This is my first cube that I've made. I have two other buddies who have cubes, one is powered, the other pauper, so I figured I'd meet in the middle and make an unpowered cube with rares and uncommons. It's a Modern cube because honestly I'm not well versed enough in cube yet to learn all the older cards and figure how they work, plus it makes it easier for me as I already know all the cards (I started playing during Kamigawa block).
I broke up the cube into 15 archtypes spread across the 450 cards. Each 2 color combo has two possible archtypes, and each allied shard having an additional archtype. Total, each allied shard has 2 possible archtypes, and each enemy shard having 1 each.
The numbers:
WUBRG colors: 65
Multi: 50 - 5 for each 2 color combo
Artifacts: 30
Land: 45
For each of these I tried to put a number of cards to even out the archtypes, with each color being the major color for 2 archtypes.
Here's a list of the different archtypes for each type:
WU Flying, Tempo UB Artifact, Combo BR Burn, Aggro RG Fatties, Ramp GW Token, Life WB Life, Artifact UR Tempo, Burn BG Combo, Fatties RW Aggro, Token GU Ramp, Flying GWU Defender WUB Control BRG Land Destruction/Removal UBR Reanimator RGW Midrange
Here are some concerns I already have after initial card selection. I haven't done any actual playtesting yet, but here's what I feel from just looking at the list:
Not a lot of counter magic
Flyers may be too strong, and there may be too many
White looks strong, black looks weak
Defenders doesn't have a true way to win without borrowing a finisher from control or fatties
Not sure if more Spirit/Arcane hosers would be good or not (if you didn't notice, there is a strong Spirit/Arcane theme through the whole cube, as WU flyers is essentially made up of Spirits
There is a Devotion sub-theme in Black, not sure if it's going to be able to be drafted well.
So! Please feel free to leave some constructive criticism, let me know what you think about card choices/archtypes/etc. and if you have any other questions!
Breaking news.
There will be no Tibalt, Tamiyo, Tezzeret, Garruk, Chandra, Liliana, mini-Jace, big-Jace, Garruk again, or Sarkhan in Theros either.
There will also be no Black Lotus.
-Inkwell Leviathan -- +Negate (More countermagic, reduce big fatties and get rid of shroud)
-Burn at the Stake -- +Bogardan Hellkite (Replacing card that didn't work)
-Nearheath Pilgrim -- +Lone Missionary (Better life option)
-Wakestone Gargoyle -- +Cenn's Enlistment (cut down on defenders)
-Fabled Hero -- +Silverblade Paladin (not enough Heroic triggers)
-Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens -- +Urgent Exorcism (Cut down on White Fatties)
-Hover Barrier -- +AEther Adept (Cut down on defender)
-Tendrils of Corruption -- +Go For the Throat (Better removal)
-Drooling Groodion -- +Putrefy (Bad card)
-Golgari Longlegs -- +Nath of the Gilt Leaf (Bad card)
-Puppet Conjurer -- +Salvage Titan (Bad card)
-Martyr of Sands -- +Remember the Fallen (Martyr doesn't work in cube)
-Leonin Elder -- +Kor Sanctifiers (Bad card)
-Stingscourger -- + Archetype of Aggression (Bolster 3-drops)
-Foundry Street Denizen -- +Reckless Waif (Bad card)
-Tainted Sigil -- +Mortify (Bad card)
-Exquisite Blood -- +Waking Nightmare (cutting a combo)
-Sanguine Bond -- +Curse of Death's Hold (cutting a combo)
-Sire of the Storm -- +Soul Seizer (cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-Teller of Tales -- +Deadeye Navigator (Cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-The Unspeakable -- +Inkwell Leviathan (Cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-Blaze Commando -- +Assemble the Legion (Bad card)
-Sindbad -- +Eye of Nowhere (Bad card)
-Loamdragger Giant -- +Zhur-Taa Druid (bad card)
-Phantasmagorian -- +Diregraf Ghoul (bad card)
-Gobhobbler Rats -- +Rakdos Cackler (adding a must-have)
-Stir the Grave -- +Death Denied (better card)
-Overrider -- +Stoic Rebuttal (better card for U Artifact deck)
-Deepchannel Mentor -- +Mulldrifter (Better card and cutting focus on mono-blue)
-Splinter -- +Pheres-Band Tromper (Cutting a combo)
-Seedguide Ash -- +Druid's Familiar (Cut down on Green 5-drops)
-Reborn Hope -- +Unflinching Courage (bad card)
-Myr Landshaper -- +Wayfarer's Bauble (cutting a combo)
-Metallurgeon -- +Spectral Rider (Better card)
-Meletis Charlatan -- +Phantasmal Bear (Better card, may undo)
-Halimar Depths -- +Darksteel Citadel (cutting a mono-blue land)
-Greenweaver Druid -- +Llanowar Elves (Adding cheap mana dork)
-Deranged Assistant -- +Think Twice (Adding more card draw)
Breaking news.
