[640][Unpowered][EDH][Multiplayer] SCDL's Casual Commander Cube

#1 Jul 4, 2014

Filthy Casual

Join Date: 4/28/2010
Posts: 5,193
Member Details

SCDL's Casual Commander Cube
A terrible cube for filthy casuals

When I made this cube I was a student on a small college campus, and I realized that a number of my friends on said campus who play magic have been fairly limited by the size of their collections. Many of my friends were restricted to only a couple EDH decks that are only really half complete. With the release of Conspiracy at the time, I realized that a cube designed specifically for the local format of choice would be a perfect solution. So I cannibalized my eight commander decks and my collection so I could build this cube:

This baby, held together purely by ductape, dreams, and six-drops, was the result of my efforts. This cube is designed to be a very casual friendly commander cube; specifically the cube is meant to evoke the "Battlecruiser" style of the Rise of the Eldrazi limited environment. While initially the cube was a scrapheap budget project built out of what I coul scrounge, time, effort, and a fulltime job helped it become something more. At this point, I'm open to any suggestions or recommendations, however do bear in mind that this cube was never meant to be fully optimized because the goal was to breed an environment that closely emulates casual EDH.

Generals
Main Cube

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Basic Information

Cube Size: 620 Cards in the core cube with an additional 62 generals.
Breakdown: 74 of each monocolor, 13 of each two color combo, and 115 colorless
General Breakdown: 2 of each monocolor, 3 of each guild, 2 of each shard/wedge, and 1 five-colored
Standard or Theme: Multiplayer Commander. It's also a bit of a slow/battlecruiser cube.
Snow Lands: Nope.
Average Number of Players: 4-6
How Often Drafted: Whenever the opportunity comes up. (Which is very infrequently.)

Card Selection
Proxies: Yes, but only cards I own in other languages. (I have the foreign version under the proxy)
Powered: No.
Portal: No.
"Un" Cards: Booster Tutor
Banned Cards for Power-Level: Omniscience, Serra Ascendant, otherwise see the commander banlist
Banned Cards for "fun" factor: Once again, see the commander banlist

Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Multiplayer
Sideboards?: No.
Color Balance: Yes.
Gold Balance: Yes.
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes.
Color Abilities as Gold: Yes.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: That sounds like waaaay too much effort.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Special Drafting Rules

Drafting the commander cube is fairly straightforward, but naturally it has some special considerations. Cube drafts begin by drafting from the separate pile of Generals which come in a different type of sleeve. Generals are separated into packs of 6 and are drafted for one round.

Once generals have been drafted the main cube is drafted. The main cube is drafted just as you would draft any other cube, except there are four or five rounds of drafting instead of the traditional three. (I'd prefer five, but the cube doesn't have enough cards to support that with more than 7 people) Once the draft is complete, each player picks a general and constructs a 59 card deck around that general.

Special Rules:
- Generals you have drafted but are not using as your general may be switched into regular sleeves and included in your deck.
- Conversely, legendary creatures drafted from the main cube may be switched into general sleeves in lieu of using one of the generals you drafted.
- Decks include 60 cards. 59 Cards in your main deck, and your general which does not count towards that 59.
- Normal EDH color identity rules apply; you cannot use cards outside your chosen general's color identity, with two exceptions:
- Any non-general card named with Unexpected Potential has no color identity in deck construction. A side effect of this is that you must name the card with Unexpected Potential during deck construction and not at the start of the game, but that shouldn't change much.
- All extra packs (For Booster Tutor/Lore Seeker) are to be packs of 15 undrafted cards from the cube. If there aren't 15 cards left, no extra pack can be used and the card has no effect.
- Starting life is 30, and commander damage rules apply. (If any one general has dealt a given player 21 points of combat damage, that player loses.)

Optional Rules:
- Hyrbid cards can be played in decks which only contain one of their colors. Please note, this does not apply to phyrexian mana cards, Selesnya Guildmage, and Mistmeadow Witch.
- Players may use any number of OGW/SOI taplands in deck construction as if they were basics.
- If a card such as Lore Seeker or Booster Tutor asks you to look at a pack, you may choose either a 15 card pack from the main cube or a 6 card pack of generals.

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Monowhite CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
White Creature 1x Mother of Runes 1x Soul Warden 1x Soul's Attendant 1x Weathered Wayfarer 1x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails 1x Suture Priest 1x Banisher Priest 1x Eldrazi Displacer 1x Fiend Hunter 1x Flickerwisp 1x Mentor of the Meek 1x Mirran Crusader 1x Mirror Entity 1x Recruiter of the Guard 1x Stonecloaker 1x Angel of Finality 1x Emeria Angel 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade 1x Hero of Bladehold 1x Restoration Angel 1x Angelic Overseer 1x Archon of Justice 1x Baneslayer Angel 1x Karmic Guide 1x Reveillark 1x Shattered Angel 1x Stonehewer Giant 1x Adarkar Valkyrie 1x Angelic Skirmisher 1x Patron of the Kitsune 1x Requiem Angel 1x Sun Titan 1x Angel of Serenity	White Planeswalker 1x Ajani Goldmane 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1x Gideon Jura 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion White Artifact 1x Dispeller's Capsule White Instant 1x Enlightened Tutor 1x Path to Exile 1x Swords to Plowshares 1x Oblation 1x Return to Dust 1x Unexpectedly Absent 1x White Sun's Zenith White Sorcery 1x Remember the Fallen 1x Day of Judgment 1x Wrath of God 1x Increasing Devotion 1x Austere Command 1x Kirtar's Wrath 1x Phyrexian Rebirth 1x Planar Cleansing 1x Terminus 1x Martial Coup 1x Decree of Justice	White Enchantment 1x Soul Snare 1x Darksteel Mutation 1x Luminarch Ascension 1x Spirit Mantle 1x Banishing Light 1x Ghostly Prison 1x Oblivion Ring 1x Marshal's Anthem 1x Cathars' Crusade 1x True Conviction White Enchantment Artifact 1x Spear of Heliod White Land 1x Ancient Den 1x Vivid Meadow White Conspiracy 1x Adriana's Valor

Monoblue CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Blue Creature 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy 1x Grand Architect 1x Treasure Mage 1x Archaeomancer 1x Clone 1x Glen Elendra Archmage 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher 1x Sakashima's Student 1x Stunt Double 1x Wonder 1x Arcane Savant 1x Meloku the Clouded Mirror 1x Mnemonic Wall 1x Mulldrifter 1x Sphinx of Lost Truths 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 1x Arbiter of the Ideal 1x Consecrated Sphinx 1x Deadeye Navigator 1x Djinn of Infinite Deceits 1x Draining Whelk 1x Diluvian Primordial 1x Palinchron 1x Phyrexian Ingester 1x Sphinx of Uthuun 1x Tromokratis 1x Kederekt Leviathan 1x Stormtide Leviathan	Blue Planeswalker 1x Jace Beleren 1x Tezzeret the Seeker Blue Artifact Creature 1x Master of Etherium 1x Phyrexian Metamorph 1x Inkwell Leviathan Blue Instant 1x Brainstorm 1x Rapid Hybridization 1x Arcane Denial 1x Counterspell 1x Cyclonic Rift 1x Dissipate 1x Spell Crumple 1x Thirst for Knowledge 1x Aetherize 1x Fact or Fiction 1x Rewind 1x Desertion 1x Jace's Ingenuity 1x Blue Sun's Zenith Blue Sorcery 1x Ponder 1x Preordain 1x Compulsive Research 1x Argivian Restoration 1x Foresee 1x Plea for Power 1x Rite of Replication 1x Acquire 1x Devastation Tide 1x Recurring Insight 1x Stolen Identity 1x Curse of the Swine 1x Knowledge Exploitation 1x Treasure Cruise	Blue Enchantment 1x Mystic Remora 1x Equilibrium 1x Propaganda 1x Control Magic 1x Leyline of Anticipation Blue Enchantment Artifact 1x Bident of Thassa Blue Land 1x Faerie Conclave 1x Seat of the Synod 1x Vivid Creek

Monoblack CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Black Creature 1x Carrion Feeder 1x Mortician Beetle 1x Tenacious Dead 1x Viscera Seer 1x Blood Artist 1x Reassembling Skeleton 1x Withered Wretch 1x Bone Shredder 1x Fleshbag Marauder 1x Ophiomancer 1x Pawn of Ulamog 1x Undercity Informer 1x Crypt Ghast 1x Disciple of Bolas 1x Faceless Butcher 1x Scavenger Drake 1x Sewer Nemesis 1x Sifter of Skulls 1x Bloodgift Demon 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel 1x Puppeteer Clique 1x Shriekmaw 1x Extractor Demon 1x Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 1x Necropolis Regent 1x Thief of Blood 1x Xathrid Demon 1x Butcher of Malakir 1x Rune-Scarred Demon 1x Sepulchral Primordial	Black Planeswalker 1x Liliana Vess 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited Black Artifact 1x Executioner's Capsule Black Instant 1x Booster Tutor 1x Regicide 1x Go for the Throat 1x Murder 1x Makeshift Mannequin 1x Snuff Out 1x Moonlight Bargain 1x Murderous Cut 1x Necrologia 1x Rescue from the Underworld 1x Wretched Confluence 1x Death Denied Black Sorcery 1x Exhume 1x Ashes to Ashes 1x Read the Bones 1x Victimize 1x Dread Return 1x Ill-Gotten Gains 1x Increasing Ambition 1x Rise from the Grave 1x Capital Punishment 1x Killing Wave 1x Life's Finale 1x Twilight's Call 1x Black Sun's Zenith 1x Exsanguinate 1x Decree of Pain	Black Enchantment 1x Phyrexian Reclamation 1x Animate Dead 1x Phyrexian Arena 1x Diabolic Servitude 1x Grave Pact 1x Grave Betrayal Black Land 1x Bojuka Bog 1x Cabal Coffers 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1x Vivid Marsh

