Hi all, welcome to the 2014 Optimal Multiplayer Cube!
For newcomers, the Optimal Multiplayer Cube is an attempt to find the best cards to put in a 360-card multiplayer cube. This list of 360 cards has existed in various forms for many years now for 1-vs-1 play, but a multiplayer-based one did not exist, so we set about trying to fix it.
As in previous years, we did this by voting on the best cards in a multiplayer setting for each of the cube sections. As per usual, we are in furious agreement on some cards being top-tier for multiplayer (such as Blatant Thievery, Exsanguinate and Insurrection), but finding the best 360 is an altogether different prospect, so a vote is needed. We carried out the 2014 vote between September and November, and you can see the results here. We'll take these results and piece together an optimal cube list.
This is now the third year we've done this - if you want to catch up on previous efforts, you can see the 2012 and 2013 optimal cubes, and you can even try drafting the 2013 cube at CubeTutor.
A Cube, You Say?
Unless you've been under a rock, or are fairly new to Magic: the Gathering, you probably know what a Cube is by now.
For those who are yet to explore the fun that is Cube, the MTGS Cube Forum's Great Cube Resource Thread is a great place to start. It'll hopefully help you catch the cube drafting bug and make you want to build your own. For our results, we need to set some boundaries as to what our optimal cube is going to look like. A 360-card cube is the bare minimum for eight-player drafting, so this is a good baseline. For each of the sections, we'll use the sizes specified by Tom Fowler in his excellent Hip To Be Square series - 50 of each of the five colours, 50 gold, 30 artifact, 30 nonbasic land. We also need to account for taste. There are all sorts of wonderful variant cubes floating about already, and you will likely want to account for your own (and your playgroup's) personal tastes when constructing your own. So we're going to suggest 80% of the cards for each cube section, and then suggest a couple of viable archetypes that could be added in the remaining space. Finally, some of the cards that have come out on top are heinously expensive, and are obviously only going to be available to those who truly want to power their cubes. Multiplayer guys are inevitably playing at their own kitchen tables, and not operating on a top-tier tourney player's funds, so we'll also look at the more budget options available.
The Card Pool
These power rankings began in September 2014, after the release of Magic 2015. This is the cut-off point for these rankings. The 2014 rankings do not include new cards printed in Khans of Tarkir, Commander 2014 or onwards.
The Results Format
For each cube section, we'll reveal the cards that were voted into the top 80% of each section (that means the top 40 cards for each of the sections that carry 50, and the top 24 for each of the sections that carry 30). We'll look at them according to casting cost, as well as creature vs. non-creature - those who've built a cube before know that it's important to get this balance right. We'll then list cards that just missed the cut, and potential budget alternatives to some of the money cards that appear in that list. Finally, we'll look at the options we have for filling that final 20% - the archetypes that fit well with the cube we've wound up with.
Where a price for a card is listed, it is refers to the cheapest printing available according to MTGPrice.com as of the time of publishing.
So It's Multiplayer.... What Changes?
What makes the optimal multiplayer list different to the optimal 1-on-1 list already floating about the MTGS Cube Forum, or the list of most-run cards on CubeTutor? Two things. Firstly, the optimal 1-on-1 list contains many cards that shine in duels, but are downright unplayable in multiplayer settings. In particular, traditional aggro strategies go out the window in multiplayer - they simply run out of steam against multiple opponents. A case in point is Goblin Guide - it is ranked as one of the top ten red cards in a traditional cube, but is pretty much useless in a multiplayer arena. It is still yet to garner a single vote in the multiplayer power rankings in three years of voting. Secondly, you are usually afforded more time and space in a multiplayer setting, so the average casting cost of the cards in the cube can afford to be higher than they are traditionally. This gives us the room we need to fit in expensive multiplayer staples like Insurrection and Blatant Thievery.
Let's Go!
So now, you can sit back, relax and enjoy (while I try and find the time to feverishly hammer out the results)!
Please feel free to comment as we go through - feedback is always appreciated!
Contents
Introduction
Hi all, welcome to the 2014 Optimal Multiplayer Cube!