There will be no Tibalt, Tamiyo, Tezzeret, Garruk, Chandra, Liliana, mini-Jace, big-Jace, Garruk again, or Sarkhan in Theros either.
There will also be no Black Lotus.
So if anyone has drafted this deck on cubetutor or has just checked through, what do you guys think of the color balance? Anyone find any one color to be stronger or weaker than the others? That's one of the big things I'm working on right now including adding some more fixing.
Breaking news.
There will be no Tibalt, Tamiyo, Tezzeret, Garruk, Chandra, Liliana, mini-Jace, big-Jace, Garruk again, or Sarkhan in Theros either.
There will also be no Black Lotus.
I'd like to give a few pieces of advice, if I may:
Your definitions of "archetypes" are often overly narrow, and it's resulted in the inclusion of a lot of extremely sub-par cards. The three main archetypes you want to support are Aggro, Midrange, and Control. You may want to include some support for narrower archetypes, but that mostly means supporting a subsection of the above. I.e. Tokens is a subset of midrange, you could add some Glorious Anthem cards to better support that particular facet.
Hey thank you for taking the time to respond Wildfire!
Regarding your suggestions thank you for taking the time to make some suggestions! I agree I may need some more high powered one drops for aggro. One issue I've had though with oversimplifying the archtypes is that I draft at my college, and I usually end up getting some new drafter every week or so as we have lots of other stuff that goes on the night that I cube. They have all asked if I could lay out what colors can draft what, so I tried to narrow down a deck for each color combo.
As for specific card recommendations, I am also trying to keep this cube unpowered, so I'm trying to not include too many rares and mythics in it. I limited the number of mythics to 3 for each color, 1 for artifacts, and then Tezzeret, only because he helps to make the combo deck in the cube. This may also mean there are a high number of low quality commons and uncommons so I'm really try to playtest and weed out the lackluster cards, of which I already have a good idea on what's next on the chopping block. I'm considering adding 1 mythic to each guild combo, or even a rare for each, I originally had only commons and uncommons in the multicolored but I realized that was a really bad idea haha.
Breaking news.
There will be no Tibalt, Tamiyo, Tezzeret, Garruk, Chandra, Liliana, mini-Jace, big-Jace, Garruk again, or Sarkhan in Theros either.
There will also be no Black Lotus.
I broke up the cube into 15 archtypes spread across the 450 cards. Each 2 color combo has two possible archtypes, and each allied shard having an additional archtype. Total, each allied shard has 2 possible archtypes, and each enemy shard having 1 each.
The numbers:
WUBRG colors: 65
Multi: 50 - 5 for each 2 color combo
Artifacts: 30
Land: 45
For each of these I tried to put a number of cards to even out the archtypes, with each color being the major color for 2 archtypes.
Here's the list:
W
U
B
R
G
WUBRG
1
Lands
Here's a list of the different archtypes for each type:
UB Artifact, Combo
BR Burn, Aggro
RG Fatties, Ramp
GW Token, Life
WB Life, Artifact
UR Tempo, Burn
BG Combo, Fatties
RW Aggro, Token
GU Ramp, Flying
GWU Defender
WUB Control
BRG Land Destruction/Removal
UBR Reanimator
RGW Midrange
Here are some concerns I already have after initial card selection. I haven't done any actual playtesting yet, but here's what I feel from just looking at the list:
So! Please feel free to leave some constructive criticism, let me know what you think about card choices/archtypes/etc. and if you have any other questions!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Also if you want to draft it and check it out yourself, here's the cubetutor link!: http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/9286
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(W/B) Teysa, Orzhov Scion (W/B)
G Devoted G
(U/R) Scramblefun (U/R)
(W/U) Heh, Birbs (W/U)
Here is the space where I will put all the changes I make with this cube.