Monored CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Red Creature 1x Goblin Welder 1x Crimson Mage 1x Young Pyromancer 1x Dualcaster Mage 1x Feldon of the Third Path 1x Goblin Ruinblaster 1x Goblin Sharpshooter 1x Pyreheart Wolf 1x Taurean Mauler 1x Viashino Heretic 1x Volatile Chimera 1x Anger 1x Flametongue Kavu 1x Hellrider 1x Hero of Oxid Ridge 1x Mondronen Shaman 1x Rakka Mar 1x Hoarding Dragon 1x Ingot Chewer 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 1x Siege-Gang Commander 1x Urabrask the Hidden 1x Wrecking Ogre 1x Zealous Conscripts 1x Charmbreaker Devils 1x Flayer of the Hatebound 1x Godo, Bandit Warlord 1x Hellkite Charger 1x Hoard-Smelter Dragon 1x Inferno Titan 1x Rapacious One 1x Chancellor of the Forge 1x Skyline Despot 1x Stalking Vengeance 1x Akroma, Angel of Fury 1x Bogardan Hellkite 1x Magmatic Force 1x Scourge of Kher Ridges	Red Planeswalker 1x Koth of the Hammer 1x Chandra Ablaze 1x Chandra, Flamecaller Red Artifact Creature 1x Bosh, Iron Golem Red Instant 1x Impact Resonance 1x Reverberate 1x Chaos Warp 1x Grab the Reins 1x Wild Ricochet 1x Fissure 1x Savage Beating 1x Volcanic Offering 1x Word of Seizing 1x Starstorm Red Sorcery 1x Vandalblast 1x Chain Reaction 1x Shatterstorm 1x Mass Mutiny 1x World at War 1x Devil's Play 1x Earthquake 1x Subterranean Tremors 1x Sudden Demise 1x Tempt with Vengeance 1x Insurrection 1x Blasphemous Act	Red Enchantment 1x Barrage of Expendables 1x Goblin Bombardment 1x Warstorm Surge Red Land 1x Kher Keep 1x Spinerock Knoll 1x Vivid Crag

Monogreen CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Green Creature 1x Fauna Shaman 1x Jade Mage 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder 1x Eternal Witness 1x Farhaven Elf 1x Fertilid 1x Fierce Empath 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds 1x Skullwinder 1x Somberwald Sage 1x Wild Beastmaster 1x Wood Elves 1x Yavimaya Elder 1x Caller of the Untamed 1x Chameleon Colossus 1x Karametra's Acolyte 1x Acidic Slime 1x Baru, Fist of Krosa 1x Golgari Grave-Troll 1x Kessig Cagebreakers 1x Mitotic Slime 1x Mycoloth 1x Wolfir Silverheart 1x Bane of Progress 1x Deadwood Treefolk 1x Elvish Aberration 1x Great Oak Guardian 1x Hydra Omnivore 1x Pathbreaker Ibex 1x Regal Behemoth 1x Soul of the Harvest 1x Hooded Hydra 1x Krosan Tusker 1x Moldgraf Monstrosity 1x Primordial Hydra 1x Sylvan Primordial 1x Skarrg Goliath 1x Terastodon	Green Planeswalker 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar 1x Garruk Wildspeaker 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter Green Artifact 1x Birthing Pod Green Instant 1x Nature's Claim 1x Sprout Swarm 1x Beast Within 1x Krosan Grip Green Sorcery 1x Prey Upon 1x Life from the Loam 1x Regrowth 1x Cultivate 1x Far Wanderings 1x Kodama's Reach 1x Explosive Vegetation 1x Harmonize 1x Reap and Sow 1x Creeping Renaissance 1x Overwhelming Stampede 1x Green Sun's Zenith 1x Genesis Wave 1x Praetor's Counsel 1x Crush of Wurms	Green Enchantment 1x Burgeoning 1x Rancor 1x Survival of the Fittest 1x Asceticism 1x Doubling Season 1x Primal Vigor Green Enchantment Artifact 1x Bow of Nylea Green Land 1x Dryad Arbor 1x Vivid Grove

Multicolored CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Azorius 1x Mistmeadow Witch 1x Daxos of Meletis 1x Lyev Skyknight 1x Wall of Denial 1x Venser, the Sojourner 1x Azorius Signet 1x Detention Sphere 1x Righteous Authority 1x Azorius Chancery 1x Celestial Colonnade 1x Flooded Strand 1x Glacial Fortress 1x Hallowed Fountain Dimir 1x Havengul Lich 1x Wrexial, the Risen Deep 1x Silent-Blade Oni 1x Baleful Strix 1x Dimir Signet 1x Dimir Charm 1x Far // Away 1x Forbidden Alchemy 1x Creeping Tar Pit 1x Dimir Aqueduct 1x Drowned Catacomb 1x Polluted Delta 1x Watery Grave Rakdos 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat 1x Sarkhan the Mad 1x Rakdos Signet 1x Rakdos Charm 1x Terminate 1x Agonizing Demise 1x Cauldron Dance 1x Skull Rend 1x Blood Crypt 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Dragonskull Summit 1x Lavaclaw Reaches 1x Rakdos Carnarium Gruul 1x Dragonlair Spider 1x Rubblehulk 1x Sarkhan Vol 1x Gruul Signet 1x Manamorphose 1x Pit Fight 1x Signal the Clans 1x Savage Twister 1x Gruul Turf 1x Raging Ravine 1x Rootbound Crag 1x Stomping Ground 1x Wooded Foothills	Selesnya 1x Selesnya Guildmage 1x Armada Wurm 1x Trostani's Summoner 1x Selesnya Signet 1x Selesnya Charm 1x Armadillo Cloak 1x Collective Blessing 1x Gavony Township 1x Selesnya Sanctuary 1x Stirring Wildwood 1x Sunpetal Grove 1x Temple Garden 1x Windswept Heath Orzhov 1x High Priest of Penance 1x Magister of Worth 1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad 1x Orzhov Signet 1x Mortify 1x Obzedat's Aid 1x Unburial Rites 1x Merciless Eviction 1x Godless Shrine 1x Isolated Chapel 1x Marsh Flats 1x Orzhov Basilica 1x Shambling Vent Golgari 1x Lotleth Troll 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 1x Vraska the Unseen 1x Golgari Signet 1x Putrefy 1x Maelstrom Pulse 1x Jarad's Orders 1x Deathreap Ritual 1x Golgari Rot Farm 1x Hissing Quagmire 1x Overgrown Tomb 1x Verdant Catacombs 1x Woodland Cemetery Simic 1x Winged Coatl 1x Horizon Chimera 1x Master Biomancer 1x Simic Sky Swallower 1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave 1x Simic Signet 1x Plasm Capture 1x Urban Evolution 1x Breeding Pool 1x Hinterland Harbor 1x Lumbering Falls 1x Misty Rainforest 1x Simic Growth Chamber	Izzet 1x Goblin Electromancer 1x Marchesa's Smuggler 1x Nin, the Pain Artist 1x Spellheart Chimera 1x Hypersonic Dragon 1x Nucklavee 1x Izzet Signet 1x Turn // Burn 1x Izzet Boilerworks 1x Scalding Tarn 1x Steam Vents 1x Sulfur Falls 1x Wandering Fumarole Boros 1x Figure of Destiny 1x Boros Reckoner 1x Boros Signet 1x Sunforger 1x Wear // Tear 1x Boros Charm 1x Orim's Thunder 1x Glory of Warfare 1x Arid Mesa 1x Boros Garrison 1x Clifftop Retreat 1x Needle Spires 1x Sacred Foundry

Colorless CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
Colourless Non-artifact Creature 1x Endbringer 1x Artisan of Kozilek 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth 1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion Colourless Planeswalker 1x Karn Liberated Colourless Artifact Creature 1x Agent of Acquisitions 1x Lore Seeker 1x Alloy Myr 1x Burnished Hart 1x Deal Broker 1x Pilgrim's Eye 1x Shimmer Myr 1x Canal Dredger 1x Cogwork Librarian 1x Lodestone Golem 1x Solemn Simulacrum 1x Lurking Automaton 1x Psychosis Crawler 1x Soul of New Phyrexia 1x Steel Hellkite 1x Thopter Assembly 1x Wurmcoil Engine 1x Aether Searcher 1x Myr Battlesphere 1x Platinum Angel 1x Colossus of Akros Colourless Artifact 1x Everflowing Chalice 1x Tormod's Crypt 1x Basilisk Collar 1x Brittle Effigy 1x Expedition Map 1x Mana Vault 1x Skullclamp 1x Sol Ring 1x Wayfarer's Bauble 1x Armillary Sphere 1x Coldsteel Heart 1x Fellwar Stone 1x Illusionist's Bracers 1x Lightning Greaves 1x Nim Deathmantle 1x Runechanter's Pike 1x Surveyor's Scope 1x Swiftfoot Boots 1x Torpor Orb 1x Basalt Monolith 1x Champion's Helm 1x Chromatic Lantern 1x Commander's Sphere 1x Darksteel Ingot 1x Darksteel Plate 1x Fireshrieker 1x Loxodon Warhammer 1x Manalith 1x Mimic Vat 1x Quietus Spike 1x Spectral Searchlight 1x Sword of Vengeance 1x Temple Bell 1x Unstable Obelisk 1x Vessel of Endless Rest 1x Whispersilk Cloak 1x Bonehoard 1x Erratic Portal 1x Moonsilver Spear 1x Thran Dynamo 1x Trading Post 1x Conjurer's Closet 1x Eldrazi Monument 1x Gilded Lotus 1x Mind's Eye 1x Mirrorworks 1x Venser's Journal 1x Argentum Armor 1x Caged Sun 1x Akroma's Memorial 1x Spine of Ish Sah 1x Darksteel Forge	Colourless Land 1x Arcane Lighthouse 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1x Buried Ruin 1x City of Brass 1x Command Tower 1x Dread Statuary 1x Evolving Wilds 1x Exotic Orchard 1x Ghost Quarter 1x High Market 1x Maze of Ith 1x Mirrodin's Core 1x Mirrorpool 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 1x Opal Palace 1x Paliano, the High City 1x Reliquary Tower 1x Rogue's Passage 1x Sea Gate Wreckage 1x Stalking Stones 1x Tectonic Edge 1x Temple of the False God 1x Terramorphic Expanse 1x Thawing Glaciers 1x Thespian's Stage Colourless Conspiracy 1x Backup Plan 1x Hymn of the Wilds 1x Immediate Action 1x Power Play 1x Summoner's Bond 1x Unexpected Potential 1x Weight Advantage

