Hey all! I am looking to build a 360 cube for the upcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set. The set has 281 cards (Minus 40 for the basic lands) so I'll need about 119 cards to round the whole thing out to 360. I have a few ideas already, but I definitely need many more and am turning to the community for advice.
I feel the cube itself is going to need a bit more power to save it from being boring, so I am thinking of what sort of muscle to add while boosting each color's power and maintain balance.
I want to avoid all flip cards.(I hate the idea of cards being constantly sleeved and unsleeved during draft). I also want to avoid Morph and Foretell mechanics as those who play the cube often will basically know exactly which card is being played face down. I also want to avoid Living Weapons as I want the equipment to be directed more at the creatures (Prefer Legendary Creatures)
Two things are a toss-up for me: Party Mechanics from Zendikar Rising (Fits the theme, but needs a lot of synergy with other cards to make work. I've considered creating a house rule adding other classes like monk, Barbarian, etc to this, but it's a fine line to walk without breaking it) and Allied/Enemy Manlands (Don't quite fit the D&D theme, but help with mana fixing and there are mono-colored Manlands in AFR.
I would really like to match up items and spells that are present in MTG and D&D that share names and have similar effects. I would also like other cards that help boost the mechanics within this set rather than adding a whole new set of mechanics.
What I want more of: Equipment and Artifacts, Classic D&D Spells and Items, More Multicolor cards, More mana fixing/dual lands, More dragons (fuels the dragon reveal mechanic in this set), Class Creatures (Monk, Barbarian, Cleric, etc), Removal Spells, and Enchantments.
Cards I have so far:
Counterspell (Always solid)
Animate Dead (Seems fitting, and can work well with some of the other mechanics in this set)
Fireball (Just. Fireball)
Adventuring Gear (Landfall was always a favorite of mine)
Goldvein Pick (Decent equipment that fuels the treasure mechanic)
Sword of Dungeons and Dragons (A bit meta, but it works!)
Ring of Three Wishes (Mid-Late game Tutor mechanic)
Fetch Lands (Pairs well with landfall if I add more of those cards)
Old Dual Lands (Bayou, Savannah, etc)
So, I want to keep this set on the theme of D&D, add some power to it (Not overpower), and maintain balance. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!
The main thing to do is analyze the mechanics, and missing slots along your curve. For example, treasure is important in the set, and there are a lot of treasure cards running around now. I would also want to make sure that it's possible to build around Oswald Fiddlebender, with a focus on 1 drop artifacts, since treasures are plentiful. Moreover, there is an artifact subtheme that could be somewhat strengthened by adding some more artifacts. And another theme which is vaguely present is goblins. Hobgoblin Bandit Lord and Battle Cry Goblin suggest a subtheme in red that could be cultivated with a few key cards like Goblin Instigator, and maybe a lord, like my favorite, Goblin Trashmaster.
There's also a minor lifegain theme with cards like Celestial Unicorn. Something like Soul Warden and Fountain of Renewal seems good to support it. And related, there are a lot of enter the battlefield triggers in this set, so blink is quite good. Teleportation Circle is going to be a deck to build. I think one or two other blink enablers would be good. Nephalia Smuggler and Restoration Angel come to mind, but they don't really fit the flavor.
I think the manlands are a good idea for pretty much any cube. Original duals and fetches are the most powerful way to play, but I don't know that they're really needed for an environment like this which will be lower power and full of commons. But you can never go wrong with them if that's what you want to do.
There are a few cards you might want to leave out just because they won't play well in the set. Demilich for example looks like a trap to me. Wish maybe too.
Make sure there are ways to get rid of Ebondeath, Dracolich! That card will be a terror.
Many golems, elementals, dragons, and giants fit.
Trap cards from original zendikar seem like an easy include. Level up guys might work too, but a lot of them have zendikar-specific names
Excellent choices! Thank you! A few others I was milling over were: Dragon Scales, Divine Favor, Commune With Nature, Enlarge, Clairvoyance, Divination, Gaseous Form, Wall of Fire, and Wall of Ice.
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I feel the cube itself is going to need a bit more power to save it from being boring, so I am thinking of what sort of muscle to add while boosting each color's power and maintain balance.
I want to avoid all flip cards.(I hate the idea of cards being constantly sleeved and unsleeved during draft). I also want to avoid Morph and Foretell mechanics as those who play the cube often will basically know exactly which card is being played face down. I also want to avoid Living Weapons as I want the equipment to be directed more at the creatures (Prefer Legendary Creatures)
Two things are a toss-up for me: Party Mechanics from Zendikar Rising (Fits the theme, but needs a lot of synergy with other cards to make work. I've considered creating a house rule adding other classes like monk, Barbarian, etc to this, but it's a fine line to walk without breaking it) and Allied/Enemy Manlands (Don't quite fit the D&D theme, but help with mana fixing and there are mono-colored Manlands in AFR.
I would really like to match up items and spells that are present in MTG and D&D that share names and have similar effects. I would also like other cards that help boost the mechanics within this set rather than adding a whole new set of mechanics.
What I want more of: Equipment and Artifacts, Classic D&D Spells and Items, More Multicolor cards, More mana fixing/dual lands, More dragons (fuels the dragon reveal mechanic in this set), Class Creatures (Monk, Barbarian, Cleric, etc), Removal Spells, and Enchantments.
Cards I have so far:
Counterspell (Always solid)
Animate Dead (Seems fitting, and can work well with some of the other mechanics in this set)
Fireball (Just. Fireball)
Adventuring Gear (Landfall was always a favorite of mine)
Goldvein Pick (Decent equipment that fuels the treasure mechanic)
Sword of Dungeons and Dragons (A bit meta, but it works!)
Ring of Three Wishes (Mid-Late game Tutor mechanic)
Fetch Lands (Pairs well with landfall if I add more of those cards)
Old Dual Lands (Bayou, Savannah, etc)
So, I want to keep this set on the theme of D&D, add some power to it (Not overpower), and maintain balance. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!
There's also a minor lifegain theme with cards like Celestial Unicorn. Something like Soul Warden and Fountain of Renewal seems good to support it. And related, there are a lot of enter the battlefield triggers in this set, so blink is quite good. Teleportation Circle is going to be a deck to build. I think one or two other blink enablers would be good. Nephalia Smuggler and Restoration Angel come to mind, but they don't really fit the flavor.
I think the manlands are a good idea for pretty much any cube. Original duals and fetches are the most powerful way to play, but I don't know that they're really needed for an environment like this which will be lower power and full of commons. But you can never go wrong with them if that's what you want to do.
There are a few cards you might want to leave out just because they won't play well in the set. Demilich for example looks like a trap to me. Wish maybe too.
Make sure there are ways to get rid of Ebondeath, Dracolich! That card will be a terror.
Many golems, elementals, dragons, and giants fit.
Trap cards from original zendikar seem like an easy include. Level up guys might work too, but a lot of them have zendikar-specific names
Cards that fit flavor (whether or not they're good):
Slumbering Dragon
Expedition Map
Tangle (closest to entangle)
Web (doesn't really work like in d&d, or very well)
Teleport (same)
Scrying Glass (same)
Anti-Magic Aura
Lightning Bolt
Shining Armor
Dragon's Hoard
Elven Bow
Throwing Knife
Greatsword
Warlord's Axe
Kite Shield
Psionic Blast
Cloak and Dagger
Deathcult Rogue
Keymaster Rogue (lets you reuse venture ETBs)
Rogue's Gloves
Rogue's Passage
Seraphic Greatsword
Ancient Stone Idol
I'll come back with more ideas
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.