So It's almost certain there's going to be at least 1 card in these sets powerful enough to be in cube, probably more. What's your plan for these? Will you put space marines in your cube? The One Ring? Will it depend on the IP being used?
I'm actually not sure what I want to do. On the one hand, my cube is a collection of the most powerful (unpowered) things magic can do. On the other hand, it's a collection of the most powerful things magic can do. I'm not sure which aligns more with my cube design.
Yeah, I'm not excited about Universes Beyond, but I'm going to judge it on a card-by-card basis. A few things I'll be thinking about while deciding if I want a Universes Beyond card in my cube:
1) The IP -- I have a bit more tolerance for Warhammer 40K and LotR than if they did something like make a Vehicle named "2022 Ford Taurus". I'd rather Warhammer and LotR were not made, but it's not as offensive as a Legendary Creature named Ronald McDonald.
2) Whether or not it fills a gap in my cube -- I am happy with all my 4cmc Blue cards, and there's quite a few 4cmc Blue cards that already exist that I'd like to include, but don't have the room for. Even if they make a great 4cmc Blue Universes Beyond card, I can happily ignore it. However, if the allied Canopy Lands are in a Universes Beyond set, that's something that's pretty important for the improvement of my cube, and something I'd be more willing to include.
3) The product the cards are from -- One of the things that upset me about The Walking Dead cards is they were in a Secret Lair, so they were unique cards in a very limited print run, which I view as anti-consumer. LotR being a set means the cards should be more plentiful and less prone to preying on FOMO. If a player has 2 years of the cards being printed to decide if this is something they want to buy rather than the 1-week a Secret Lair provides, I'm more willing to support that product.
If the cards are good enough, I'll play 'em. I'm not ecstatic about IP crossovers, but at least I like 40K and LotR, lol.
I wish all IP crossover cards were handled like the Godzilla cards were; they were an aesthetic option but there were regular Magic universe cards you could use if you wanted to (or they were silver-bordered like Transformers and MLP). I personally think every card should be done this way.
If this is implemented similarly to The Walking Dead I can't support the product. I think it's unhealthy for the long-term health of the game to cater to the whales and collectors and not have accessible non-blingy counterparts of these products available. The Godzilla skins were wonderful, this is not that. Price has always been a barrier to accessibility with cube - the problem is usually less pronounced with cards from recent sets though (especially when the most expensive among them inevitably get hit with a banhammer). I think this product subverts that norm pricing people out of many new upcoming staples as well and there's no relief from rotation or bans for these.
If this is implemented similarly to The Walking Dead I can't support the product. I think it's unhealthy for the long-term health of the game to cater to the whales and collectors and not have accessible non-blingy counterparts of these products available. The Godzilla skins were wonderful, this is not that. Price has always been a barrier to accessibility with cube - the problem is usually less pronounced with cards from recent sets though (especially when the most expensive among them inevitably get hit with a banhammer). I think this product subverts that norm pricing people out of many new upcoming staples as well and there's no relief from rotation or bans for these.
For the first 2 (LOTR and 40K), they are doing a full, draftable set and commander precons, respectively, so availability shouldn't be an issue, at least initially (although this does create a de-facto reserve list if they lose the rights to use the IP, cause I don't think they could even print a magic version with a Gandalf subname at that point). This doesn't mean they can't do different in the future.
Hopefully people make proxies that have magic-universe names and art styles (with different backs, of course) like has been done for TWD cards. Maybe that's the best path forward?
These being black border makes me feel greatly ill at ease. As I've variously argued, I'm all about a dark blue border-- but I'm not calling the shots.
I'm gonna pretty much ignore these as long as possible. And then after a while, they'll wear me down, and I'll probably play some of them.
I think I agree w/Wtwlf...really just want playable cards. I would also prefer they remained silver-border but that's certainly not a dealbreaker for me.
Lucille has been a very good card in both of my cubes and is definitely worth the investment.
I could see adding some LOTR and D&D cards(is forgotten Realms not part universes beyond?)to a cube as they fit the theme. but 40k? cant do it. maybe its own set/block cube if I could get into the power armor and the mechanics are fun.
Something I never see mentioned with the UB cards is that I don't believe they're all going to be "Immersion breaking" in the same way. I can understand why you wouldn't want to run named characters, but draft sets aren't going to be all legendary creatures and nothing else. It's entirely plausible that the best competitive cards are cards you wouldn't really raise an eyebrow at seeing in a normal set. I'm not super eager to run, say, Frodo, but I'd be perfectly fine running some unnamed gondor soldier 1 mana 2/1 for W with an ability.
For example, from what we've seen from the FR set coming up, I really don't think Portable Hole, for instance, would break my immersion, even though it's a DnD reference. Of course, DnD is less far from magic than WH40K, so we'll see about that one, but my plan is to just run cards on individual merit, rather than a wholesale include/exclude on the UB cards.
So at least for UB secret lairs going forward, they are going to print in-magic universe versions of the cards that will be treated as the same game object. This is great news as it will eliminate the feel bad FOMO of missing the secret lair with unique cards while also letting people get their hands on Magic versions of other IP cards.
Important that they AREN'T doing this for the non-secret lair versions (thus far LOTR and WH40k), but they don't have the limited supply issues that secret lairs do.
I hope they do this like the Godzilla cards. That way players don’t have to remember which in-Magic cards are reprints of Universes Beyond Secret Lair cards, and avoid running more copies of a card then allowed…
I hope they do this like the Godzilla cards. That way players don’t have to remember which in-Magic cards are reprints of Universes Beyond Secret Lair cards, and avoid running more copies of a card then allowed…
If I remember correctly, the UB cards will all have their own holo stamp on the bottom of each cards. Albeit, that would cover all rarities I guess, but that was their announced way of differentiating them.
Are you referring to the triangular-shaped holo-stamp (vs. the oval-shaped one)? If so, are players just supposed to remember that anything with a triangular holo-stamp can't be used in addition to another card that is a functional reprint? Seems like a really bad design decision...
Between cubing silver borders, proxies, alters, and even some custom cards I have 0 problem here. I’m okay cubing like a balrog or treebeard directly since they’re a solid fit for the overall “vibe” of magic. If they print a space orc card strong enough to cube, might just use the mechanics of the card with a homedone magic skin.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
Between cubing silver borders, proxies, alters, and even some custom cards I have 0 problem here. I’m okay cubing like a balrog or treebeard directly since they’re a solid fit for the overall “vibe” of magic. If they print a space orc card strong enough to cube, might just use the mechanics of the card with a homedone magic skin.
Can't wait for Ghazghkull Thraka to get his own card.
I'm actually not sure what I want to do. On the one hand, my cube is a collection of the most powerful (unpowered) things magic can do. On the other hand, it's a collection of the most powerful things magic can do. I'm not sure which aligns more with my cube design.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
1) The IP -- I have a bit more tolerance for Warhammer 40K and LotR than if they did something like make a Vehicle named "2022 Ford Taurus". I'd rather Warhammer and LotR were not made, but it's not as offensive as a Legendary Creature named Ronald McDonald.
2) Whether or not it fills a gap in my cube -- I am happy with all my 4cmc Blue cards, and there's quite a few 4cmc Blue cards that already exist that I'd like to include, but don't have the room for. Even if they make a great 4cmc Blue Universes Beyond card, I can happily ignore it. However, if the allied Canopy Lands are in a Universes Beyond set, that's something that's pretty important for the improvement of my cube, and something I'd be more willing to include.
3) The product the cards are from -- One of the things that upset me about The Walking Dead cards is they were in a Secret Lair, so they were unique cards in a very limited print run, which I view as anti-consumer. LotR being a set means the cards should be more plentiful and less prone to preying on FOMO. If a player has 2 years of the cards being printed to decide if this is something they want to buy rather than the 1-week a Secret Lair provides, I'm more willing to support that product.
[180 classic cube]
I wish all IP crossover cards were handled like the Godzilla cards were; they were an aesthetic option but there were regular Magic universe cards you could use if you wanted to (or they were silver-bordered like Transformers and MLP). I personally think every card should be done this way.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
For the first 2 (LOTR and 40K), they are doing a full, draftable set and commander precons, respectively, so availability shouldn't be an issue, at least initially (although this does create a de-facto reserve list if they lose the rights to use the IP, cause I don't think they could even print a magic version with a Gandalf subname at that point). This doesn't mean they can't do different in the future.
Hopefully people make proxies that have magic-universe names and art styles (with different backs, of course) like has been done for TWD cards. Maybe that's the best path forward?
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I'm gonna pretty much ignore these as long as possible. And then after a while, they'll wear me down, and I'll probably play some of them.
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Lucille has been a very good card in both of my cubes and is definitely worth the investment.
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For example, from what we've seen from the FR set coming up, I really don't think Portable Hole, for instance, would break my immersion, even though it's a DnD reference. Of course, DnD is less far from magic than WH40K, so we'll see about that one, but my plan is to just run cards on individual merit, rather than a wholesale include/exclude on the UB cards.
In my artifact cube I think Warhammer vehicles could be ok; but have a feeling the mechanics will likely not be a good fit.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/secret-lair-universes-beyond-update-2021-06-07
So at least for UB secret lairs going forward, they are going to print in-magic universe versions of the cards that will be treated as the same game object. This is great news as it will eliminate the feel bad FOMO of missing the secret lair with unique cards while also letting people get their hands on Magic versions of other IP cards.
Important that they AREN'T doing this for the non-secret lair versions (thus far LOTR and WH40k), but they don't have the limited supply issues that secret lairs do.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
If I remember correctly, the UB cards will all have their own holo stamp on the bottom of each cards. Albeit, that would cover all rarities I guess, but that was their announced way of differentiating them.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
Can't wait for Ghazghkull Thraka to get his own card.
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