Colorless CardsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards

Colourless Non-artifact Creature
1x Endbringer
1x Artisan of Kozilek
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Colourless Planeswalker
1x Karn Liberated

Colourless Artifact Creature
1x Agent of Acquisitions
1x Lore Seeker
1x Alloy Myr
1x Burnished Hart
1x Deal Broker
1x Pilgrim's Eye
1x Shimmer Myr
1x Canal Dredger
1x Cogwork Librarian
1x Lodestone Golem
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Lurking Automaton
1x Psychosis Crawler
1x Soul of New Phyrexia
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Thopter Assembly
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Aether Searcher
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Platinum Angel
1x Colossus of Akros

Colourless Artifact
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Brittle Effigy
1x Expedition Map
1x Mana Vault
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Armillary Sphere
1x Coldsteel Heart
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Illusionist's Bracers
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Nim Deathmantle
1x Runechanter's Pike
1x Surveyor's Scope
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Torpor Orb
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Champion's Helm
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Fireshrieker
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Manalith
1x Mimic Vat
1x Quietus Spike
1x Spectral Searchlight
1x Sword of Vengeance
1x Temple Bell
1x Unstable Obelisk
1x Vessel of Endless Rest
1x Whispersilk Cloak
1x Bonehoard
1x Erratic Portal
1x Moonsilver Spear
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Trading Post
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Mind's Eye
1x Mirrorworks
1x Venser's Journal
1x Argentum Armor
1x Caged Sun
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Spine of Ish Sah
1x Darksteel Forge

Colourless Land
1x Arcane Lighthouse
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Buried Ruin
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Dread Statuary
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Ghost Quarter
1x High Market
1x Maze of Ith
1x Mirrodin's Core
1x Mirrorpool
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Opal Palace
1x Paliano, the High City
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rogue's Passage
1x Sea Gate Wreckage
1x Stalking Stones
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Thespian's Stage

Colourless Conspiracy
1x Backup Plan
1x Hymn of the Wilds
1x Immediate Action
1x Power Play
1x Summoner's Bond
1x Unexpected Potential
1x Weight Advantage

GeneralsMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
White 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope 1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer Blue 1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner Black 1x Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One Red 1x Grenzo, Havoc Raiser 1x Daretti, Scrap Savant Green 1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer 1x Yeva, Nature's Herald Azorius 1x Geist of Saint Traft 1x Brago, King Eternal 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV Dimir 1x Lazav, Dimir Mastermind 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born 1x Vela the Night-Clad Rakdos 1x Lyzolda, the Blood Witch 1x Grenzo, Dungeon Warden 1x Kaervek the Merciless Gruul 1x Thromok the Insatiable 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed 1x Wort, the Raidmother	Selesnya 1x Saffi Eriksdotter 1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice 1x Karametra, God of Harvests Orzhov 1x Ghost Council of Orzhova 1x Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts 1x Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter Golgari 1x Skullbriar, the Walking Grave 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord 1x Meren of Clan Nel Toth Simic 1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1x Prime Speaker Zegana 1x Kruphix, God of Horizons Izzet 1x Jhoira of the Ghitu 1x Melek, Izzet Paragon 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind Boros 1x Anax and Cymede 1x Brion Stoutarm 1x Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer Jund 1x Shattergang Brothers 1x Prossh, Skyraider of Kher	Naya 1x Marath, Will of the Wild 1x Mayael the Anima Bant 1x Rafiq of the Many 1x Roon of the Hidden Realm Esper 1x Ertai, the Corrupted 1x Sharuum the Hegemon Grixis 1x Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge 1x Marchesa, the Black Rose Jeskai 1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest 1x Narset, Enlightened Master Mardu 1x Queen Marchesa 1x Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Abzan 1x Ghave, Guru of Spores 1x Karador, Ghost Chieftain Sultai 1x Sidisi, Brood Tyrant 1x The Mimeoplasm Temur 1x Animar, Soul of Elements 1x Riku of Two Reflections Five-Color 1x Child of Alara

(The changelog will be on cubetutor because that lets me be wonderfully lazy)

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

While from a drafting perspective the archetypes of this cube are fairly intuitive since everything you need to know about archetypes is written on the generals, from a cube-design perspective this warrants some amount of analysis. I refer to the "archetypes" in this cube usually as themes because they aren't strictly speaking archetypes; any given deck or general often has a couple themes that come together to build their deck.

Every general ideally falls under a main theme which describes their primary game plan, and many have secondary themes which support them. Any general without at least a main theme is probably one I'm looking at removing, and any general whose main theme overlaps with another in their color/guild/shard/clan is in a similarly precarious position. When picking generals to put into the cube, my philosophy was that generals of the exact same color combination should have different game-plans, so that wanting to draft certain colors doesn't force you to draft a specific archetype, but that generals that share some of their colors should have overlapping game-plans as often as possible, so that I have clearly defined "archetypes" I can build the cube to support. In practice I've found that the importance of these philosophies is even higher than I had expected.

Artifacts
Colors: URw
Primary Generals: Muzzio, Visionary Architect | Daretti, Scrap Savant | Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer | Sharuum the Hegemon | Karn, Silver Golem

Blink
Colors: WUg
Primary Generals: Yeva, Nature's Herald | Brago, King Eternal | Vela the Night Clad | Saffi Eriksdotter | Prime Speaker Zegana | Roon of the Hidden Realm | Riku of Two Reflections | Archangel Avacyn

Control
Colors: WUB
Primary Generals: Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief | Grand Arbiter Augustin IV | Lazav, Dimir Mastermind | Kaervek the Merciless | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Child of Alara

Cost Cheating
Colors: UR
Primary Generals: Jhoira of the Ghitu | Mayael the Anima | Narset, Enlightened Master | Animar, Soul of Elements |

Dredge/Reanimator
Colors: Bgu
Primary Generals: Sheoldred, Whispering One | Grenzo, Dungeon Warden | Meren of Clan Nel Toth | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Sidis, Brood Tyrant | the Mimeoplasm | Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Lifegain
Colors: WB
Primary Generals: Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Ramp
Colors: Gw
Primary Generals: Avacyn, Angel of Hope | Nissa, Vastwood Seer | Karametra, God of Harvests | Kruphix, God of Horizons

Sacrifice
Colors: Brg
Primary Generals: Grimgrin, Corpse-Born | Lyzolda, the Blood Witch | Thromok the Insatiable | Ghost Council of Orzhova | Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest | Brion Stoutarm | Shattergang Brothers | Marchesa, the Black Rose

Spells Matter
Colors: URg
Primary Generals: Talrand, Sky Summoner | Wort, the Raidmother | Melek, Izzet Paragon | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

Tokens
Colors: GWr
Primary Generals: Nahiri, the Lithomancer | Grenzo, Havoc Raiser | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Edric, Spymaster of Trest | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Marath, Will of the Wild | Queen Marchesa | Ghave, Guru of Spores

Voltron
Colors: GW
Primary Generals: Geist of Saint Traft | Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts | Skullbriar, the Walking Grave | Rafiq of the Many

Last edited by SCDL: Sep 25, 2016

Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.

Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.

And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)

#2 Jul 8, 2014
SCDL
SCDL

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Filthy Casual
- Join Date: 4/28/2010
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Okay, so I made my first big update from the cube's original state, so I figure I'd do a writeup one what's changed. The actual card-for-card changes are recorded in the cubetutor link, so I won't be posting them up here.

Generals: These I will go over one at a time.

Bruna, Light of Alabaster -> Lavinia of the Tenth
Bruna was a tough case. She needed big game impacting auras in her colors and I don't have them. Even if I did, supporting Bruna would've required diluting the cube beyond the point that I'd be comfortable with. She couldn't stay in. In her place I added Lavinia, partially because I had no one else to add in her place on hand. That said, I'm actually happy with Lavinia; she fills the role of a more controllish Azorius general that Augustin seems to generalized to effectively fill, and she contributes to my desire to put more good ETB effects into WU.

Uril, the Miststalker -> Marath, Will of the Wild
Uril's case is similar to Bruna. He wants auras that make an impact and I can't provide for him. Marath is an option for tokens, which I felt was underrepresented, and is also more popular in general. It's worth noting that Anax and Cymede remains a general despite Uril and Bruna leaving for two reasons:
1) Regardless of whether you can trigger heroic, Anax and Cymede are still a great aggressive creature to have as a general. Having a 3/2 first strike, vigilance at an aggressive cost in the command zone is certainly an option.
2) Anax and Cymede don't need as big or as many auras to work, as it's the heroic trigger that matters most.

Roon of the Hidden Realm -> Rafiq of the Many
Rafiq was my first choice over Roon for a number of reasons, high on the list is that I wanted more voltron options. I didn't have a Rafiq when the cube was put together, and I like to avoid proxying when I can. I had Roon so he went in. Now that I've traded for Rafiq, Roon can go home. I'm strongly considering replacing Rubinia in the main cube with Roon; he seems like he'd be more popular in that spot.

Sydri, Galvanic Genius -> Sharuum the Hegemon
Sydri was a proxy because I didn't have a second esper general to put in that slot in my collection. I was offered a trade for either Sydri or Sharuum and I had to seriously consider the choice for an Esper artifact general. Ultimately I decided against my original choice of general and I traded for Sharuum.

Xenagos, God of Revels -> Thromok the Insatiable
So I've come to a decision when it comes to the Gods: I don't want to have any Gods which are going to more often than not be a threat to other players. This is because if a God feels like it needs to be answered, this cube falls short of providing them. Karametra and Kruphix are both very passive and largely nonthreatening, (Karametra is a threatening creature, but there are a LOT more ways to deal with her as a creature, or otherwise turn off her devotion.) and Nylea gets a pass for now because she's not hugely threatening and she's in the main cube. Thromok has the added benefit of supporting a Gruul tokens strategy while Xenagos was slightly redundant with Ruric Thar as an option.

Eight-and-a-Half-Tails -> Kemba, Kha Regent
How do you build around 8.5 tails? Well, you don't. Kemba cam out of the main cube to switch places with eighty because he actually had card choices beyond monowhite goodstuffs.

Now, onto the cube proper, one color at a time:

White: White got some token support and lost some auras. I tried not to take too many enchantment pieces from white for Anax and Cymede and Zur's sake, replacing auras with more general auras or otherwise Zur-able enchantments.

Blue: Blue lost some auras when Bruna left, but hasn't lost much else. I swapped out a few bad cards with some less bad ones.

Black: It escapes me why I put Dark Confidant in this cube in the first place. While the larger life totals certainly help, the topheavy nature of the cube just makes him hard to justify. He may come back some day, but I'd have to test that first. In other news, I've included Ill-Gotten Gains, a card traditionally abused by storm, mostly as a tool for reanimator. I really like the idea of this card having a totally different purpose in this setting than it normally does.

Red: Red lost some bad dragons and a middling aura. I shouldn't call Knollspine Dragon bad really, it's a good card draw option for red, but all the generals that want to play big red creatures aside from Animar aren't able to use it constructively: Kaalia and Jhoira dump it and discards her hand, and Grenzo and Mayael do the same unless they plan around it showing up whenever they use their abilities. (Grenzo can't even say no if he accidentally hits it.) Anyway, red got a little bit of token support and some solid sorceries that Wort actually wants to copy.

Green: Green lost a lot of junky bestow creatures and gained a lot of token cards. Many of those token cards pull double duty and are also sorceries to support Wort as well. Green also got some new beefy creatures.

Multicolored: Not much changed. A conceptually less than stellar card went out for a reasonable ETB effect on an aggressive body.

Colorless: Most of these changes are signets in some creature-based colors going out for keyrunes as I find copies of them. The most notable other change is the addition of Immediate Action for a hasty general.

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Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.

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#3 Jul 9, 2014

Dolono

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Here's a Karador deck I drafted using your cube. Definitely an interesting set up, and quite different than the other users, here on mtgs. I'd love to read some session reports from your group, and hear about what your group's interest and concerns are vis a vis your current cube composition.

Karador 7/9/14 from CubeTutor.comMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
General 1 Karador, Ghost Chieftain Creature 1 Lotleth Troll 1 Somberwald Sage 1 Disciple of Bolas 1 Slum Reaper 1 Kessig Cagebreakers 1 Reveillark 1 Bane of Progress 1 Elvish Aberration 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Moldgraf Monstrosity 1 Primordial Hydra 1 Rune-Scarred Demon 1 Sylvan Primordial	Planeswalker 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant Artifact 1 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Selesnya Signet 1 Champion's Helm 1 Loxodon Warhammer 1 Whispersilk Cloak Instant 1 Nature's Claim 1 Path to Exile 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Necrologia Sorcery 1 Regrowth 1 Cultivate 1 Lead the Stampede 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Increasing Ambition 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Merciless Eviction 1 Decree of Pain	Enchantment 1 Phyrexian Reclamation 1 Snake Umbra 1 Diabolic Servitude Enchantment Artifact 1 Bow of Nylea Enchantment Creature 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt Land 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Orzhov Guildgate 1 Tectonic Edge 1 Vivid Grove 6 Plains 5 Swamp 11 Forest

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#4 Jul 9, 2014

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Quote from Dolono »
Here's a Karador deck I drafted using your cube. Definitely an interesting set up, and quite different than the other users, here on mtgs. I'd love to read some session reports from your group, and hear about what your group's interest and concerns are vis a vis your current cube composition.

Karador 7/9/14 from CubeTutor.comMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards

General
1 Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Creature
1 Lotleth Troll
1 Somberwald Sage
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Slum Reaper
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Reveillark
1 Bane of Progress
1 Elvish Aberration
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Moldgraf Monstrosity
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sylvan Primordial

Planeswalker
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Artifact
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Champion's Helm
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Whispersilk Cloak

Instant
1 Nature's Claim
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Necrologia

Sorcery
1 Regrowth
1 Cultivate
1 Lead the Stampede
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Decree of Pain

Enchantment
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Snake Umbra
1 Diabolic Servitude

Enchantment Artifact
1 Bow of Nylea

Enchantment Creature
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt

Land
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Vivid Grove
6 Plains
5 Swamp
11 Forest

I can tell you what happened with our first testrun of the cube last weekend. (This was before the recent big changes, of course)

We did a 4 man and since we had the extra packs we drafted 5 packs a piece. The draft itself was... interesting.

I had personally picked Jhoira as my general and tunnel visioned myself absolutely because Jhoira is one of the generals I just like the idea of drafting most. It later became apparent that I really should've switched to the Glissa I had picked up. I was so busy taking the biggest stompiest things I could get to actually focus on the fact that green was very open, like one of us got a last pick Cultivate pack 1 open. This openly came up pack 2 in discussion, but I was too committed to want to do anything about it. Between the super open green and the number of good artifacts that came up, notably some quality equipments, I should've taken the hint and switched to Glissa. From there, green always went super late and the draft proceeded pretty much as normal.

After deck building we all flipped our generals and I was pretty surprised by them:
- Jhoira (me)
- Sheoldred! (This caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting monocolored to come up at all in the early tests of the cube)
- Ruric Thar (As it turns out he switched to green in pack 2 and then slow rolled all the green picks so that he didn't get hate drafted.)
- Kaalia

I wish I saved my list, but alas I did not. I ended up being mostly irrelevant throughout the game, and my only role was politicking with the Sheoldred player. I had a controllish opening hand that I shouldn't have kept with Rewind, Rapid Hybridization, Acquire, Devastation Tide and land. The only creatures I drew all game were Rapacious One and Marchesa's Smuggler despite having at least a dozen cheat-able bombs in my deck. So I never even used Jhoira.

The game started off like most EDH games with a slowish buildup of defenses. Pretty early on the Sheoldred player got out a Scavenger Drake and a Mortician Beetle, which got reasonably large thanks to Kaalia opening up with some Viscera Seer shenanigans to draw for the lands he wasn't getting, and Ruric Thar just ramped a bit.

Midway through the game Ruric Thar came out for the first time and on my turn I took 6 to the face to hybridize it at sorcery speed so I could play Leyline of Antici-. The Sheoldred player then had the first of many Gray Merchant triggers go off essentially Soul Feasting us and gaining 12 life. Kaalia played pretty well under the radar, to the point that we didn't really realize the threat when she used Rune-Scarred Demon. Ruric Thar dropped a Stalking Vengeance that I wish I had and smacked Sheoldred in the face. I instant speed cast Rapacious One and Nim Deathmantle, equipping it on my turn. Using my Rogue's Passage I smacked Sheoldred for 7 and gained a LOT of Eldrazi spawns. (Which we quickly realized fed into Sheoldred's board) It's worth noting that for a number of reasons I am *very* low at this point.

End of my turn the Sheoldred player casts Rescue from the Underworld to get back his Gray Merchant with his Mortician Beetle. We all get Soul Feasted again. Fast forward a few turns and Ruric Thar is out again, and I have a lot of Eldrazi Spawns. I strike a deal with the Sheoldred player that if he swings at Ruric Thar I'll sac spawns enough to kill make his drake trade with Ruric. He does, but when Ruric blocks he Rubblehulk's Ruric, which I am just now, as I write this, realizing was an illegal play. Ruric is now a 15/15, so I sac enough spawns that it's still a trade. (I have a LOT of spawns at this point) Ruric dies, the Ruric player asks me how much life I'm at, and it is at this point that I remember that Stalking Vengeance was out. He sends Ruric to his graveyard so that the trigger kills me very dead. I respond by Devastation Tide'ing before I die, partially because I didn't want to have left behind a 20/20 Mortician Beetle on the board when I die, and partially because I wanted to give back the Gilded Lotus I Acquired.

With me dead, the sheoldred player replays Beetle, exhumes getting back Scavenger Drake, and then Gray Merchants one last time. Kaalia gets back Rune-Scarred Demon, and the Ruric player gets Ruric back thanks to having to dump him the graveyard the earlier turn. The Kaalia player gets to their turn and now has Reveillark, Karmic Guide, and Viscera Seer in hand. He drops them all starts to combo off, but falls a few mana short of managing a finisher and has to pass turn. The board goes around one last time, then the Kaalia player Moonlight Bargain's Extractor Demon into their graveyard, unearths it, and mills the table.

Kinda a little crazy, I was not expecting a mono colored deck to show up this early in the cube's life cycle, and I was just as much not expecting a combo kill to end the cube's first game. All and all I thought it was great fun.

Last edited by SCDL: Jul 9, 2014

#5 Jul 14, 2014
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Okay, another big update, but I have less explanation to do with this one. I traded a bunch and got lent/given a ton of cards this past weekend, and I also picked up an extra pack of sleeves so I could expand the cube. Initially I just wanted to replace cards, but outside of red there actually wasn't enough that I wanted to replace to account for all the cards I wanted to add. (Red still needs some work, but I still think it's perfectly draftable. 75% of the table went red in our first test of the cube, after all.)

Worth noting: I actually have added Soul of New Phyrexia as well, but cube tutor hasn't updated for M15 yet, so...

I'm going to talk about the includes and switches I actually feel are worth noting, so this won't take too long:

+ Panorama Cycle
I absolutely love the panorama's in this cube, and the only reason I didn't include them from the start is because I had an aversion to proxying them for some reason. (But not Rakdos Carnarium? Wut?) A friend gave me all the ones I was missing so now they are in and are never coming out. It's a little strange to be singing the praises of the Panorama's, but they're a perfect fit for the cube. They fix three different two color combinations and of course the shard itself, without the color identity restriction that the tri-lands bring to the table. So everyone wants them and everyone can use them, which is the important part, because seeing a triland that could fix you but you can't use for color identity reasons is just demoralizing. These guys are great.

Bloodthrone Vampire -> Bloodflow Connoisseur
This is another change I wanted to make from the start, but it's a bit of a weird explanation. Of the two, I would include Bloodthrone Vampire in more decks if I was forced to choose one. It comes down a little earlier, and it hits with a little more oomph, so it seems like the easier choice. But it's a bit more complicated of an issue than that. The first thing to consider is that aside from Shirei, which is not in the cube, any deck that wants to run Bloodthrone Vampire is perfectly fine settling for Bloodflow Connoisseur; they fill the same role in those decks, Bloodflow just does the job a little less efficiently. The decks that would rather run Bloodflow Connoisseur, however, don't follow the same reasoning. If you're favoring Bloodflow, it's because you care about the +1/+1 counters in some way, for example Marchesa takes on this mentality, which means that it's not just a loss in efficiency it's a loss in functionality which is much more severe. I also want to support +1/+1 counters, and Bloodflow fills two niches to Bloodthrone's one.

TL;DR: Bloodthrone is more efficient, but Bloodflow's more diverse appeal makes it better for a cube.

Nylea, God of the Hunt -> Baru, Fist of Krosa
The long and the short of this is that I want to minimize the amount of situations where gods, especially as enchantments, are threats that need to be answered in this cube. Nylea can have some imposing effects even as an enchantment, and if she needs to be answered the options are limited in white and outright not there in any other color. I didn't want to lose Nylea's role of incentivising mono-green and enabling trample though, so she was hard to replace, but a friend of mine made me aware of how perfect a replacement Baru is. He strongly rewards mono-green, he has an arguably better pumping effect, and he grants trample to the team just like Nylea, but he doesn't have Nylea's issue of being an unkillable threat. Baru dies to everything, and is better for that. I'm still on the fence about Avacyn, but as an 8 drop that's always a creature, I think she'll stay until it's obvious whether or not she's going to be a problem.

Wolfbriar Elemental -> Mitotic Slime
I'm gonna keep this one brief: This comes down to the same "Fills more niches" that motivated the Bloodthrone/Bloodflow decision. Mitotic Slime has use in more niche themes like token sacrifice than Wolfbriar, and I think in most situations Mitotic also just does a better job than Wolfbriar. As with most changes to the cube, testing will be important to seeing the impact of the switch.

Ertai, the Corrupted -> Sphinx of the Steel Wind
This was one that was hard for me in the moment. I like the idea of Esper having that mid-draft extra commander option, but Sphinx just does so much work and, on theme with the rest of these changes, it fits more themes that the colors actually care about. It's a bomby reanimator target, an artifact, and a finisher.

+ Carnival Hellsteed
I don't have as many good Rakdos cards as I'd like. At least Hellsteed is a solid body that does a fair job getting aggressive.

+ Plague Boiler
This card is a tentative include. I want more wraths in the cube outside white and red, especially ones that hit more diverse targets; Plague Boiler is slow, but it fills that role. I have other cards to replace this with if it fails to perform, but I want to believe it can do the job. (I'm also just now realizing that it fits really well in Glissa, who needed more support anyway. I need that Executioner's Capsule I'm getting from Puca trade to get here sooner.)

Everything else should do a fair job explaining itself!

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#6 Jul 25, 2014
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Just got done my final update before the cube is in such a state that I would call it "complete". Of course, I'm still going to updating it, but the sweeping updates and the placeholder cards are pretty much done with. I still want to get more fixing, but I'll be working on that over time. For now, I can finally relax.

Also, thanks to some friends, some random pucatraders on the internet, and Cryogen I've finally killed the last of my proxy generals and the list, and I now own all of them.

With all that said, I'm going to finally update the list in the first post, (I've been neglecting to do so for a while) and I'll talk about a few of the changes:

- Alara Tri-Lands & Shard Colored Cards
So, this has been a long time coming. I made the mistake every EDH cube owner on these forums initially made and I included tri-colored cards, and just like the others I'm taking them out. The problem is that in an environment where color identity exists these cards are very hard to draft because you can't just splash for them, and they all can unfortunately only be used by one of two generals that might not have even been in the draft. It doesn't matter if they're first pickable; most of the time they're just going to end up being last picks. They just don't work in the setting.

- Past in Flames
I don't have too too much to say about this, other than I just don't think it has ever been good here. Even when I was drafting Jeleva, Melek, or Wort I couldn't justify taking this. Ultimately it's too much mana to recur probably only one spell. If storm existed in the environment it'd have a place, but in an EDH cube it's just not doing a meaningful amount of work.

+ Unexpected Potential
This is a card I've been considering for a while and I'm finally taking the dive and adding it. I like the idea of being able to splash a card in an environment where you just couldn't do that otherwise, and it's a very powerful effect. I'll have to amend the rules to make it work, but I'm perfectly okay with doing so. I'm interested to see where people value this card. (I imagine it'll be fairly high)

Khalni Gem -> Chromatic Lantern
I actually like Khalni Gem because it fixes mana so exceptionally well, but the fact that it's slow, doesn't ramp, and eats removal for big losses makes it an unpopular card. When a card with no color identity, particularly an artifact that fixes mana, appears on the list of your least drafted cards it's definitely unpopular. I would've liked to replace something else with Chromatic Lantern, but the Gem had to go. Not much to say about Chromatic Lantern however; the card is amazing and I'm happy to have it in the list.

ATTACHMENTS

Cube Generals
Last edited by SCDL: Jul 28, 2014

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#7 Jul 25, 2014
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I like the changes in this post, in drafting your cube on Cubetutor I couldn't help but get frustrated every time I saw a tri-land that was in only two of my general's colors. Panoramas can only be better. You might also want to try the Mirage fetch lands (e.g. Rocky Tar Pit) for some two color fixing that's really easy on the wallet and adds more shuffle effects.

If your play group is cool with a house rule that makes Unexpected Potential legal I think you'll really enjoy it. It's been in the top 50 picks in my cube since I added it, and it leads to some awesome surprises during play. It's as powerful as it is fun.

I'm glad to see your cube is coming together and that you're having so much fun with it. EDH is really popular where I live, so trying your cube has made me think that maybe I should try building an EDH cube too. Happy cubing!

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#8 Jul 30, 2014
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I finally finished updating the first post, and I think I caught everything that needed to be updated.

Quote from Spike Rogue »
I like the changes in this post, in drafting your cube on Cubetutor I couldn't help but get frustrated every time I saw a tri-land that was in only two of my general's colors. Panoramas can only be better. You might also want to try the Mirage fetch lands (e.g. Rocky Tar Pit) for some two color fixing that's really easy on the wallet and adds more shuffle effects.

If your play group is cool with a house rule that makes Unexpected Potential legal I think you'll really enjoy it. It's been in the top 50 picks in my cube since I added it, and it leads to some awesome surprises during play. It's as powerful as it is fun.

I'm glad to see your cube is coming together and that you're having so much fun with it. EDH is really popular where I live, so trying your cube has made me think that maybe I should try building an EDH cube too. Happy cubing!

Yeah, the tri-lands and shard cards just didn't work. If there are only two generals out of fifty that can play a card it absolutely shouldn't be in the cube. I'm always looking for budget fixing options, but the problem is that I don't want to include any cycle that doesn't fix enemy and allied colors. I had to make an exception for the panoramas because they're necessary for the cube's overall health, but they also still can fix enemy colors, they just don't represent them evenly. The budget fetches are an option I really like, but without shocklands they can't offer anything to enemy color pairs. Right now I'm working on getting together the full cycle of checklands, and after that I'll probably go after the painlands or temples.

And as for putting together your own EDH cube, I can't recommend it enough if you've got the environment for it.

On an unrelated note: I'm excited to see that the Khans are going to be wedge colored legends. If there are enough good ones I can finally have a second set of wedge generals without settling for ones I'm not a fan of. It mostly comes down to if the Jeskai Khan is workable, because so far Numot is the only general in those colors I can even use, and I'm not even happy having him in. I really just want wedges to be balanced with the shards.

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#9 Jul 30, 2014
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I wouldn't worry too much about the Panoramas not fixing wedges as well as shards. They're versatile enough to be worth it, and who knows, maybe we'll get wedge Panoramas at some point in the Tarkir block?

When I drafted your cube today, I noticed that you're running Quirion Trailblazer. Just thought I'd recommend Ondu Giant as a strictly better replacement that's still a dirt cheap common.

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#10 Jul 31, 2014
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Quote from Spike Rogue »
I wouldn't worry too much about the Panoramas not fixing wedges as well as shards. They're versatile enough to be worth it, and who knows, maybe we'll get wedge Panoramas at some point in the Tarkir block?

When I drafted your cube today, I noticed that you're running Quirion Trailblazer. Just thought I'd recommend Ondu Giant as a strictly better replacement that's still a dirt cheap common.

I keep remembering him and thinking I need to dig through collection for one and replace the trailblazer, and then promptly forgetting. I drafted a *lot* of Rise of the Eldrazi, so I know I have one somewhere. (Rise was my favorite draft format because you could look at seven drops and go "Yeah, that's definitely playable", which is half my inspiration for this cube.)

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#11 Jul 31, 2014
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Great pic of your generals section!

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#13 Aug 31, 2014
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Welp, I guess I have to put in proxy generals again. I can finally put in a second cycle of wedge generals to mirror the shards now that I know the Jeskai Khan is definitely gonna work well in the cube.

I'm thinking

+ Ghave, Guru of Spores
+ Riku of Two Reflections
+ Narset, Enlightened Master
+ Zurgo Helmsmasher
+ Damia, Sage of Stone (Hopefully the Sultai Khan is good and I can replace her.)

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#14 Sep 9, 2014
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I have a lot of cards to make an Edh cube. I'm just wondering, though, how long do the games last? I'm concerned that the games will turn into too much of a slog consistently.

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#15 Sep 9, 2014
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Quote from bone_doc »
I have a lot of cards to make an Edh cube. I'm just wondering, though, how long do the games last? I'm concerned that the games will turn into too much of a slog consistently.

If you can put together an edh cube without too much trouble, then just give it a shot and see how it goes. I know this isn't the most satisfying answer, but game length and enjoyment will probably depend entirely on you and your players' approach to multiplayer (casual vs cutthroat, etc). I've experienced the whole gamut of great long games, great short games, and really sucky, draining long games, all within the same group of folks. I'd just see how much you enjoy the experience/effort of the edh cube, and then decide if it's still for you.

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#16 Sep 11, 2014
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My main concern is creating an environment where the latter of those types of games took place haha. I'll probably limit the number of sweepers. A maybe even just keep most of them on multicolor like Verdict and Gaze.

Maybe Krenko would be a good inclusion? Supports the token theme in red and gives another general option in the draft.

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#17 Sep 21, 2014
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Quote from bone_doc »
I have a lot of cards to make an Edh cube. I'm just wondering, though, how long do the games last? I'm concerned that the games will turn into too much of a slog consistently.

Sorry for not getting back to you. I only have a handful of games to cite, so I don't have a useful answer. Double sorry I guess.

Operation: Get New Wedge Generals is a go, but I haven't really got anywhere with it as of my prerelease. I think I will go with Damia over Sidisi, however since I have two Sidisi, I will be using her until I can trade for a Damia.

On a more interesting note, I'm considering removing most of the normal fixing from the cube and instead offering guildgates alongside basic lands which can be used the same way. I've got a thread outlining the idea and asking for feedback/inpu here.

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#18 Sep 30, 2014
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Now that cubetutor has updated for Khans of Tarkir, I can formally update my online version of my cube and do my overview of the changes. As a side note, I really wish I had more opportunity to draft the cube; I haven't gotten many in as the docket at my LGS Saturdays is prohibitively full, and my friends who play on campus are very... Well it's sort of an interwoven political web of people who don't like each other, to the point that getting more than 3 of them that like each other together at a table is borderline impossible. There's also unfortunately also no way to cleanly draft a cube of more than 45 cards with other people online. It's a messy situation. Regardless, the update:

The headline change I've made is the one I've been mentioning the last few posts; I'm adding 5 new wedge generals to the roster.

+ Ghave, Guru of Spores
Ghave is cool, and I wanted to include him as an option since the cube's inception, but with my previous 'one general per wedge' policy he got booted out in favor of Karador. Since the few wedges I didn't find worthy of a second general caught up somewhat, he now gets to join the party. I like Ghave because he's a bona-fide counters general, where other generals existed who took advantage of counters, Ghave is centered around them. The support's already there in so many regards, so welcome to the party Ghave.

+ Narset, Enlightened Master
I cannot contain my excitement about Narset. She's a lot of what this cube needed. She's an interesting general that can be built around in cube, and that's not something that can be said about the rest of the generals that share her colors. Ruhan is alright, and Numot is actually very strong, but you can't really build around either and Ruhan is severely diminished by multiplayer. Zedruu has a lot of build around potential, but most of the pieces of her deck aren't shared by any other general, which makes them unreasonable to include in the cube. I don't want to include cards that I can't point to 4 or 5 different generals and say "They might want that." (If you see any such cards in the cube that I'm overlooking, tell me. I might have a reason for them, but I could just have not realized the support isn't there.)
Regardless, Narset has a lot of potential to be built around, provides reasons to further emphasize instant/sorcery strategies, and provides another general to feed into the theme of cheating on expensive spells that is present in red generals. (Jhoira, Mayael, Animar, Kaalia, Jeleva...) I really like her. As I have to leave in one other Jeskai general in the cube now, I'll stand by Numot as best of my mediocre options.
For the moment, this is a proxy.

+ Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Sidisi is mostly a placeholder because I have her, but not one I'm upset about having. She does interesting things, is already supported, and is something people will want to build around. I want to include Damia in the future, as she's a true control general option, which the cube is a bit short of. (Off the top of my head it's Teysa, Kaeravek, and Shattergang Bros) Sidisi will do for now.

+ Zurgo Helmsmasher
Zurgo is cool. He's voltronish, very aggressive, and encourages picking wraths in the colors that get most of them. While he and Kaalia are both aggressive, they have very different styles and drastically different decks. He's a nice general option, but there's not much to say about him. I'm not the biggest fan of Tariel as the alternative.

+ Riku of Two Reflections
Riku is an interesting dude. I really don't know how he'll play out in cube, but he's always been a casual favorite in the format. I'm considering putting Intet in his place until I get a copy, because Intet is fairly well liked as well.
For the moment, this is a proxy.

Now, onto the meat of the changes: The changes to the cube proper. (Of course skipping over the boring changes.)

+ The Khans Refuges
My biggest "to do" that I'm not doing is to get less terrible land cycles for the cube. I think with the Khans refuges I have enough fixing, it's just not all particularly good. (This mostly applies to the gates and the refuges.) The gates will go before these refuges, but they're both on the chopping block if I ever invest the 20$ in finish out my set of Painlands or Checklands.

Telling Time -> Treasure Cruise
Gather Specimens -> Plea for Power
I made the decision to provide a few better pieces of bulk card draw. Gather specimens is prohibitively costed, forces you to use it very reactively, and is rarely anything but a bad mind control. Telling time is a pretty good card, but cubetutor tells me that it doesn't get drafted much, presumably because it's low impact and less than exciting. Treasure cruise is an absurdly efficient draw spell that I gladly welcome to the cube, and it shouldn't be too often that it costs much at all in this setting. (Also a very subtle support of instants/sorcery strategies, as they drop more cards into the yard.) Plea for Power is the fun option. It's arguably better than concentrate, but I'd probably never consider concentrate for the cube. It gets in because Will of the Council causes interesting social interactions, and in my experience with conspiracy drafts it was always fun to resolve them.

Stifle -> Kheru Spellsnatcher
Stifle was a gag for the most part, and I've sort of accepted that it would be leaving eventually. On the other end of this exchange, I really like how morph plays and spellsnatcher is cool. Expect more morphs in future updates; I have a few in mind.

Necropotence -> Muderous Cut
I love necropotence, it's an amazing card that I've gotten a lot of work out of, but it's prohibitively costed and more importantly it's not fun to play, especially in cube. Cut is premium removal for the ages; unconditional creature removal that can be more efficient than smother. Yep.

Foster -> Far Wanderings
Foster is an interesting card that provides a lot of value, but it can certainly be a bit clunky. Very rarely has it been picked. Far Wanderings is a pet card of mine that has the potential to be extremely good when at its best, and still played if it isn't. They both support heavy graveyard strategies, so the swap seemed very straightforward.

Vizkopa Guildmage -> Unburial Rites
So lifegain was never supported, which made my favorite neo-guildmage less than stellar. It was the least popular Orzhov card, and rites was just begging to get into the cube. I'm sad the see my little buddy go.

Last edited by SCDL: Sep 30, 2014

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#19 Sep 9, 2016
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Finally updated the thread with the correct lists. I'll probably actually write more about the cube and it's nuances at some point soon and put them in the original post.

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#20 Sep 21, 2016
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Gonna start keeping a changelog here again, keeps me honest on why I'm taking out/putting in cards.

Cube Expansion Project, Update 1

First things first, my cube has a new home, but not a permanent one. I ordered a custom wooden box for my cube, but while I'm waiting for that to be built I needed to get my cube out of the quickly dying cardboard box it's been in.

Before:

The thing was completely falling apart. The duct-tap around the corners was actuallu completely split and I'm not totally sure how it's still holding together. The mirrodin besieged fatpack box is even worse for wear than when it started, and it wasn't pretty back then. It needed to be retired.

After:

Now the cube setup, which is actually too large for those old boxes and needed another fatpack box, has been replaced by a couple KMC Card Barrier Boxes. There's still plenty of space for tokens in the entire bottom half of the land box. It fits the bill very well while I'm waiting on my Aaron Cain box.

Lands:

The lands have changed quite a bit since I started aesthetically and functionally. Obviously, replacing them with forty full-art BFZ lands is a big touch, but also the addition of 30 wastes is a functional difference to support a half-dozen fairly atrong cards and allow the theoretical possibility of a colorless deck to be drafted. The other, more drastic functional change is the addition of the OGW/SOI taplands as an option for deckbuilding to be used just like basics. I've wrote a lot of this and I'll save my thumbs the work and do a writeup in the main post later. Obviously that's a big deal.

Changelog

Lots of includes here without things coming out. I'm working on expanding the cube to get to 630, which is my ideal size and probably where the cube will stay for a while. My current plan is to add 10 artifacts, 1 of each guild, and 4 of each mono-color.

White
Captain of the Watch - Solid dude. Blink and token support that makes solid tokens. Not sure how it compares to angel of invention, but it does what I want it to and should have some solid impact.
Call the Gatewatch - A weird one, but I run a lot of high impact walkers especially in white and some strategies, like tokens, have a particular interest in. As weird as it sounds, this is a token support card, but everyone in white can probably use it. Seems pretty sweet.
Twilight Shepherd - Not sure about shepherd, but it seems interesting and I'll give it a shot while I have a glut of open spots. Some blink support, and just a solid creature.

Blue
Lorthos, the Tidemaker - I like splashy sea-monsters. Having to attack hurts Lorthos, but he's such a cool card that I remember pulling back when I was still new to magic. I gotta give him a shot while seamonsters are being supported.
Followed Footsteps - A cool splashy aura with a big impact if it sticks around. Might be too jank, but now is a time for testing cards.
Voidmage Apprentice - I have a soft spot for morph, and making voidmage is a card that's threatening as a potential morph. Not as high impact as his big naga sister, but I'll put it in until I find something I like better.

Black
Harvester of Souls - In multiplayer this guy can draw a lot and is big value. I'm surprised he wasn't already in.
Praetor's Grasp - A weird one, but I feel like it's fun enough. Kinda a pet card; I feel like I give it more credit than it's worth, but I have quite a few spots to fill anyway.
Sanguine Bond - Some lifegain support, and it's also just a cool splashy card. I'm trying to work lifegain back in as a theme. Might find a spot for Exquisite Blood so the combo is complete, especially since that card is just really good in multiplayer.

Red
Scrap Mastery - A fun artifact support card. No idea how it'll play out. I hope I get a UR artifact general soon that can take advantage of it.
Galvanoth - Pretty sure I took this out before, but I like it, and I like spells-matter. It feels like it belongs in the cube.
Chandra's Ignition Somewhat grasping at straws for red cards I like, but this is a nice wrath effect that compliments UR/RG fatties decks. I also finally have an excuse to use my prerelease promo.

Green
Blighted Woodlands - Really nice land that made me realize I don't actually have Myriad Landscape in the cube for some reason. I gotta fix that soon.
Bloodspore Thrinax - A really neat card that I forgot I had. Some solid sacrifice support in green, which is lacking, and also a good token support player. I wish it interacted with doubling season.
Selvala's Stampede - Fun multiplayer minigame, and it supports the sneak attackish archetype as well as just being kinda bomby. I'm all for voting cards.

Colorless
Batterskull - Traded for the GP promo off a friend, and hopefully this will be the start to adding actually good equipment to the cube. I'm looking into swords but they're $$$. Anyway, batterskull is a no-brainer.
Well of Lost Dreams - More lifegain support. A lot of the incidental lifegain in the cube gets a good bit better with this rock. I'm a pretty big fan.
Strata Scythe - I was honestly convinced this was already in the cube and didn't pull it out initially for that reason. This is a big equipment that incentivizes mono-color, which I like, and does it's job making beatsticks well. Funny that with taplands if you really commit you can make it strong in two color as well.
Clone Shell - Sacrifice support and fatty cheating support on an artifact. That's three decks that like this random uncommon dork. I'm cyrious to see how it plays out, but it's always been a pet card of mine.
Phyrexian Revoker - This guy came out a little while ago, but with the rising number of planeswalkers and just generally the number of things it can shut off, it probably never should have been out. Blink and artifact decks get most mileage out of this guy, since they can reset him.

Multicolored
Geist of Saint Traft <-> Daxos of Meletis - These two are switching places. Daxos is becoming a general because he's an easier to build around voltron option with a large lifegain component, which I'm trying to up support for, and traft is just a solid hexproof beater. I like this arrangement better.
Lyev Skyknight -> Drogskol Reaver - A solid beatstick and lifegain support in for a dorky-do-nothing. Not a hard swap.
High Priest of Penance -> Karlov of the Ghost Council - While I like high priest, he doesn't really do much. Karlov and Ayli went back and forth in my head which would get the general spot, but Ayli won since I feel like she has most complexities to build a deck around, while Karlov is just a role-player. He's great lifegain support, though.
Mortify -> Kaya, Ghost Assassin - Mortify is actually going out for Anguished Unmaking but that'a not coming in until I have a full cycle of multicolored cards to add. Kaya is an interesting walker, blink support (if off-color), some minor lifegain support, and just an all-around cool card to test. I like her and wanna see what she can do.

____________________

Alright, that's everything for now. More to come soon after Kaladesh and some acquisitions.

Last edited by SCDL: Sep 22, 2016

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#21 Feb 13, 2018
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Hi,

I'm very interested to hear about allowing people to use any number of tapduals. How many of those lands do people use in practice? Any thoughts?

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#22 Aug 27, 2019

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Hey man,

gonna bump your post, because it has been a huge insiration to me, as I'm trying to build a EDH-Cube right now.
Took your approach to General selection and your Generals as starting point, did a huge ammount of maths to figure out color, card type and "effect of card" ratios, and went ham on EDHrec from there - results may be posted soon on here.

But I'd like to ask a few questions:
About Drafting: you just wrote something along the lines of "draft as usual".... can you elaborate more on this? How many packs of how many cards from the non-general-cube ?

As for lands, I really like your Idea of giving any number of tapped duals. Gonna implement this, too. But I'm toying around with the idea of having an extra draft round or two with only lands at the end (maybe instead of unlimited tapped duals), maybe like 2 packs of 8 lands each, only color fixing lands though, while putting all the utility lands in the main draft pool. What do you think about this?

As for building your cube, what is your approach for supporting the commander archetypes? As I said, I started with your commander list, updated it to my needs and added more generals (went up to 86, added a few archetypes). Fpr setting up the cube i went to EDHrec and started with the average deck lists for every commander, then tweaking it as seemed fit...
How did you approach the thought process of this? Any pointers as to how to find enought synergy for each strategy / each general?

For reference, here's my list of Generals. Most notably I created a category of "Open" generals, as I like to have a few generals that can be build mostly any way the players like, to help those undecided fools to still end up with a viable deck. I went with 2 of each color, 4 of each guild, 3 of each wedge / shard and a few of 4C and Rainbow. Most notably, I added most of the 2-Color Gods, because i just like them. I'll make sure to include enough removal options for them, but IÄll keep your experience with those in the back of my head.

Raketenudo's DeckMagic Online OCTGN2 Apprentice Buy These Cards
//Artifacts 1 Breya, Etherium Shaper 1 Daretti, Scrap Savant 1 Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer 1 Muzzio, Visionary Architect 1 Saheeli, the Gifted //Blink 1 Brago, King Eternal 1 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician 1 Roon of the Hidden Realm 1 Yarok, the Desecrated 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald //Control 1 Child of Alara 1 Damia, Sage of Stone 1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV 1 Kaervek the Merciless 1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind 1 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager 1 Phenax, God of Deception 1 Pramikon, Sky Rampart 1 Sen Triplets //Cheat 1 Animar, Soul of Elements 1 Jhoira of the Ghitu 1 Mayael the Anima 1 Narset, Enlightened Master 1 Prime Speaker Vannifar 1 Zur the Enchanter //Graveyard 1 Chainer, Nightmare Adept 1 Karador, Ghost Chieftain 1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth 1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls 1 The Scarab God	//Lifegain 1 Karlov of the Ghost Council 1 Licia, Sanguine Tribune 1 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic //Ramp 1 Karametra, God of Harvests 1 Kruphix, God of Horizons 1 Lord Windgrace 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer 1 Omnath, Locus of Rage 1 The Gitrog Monster //Aristocrats 1 Athreos, God of Passage 1 Brion Stoutarm 1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born 1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch 1 Marchesa, the Black Rose 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 1 Shattergang Brothers 1 Thromok the Insatiable //Spells Matter 1 Elsha of the Infinite 1 Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge 1 Melek, Izzet Paragon 1 Taigam, Ojutai Master 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner 1 Wort, the Raidmother //Go Wide 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1 Emmara Tandris 1 Ephara, God of the Polis 1 Ghave, Guru of Spores 1 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser 1 Marath, Will of the Wild 1 Nahiri, the Lithomancer 1 Prossh, Skyraider of Kher	//Voltron 1 Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle 1 Rafiq of the Many 1 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave 1 Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts //Aggro 1 Iroas, God of Victory 1 Marisi, Breaker of the Coil 1 Odric, Master Tactician 1 Queen Marchesa 1 Xenagos, God of Revels //Hate 1 Anafenza, the Foremost 1 Gaddock Teeg 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation //Politics 1 Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis 1 Selvala, Explorer Returned 1 Xantcha, Sleeper Agent //Open 1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight 1 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim 1 Keranos, God of Storms 1 Maelstrom Wanderer 1 Niv-Mizzet Reborn 1 Ramos, Dragon Engine 1 Riku of Two Reflections

#23 Sep 2, 2019
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Not sure if OP is still following this, but I've been also working on a commander cube that focuses on synergies so we might be able to help each other out.

One thing I think might become a bit tricky is having synergies that really pay off. For example, Kambal is an effective hate card on his own...but does he really motivate you to build around "hate" as an archetype? Does he make other hate cards better, or do other hate cards make him better? I think generally not. I think he's more likely to pay off in a lifegain synergy deck. Same kinda deal for politics, and some other individual commanders in other categories.

I think I'd also avoid commanders like Emmara Tandris that are just kind of weak and probably won't get played.

One thing I'm not sure about - for say "aristocrats" you've commanders that span all 5 colors, including quite a few that don't share any colors with each other. So are you going to need to sprinkle synergies for that archetype across every color, then? That might make it harder to get enough synergies, because if you've chosen, say, Brion as a commander, then you can't pick up any BUG synergies for your commander even if they fit your archetype.

For my build, I decided to pick an archetype for each color pair, so that I only need to put synergies for that archetype within that color pair - which means I can run a lot fewer, and people will still be able to put synergies together, hopefully. If you're playing a sac (or aristocrats as you label it) themed commander, every sac-themed card you see will fit your color identity.

The other thing is, I'm not sure how feasible it will actually to be play mono-color commander. I draft a lot - usually 1-3 times a week for the past 7 years. In all that time, I think I've played true mono-color....twice? And it's not just me, playing against it is extremely rare. There's definitely nothing wrong with having mono-colored legendaries in the pool, and maybe once in a blue moon someone will build a deck around them, but I wouldn't count them as commanders tbh. I'm only counting multicolor commanders for my cube.

Here's my post (copied from nexus because apparently that's the world we live in now):

Commander and draft are my two favorite formats, and I've always loved the idea of mixing multiplayer elements and building around a legend from commander, and the skill-first and build-as-you-go structure of draft. I've also conveniently got a collection of, as I always put it, "every card you could ever want to play in commander" - currently ~8,000 singleton sleeved cards, including everything from tabernacle to saltskitter. And I've got a group of people interested in drafting commander.

So now it's time to use that collection for something beyond regularly crushing commander night - it's time to cuuuube!

I've had some thoughts about how to do this.

A lot of commander cubes seem to focus around fairly goodstuff lists, and the most popular commander cards, but I want to go in a somewhat different direction. One of the things I like about both commander and draft is being able to go deep on synergies, and when it comes together in draft it is oh-so-sweet. I want to enable synergy-heavy decks in a few ways:

-Give every color pair an explicit synergy
-Of the commander options available for each color pair, make the majority key into that synergy
-For 3-color commanders, make the majority key into a synergy from one of their color pairs
-Draft commanders first, so that players can start drafting towards those synergies ASAP
-Dedicate the majority of cards in the cube towards those synergies
The synergies I've chosen, based on the popularity of the archetype, number of commanders available to synergize with the archetype, and efficacy of drafting towards that archetype are:
WU - blink
UB - mill
BR - sacrifice
RG - land ramp
GW - tokens
WB - lifegain
BG - dredge
GU - counters (+1/+1 primarily)
UR - artifacts
RW - combat

So far the commanders chosen to represent the archetypes (first the 2-color, then the 3-color) are:

UW blink - Brago, King Eternal, Ephara, God of the Polis, Rasputin Dreamweaver, Aminatou, the Fateshifter, Pramikon, Sky Rampart, Roon of the Hidden Realm
UB mill - Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, Phenax, God of Deception, Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, The Mimeoplasm, Varina, Lich Queen (technically off-theme but best I could find)
BR sac - Judith, the Scourge Diva, Garna, the Bloodflame, Greven, Predator Captain, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Marchesa, the Black Rose
RG land ramp - Grand Warlord Radha, Nikya of the old Ways, Omnath, Locus of Rage, Hazezon Tamar, Maelstrom Wanderer, Lord Windgrace
GW tokens - Rhys the Redeemed, Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Trostani Discordant, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Ghired, Conclave Exile
WB lifegain - Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, Vona, Butcher of Magan, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Licia, Sanguine Tribune, Doran, the Siege Tower (no good alternatives)
BG dredge - Varolz, the Scar-Striped, Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Izoni, Thousand-Eyed, Adun Oakenshield, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Muldrotha, the Gravetide
GU counters - Vorel of the Hull Clade, Ezuri, Claw of Progress, Prime Speaker Zegana, Jenara, Asura of War, Volrath, the Shapestealer, Animar, Soul of Elements
UR artifacts - Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, Saheeli, the Gifted, Mairsil, the Pretender, Yasova Dragonclaw (big stretch but she is synergistic with equipment kinda), Elsha of the Infinite (also a stretch)
RW combat - Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice, Adriana, Captain of the Guard, Aurelia, the Warleader, Marisi, Breaker of the Coil, Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, Zurgo Helmsmasher

My priorities for these commanders are (1) motivating synergy with the chosen archetypes or at least being a good home for them, (2) being good enough that people will actually want to play them, and (3) not being hugely annoying to play against (this may be more relevant later on down the line, but right now I'm mostly using it to exclude commanders like Anafenza, the Foremost who can create unfun situations for grave-based decks. Grave hate in the deck is fine, in the CZ gets a bit boring/frustrating).

Beyond synergies, I also plan to sprinkle in some more generically useful commanders in case synergies fail to come together. For these I'm mostly looking for popular commanders that people enjoy playing, although in the future it'll probably be a good place to tune the cube to color-balance if certain colors aren't popular enough (cough boros cough). I'm also using some of these to enable synergies that might not be covered elsewhere but don't require specific cards to be effective - Baron von Count, for example, motivates certain picks but doesn't require throwing in specific tribal cards or anything like that, so it opens the door for interesting, off-the-wall decks without sacrificing cards in the cube. The ones I'm looking at for those are:

UW - Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Dragonlord Ojutai
UB - Lazav, the Multifarious, Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
BR - Baron von Count, Rakdos, Lord of Riots
RG - Ulrich of the Krallenhorde, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
GW - Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist, Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
WB - Athreos, God of Passage, Triad of Fates
BG - Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord (you try finding a non-dredge BG commander that doesn't suck), Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
GU - Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
UR - Nin, the Pain Artist, Niv-Mizzet, Parun
RW - Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
WUB - Sen Triplets, Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
UBR - Gwendlyn Di Corci, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
BRG - Kresh, the Bloodbraided, Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire
RGW - Samut, Voice of Dissent, Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
GWU - Phelddagrif, Rafiq of the Many
WBG - Teneb, the Harvester, Kethis, the Hidden Hand
BGU - Yarok, the Desecrated, Damia, Sage of Stone
GUR - Riku of Two Reflections, Intet, the Dreamer
URW - Kykar, Wind's Fury, Zedruu, the Greathearted
RWB - Mathas, Fiend Seeker, Queen Marchesa
WUBRG - Niv-Mizzet Reborn, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, Morophon, the Boundless

I'm considering cutting these down to 1-ofs instead of 2-ofs, or maybe even cutting them entirely, depending on how successful synergies are. On the other hand, I like having cards that create their own synergies like niv-mizzet reborn and kalemne.

Planning to draft a commander pack of 5(?) from those commanders, followed by 5x 15-card packs. Decks will be 60 cards including the commander. There will be mono-colored legends in packs (which could theoretically be commanders though they won't be explicitly supported), but no multicolor ones. Ballpark I'm thinking 1000 cards to ensure variety. It'll probably be classic, 40-life, 4-player commander, but I might experiment with 30 as a way to empower boros and depower sultai.

I'm currently on vacation (aren't I always?) so I don't have my cards to start actually building with, but this is what I'm thinking right now. I don't want to try to create the entire cube without having my cards in hand, since I find it a lot easier to build with physical cards instead of deck building apps.

Balance-wise it'll be even color distribution, with roughly 3/5 of the cards of each color being dedicated to synergies (some will overlap of course). I'm hoping to get around 6-7% of the total cube dedicated to each synergy, so that each pack will have an average of one card per synergy. That should hopefully mean that, if you aren't getting cut, you could end up with a mostly-synergy deck, or at least a solid 50% synergy.

Any thoughts on the premise? Synergies you'd pick instead of the ones I've chosen? Commanders you think I should include/avoid? Any feedback would be great - once I get home I'll only have a couple days to put this together before we start drafting it, so input at this stage would be a big time-saver once I sit down to build.

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Too many decks on the dance floor
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
#24 Nov 28, 2019
Guiboy
Guiboy

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- Join Date: 11/29/2019
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Hi, i'm starting to build a list for a commander cube and i was trying to find some help because there's not a lot of info and recent examples of commander cubes. I would want to start with a small cube(360-460 cards withouth commanders) to draft in a pod of 4 people.

I'm choosing my generals first to give a direction to the rest of the cube but i thought of doing 2 archetypes per color combination to give diversity to a color. However, i fear that a small card pool may not be a good environment for 2 archetypes per color combination. Did you try with 2 archetypes per combination and have some input on that ?

Thanks!! (My english is not that good, french is my first language, sorry about that)

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