-Quicken -- +Glen Elendra Archmage (More countermagic)
-Nearheath Pilgrim -- +Lone Missionary (Better life option)
-Fabled Hero -- +Silverblade Paladin (not enough Heroic triggers)
-Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens -- +Urgent Exorcism (Cut down on White Fatties)
-Hover Barrier -- +AEther Adept (Cut down on defender)
-Tendrils of Corruption -- +Go For the Throat (Better removal)
-Drooling Groodion -- +Putrefy (Bad card)
-Golgari Longlegs -- +Nath of the Gilt Leaf (Bad card)
-Puppet Conjurer -- +Salvage Titan (Bad card)
-Leonin Elder -- +Kor Sanctifiers (Bad card)
-Stingscourger -- + Archetype of Aggression (Bolster 3-drops)
-Foundry Street Denizen -- +Reckless Waif (Bad card)
-Tainted Sigil -- +Mortify (Bad card)
-Exquisite Blood -- +Waking Nightmare (cutting a combo)
-Sanguine Bond -- +Curse of Death's Hold (cutting a combo)
-Sire of the Storm -- +Soul Seizer (cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-Teller of Tales -- +Deadeye Navigator (Cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-The Unspeakable -- +Inkwell Leviathan (Cutting Arcane reliance in blue)
-Blaze Commando -- +Assemble the Legion (Bad card)
-Sindbad -- +Eye of Nowhere (Bad card)
-Gobhobbler Rats -- +Rakdos Cackler (adding a must-have)
-Stir the Grave -- +Death Denied (better card)
-Overrider -- +Stoic Rebuttal (better card for U Artifact deck)
-Splinter -- +Pheres-Band Tromper (Cutting a combo)
-Seedguide Ash -- +Druid's Familiar (Cut down on Green 5-drops)
-Reborn Hope -- +Unflinching Courage (bad card)
-Myr Landshaper -- +Wayfarer's Bauble (cutting a combo)
-Metallurgeon -- +Spectral Rider (Better card)
-Meletis Charlatan -- +Phantasmal Bear (Better card, may undo)
-Halimar Depths -- +Darksteel Citadel (cutting a mono-blue land)
-Greenweaver Druid -- +Llanowar Elves (Adding cheap mana dork)
-Deranged Assistant -- +Think Twice (Adding more card draw)
-Fire-Fiend Ogre -- +Breeding Pool (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Jund Charm -- +Godless Shrine (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Mayael's Aria -- +Hallowed Fountain (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Nicol Bolas -- +Overgrown Tomb (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Punish Ignorance -- +Sacred Foundry (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Rhox War Monk -- +Steam Vents (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Stoic Angel -- +Stomping Ground (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Violent Ultimatum -- +Temple Garden (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Wooly Thoctar -- +Watery Grave (Cutting shards, adding shocks)
-Wayfarer's Bauble -- +Sphere of the Suns (Better cheap mana fix)
-Valley Rannet -- +Bloodbraid Elf (bad card)
-Spiteful Returned -- +Nezumi Graverobber (Better card + counter to reanimator)
-Nim Shambler -- +Skinrender (bad card)
-Citanul Woodreaders -- +Harmonize (better card)
-Minamo Scrollkeeper -- +Ponder (cutting some blue creatures + better card)
-Cockatrice -- +Wickerbough Elder (better card)
-Dragon Fodder -- +Krenko's Command (same thing, just don't have a Fodder lol)
-Dawnglow Infusion -- +Kitchen Finks (better card)
-Nuisance Engine -- +Coalition Relic (cutting token, adding ramp)
-Hunted Phantasm -- +Remand (more countermagic)
-Irradiate -- +Vendetta (better removal)
-Wicked Akuba -- +Gatekeeper of Malakir (better card)
-Chill of Foreboding -- +Memory Erosion (bad card)
-Claim of Erebos -- +Gruesome Deformity (better Aura)
-Necromancer's Magemark -- +Underworld Connections (better Aura)
-Moriok Rigger -- +Herald of Torment (better card)
-Bleak Coven Vampires -- +Shriekmaw (bad card)
-Polluted Dead -- +Bloodgift Demon (bad card)
-Aeon Chronicler -- +Echoing Truth (more anti-token tech)
-Fireshrieker -- +Ratchet Bomb (more anti-token tech)
-Sunhome Guildmage -- +Lightning Helix (better card, less token)
-Captain's Call -- +Gift of Estates (less tokens)
-Captain of the Watch -- +Sunblast Angel (less tokens)
₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
(W/B) Teysa, Orzhov Scion (W/B)
G Devoted G
(U/R) Scramblefun (U/R)
(W/U) Heh, Birbs (W/U)
₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
(W/B) Teysa, Orzhov Scion (W/B)
G Devoted G
(U/R) Scramblefun (U/R)
(W/U) Heh, Birbs (W/U)
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StaffI'd like to give a few pieces of advice, if I may:
Your definitions of "archetypes" are often overly narrow, and it's resulted in the inclusion of a lot of extremely sub-par cards. The three main archetypes you want to support are Aggro, Midrange, and Control. You may want to include some support for narrower archetypes, but that mostly means supporting a subsection of the above. I.e. Tokens is a subset of midrange, you could add some Glorious Anthem cards to better support that particular facet.