For newcomers, the Optimal Multiplayer Cube is an attempt to find the best cards to put in a 360-card multiplayer cube. This list of 360 cards has existed in various forms for many years now for 1-vs-1 play, but a multiplayer-based one did not exist, so we set about trying to fix it.
As in previous years, we did this by voting on the best cards in a multiplayer setting for each of the cube sections. As per usual, we are in furious agreement on some cards being top-tier for multiplayer (such as Blatant Thievery, Exsanguinate and Insurrection), but finding the best 360 is an altogether different prospect, so a vote is needed. We carried out the 2014 vote between September and November, and you can see the results here. We'll take these results and piece together an optimal cube list.
This is now the third year we've done this - if you want to catch up on previous efforts, you can see the 2012 and 2013 optimal cubes, and you can even try drafting the 2013 cube at CubeTutor.
A Cube, You Say?
Unless you've been under a rock, or are fairly new to Magic: the Gathering, you probably know what a Cube is by now.
For those who are yet to explore the fun that is Cube, the MTGS Cube Forum's Great Cube Resource Thread is a great place to start. It'll hopefully help you catch the cube drafting bug and make you want to build your own. For our results, we need to set some boundaries as to what our optimal cube is going to look like. A 360-card cube is the bare minimum for eight-player drafting, so this is a good baseline. For each of the sections, we'll use the sizes specified by Tom Fowler in his excellent Hip To Be Square series - 50 of each of the five colours, 50 gold, 30 artifact, 30 nonbasic land. We also need to account for taste. There are all sorts of wonderful variant cubes floating about already, and you will likely want to account for your own (and your playgroup's) personal tastes when constructing your own. So we're going to suggest 80% of the cards for each cube section, and then suggest a couple of viable archetypes that could be added in the remaining space. Finally, some of the cards that have come out on top are heinously expensive, and are obviously only going to be available to those who truly want to power their cubes. Multiplayer guys are inevitably playing at their own kitchen tables, and not operating on a top-tier tourney player's funds, so we'll also look at the more budget options available.
The Card Pool
These power rankings began in September 2014, after the release of Magic 2015. This is the cut-off point for these rankings. The 2014 rankings do not include new cards printed in Khans of Tarkir, Commander 2014 or onwards.
The Results Format
For each cube section, we'll reveal the cards that were voted into the top 80% of each section (that means the top 40 cards for each of the sections that carry 50, and the top 24 for each of the sections that carry 30). We'll look at them according to casting cost, as well as creature vs. non-creature - those who've built a cube before know that it's important to get this balance right. We'll then list cards that just missed the cut, and potential budget alternatives to some of the money cards that appear in that list. Finally, we'll look at the options we have for filling that final 20% - the archetypes that fit well with the cube we've wound up with.
Where a price for a card is listed, it is refers to the cheapest printing available according to MTGPrice.com as of the time of publishing.
So It's Multiplayer.... What Changes?
What makes the optimal multiplayer list different to the optimal 1-on-1 list already floating about the MTGS Cube Forum, or the list of most-run cards on CubeTutor? Two things. Firstly, the optimal 1-on-1 list contains many cards that shine in duels, but are downright unplayable in multiplayer settings. In particular, traditional aggro strategies go out the window in multiplayer - they simply run out of steam against multiple opponents. A case in point is Goblin Guide - it is ranked as one of the top ten red cards in a traditional cube, but is pretty much useless in a multiplayer arena. It is still yet to garner a single vote in the multiplayer power rankings in three years of voting. Secondly, you are usually afforded more time and space in a multiplayer setting, so the average casting cost of the cards in the cube can afford to be higher than they are traditionally. This gives us the room we need to fit in expensive multiplayer staples like Insurrection and Blatant Thievery.
Let's Go!
So now, you can sit back, relax and enjoy (while I try and find the time to feverishly hammer out the results)!
Please feel free to comment as we go through - feedback is always appreciated!
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
PucaTrade with me!
The Multiplayer Power Rankings
Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
The N00b Cube (Peasant cube for new players) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor