The question about illusory gains has been answered, but your question of equipping to 'keep' the victim has not. It does not work, as you cannot equip a creature you don't control (meaning you can't target your opponents creatures) and once you control an opponents creature via the Illusory Gains allowing you to equip it, your opponents no longer control said creature which means Willbreaker will not trigger. (it triggers when targeting a creature an 'opponent controls')
Is there a reason you're doing boxes of sorted card color/type rather than random packs?
How long does this take???? I realize you list that it's only 'up to 4' people, but sorting through, essentially, 100 card boxes seem like it would take a long time for each individual pick.
Having everything completely sorted means you can only get, for example, a green card every 8th pick? Am I understanding that right or did I miss something? That seems reaaaaaally tough to make a mono colored deck if 6 out of your 8 picks can't be played in your deck (1 on color mono color and 1 colorless).
I have a commander cube and made a set of custom conspiracies for it that allow access to an additional colour and/or colour related ability. I've played with them for a while now and think they work out quite well.
The idea is that you have one for each colour, and the conspiracy adds one of that colour mana to your general's casting cost, as well as giving your general a related ability.
White gets lifelink
Black gets death touch
Blue gets flying
Green gets trample
Red gets haste.
So, for example:
Sheoldred as your general and draft the white conspiracy, general costs 5BBW to cast, and has lifelink in addition to swamp walk and the other triggered abilities.
The idea is that the additional colored cast opens up the ability to play that color in your deck while following normal commander color identity rules. Additionally, we've seen people draft the conspiracy when they already have the color available simply for the evergreen ability (Someone with Olivia drafted the black conspiracy so that Olivia had death touch when shooting down creatures. Though she now cost 2BBR instead of 2BR).
We've had a lot of fun with these, and I thought someone else might enjoy testing them out. Or it may spark some ideas of your own. Enjoy!
Here's an example, except this is before I change'd red's ability from first strike to haste.
I put this deck together to serve a couple purposes. First, I needed to give my Damia list a break, as it draws a lot of hate (not only in the sense of people wanting to kill it before it kills them, but people hating the fact that I just Death Clouded their entire board...) but still wanted to play BUG. I'm not into zombie tribal, but I am into value. Second, I'm a lover of all things value, and love to utilize the graveyard without necessarily being degenerate about it. Third, I was looking to put together a deck that was fairly solid, not broken, with enough intrinsic options to be interesting across a wide range of game states and competitive levels. I wanted to be able to play it with new people and not just run over them, while also not just instantly folding to more competitive decks.
I chose Sidisi because when I've tried to build decks like this before that have a bunch of interlocking pieces to generate advantage I've often ran into problem getting the engine going (I tend to avoid just jamming a bunch of tutors into my EDH decks, so putting together combos is far less efficient than in many lists). Sidisi provides something that most generals can't - a kickstart to the engine. She puts 3 cards in the yard each time she triggers, which I basically try to translate into drawing. I'm not into zombie tribes that much, so I had no interest in trying to capitalize very hard on that aspect, and as such the creature count is low compared to many ideas of a Sidisi list. Instead, I tried to make it so that Sidisi's trigger is akin to drawing you a card. Whether it's a zombie, or a flashback card or a retrace spell, or dredge Sidisi advances you with each trigger.
So they're sick, they're underplayed and under appreciated. Play them. They're good.
Pretty much all there is to it. I have my Damia deck build around them. I love playing them because of how underappreciated and unrecognized they are. Invariably when I land either one people have to pick it up and read it. Typically, their response is to just shrug their shoulders - until I untap. Then they let out a big sigh as the game ends.
Here's my Damia list if you want to see some of the cards I play to maximize its effects. Recycling Damia
Hi all, I've lingered around here a long time and have tried doing a few alters here and there. I don't have any painting experience but have some drawing experience - kind of learning as I go.
Here are two of the first alter's I've done (other than some crappy dual land proxies for my cube).
this is just a proxy but I plan on doing the same thing to a real demonic tutor I picked up the other day.