One drops are an especially important place to look at when supporting aggro. You really want as many 2-power one drops as you can get your hands on. You're lacking a ton of them here.
White: Soldier of the Pantheon, Elite Vanguard, Savannah Lions, Student of Warfare
Black: Gravecrawler, Diergraf Ghoul, Tormented Hero, Vampire Lacerator
Red: Goblin Guide, Firedrinker Satyr, Stromkirk Noble
Your multicolored cards should really be held to a higher standard. These are extremely competitive slots, and they're mostly being used on limited filler cards. You also may consider cutting these a bit. 3-4 at 450 is pretty common. Some of the best options per pair:
UW: Geist of Saint Traft, Detention Sphere, Supreme Verdict, Venser the Sojourner, Sphinx's Revelation
UB: Baleful Strix (not modern legal, but modern cardframe), Shadowmage Infiltrator, Duskmantle Seer, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Far//Away
BR: Rakdos Cackler, Spike Jester, Rakdos Shred-Freak, Dreadbore, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Muderous Redcap
RG: Kird Ape, Tattermunge Maniac, Bloodbraid Elf, Sarkhan Vol, Xenagos, the Reveler, Huntsmaster of the Fells
GW: Dryad Militant, Qasali Pridemage, Knight of the Reliquary, Kitchen Finks, Voice of Resurgence, Armada Wurm
BW: Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Lingering Souls, Tidehollow Sculler, Obzedat, Ghost Council, Angel of Despair
BG: Lotleth Troll, Putrid Leech, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay, Dreg Mangler
GU: Coiling Oracle, Simic Charm, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Shardless Agent (again, these two are maybe not modern legal), Mystic Snake, Trygon Predator, Prime Speaker Zegana, Simic Sky Swallower
UR: Izzet Charm, Electrolyze, Turn//Burn, Ral Zarek, Steam Augury
RW: Figure of Destiny, Boros Charm, Lightning Helix, Boros Reckoner, Ajani Vengeant
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Regarding your suggestions thank you for taking the time to make some suggestions! I agree I may need some more high powered one drops for aggro. One issue I've had though with oversimplifying the archtypes is that I draft at my college, and I usually end up getting some new drafter every week or so as we have lots of other stuff that goes on the night that I cube. They have all asked if I could lay out what colors can draft what, so I tried to narrow down a deck for each color combo.
As for specific card recommendations, I am also trying to keep this cube unpowered, so I'm trying to not include too many rares and mythics in it. I limited the number of mythics to 3 for each color, 1 for artifacts, and then Tezzeret, only because he helps to make the combo deck in the cube. This may also mean there are a high number of low quality commons and uncommons so I'm really try to playtest and weed out the lackluster cards, of which I already have a good idea on what's next on the chopping block. I'm considering adding 1 mythic to each guild combo, or even a rare for each, I originally had only commons and uncommons in the multicolored but I realized that was a really bad idea haha.
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(W/B) Teysa, Orzhov Scion (W/B)
G Devoted G
(U/R) Scramblefun (U/R)
(W/U) Heh, Birbs (W/U)