there was another poker deck created that portrayed cards printed in the base set and they really look quite beautiful. They're a bit pricey - be warned. You can read about their history, here.
I play two Joker cards in my cube. They can be played as whatever has been public knowledge in the current game being played. You still have to cast it with the correct mana though. The idea is similar as a Joker's function in Poker - use it as the best possible card to give you the best hand in poker. Similarly, Joker often becomes the best possible card cast in the game's history or, at the time, the best use possible. I've seen it used as a much-needed land drop, a Black Lotus, an Ancestral Recall, a Garruk, Apex Predator to destroy another Garruk, Apex Predator, and in many more awesome situations. It's a neat one. I've had some players end their games a bit salty from a well-timed Joker and so be mindful it may not always give everyone at the table a great experience. I'd say it's almost as nasty as Cheatyface however, I haven't had nearly the arguments result from a Joker as I have had from Cheatyface.
Discard
Some playgroups I have played with run one to two copies of a card which is just text that reads, "Discard". They behave exactly as it reads - Discard! Need to discard that Terastodon from your hand to Reanimate it? Play discard and target yourself! Want to thoughtseize an opponent? Target them with Discard. Want each player to discard a card of their choice from their hand? Play Discard!
With that in consideration, I have yet to include Discard in my cube. I've been on the fence on including it because it almost always behaves as a free Thoughtseize which is borderline too powerful in my mind. That said, if you feel as though you want more discard engines in your cube you can always consider it.
Conclusion
Maybe you'll read through this thread and scoff at the consideration at any or all of the cards I discussed. Or maybe I provided to some of you a new avenue to tackle in cube design and philosophy. Wherever your allegiance lay in Magic the Gathering card authenticity, I hope you enjoyed a look into the weird and lesser known cards.
That's it - for now! Wizard's and the Magic Community are always coming up with new and exciting cards. There's always potential for more in the future.
It's cool seeing all these cards in one location. They're not for me and my playgroup, but I appreciate the effort put into the OP. There's a lot of cool background info and stuff. Thanks for sharing!
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
There are a few other non-sanctioned cards besides Drake Stone I believe
Do you mean from the movie 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'? Because if so, then yes, on that link I provided there are a few other cards that they made, and shared, to celebrate the film. They just aren't very good.
I would love to find a copy of Aku Fehling. Certainly would be a top pick for my group. Not sure where I would ever find one and I don't play printed cards but I have no trouble with Unglued or these fringe authentic cards. Drake Stone would be worth a try, and the mox of course but I have plenty of similar other things.
I would love to find a copy of Aku Fehling. Certainly would be a top pick for my group. Not sure where I would ever find one and I don't play printed cards but I have no trouble with Unglued or these fringe authentic cards. Drake Stone would be worth a try, and the mox of course but I have plenty of similar other things.
You won't find copies of Aku Fehling - you're going to have to proxy him. A lot of my buddies use MTG Card Generators to put the art they want for him. I just arbitrarily used Google Image Search for Franky and Aku Fehling for my proxies. Eventually I'm going to make my Aku Fehling Aku from Samurai Jack and Franky the Cheshire Cat.
I am not really sure when these were created and added to 5 Color Magic. I would imagine at one point tournament winners were given the opportunity to design a card to be officially supported in the format which resulted in these cards. Whatever the case, they're neat and I play them.
That's pretty much it. I was heavily involved in 5-Color back in the day (hence my avatar pic). Winners of 5-Color Worlds Qualifiers events received a Mox Crystal. (I have one and used to cube it but dropped it recently, FWIW.) The winner of either the 5C Worlds or 5C Invitation (I don't remember which) got to design their own cards to be allowed in 5C tournies. Franky and Aku Fehling were those two cards.
There are cards in magic history which are lesser-known in the cube, and in extension, the magic community. I was entirely oblivious to a few of them myself until I met a a playgroup that embraced them. I'm going to explain what some of these rarer cards in magic existence are, what my experiences with them has been and why you might want to consider them. The cards include: 5 Color Magic, Magic Online, Media promotion and Non-traditional cards.
I'd like to preface that the following cards for consideration aren't kosher. At all. Some cards have the potential to warp a player's outcome in games and it might cause a different, and potentially less enjoyable, experience for them. For some players, like myself, we search for new ways to bring a dynamic and unique experience to cubing. With my cube being appropriately titled, "Beyond Power" these cards were meant to find refuge within my cube.
Let's start with 5 Color Magic cards. They're a little less ridiculous in power level and should provide fair alternatives to guild sections or as a neat inclusion to a spot in your cube.
Mox Crystal
The "6th Mox". Originating from the earliest forms of table top magic, 5 Color Magic premiered at actual Magic sanctioned tournaments held across cities in the united states. 5 Color Magic is an entirely separate format in magic, now no-longer officially sanctioned, because it supports Ante - a mechanic that Richard Garfield abandoned quickly after the creation of Magic the Gathering. Mox Crystal was given to tournament winners as a sticker placed over a magic card which looked exactly as it appears above.
My experiences with Mox Crystal have been fairly straight-forward. Any free ramp, even when it only provides colorless mana, is an incredibly powerful effect. Anyone who plays powered cube understands that, regardless of what color deck you're playing, a first pick off-color mox will still beat-out some mega-bomb (almost always) in your colors. If you view Mox Crystal in this fashion it becomes an excellent inclusion. I'd play it over Mox Diamond if you run it.
Aku Fehling and Franky
I am not really sure when these were created and added to 5 Color Magic. I would imagine at one point tournament winners were given the opportunity to design a card to be officially supported in the format which resulted in these cards. Whatever the case, they're neat and I play them.
Aku Fehling, the Predictor
A Gruul/RUG powerhouse. When evaluating him in his worst-case scenario he's a 2/2 for 2 and cantrips himself when he's no longer relevant. With all of the various top-of-deck manipulation spells - Ponder, Preordain and Brainstorm to name a few - his high-end becomes absurdly powerful at RUG which is a fairly popular color archetype in powered cube. A lot of people run Sarkhan Vol however, I think he's become less and less relevant in cube and with Xenagos, the Reveler, Bloodbraid Elf and all of the other powerful 4-drops in Red and Green I think Aku Fehling becomes a welcome replacement to lower the Gruul curve.
Franky
An Izzet trickster. Immediately you will notice Franky's second ability is related to Ante. The playgroups I have seen run Franky decided translating the ability to straight-across affect all spells or activated abilities was far too powerful so instead, he has been errata'd to read for his second ability:
"Sacrifice Franky: Draw a card."
When played this way he becomes a pretty neat creature. Again, he's a bear at 2 which can shock something or cantrip. Often he cantrips if the shock or his body is no longer relevant. The modes on Franky is what makes him so powerful and I like him a lot. I've seen versions of him printed looking like the Cheshire Cat from Alice and Wonderland - which looks pretty neat, too! The "Big Three" in Izzet are Dack Fayden, Dack's Duplicate and Ral Zarek. The 4th slot has been up for contention for a long time and I think Franky can easily overpower Fire // Ice, Izzet Charm or Electrolyze.
Magic Online Cards
Currently there's one Magic Online card (to my knowledge) that only exists within that universe:
Gleemox
The "7th Mox". Gleemox is another self-explanatory card. It's uncontested as the best Mox, if you play it, and you should. I'd play it over Chrome Mox or just straight-up add it if you have room. Again, you should have room for this card.
Media Related Promotional Cards
There have been a few cards released over the years given as gifts to actors, studios or to be used as movie props. Some of these cards haven't even been discovered or officially recognized. For example there is rumored to exist a magic card, named after each actor and given to them, from the movie "Inception". One is known - Joseph Gordon-Levitt - and the rest are ambiguous as to their existence.
Drake Stone
Drake Stone was created to be gifted to, and used by the actor Toby Kebbell, in the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Drake Stone instantly becomes the best Dimir card in existence if you recognize him as a cube-worthy card, and I highly suggest you do. He makes UB Reanimator better, acts as an absurdly powerful removal spell and he's fairly costed. The only downside is his art, which isn't awful, but isn't anything to write home about either. I'd replace Psychatog or Shadowmage Infiltrator for him.
Robot Chicken
My understanding is that when the cast of "Robot Chicken" visited Pro Tour San Diego they were given a unique promotional magic card, Robot Chicken. The number of them in existence and the size of the card in relation to tournament-legal magic cards is up for discussion. The Chicken is a fairly unexciting bear for 4 which makes him on the low-end a pretty low power card. The Chicken's engine however, easily becomes absurd if allowed to survive on the battlefield. The only downside to it's engine is that once your opponent's field is clear of threats to destroy, any additional destroyed eggs you control forces you to assault your own board. Usually at this point the Chicken has done his job and targeting himself with an egg becomes a fine choice. How you find room for him is your choice but I do recommend giving him a try!
NO IMAGE AVAILABLE
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 1U - 2/1
Legendary Human Wizard
Sacrifice Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Copy target Instant or Sorcery spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.
As mentioned earlier, there was a card given to JGL himself after the release of the movie, Inception. I'm not sure which team at Wizard's decided to make him a card but the hit movie merited their support by gifting him a powerful magic card. I've only seen proxies that display his character as dressed in the movie. I think his sacrifice ability relates to the fact that, JGL being a fan of Magic the Gathering, had never gotten the opportunity to play with Time Walk. Wizard's made him a card that pokes fun of his plight by designing the card's ability to copy a spell two mana cost or less. If you're dicey on the existence of the card then by all means don't play it. I'm still working on getting the source image of the proxies that I've seen going around before I include it in my cube but I think he's strong enough to merit inclusion. If you've played around with Stratus Dancer or Willbender then I think this guy's inclusion would be about similar in play-style if you were trying to grasp how it might play.
Non-Traditional Magic Cards
These are cards which aren't "real" Magic cards that either playgroup communities created or have been adopted into cubes as neat mechanics. If the above cards have been too erroneous for you then check yourself out the door because things are about to get weird.
NO IMAGE AVAILABLE
Colin's Bag o' Tricks - 2 -
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, exile a card at random from the Cube. You may play cards under Colin's Bag o' Tricks as though they were in your hand.
I don't have my story 100% straight but my understanding is that there is a cube playgroup in Canada that has done cube tournaments and such for the last decade or longer and at one point they designed the card? Deep_Woods, a MTG Salvation user, has a brief discussion about it on his cube thread which has had no activity for years. I haven't drafted it personally but I have seen it used before. It's about the same power-level as Booster Tutor if you've ever played with that. It's neat but I don't run it.
There are also other cards that playgroup has designed like Wamposki's Bauble, McBain, Balls Out Goblin and more. I'd only ever consider Colin's Bag o' Tricks of any of them. At some point even I draw the line about how many fabricated magic cards I include in my cube.
Joker
In the early 90s when Magic first came out players were gifted a DCI Poker Deck when signing up for the "Legend Membership". Additionally there was another poker deck created that portrayed cards printed in the base set and they really look quite beautiful. They're a bit pricey - be warned. You can read about their history, here.
I play two Joker cards in my cube. They can be played as whatever has been public knowledge in the current game being played. You still have to cast it with the correct mana though. The idea is similar as a Joker's function in Poker - use it as the best possible card to give you the best hand in poker. Similarly, Joker often becomes the best possible card cast in the game's history or, at the time, the best use possible. I've seen it used as a much-needed land drop, a Black Lotus, an Ancestral Recall, a Garruk, Apex Predator to destroy another Garruk, Apex Predator, and in many more awesome situations. It's a neat one. I've had some players end their games a bit salty from a well-timed Joker and so be mindful it may not always give everyone at the table a great experience. I'd say it's almost as nasty as Cheatyface however, I haven't had nearly the arguments result from a Joker as I have had from Cheatyface.
Discard
Some playgroups I have played with run one to two copies of a card which is just text that reads, "Discard". They behave exactly as it reads - Discard! Need to discard that Terastodon from your hand to Reanimate it? Play discard and target yourself! Want to thoughtseize an opponent? Target them with Discard. Want each player to discard a card of their choice from their hand? Play Discard!
With that in consideration, I have yet to include Discard in my cube. I've been on the fence on including it because it almost always behaves as a free Thoughtseize which is borderline too powerful in my mind. That said, if you feel as though you want more discard engines in your cube you can always consider it.
Conclusion
Maybe you'll read through this thread and scoff at the consideration at any or all of the cards I discussed. Or maybe I provided to some of you a new avenue to tackle in cube design and philosophy. Wherever your allegiance lay in Magic the Gathering card authenticity, I hope you enjoyed a look into the weird and lesser known cards.
That's it - for now! Wizard's and the Magic Community are always coming up with new and exciting cards. There's always potential for more in the future.
My 540 Powered CubeTutor Page
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!
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Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
My 380 Beginners’ Cube on Cube Tutor
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
Do you mean from the movie 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'? Because if so, then yes, on that link I provided there are a few other cards that they made, and shared, to celebrate the film. They just aren't very good.
My 540 Powered CubeTutor Page
You won't find copies of Aku Fehling - you're going to have to proxy him. A lot of my buddies use MTG Card Generators to put the art they want for him. I just arbitrarily used Google Image Search for Franky and Aku Fehling for my proxies. Eventually I'm going to make my Aku Fehling Aku from Samurai Jack and Franky the Cheshire Cat.
My 540 Powered CubeTutor Page
That's pretty much it. I was heavily involved in 5-Color back in the day (hence my avatar pic). Winners of 5-Color Worlds Qualifiers events received a Mox Crystal. (I have one and used to cube it but dropped it recently, FWIW.) The winner of either the 5C Worlds or 5C Invitation (I don't remember which) got to design their own cards to be allowed in 5C tournies. Franky and Aku Fehling were those two cards.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.