This is based off an image of Alex Ross's superman from Kingdom Come
Here is my Damia deck in it's current iteration. Cards get switched around on a pretty regular basis but it always tends to play out pretty much the same (and pretty much how the colors lend themselves). It's goal is pretty purely just to beat everyone in the resource race on everything from mana to drawing and selection. Often I end up winning after a large death cloud that leaves me with the only mana on the board and cards in hand.
I am updating this thread to reflect changes I have made to my cube and the way it is drafted. There are many Commander cubes available as resources on the forums here, and several of them have an high level of thought and testing put into them. I encourage anyone interested to look to the cubes already established as a starting point, but to not worry about being constrained to any of their decisions. I am currently based in the Boston area, and am always looking to discuss cubing, EDH, or get together and play.
I created custom conspiracy cards that are currently included in the commander pool. There is one for each colour (and recently included one more). The colored ones increase the cost of your commander by one of the specific color. This of course may (or may not) alter the color identity for that general. In addition, they give your commander a color related ability. (Lifelink, Haste, Deathtouch, Flying, Trample). The 6th custom conspiracy allows you to name a creature at the beginning of the game; that creature is legendary (i.e., may be used as a commander). These have been major discussion starters and in general people are thrilled with them despite sometimes being initially confused by their purpose. Once explained their power level is understood. There was fear at the beginning that they may be too powerful, but the increased cost to cast your commander and the decrease in consistency due to demanding another color be supported by your mana base is not something to be taken lightly. Most notably, is that they do not need to be used only to increase your color availability, they can be used with a commander that already has the color but wants the ability. (this is most often the case with the red and white ones).
The cube is meant to be played multiplayer with the goal of a 4 person multiplayer EDH game. However, I have drafted it with just 3 and up to 610. I am considering increasing it's size to support 8 drafts that would then split into two play groups as I have not been able to get it cut down in size like I originally wanted. It has blossomed into a much larger pool than originally intended. It can currently support up to ten drafters. Game break down is based on number of players. 3-5 people play a single game, with a 5 person game being a Bang-rules variant for EDH (1 Sherrif, 1 Deputy, 2 Outlaws, and a Renegade). This helps streamline the decision making process for a large game and tends to speed up game play. 6-8, 10 players break into 2 games (2x3, 1x3 & 1x4, 2x4, 2x5 Bang, respectively). At 9 people I separate into three 3-player games.
I draft it as follows:
Each player gets a commander pack of 5 cards. You draft one card and pass the pack to your left as normal; however, you only pass twice resulting in 3 options. Sol Rings are part of the commander cube, you may draft a sol ring and play it in your deck but it is at the cost of a commander option to draft towards. (I realize this is quite restrictive commander options compared to how some cubes are drafted). Also, if you draft a commander that fits into another of your options' identities, you are welcome to play it in your deck. (for example, you can play Thassa in your Niv-Mizzet deck). However, you may not play a legend from the regular card pool as your general. Then players draft 8 packs of 8 cards each and proceed to make.
Originally I drafted commanders in a separate, first pack. I have come to dislike that strategy, as I feel those first few picks end up overriding many decision opportunities throughout the draft. As a lover of cube (and someone who cubes weekly from a plethora of cube lists and flavors), the part I enjoy most is the flow of decisions you are faced with from pick to pick, and ultimately pack to pack. With choosing commanders first, many people were happy to take a commander they enjoyed or wanted to play with, and then take cards that fit the color. After the first few picks of each pack, as cards of that(those) colors were depleted, the number of choices that drafter was faced with quickly reached 0.
It is important to point out that I did not receive complaints from people of this occurring. The people who made these picks were often very happy to be playing the commander they chose and ended up with decks they enjoyed playing. As such, there is nothing inherently wrong with drafting commanders separately, and it serves some people very well to do so. I observed this phenomenon over many drafts, and made a decision based on my desires for how the cube experience I was crafting was to evolve. As such, I have done away with the commander-only pack, and instead include a card from the commander pool in each pack as the 15th card. Players are not forced to pick a commander early this way and may instead draft towards a strategy hoping to later attain a general that will allow them to play it. This is risky, but that is something that comes with cubing - knowing when to move in or force a strategy versus playing it safe and staying open. The custom conspiracies I listed earlier are quite important in making this strategy as viable as it is. They allow drafters to staple a color onto a commander they may already have in order to achieve the color identity needed for their deck.
I now draft 5 packs of 14+1 cards each. This is a very deep pool and in the interest of time 4 packs of 14+1 is viable. I prefer, if possible, to draft a 5th pack. This greatly increases the power level of the decks as my cube is very synergy focused. Even with several hours dedicated to play on a weekend, getting more than 2 games in with a deck is difficult due to the naturally long duration of EDH games. Therefore, I prefer to play with the more powerful decks afforded by drafting the extra pack.
Pack construction is important - especially when only drafting with a few people. It is not difficult, when properly randomized, for a small section of the cube to contain poor color balance for a draft of only 4 or 5 players. To avoid this, and increase the consistency of each pack, I color sort when building the draft packs (I borrowed and modified this strategy from another designer in the cube group I draft with). There are 8 sections of cards, and each player takes 9 cards from each section. They include:
Black cards
Blue cards
Green cards
Red Cards
White cards
Multicolor cards (minus the 2-color identity lands)
Lands (all lands except for mono-identity (Volrath's Stronghold, Dryad arbor, etc)
Colorless cards
Then you make 5 packs of 14 from this pile of 72, discarding the 2 left over cards. You add a card from the commander pool to each pack, and proceed to draft. If the people you play with are respectful and dismantle their draft pools by section when done (which all drafters of cubes should aim to do) then this step adds very little time to pack construction. And considering how much easier it is to properly shuffle/randomize the individual sections of ~80 cards each versus shuffling the entire cube, it may even save time in the long run.
The cube itself contains many legendary creatures which may also be used as your commander. Additionally, cards that are in commander-only sleeves may be played in your deck - I simply ask drafters to swap the sleeves out with one from a sideboard card before play, and to please swap them back when finished. Each player builds a 60+1 edh deck following all colour restriction rules of edh. Games are played as normal with everyone starting at 40 life and 21 commander damage signifying a kill. The winner of the pod gets to sign one of the basic lands from the cube.
I have seen some EDH cubes that draft lands separately. I do not do this, as I feel mana base is an important consideration that drafters should be faced with. Players choosing to go 3 (or even 4 or 5!) colors need to prioritize lands differently in order to create a viable deck. This is a trade off inherent to the draft format and not something I wish to do away with. Additionally, it discourages mono color attempts as the ability to overlook fixing and multi-color lands is one of the main advantages of drafting a single color. This advantage is completely erased by drafting lands in a special pack.
Other changes that have proven necessary through drafting the cube is to remove any 3+ color identity cards from the main pool. Unfortunately, while this is EDH and gold cards are a personal love of mine, it did not take long to realize that cards like Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Maelstrom Wanderer were free wheels as it was very unlikely anyone else could legally play them if you wanted them.
I'm open to all discussion of the mechanics of edh cubing as I 'm relatively new to cubing in general and find the different ways of this style, in particular, very interesting. I'll try to take all criticism in stride
If I snapcaster mageblack sun's zenith doi shuffle it back in or exile it. I tried to shuffle it in and my opponent told me I had yo exile it. I assumed it ahuffled in as part of the resolution before flashback attempts to exile it, but he debated that they were replacement effects and that flashback replacing it going to graveyard before the zenith replaces it with a shuffle? Didn't make much sense to me..
I've been playing Grixis a lot. Have been playing Vengeance since it came out in M12 doubling it off Chandra with acceleration in the deck. I swapped out the acceleration package for tonight's FNM though to try out a post package. After messing with it I didn't like playing vengeance without acceleration. Instead, I'm going to try test this out.
I opened some great cards for Saturday's sealed event and went 4-1 taking 2 of just over 40 participants at only my second pre release so I was quite pleased to say the least.
It started off pretty shaking with my first two packs giving me lands: dragonskull summit and drowned catacomb. Next I opened a lord of the unreal and got excited about blue, following that came a runes scared demon and then a sorin's vengeance. I thought the vengeance would make a nifty finished beside the demon and got quite the chuckle when the last pack showed me a chandra.
I ended up playing UBR control with only five creatures. Having both the dual color lands went a long way in me being able to consistantly cast everything. I went 4-0 with my only loss coming from never hitting a fifth land and every when off of a sorin's vengeance. 7 out of those eight came off of a chandra doubled vengeance ;).
I ended up losing the last match to another UBR control deck 1-2. The card I lost to was swiftfoot boots in a more creature heavy build. The two games he got it out he blanked a lot of my cards due to the hexproof thing even forcing me to act of treason one of his three guys and then double a small pox off chandra to erase the board he was quickly overwhelming me wih. It was enough though as he pulled it out with a geared up vampire shortly afterwards. The game he didmt get boots I won pretty easily.
Fun plays off chandra were many. The doubled small pox was one. Also I doubled divination and mind rot several times.
Favorite match was my friend and I both at 3-0 playing round 4. First game I'be kept the board clear waiing for a finish when he casts garuks horde . I only have mind rot in hand and he has three cards revealing a land on library. I draw a small pox, cast mind rot, then small pox forcing him to sack the horde and both of us go to no hand. We both draw lands twice putting me up to 7 as I draw vengeance but he's at 20 life still. Next turn I draw ponder, cast it and find chandra in the top 3 next turn I double vengeance.
Second game is epic. He gets a fast start hitting me a few times but I manage to buy time with frost breath and then clear the board. He casts a griffin rider and a griffin while I have both chandra and vengeance in hand. I don't cast her because shell just die and get knocked down to 1 life. I resign myaelf to. casting vengenance to stay alive but instaed draw adept. I bounce the griffon, cast chandra and ping the now 1/1 rider and double vengeance the next turn. He was @ 18 life to my 1 as the only damage I had done wa the 2 from an outrage I used to help stabilize the board.
I got 12 packs for second and opened a grave titan and a gideon. I went on to win doubled headed dragon with my friend from round 4 and he gotthe grave Titan that we opened out of that. Then another friend and I played another two headed taking I think 4th place but we got a jace which we traded to a guy for two koths so we could split it.
All in all it was a pretty awesome weekend and I plan on making more pre releases in the future!
How long does this take???? I realize you list that it's only 'up to 4' people, but sorting through, essentially, 100 card boxes seem like it would take a long time for each individual pick.
Having everything completely sorted means you can only get, for example, a green card every 8th pick? Am I understanding that right or did I miss something? That seems reaaaaaally tough to make a mono colored deck if 6 out of your 8 picks can't be played in your deck (1 on color mono color and 1 colorless).
I have a commander cube and made a set of custom conspiracies for it that allow access to an additional colour and/or colour related ability. I've played with them for a while now and think they work out quite well.
The idea is that you have one for each colour, and the conspiracy adds one of that colour mana to your general's casting cost, as well as giving your general a related ability.
White gets lifelink
Black gets death touch
Blue gets flying
Green gets trample
Red gets haste.
So, for example:
Sheoldred as your general and draft the white conspiracy, general costs 5BBW to cast, and has lifelink in addition to swamp walk and the other triggered abilities.
The idea is that the additional colored cast opens up the ability to play that color in your deck while following normal commander color identity rules. Additionally, we've seen people draft the conspiracy when they already have the color available simply for the evergreen ability (Someone with Olivia drafted the black conspiracy so that Olivia had death touch when shooting down creatures. Though she now cost 2BBR instead of 2BR).
We've had a lot of fun with these, and I thought someone else might enjoy testing them out. Or it may spark some ideas of your own. Enjoy!
Here's an example, except this is before I change'd red's ability from first strike to haste.
I chose Sidisi because when I've tried to build decks like this before that have a bunch of interlocking pieces to generate advantage I've often ran into problem getting the engine going (I tend to avoid just jamming a bunch of tutors into my EDH decks, so putting together combos is far less efficient than in many lists). Sidisi provides something that most generals can't - a kickstart to the engine. She puts 3 cards in the yard each time she triggers, which I basically try to translate into drawing. I'm not into zombie tribes that much, so I had no interest in trying to capitalize very hard on that aspect, and as such the creature count is low compared to many ideas of a Sidisi list. Instead, I tried to make it so that Sidisi's trigger is akin to drawing you a card. Whether it's a zombie, or a flashback card or a retrace spell, or dredge Sidisi advances you with each trigger.
3 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Island
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Breeding Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Windswept Heath
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Strip Mine
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Barren Moor
1 Polluted Mire
1 Remote Isle
1 Slippery Karst
1 Academy Ruins
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Buried Ruin
1 Haunted Fengraf
Spells
1 Nature's Lore
1 Farseek
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Mulch
1 Tracker's Instincts
1 Commune with the Gods
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Memory's Journey
1 Dread Return
1 Cackling Counterpart
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Spitting Image
1 Worm Harvest
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Chord of Calling
1 Life from the Loam
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Beast Within
1 Putrefy
1 Stitch Together
1 Regrowth
1 Animate Dead
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Sol Ring
1 Birthing Pod
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Oversold Cemetery
1 Crucible of Worlds
Creatures
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Baleful Strix
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Hermit Druid
1 Golgari Thug
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Dimir Doppelganger
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Hell's Caretaker
1 Sewer Nemesis
1 Wonder
1 Stitcher Geralf
1 Mulldrifter
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Acidic Slime
1 Phyrexian Delver
1 Genesis
1 Body Double
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Rune-scarred Demon
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Dryad Arbor
Any input would be appreciated - I'm pretty happy with these as my color matching is a lot better than previous attempts.
Pretty much all there is to it. I have my Damia deck build around them. I love playing them because of how underappreciated and unrecognized they are. Invariably when I land either one people have to pick it up and read it. Typically, their response is to just shrug their shoulders - until I untap. Then they let out a big sigh as the game ends.
Here's my Damia list if you want to see some of the cards I play to maximize its effects.
Recycling Damia
Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Exploration
Burgeoning
Spitting Image
Here are two of the first alter's I've done (other than some crappy dual land proxies for my cube).
This is based off an image of Alex Ross's superman from Kingdom Come
1 Damia, Sage of Stone
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Archaeomancer
1 Vulturous Zombie
1 Body Double
1 Acidic Slime
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
Artifact Creatures
1 Baleful Strix
1 Shardless Agent
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Artifacts
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mimic Vat
1 Trading Post
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Venser's Journal
1 Descend into Madness
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Null Profusion
1 Recycle
Planeswalkers
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Vraska the Unseen
1 Karn Liberated
Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Life from the Loam
1 Regrowth
1 Stitch Together
1 Farseek
1 Nature's Lore
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Death Cloud
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Barter in Blood
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Worm Harvest
Instants
1 Swan Song
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Impulse
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Arcane Denial
1 Capsize
1 Beast Within
1 Spell Crumple
1 Forbid
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Spin into Myth
2 Swamp
5 Forest
5 Island
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Barren Moor
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Winding Canyons
1 Command Tower
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Drowned Catacomb
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/4947
I have a second cube
of 50for commanders (which are kept in a different colored sleeve) that can be viewed here:http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/7592
I created custom conspiracy cards that are currently included in the commander pool. There is one for each colour (and recently included one more). The colored ones increase the cost of your commander by one of the specific color. This of course may (or may not) alter the color identity for that general. In addition, they give your commander a color related ability. (Lifelink, Haste, Deathtouch, Flying, Trample). The 6th custom conspiracy allows you to name a creature at the beginning of the game; that creature is legendary (i.e., may be used as a commander). These have been major discussion starters and in general people are thrilled with them despite sometimes being initially confused by their purpose. Once explained their power level is understood. There was fear at the beginning that they may be too powerful, but the increased cost to cast your commander and the decrease in consistency due to demanding another color be supported by your mana base is not something to be taken lightly. Most notably, is that they do not need to be used only to increase your color availability, they can be used with a commander that already has the color but wants the ability. (this is most often the case with the red and white ones).
The cube is meant to be played multiplayer with the goal of a
4 personmultiplayer EDH game. However, I have drafted it with just 3 and up to610.I am considering increasing it's size to support 8 drafts that would then split into two play groups as I have not been able to get it cut down in size like I originally wanted.It has blossomed into a much larger pool than originally intended. It can currently support up to ten drafters. Game break down is based on number of players. 3-5 people play a single game, with a 5 person game being a Bang-rules variant for EDH (1 Sherrif, 1 Deputy, 2 Outlaws, and a Renegade). This helps streamline the decision making process for a large game and tends to speed up game play. 6-8, 10 players break into 2 games (2x3, 1x3 & 1x4, 2x4, 2x5 Bang, respectively). At 9 people I separate into three 3-player games.I draft it as follows:
Each player gets a commander pack of 5 cards. You draft one card and pass the pack to your left as normal; however, you only pass twice resulting in 3 options. Sol Rings are part of the commander cube, you may draft a sol ring and play it in your deck but it is at the cost of a commander option to draft towards. (I realize this is quite restrictive commander options compared to how some cubes are drafted). Also, if you draft a commander that fits into another of your options' identities, you are welcome to play it in your deck. (for example, you can play Thassa in your Niv-Mizzet deck). However, you may not play a legend from the regular card pool as your general. Then players draft 8 packs of 8 cards each and proceed to make.Originally I drafted commanders in a separate, first pack. I have come to dislike that strategy, as I feel those first few picks end up overriding many decision opportunities throughout the draft. As a lover of cube (and someone who cubes weekly from a plethora of cube lists and flavors), the part I enjoy most is the flow of decisions you are faced with from pick to pick, and ultimately pack to pack. With choosing commanders first, many people were happy to take a commander they enjoyed or wanted to play with, and then take cards that fit the color. After the first few picks of each pack, as cards of that(those) colors were depleted, the number of choices that drafter was faced with quickly reached 0.
It is important to point out that I did not receive complaints from people of this occurring. The people who made these picks were often very happy to be playing the commander they chose and ended up with decks they enjoyed playing. As such, there is nothing inherently wrong with drafting commanders separately, and it serves some people very well to do so. I observed this phenomenon over many drafts, and made a decision based on my desires for how the cube experience I was crafting was to evolve. As such, I have done away with the commander-only pack, and instead include a card from the commander pool in each pack as the 15th card. Players are not forced to pick a commander early this way and may instead draft towards a strategy hoping to later attain a general that will allow them to play it. This is risky, but that is something that comes with cubing - knowing when to move in or force a strategy versus playing it safe and staying open. The custom conspiracies I listed earlier are quite important in making this strategy as viable as it is. They allow drafters to staple a color onto a commander they may already have in order to achieve the color identity needed for their deck.
I now draft 5 packs of 14+1 cards each. This is a very deep pool and in the interest of time 4 packs of 14+1 is viable. I prefer, if possible, to draft a 5th pack. This greatly increases the power level of the decks as my cube is very synergy focused. Even with several hours dedicated to play on a weekend, getting more than 2 games in with a deck is difficult due to the naturally long duration of EDH games. Therefore, I prefer to play with the more powerful decks afforded by drafting the extra pack.
Pack construction is important - especially when only drafting with a few people. It is not difficult, when properly randomized, for a small section of the cube to contain poor color balance for a draft of only 4 or 5 players. To avoid this, and increase the consistency of each pack, I color sort when building the draft packs (I borrowed and modified this strategy from another designer in the cube group I draft with). There are 8 sections of cards, and each player takes 9 cards from each section. They include:
Black cards
Blue cards
Green cards
Red Cards
White cards
Multicolor cards (minus the 2-color identity lands)
Lands (all lands except for mono-identity (Volrath's Stronghold, Dryad arbor, etc)
Colorless cards
Then you make 5 packs of 14 from this pile of 72, discarding the 2 left over cards. You add a card from the commander pool to each pack, and proceed to draft. If the people you play with are respectful and dismantle their draft pools by section when done (which all drafters of cubes should aim to do) then this step adds very little time to pack construction. And considering how much easier it is to properly shuffle/randomize the individual sections of ~80 cards each versus shuffling the entire cube, it may even save time in the long run.
The cube itself contains many legendary creatures which may also be used as your commander. Additionally, cards that are in commander-only sleeves may be played in your deck - I simply ask drafters to swap the sleeves out with one from a sideboard card before play, and to please swap them back when finished. Each player builds a 60+1 edh deck following all colour restriction rules of edh. Games are played as normal with everyone starting at 40 life and 21 commander damage signifying a kill. The winner of the pod gets to sign one of the basic lands from the cube.
I have seen some EDH cubes that draft lands separately. I do not do this, as I feel mana base is an important consideration that drafters should be faced with. Players choosing to go 3 (or even 4 or 5!) colors need to prioritize lands differently in order to create a viable deck. This is a trade off inherent to the draft format and not something I wish to do away with. Additionally, it discourages mono color attempts as the ability to overlook fixing and multi-color lands is one of the main advantages of drafting a single color. This advantage is completely erased by drafting lands in a special pack.
Other changes that have proven necessary through drafting the cube is to remove any 3+ color identity cards from the main pool. Unfortunately, while this is EDH and gold cards are a personal love of mine, it did not take long to realize that cards like Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Maelstrom Wanderer were free wheels as it was very unlikely anyone else could legally play them if you wanted them.
I'm open to all discussion of the mechanics of edh cubing as I
'm relatively new to cubing in general andfind the different ways of this style, in particular, very interesting. I'll try to take all criticism in strideYes.
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Drowned Catacombs
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Phyrexia's Core
4 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Forest
Creatures
1 Griselbrand
2 Wurmcoil
3 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mindslaver
3 Trading Post
2 Staff of Nin
2 Mimic Vat
Planeswalkers
2 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Jace, Memory Adept
Sorceries
3 Black Sun's Zenith
3 Red Sun's Zenith
4 Despise
Instants
3 Dismember
2 Go for the Throat
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Duress
2 Memoricide
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Whipflare
It started off pretty shaking with my first two packs giving me lands: dragonskull summit and drowned catacomb. Next I opened a lord of the unreal and got excited about blue, following that came a runes scared demon and then a sorin's vengeance. I thought the vengeance would make a nifty finished beside the demon and got quite the chuckle when the last pack showed me a chandra.
I ended up playing UBR control with only five creatures. Having both the dual color lands went a long way in me being able to consistantly cast everything. I went 4-0 with my only loss coming from never hitting a fifth land and every when off of a sorin's vengeance. 7 out of those eight came off of a chandra doubled vengeance ;).
1 runs-scarred demon
1 sengir vampire
1 chasm Drake
1 aether adept
1 child of night
1 sorin's vengeance
1 doom blade
1 small pox
1 mind rot
1 lava axe
2 chandra's outrage
1 incinerate
1 ponder
1 divination
2 frost breath
1 turn to frog
1 cancel
1 mana leak
1 act of treason
1 fling
1 drowned catacombs
4 mountain
5 island
7 swamp
I ended up losing the last match to another UBR control deck 1-2. The card I lost to was swiftfoot boots in a more creature heavy build. The two games he got it out he blanked a lot of my cards due to the hexproof thing even forcing me to act of treason one of his three guys and then double a small pox off chandra to erase the board he was quickly overwhelming me wih. It was enough though as he pulled it out with a geared up vampire shortly afterwards. The game he didmt get boots I won pretty easily.
Fun plays off chandra were many. The doubled small pox was one. Also I doubled divination and mind rot several times.
Favorite match was my friend and I both at 3-0 playing round 4. First game I'be kept the board clear waiing for a finish when he casts garuks horde . I only have mind rot in hand and he has three cards revealing a land on library. I draw a small pox, cast mind rot, then small pox forcing him to sack the horde and both of us go to no hand. We both draw lands twice putting me up to 7 as I draw vengeance but he's at 20 life still. Next turn I draw ponder, cast it and find chandra in the top 3 next turn I double vengeance.
Second game is epic. He gets a fast start hitting me a few times but I manage to buy time with frost breath and then clear the board. He casts a griffin rider and a griffin while I have both chandra and vengeance in hand. I don't cast her because shell just die and get knocked down to 1 life. I resign myaelf to. casting vengenance to stay alive but instaed draw adept. I bounce the griffon, cast chandra and ping the now 1/1 rider and double vengeance the next turn. He was @ 18 life to my 1 as the only damage I had done wa the 2 from an outrage I used to help stabilize the board.
I got 12 packs for second and opened a grave titan and a gideon. I went on to win doubled headed dragon with my friend from round 4 and he gotthe grave Titan that we opened out of that. Then another friend and I played another two headed taking I think 4th place but we got a jace which we traded to a guy for two koths so we could split it.
All in all it was a pretty awesome weekend and I plan on making more pre releases in the future!