Hello, as the title says, I'm pretty new to cube building but wanted ideas and suggestions regarding the 10 colour draft archtypes I chose. After explaining what they are, I will then explain my reasoning for them as well as any doubts I might feel concerning them.
This is meant to be more of a casual cube, lower powered to allow for synergies that are by no mean the most powerful in the larger meta. A draft environment with a power level sitting between a Core set and current standard-legal sets, though I'd rather err on it being a bit weaker than too optimized.
WU Prowess and combat tricks (midrange control) UB Evasion BR cheap Artifact graveyard recursion RG Aggro WG +1/+1 counters, zero to hero WR Equipment matters WB Exalted UR Instants and sorceries? (control) UG Ramp into big creatures (leviathons, beasts, serpents, etc) BG Treefolk tribal
Looking at the builds I am afraid there might not be enough synergy between the colour pairings but I know that one should try to have enough archtypes for every colour combination. I wish there was a cube website that helped players determine what archtypes have enough support to build draft environment aroun, the floor/ceiling these would have relative to the archtypes and how to ensure they are balanced.
W: Exalted, +1/+1 counters, combat tricks, exalted, equipment, White is going to be aggressive in my format and I wanted archtypes that could help small, relatively efficient creatures get on the board quickly and hit early; with U and B being the colours able to better make white more midrange.
U: Instants and sorceries, evasion, combat tricks, big fatties, Blue will be a slower colour, more able and willing to be more of a midrange-combo option. U is a difficult colour to ensure there is balance between all its archtypes.UG Big stuff and BG treefolk were the first colour combinations I started with and I worked my way from there. I admittedly want to keep these two archtypes the most of all the combinations chosen, though I understand that it will be difficult to ensure the latter has enough support.
B: Artifacts, Exalted, Evasion, Treefolk, Black will for the most part be a slower colour, more willing to explore control and midrange strategies except when it is combined with R. One of the difficulties I am having is deciding whether BR artefacts tends to be more aggressive in nature or if it leans more towards a midrange strategy. More critically,BG treefolk is a tribal strategy; I realize that tribal archtypes tend to be weaker and require a lot of support so as to not become the least desireable draft strategy. While there are some interesting uncommon and rare treefolk pieces, I may have to create my own cards to ensure the archtype is fun and plays well.
R: Equipment, artefact graveyard recursion, instants and sorceries, not much more to say about red than I said already in the other sections, though part of me wonders if the RG Aggro archtype needs further analysis. I need to pick a mechanic I think that plays well with Green being about ramp and medium-big sized creatures, despite all its other potential combinations being more focused on the early game.
G: ramp into big creatures, Treefolk, +1/+1 counters, and Gruul aggro,red is pulled into both early and mid-late game strategies. The problems and plans with these have already been laid out.
I know that wizards in thier products will sometimes give one combination a tribal theme while having its other draft archtypes nontribal strategies. How do they ensure that the tribal strategy is sufficiently supported and plays well with the other archtypes given to other combinations? Cube-building is daunting.
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():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Wizards. listen. The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
My advice is that you can use your gold section to help steer players towards these archetypes. You need to find gold cards that are powerful enough that if a player picks it up they are rewarded for doing so and it steers towards to draft goals you have determined.
Once you have found your gold cards that will be the "poster boys" of those archetypes you can then include a few mono coloured cards to support that archetype. Just be careful you don't pick cards that are too narrow as you want to make sure the cards you are putting in have value on their own in order to stop them from being completely useless in other decks.
You may also want to consider colours that can act as a support to that archetype. for example you are planning on +1/+1 counters in selesnya. but there are some good counters cards in blue and black like drana, liberator of malakir, and nadir kraken. Both these cards provide good value on their own but can support a larger archetype.
I agree with Visserdrix’s suggestion to use your gold cards to signpost themes in your cube, as Wizards now tend to do in their own sets.
My second cube is built along these lines. I designed it to draft with my sons and for them to draft with friends. It avoids older cards so the templating is post-M10, and the focus on archetype synergies makes it easier to draft an effective deck. The supported archetypes are as follows:
WU blinking/bouncing creatures to reuse enters the battlefield abilities UB reanimator BR discard matters (hellbent, madness) RG lands matter GW tokens WB sacrifice BG using graveyard as a resource GU +1/+1 tokens UR spells matter RW go-wide (battalion, pumping all creatures)
Archetypes are not limited to a single strategy: WB can be drafted as either more aggressive or more controlling; BG is typically midrange but can have combo elements; etc.
Archetypes can bleed into each other, for example white token producers support both the token and go wide decks, and something like Cloudgoat Ranger is a tasty blink target. Similarly cards that have elements of more than one archetype are valuable both to increase density of support and create interesting draft picks. Legion’s Landing is both a token producer and a go-wide incentive; Voldaren Pariah is a sacrifice enabler with Madness; Nissa, Voice of Zendikar supports tokens, +1/+1 counters and lands matter.
ing archetype support out of colour is fine and to some extent unavoidable. Young Pyromancer is included as a spells matter card, but also happens to produce tokens. This enables 3+ colour decks and helps stop the draft from becoming stale by allowing more surprise synergies.
My list is not yet balanced properly. All archetypes are viable, but there are individual cards that may be at the wrong power level. For me this will have to come through testing.
With regards to your list, I think you are setting your power level too low. Bear in mind that standard draft sets contain cards that have to cater to other formats, and still contain a lot of cards that are draft “filler”. Simply by removing these there is a good chance that your cube will produce decks above the power of a standard draft.
Treefolk will be a challenge. It is likely to be a very linear archetype and difficult to get enough black representation. You could expand a little into “creatures matter” and “forests matter”. I’d also break the singleton rule for key cards like Bosk Banneret or any playable black Treefolk.
I’d be inclined to give a bit more to RG than just aggro. Maybe werewolves if you want another tribal theme, +1/+1 counters, or even lands matter.
Taking this route will create a unique cube that is tailored to what you most enjoy about magic. The downside is that it will be harder to find advice because other cube builders will be appraising cards on different criteria.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
My advice is that you can use your gold section to help steer players towards these archetypes. You need to find gold cards that are powerful enough that if a player picks it up they are rewarded for doing so and it steers towards to draft goals you have determined.
Once you have found your gold cards that will be the "poster boys" of those archetypes you can then include a few mono coloured cards to support that archetype. Just be careful you don't pick cards that are too narrow as you want to make sure the cards you are putting in have value on their own in order to stop them from being completely useless in other decks.
You may also want to consider colours that can act as a support to that archetype. for example you are planning on +1/+1 counters in selesnya. but there are some good counters cards in blue and black like drana, liberator of malakir, and nadir kraken. Both these cards provide good value on their own but can support a larger archetype.
I agree with Visserdrix’s suggestion to use your gold cards to signpost themes in your cube, as Wizards now tend to do in their own sets.
With regards to your list, I think you are setting your power level too low. Bear in mind that standard draft sets contain cards that have to cater to other formats, and still contain a lot of cards that are draft “filler”. Simply by removing these there is a good chance that your cube will produce decks above the power of a standard draft.
Treefolk will be a challenge. It is likely to be a very linear archetype and difficult to get enough black representation. You could expand a little into “creatures matter” and “forests matter”. I’d also break the singleton rule for key cards like Bosk Banneret or any playable black Treefolk.
I’d be inclined to give a bit more to RG than just aggro. Maybe werewolves if you want another tribal theme, +1/+1 counters, or even lands matter.
Taking this route will create a unique cube that is tailored to what you most enjoy about magic. The downside is that it will be harder to find advice because other cube builders will be appraising cards on different criteria.
This is all excellent advice. Much appreciated! I'm glad there have been a few more uncommon treefolk printed in this core set!
I'm gonna experiment and see if I can't find a way to increase the power level. One idea I took from the Core set is that because Treefolk generally have higher toughness and are of a greater mana cost, I can use Green and black themes that reward players using high toughness creatures, or creatures that are just large in general.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Wizards. listen. The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
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This is meant to be more of a casual cube, lower powered to allow for synergies that are by no mean the most powerful in the larger meta. A draft environment with a power level sitting between a Core set and current standard-legal sets, though I'd rather err on it being a bit weaker than too optimized.
WU Prowess and combat tricks (midrange control)
UB Evasion
BR cheap Artifact graveyard recursion
RG Aggro
WG +1/+1 counters, zero to hero
WR Equipment matters
WB Exalted
UR Instants and sorceries? (control)
UG Ramp into big creatures (leviathons, beasts, serpents, etc)
BG Treefolk tribal
Looking at the builds I am afraid there might not be enough synergy between the colour pairings but I know that one should try to have enough archtypes for every colour combination. I wish there was a cube website that helped players determine what archtypes have enough support to build draft environment aroun, the floor/ceiling these would have relative to the archtypes and how to ensure they are balanced.
W: Exalted, +1/+1 counters, combat tricks, exalted, equipment, White is going to be aggressive in my format and I wanted archtypes that could help small, relatively efficient creatures get on the board quickly and hit early; with U and B being the colours able to better make white more midrange.
U: Instants and sorceries, evasion, combat tricks, big fatties, Blue will be a slower colour, more able and willing to be more of a midrange-combo option. U is a difficult colour to ensure there is balance between all its archtypes.UG Big stuff and BG treefolk were the first colour combinations I started with and I worked my way from there. I admittedly want to keep these two archtypes the most of all the combinations chosen, though I understand that it will be difficult to ensure the latter has enough support.
B: Artifacts, Exalted, Evasion, Treefolk, Black will for the most part be a slower colour, more willing to explore control and midrange strategies except when it is combined with R. One of the difficulties I am having is deciding whether BR artefacts tends to be more aggressive in nature or if it leans more towards a midrange strategy. More critically,BG treefolk is a tribal strategy; I realize that tribal archtypes tend to be weaker and require a lot of support so as to not become the least desireable draft strategy. While there are some interesting uncommon and rare treefolk pieces, I may have to create my own cards to ensure the archtype is fun and plays well.
R: Equipment, artefact graveyard recursion, instants and sorceries, not much more to say about red than I said already in the other sections, though part of me wonders if the RG Aggro archtype needs further analysis. I need to pick a mechanic I think that plays well with Green being about ramp and medium-big sized creatures, despite all its other potential combinations being more focused on the early game.
G: ramp into big creatures, Treefolk, +1/+1 counters, and Gruul aggro,red is pulled into both early and mid-late game strategies. The problems and plans with these have already been laid out.
I know that wizards in thier products will sometimes give one combination a tribal theme while having its other draft archtypes nontribal strategies. How do they ensure that the tribal strategy is sufficiently supported and plays well with the other archtypes given to other combinations? Cube-building is daunting.
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
Once you have found your gold cards that will be the "poster boys" of those archetypes you can then include a few mono coloured cards to support that archetype. Just be careful you don't pick cards that are too narrow as you want to make sure the cards you are putting in have value on their own in order to stop them from being completely useless in other decks.
You may also want to consider colours that can act as a support to that archetype. for example you are planning on +1/+1 counters in selesnya. but there are some good counters cards in blue and black like drana, liberator of malakir, and nadir kraken. Both these cards provide good value on their own but can support a larger archetype.
My second cube is built along these lines. I designed it to draft with my sons and for them to draft with friends. It avoids older cards so the templating is post-M10, and the focus on archetype synergies makes it easier to draft an effective deck. The supported archetypes are as follows:
WU blinking/bouncing creatures to reuse enters the battlefield abilities
UB reanimator
BR discard matters (hellbent, madness)
RG lands matter
GW tokens
WB sacrifice
BG using graveyard as a resource
GU +1/+1 tokens
UR spells matter
RW go-wide (battalion, pumping all creatures)
Archetypes are not limited to a single strategy: WB can be drafted as either more aggressive or more controlling; BG is typically midrange but can have combo elements; etc.
Archetypes can bleed into each other, for example white token producers support both the token and go wide decks, and something like Cloudgoat Ranger is a tasty blink target. Similarly cards that have elements of more than one archetype are valuable both to increase density of support and create interesting draft picks. Legion’s Landing is both a token producer and a go-wide incentive; Voldaren Pariah is a sacrifice enabler with Madness; Nissa, Voice of Zendikar supports tokens, +1/+1 counters and lands matter.
ing archetype support out of colour is fine and to some extent unavoidable. Young Pyromancer is included as a spells matter card, but also happens to produce tokens. This enables 3+ colour decks and helps stop the draft from becoming stale by allowing more surprise synergies.
My list is not yet balanced properly. All archetypes are viable, but there are individual cards that may be at the wrong power level. For me this will have to come through testing.
With regards to your list, I think you are setting your power level too low. Bear in mind that standard draft sets contain cards that have to cater to other formats, and still contain a lot of cards that are draft “filler”. Simply by removing these there is a good chance that your cube will produce decks above the power of a standard draft.
Treefolk will be a challenge. It is likely to be a very linear archetype and difficult to get enough black representation. You could expand a little into “creatures matter” and “forests matter”. I’d also break the singleton rule for key cards like Bosk Banneret or any playable black Treefolk.
I’d be inclined to give a bit more to RG than just aggro. Maybe werewolves if you want another tribal theme, +1/+1 counters, or even lands matter.
Taking this route will create a unique cube that is tailored to what you most enjoy about magic. The downside is that it will be harder to find advice because other cube builders will be appraising cards on different criteria.
My 380 Beginners’ Cube on Cube Tutor
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
This is all excellent advice. Much appreciated! I'm glad there have been a few more uncommon treefolk printed in this core set!
I'm gonna experiment and see if I can't find a way to increase the power level. One idea I took from the Core set is that because Treefolk generally have higher toughness and are of a greater mana cost, I can use Green and black themes that reward players using high toughness creatures, or creatures that are just large in general.
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi