Ver. 1.5
Hello and Welcome to the Jank Cube! Whether you were linked here or you accidentally stumbled upon it, I'm glad you've decided to read this far and urge you to continue reading. Cube Tutor
History
...And this is when Napoleon Bonaparte's Spark activated...
Around 2010, I was introduced to the format when a friend brought his peasant cube in to play inbetween the break we shared for our classes. We ended up playing several drafting formats and type four, both duels and multiplayer and needless to say, it was incredibly fun! So I decided then that I wanted to make a cube.
The problem I ran into was that I wasn't sure what kind of cube I wanted to make. I didn't have tons of spare planeswalkers, didn't have any big guys that could be fun to see in a draft and I really didn't have money to drop on planeswalkers let alone powered cards. The Idea really came to me a couple years later during a combination of sorting out my collection (primarily my rares) and me searching endlessly on MagicCards.info to look for fun cheap stuff I could put into an EDH deck I was working on the time. I ended up finding a lot of older cards that just weren't up to par but still looked quite fun. Since I was looking for a somewhat unique cube experience everything sort of fell into place.
I ended up running the idea by my playgroup and they thought it sounded like a lot of fun. So I started making a list of cards that people considered "Jank" and put it all together. Since then I've been working on refining the list and making sure everything I've put in there is playable and still fun.
Pool: Vintage Legal
Powered: No
Ideal Players: 2-8
Formats: Balanced between Multiplayer and Duels; Standard Drafting, Type 4 (Big Deck), and Drafting Variants
Card Ideology
Hah, more like IDIOTogy...
Perhaps not the right word, but just a basic list of stuff I've been thinking about while constructing the cube.
Effectivly when we (well, mostly me but with some base suggestions from a couple friends as we went on) started work on this cube it was just us compiling a giant list of a bunch of cards we knew we were bad. Apocalypse Chime was in there among others. After looking long and hard (I swear I've looked through every rare in magic at least ten times now) I started realizing there was a lot of janky cards however thats also when I realized that sometimes jank is TOO janky. That wasn't a concept I had realized before and some of my friends still don't quite understand. So as I kept sorting, adding stuff to the list and removing others I ended up realizing that there's a lot of playable jank while the truly terrible stuff just can't be included because in a drafting environment it doesn't do anything.
That being said, I also ended up realizing that cards that might not be GOOD but aren't jank might be too useless to include as well. In this case, I realized it when I wanted to put Muraganda Petroglyphs in there to help support some of the themes I was trying to incorperate, but I realized that outside of tokens, they all had abilities (even when I made my lands become dudes they still had mana abilities) so I would be better off just adding something like Leyline of the Meek, although I still decided against that. So I started looking at every card carefully to make sure that it could at least see play and that it was still going to be fun.
I suppose I should also explain the decision to include mythics into the Cube when it's supposed to be jank. My one friend suggested I try to take all the worst mythics printed and put them in. I wanted to control how many were actually being used so we didn't end up with all of them in a single pool, so I decided that one of the best ways to do it was use it as the "Pack Rare" so to speak. It'll promote that each person has the chance to pull three mythics if they wish to use them and still create the environment I was hoping for.
Well, I promised a list so here's what I'd consider my Manifesto as the cube designer and holder.
The Jank Cube Manifesto
No card included shall be too useless
Each card will have some fun element to it
The cube will promote multicolour decks
Cards will be carefully monitored to ensure play remains fun and fair
Drafting should remaining interesting and challenging
The Cube
Or as I shall be calling it The Giant Stack of Cardboard and Plastic That Takes Four People to Shuffle, a much more fitting name if you ask me.
Key
*S* = Special Rarity
*U* = Uncommon Rarity
*C* = Common Rarity
About as much support as BioWare hiring a honey badger as a Customer Service Rep.
**Note: While I am supporting Archetypes in the Cube, this is primarily a list of player discovered archetypes. Everything currently listed is what has been drafted multiple times on CubeTutor or online draft sims, more will be added at a later date.
G/B/x Threshold - Didn't initially intend on this deck to be there, but I managed to include enough cards that work well together that it seems to be a relevant deck to have been drafted a couple times. Been coupled with G/B/x Tokens a couple times. Supporting Cards: Bloodcurdler, Auntie's Snitch, Gurzigost, Deadbridge Chant, Worm Harvest
Kinda like the Watchmen except Rorschach isn't here to get suspicious of the changes I'm making.
Too Strong - Cards that might get removed for controlling the game too much. Reborn Hero - Recursion effect might be too strong; will have to see in play Autochthon Wurm - Worried this might be just as strong as Mycoid Shepherd.
Too Weak - Cards that might get removed for not seeing play or just not doing enough. Nihilistic Glee - Might not see play Kher Keep - If I'm removing CotF(^), should I remove all red Token support?
Probation - Cards that are currently removed from the list but may get added back in. Vhati il-Dal - Just cut in 1.4 to make room for some more fixing. Might return in a later update.
With the adding of the Mythics, the cube is pretty much complete. I technically have 25 cards to add to reach 450, but I'm going to wait to add those after some play testing to see if we need some stuff like Disenchant or Naturalize and if we don't think just find something else to add.
At this point, I'm going to start working on collecting the cards (I'll post a list of what cards I have later) and combing the list to make sure everything is fine. Null Profusion and Kentaro will probably go, for instance and I'll probably find a couple others I'd want to replace.
Past that, I'm looking forward to what will be built given the resources. I think it's overall in a good state of what I want and where I think it should be.
I've been getting a kick out of drafting your cube on the "Cube the above person's cube thread." I love what you've done here, by giving a home to all those rares that just don't seem to seem to have a home in any format and just seem to collect dust. I can almost hear Sarah Maclachlan music playing in the background while I look over your list, and it gives me hope that someday I can find a home for some of my own janky rares....
The one thing that seems to be missing from your cube is mana fixing, which should help make a lot of your multi-color and color intensive cards a lot more playable. Most traditional cubes run about 10% mana fixing lands, which in a cube your size would be 4 lands per 2 color combination plus some 5 color fixers. I only see one in your whole cube list (Land Cap), so I have a hard time seeing how a lot of your 3+ color cards are even going to get drafted, much less played anywhere near on time. Far be it from me to recommend cube staples like ABU duals, fetches, shock lands, etc., for your cube - that's clearly not the kind of flavor you're going for here.
If you're just trying to get cheap, quality fixing, here are some underrated but legitimately playable budget rare duals that have worked well in my cheapskate cube:
Thanks so much for your Input! It's been rather difficult trying to figure out whats working by myself right now so your insights are really helpful.
As far as mana fixing goes, I didn't even think about that. I think I was a bit too preoccupied in trying to get as much jank in a possible. I really dig some of those last cards you listed, so I'll be sorting through my lands again and make room for some more fixing (maybe via dropping a couple cards per color and some artifacts). I'll be sure to post the next update when I get the lands a bit more evened out.
And with this, I'm at 450 cards. Thanks again Spike Rogue for help with the mana base. Hopefully it'll be easier to dip into tri-colors better. Also in this update are a couple commons/uncommons per color to just try to make sure each color has a little removal.
Someone brought up the fact that there isn't enough mana fixing in the cube although I'm not sure whether or not it's really a problem since only one person pointed it out after adding the latest batch of lands. Because of this I decided to go through and find some artifacts to help out if the problem continues.
Here are the mana-fixing artifacts I'm considering (however I'm not sure what I'd want to cut to get them in, maybe I cut a card or two from each color to add them in).
At the Rare slots we have the Mana Batteries(White, Blue, Black, Red, Green) which seems OK, but I'm not sure if this would really help with fixing or just help get out some of the higher costing spells. We also have the Ramos artifacts (Tooth, Eye, Skull, Heart, Horn) which might really help the fixing better but I'm not sure if these are really what I'm looking for.
At the Uncommon rarity, we have the Attendant cycle (Crosis, Darigaaz, Dromar, Rith, Treva) which covers the shard colors pretty well. I'd consider running these. We also have the mana eggs(Darkwater, Mossfire, Shadowblood, Skycloud, Sungrass).
But past those sets of cards, there's also Pili-Pala (Common), Lotus Guardian (Rare), Celestial Prism (Uncommon) and a couple others which I might look at if I don't add the sets (or even if I do, I might still add Lotus Guardian).
I'd have to figure it out, I want to make sure that everything is mostly viable to play or at least CAN see play if you build a deck for it. Because of this I'm willing to add a small amount uncommons or commons, provided they're still janky, to the cube to help make it that way.
Past all that, this post is also to update that I've managed to collect a few more cards for the cube.
I haven't been able to collected anymore cards (Although I did run into someone who had all of the Elder Dragons but rather unfortunately he didn't see anything he wished to trade when he looked through my rather shoddy collections, so I didn't pressure it) but I've been contemplating about how to fix the mana a little further. So I think these are the changes I'll make soon, I just want to have a little more time to think about the changes before finally implementing them.
Unfortunately the lands aren't rares, but at this point I'm more looking to make sure cards are playable over packing it full jank rares (it already has 450 jank rares anyways, a couple uncommons/commons wont hurt any). I was heavily looking at the Homelands Tri-Mana lands (An-Havva Township, Aysen Abbey, Castle Sengir, Koskun Keep, Wizards' School) but I couldn't tell if they'd be too detrimental or too durdly to play where-as I knew the Artifacts there would be a bit more useful in terms of getting some bigger stuff down faster and perhaps be able to push some of the fatter guys I have in the cube into the spotlight so to speak.
Granted all this is just a mock update for now, but I'm hoping to finalize it in the next week or two.
It's your cube thread, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're looking for feedback on your update, though, you should use card tags.
I do recognize the names of those Homelands filter tri-lands. You're a sick, sick man Pet Snake. Those Mirage duals, on the other hand, are a great choice for budget mana fixing.
Thanks, been a while since I've been able to post so I've forgotten to include card tags.
