This series is a study of Sun Tzu's Art of War and how we can use it to be more successful at playing multiplayer games, particularly EDH. I’m writing about multiplayer because I spent my high school years slinging cards in a big group and learning at the feet of Anthony Alongi and the Ferret, neither of whom is presently in the business of doling out ladles of multiplayer wisdom.
Building a cube is just slapping together 360 cards, right? So very wrong - it's an art and a science, and Mark's got a lot of good nuggets on how to build a stellar cube!
This article focuses more on helping cube designers with the basic tenets and avoiding common pitfalls when designing their cube. I'll be discussing not only the oft-neglected theoretical aspect of designing and balancing a cube as well as discussing common pitfalls in cube design and how to alleviate them.
If you have been paying attention to the Magical world recently, you have surely noticed the emergence of a draft format called the Cube. Originally started in Canada, this format has taken the rest of the Magic world by storm and is fast becoming the non-tournament format extraordinaire. I am writing this article to introduce you to the methods I used to create my cube, which has given my friends and me countless hours of enjoyment.
We know Day of Judgment will see Standard play while it's legal, but will it (and should it) see play in your cube? That's what we're here to discuss today: mass removal, Wrath of God style. You can't build a cube without it, but which ones should you use to build it? And how many Wraths are too many?
Lands. They frustrate us on the occasions we draw too few, too many, or the wrong kinds. We windmill slam them into play when we finally draw the one we've needed to play our bomb. We have a bloody ton of them lying about from old tournament packs, booster packs, and drafts. But how often do we really think about them?
If you've been living under a rock, then you may not have heard about the sweeping rules changes coming with Magic 2010. Actually, you might have heard about them even if you've lived under a rock, since the constant arguing, flaming, and kvetching has left no stone unturned. Here's some insight on how these changes affect cube building and drafting.
We all love Magic most of the time, but its roots as a casual pastime have left us with a bizarre legacy of unwanted randomness. Ladies and gentlemen, today I present the solution to these woes and more! An excellent and yet hitherto underpublicised Magic variant. The game is Five Card Blind, known to players and fans as simply 5CB.
Game six of your long afternoon of Magic, and everyone is shuffling up the decks from the last two games. Every one of your friend’s decks is a familiar, well known machine for winning games (or just drawing hilarity out of them). You get to your first turn, draw seven and play: Swamp, Cabal Therapy. What to name?
Imagine a person called Ian. He’s a nice guy, if a little scrawny and not quite as attractive or masculine as you (yes, he’s less manly than even a female reader). He plays magic and has maybe a couple hundred cards, mostly leftovers from starter decks and a few booster packs. He’s exactly the kind of person you want to see sitting down across the table from you at a local Magic tournament.
We’ve all been Ian at one time or another. Most of us had to work our way up the ladder – buying cards and researching strategy until we became the mighty planeswalkers we are...