Ah, makes sense. I was thinking more on the axis of "vintage legal." I'm happy because it means I still don't need to purchase these cards for my cube.
Cards that reference "outside of the game" as a zone are banned from my cube. Companions, Wishes and other such cards will not be coming back.
What is the main reason these cards are banned?
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Main reason? Companions are awful. That's what drove me to pull the trigger on this design restriction. But it also solves problems where we're running fast/basic/secure events and might not play with sideboards. That occasionally happens, and I don't want to strand cards in the cube that don't function well in those scenarios. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but the Companions being as legitimately miserable as they are forced my hand.
OP updated. Added Steward of Solidarity in for testing. It's an infinite combo card with Intruder Alarm, can be used as a Warrior generator for Najeela, the Blade-Blossom decks and it might be a fringe playable in both token/anthem shells and Mardu Aristocrats shells as well. Skeptical about its use in random white creature decks, but it might serve as a desperation playable for white aggro decks when playing Sealed Deck and the like too; extended testing is required to find out if that's the case...
Also adding Viashino Pyromancer. A playable random aggro beater, but also a card that can be an added win condition to infinite Wave/'Lark loops. I was going to do this before, but when the humans-matters clause was important to my list, it was harder to find a comparable cut.
Well, in the shells that want it, it's great, yes. If you're not using it as a combo card, it's pretty fair. But when it enables a combo or has some really nasty synergy, it wins the game, so ...ya, it feels like it justifies its mana cost in those situations.
To be more specific, it's one of the only 4 cards that can enable an infinite turns loop with Kefnet:
Aminatou also has INSANE synergy with Wishclaw Talisman, to the point where I'd almost consider it a combo...
It's not bad in Esper blink/bounce shells too, where it can be played at face value with reasonable success, but it's definitely a combo card first and a value engine second. It would probably not be good enough if the combos weren't supported. Hell, I even used it once to put a Tinker target back into my deck, which felt really good, lol.
Main reason? Companions are awful. That's what drove me to pull the trigger on this design restriction. But it also solves problems where we're running fast/basic/secure events and might not play with sideboards. That occasionally happens, and I don't want to strand cards in the cube that don't function well in those scenarios. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but the Companions being as legitimately miserable as they are forced my hand.
We almost always play bo1 and it is universally understood that "sideboard" = 'cards you drafted not in your deck'. So I'm not sure I understand what this blanket ban idea accomplishes for you rather than just banning Companions?
In the instances where we run no sideboard events, the unused cards go back into the cube box, mainly for security reasons. It prevents the players from having to keep track of multiple piles of cards and prevents cards from getting lost, misplaced or ignored. So our events like that don't physically have sideboards for players to interact with. So banning "outside the game" cards is something I've been considering for a while. But, as I said, I haven't had a need to pull the trigger on that change until now. It fixes a few small things, but the main one was the companion mechanic.
In the instances where we run no sideboard events, the unused cards go back into the cube box, mainly for security reasons. It prevents the players from having to keep track of multiple piles of cards and prevents cards from getting lost, misplaced or ignored. So our events like that don't physically have sideboards for players to interact with. So banning "outside the game" cards is something I've been considering for a while. But, as I said, I haven't had a need to pull the trigger on that change until now. It fixes a few small things, but the main one was the companion mechanic.
If companion gets errated into a more fair state (e.g. have to take a mulligan when declaring a companion) do you think you'll consider adding companions back?
Balance concerns aside, the deckbuilding restrictions add another level to the draft.
If the mechanic still interacts with the "outside the game" zone, then no. I have banned cards that reference that zone from my cube, for all the reasons I outlined before.
No. In fact, I think that generally speaking, the strength of the "goodstuff" cards had risen to a point where combo decks are an answer to be able to compete with the shells that feature the best generically good cards the cube has to offer. If you're going to beat Okos, Jaces, Tinkers, Upheavals, Balances, Power, Mind Twists and all the other broken "fair" cards that the cube has to offer, combo win conditions provide an "out" for decks that don't have the upper crust of the generically broken cards. I think combo has injected a balance into the cube that didn't exist before, and the gap between the best "fair" cards and the worst "fair" cards was reaching a point where it was affecting competitive balance.
Cards that reference "outside of the game" as a zone are banned from my cube. Companions, Wishes and other such cards will not be coming back.
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!
What is the main reason these cards are banned?
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
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!
Also adding Viashino Pyromancer. A playable random aggro beater, but also a card that can be an added win condition to infinite Wave/'Lark loops. I was going to do this before, but when the humans-matters clause was important to my list, it was harder to find a comparable cut.
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!
how is Aminatou, the Fateshifter working? is it good Enough for a 3color card?
To be more specific, it's one of the only 4 cards that can enable an infinite turns loop with Kefnet:
God-Eternal Kefnet + Aminatou, the Fateshifter (or Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack or Jace, the Mind Sculptor) + Time Walk (or Time Warp, Capture of Jingzhou or Temporal Manipulation)
It's also part of an infinite loop with Felidar Guardian:
Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian loops infinitely, which kills with Altar of the Brood (or Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge or Corpse Knight)
Aminatou also has INSANE synergy with Wishclaw Talisman, to the point where I'd almost consider it a combo...
It's not bad in Esper blink/bounce shells too, where it can be played at face value with reasonable success, but it's definitely a combo card first and a value engine second. It would probably not be good enough if the combos weren't supported. Hell, I even used it once to put a Tinker target back into my deck, which felt really good, lol.
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!
We almost always play bo1 and it is universally understood that "sideboard" = 'cards you drafted not in your deck'. So I'm not sure I understand what this blanket ban idea accomplishes for you rather than just banning Companions?
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!
If companion gets errated into a more fair state (e.g. have to take a mulligan when declaring a companion) do you think you'll consider adding companions back?
Balance concerns aside, the deckbuilding restrictions add another level to the draft.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
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!
Do you think if you are not running one of the combos you are at a disadvantage during the games?
Would you ever consider removing some of the combos from the cube?
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!
Also, we have a whole subforum where we discuss the newly spoiled cards and our thoughts on them for the cube. Explore the cube forum and check out those threads! https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/cube-new-card-discussion
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 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 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!
Yeah!
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 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 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!