As for playing, still not sure yet. Thankfully I've finally gotten a secure job and now that we're past the Holidays I can start finishing the cube. I've gotten 75 cards traded, but I'm having a pretty hard time finding people who actually keep these cards. I'll end up having to buy it but I'll have it completed and sleeved by the end of February, which is exciting. Overall I'm pretty happy with how its looking now.
OK, now that I can see the tags, I can tell you that I like most of your changes. Cutting some of the cards that are basically unplayable like Sky Swallower and Blood Funner for mana fixing can only help your cube run more smoothly.
The only changes I think you might want to reconsider are these, because they're so hard to cast they'll probably just sit in sideboards:
Thanks, you're probably right on the Elder Dragons needing to be removed as much as I'd love to keep them in they're probably just going to be sideboard 99% of the time. I'll figure out replacements in the next update I have, though I'd worry about the power level of those dragons in this cube but I'll check out some other cycles that I could include in their place.
I think I'd like to keep the Autochton Wurm if possible, but I could be argued into possibly running the Trostani's Summoner if the Wurm doesn't work out. I'll keep an eye on it.
Funny that you should mention the Sphere. A friend was wanting me to make this as a basically something similar but also as a "Draft this for the person next to you" format as well (Which I might try to run once or twice!).
And thanks, I'm pretty excited to finally be able to get close to having it premiere at my LGS.
As a Storage update, I've determined I'm going to double sleeve with KMC Purple Hyper Mat and perfect fit. I'm debating on storage still. Part of me just wants to pick up a 5$ 800 count cardboard box to start. Probably upgrade to a better case later.
Funny thing about Spike Rogue saying this is one of a kind, I actually have a cube shockingly similar to this. Never thought I'd see another cube running aeolipile and conch horn as "value" artifacts, but here we are.
If i could make one suggestion from my cube, conspiracy has a few great rare artifact creatures to add. If you're okay with mechanics that take place during the draft, they're a bunch of fun to play with.
For cards to remove, Sedraxis Specter comes to mind. I've found with decent removal being hard to come by, specter effects are incredibly powerful, and not in a fun way. I started with 3 or so black specters in my cube and have eventually removed them all.
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currently playing---
Legacy: B currently brewing... W
EDH: RRosheen Meanderer G
The foolish wish for that which they desire. The cunning wish for that which they require.
That's actually pretty rad. I've known about anti-cubes and such, but I wasn't sure if there had been too many others with a similar concept for their cubes.
Thanks for pointing out the Conspiracy stuff, I looked through them before but kinda just ignored them because they dont feel janky, but you're right. Lot of them seem like fun so I might put an optional conspiracy package that I can add or remove depending on the players.
And yeah I see what you're saying about specter effects, I'll keep an eye on it for now, and I'll probably drop it with my next update (gold cards always throw me off when I'm trying to keep power levels in check).
That's actually pretty rad. I've known about anti-cubes and such, but I wasn't sure if there had been too many others with a similar concept for their cubes.
Thanks for pointing out the Conspiracy stuff, I looked through them before but kinda just ignored them because they dont feel janky, but you're right. Lot of them seem like fun so I might put an optional conspiracy package that I can add or remove depending on the players.
And yeah I see what you're saying about specter effects, I'll keep an eye on it for now, and I'll probably drop it with my next update (gold cards always throw me off when I'm trying to keep power levels in check).
I made mine as a way to utilize all the bulk rares my friends and I had, so I imagine there's got to be a few people people out there who had the same idea. It's evolved into something unique since then, the archtypes that have cropped up are something special haha. (ion storm/inexorable tide, 5 color coalition victory/door to nothingness, myr welder/necrotic ooze dredge, opalescence enchantments, etc)
I think one thing that really helped out my cube is to not really worry about how janky a card feels, but to be more concerned about fun as long as it doesnt break anything. I've got a birthing pod in my cube, traditionally an extremely powerful card. I don't have to worry about power level here due to the inherent weakness of creatures, and it makes for weird, hilarious pod chains.
It also looks like you figured out the same thing I did for this cube: a soft ban on angels, demons, and dragons. I've got a few notable exceptions (like Hellcarver Demon), but they just tend to end the game without resistance too much.
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currently playing---
Legacy: B currently brewing... W
EDH: RRosheen Meanderer G
The foolish wish for that which they desire. The cunning wish for that which they require.
I'm pretty excited to see what decks pop up when I can finally bring this in to draft (I finally heard back from my job and I'll be getting more hours so Cube will be complete by end of March sleeves and all!).
And I could almost imagine what people would pod chain into for this cube. Maybe it's something I'll have to look into either as a "Power Module" or just adding some fun Powerful cards later that rely on others card to interact, especially with Pod getting banned in Modern!.
In regards to angels, demons and dragons: Even some of the "Less good ones" seem way too strong here, just having beatsticks in the air seemed too strong to even chance including. Although I did really want to run the Elder Dragons because they don't ever seem to be relevant outside of Nicol Bolas or someone's Flavor EDH deck but seems like they'll honestly be getting cut in favor of something more playable.
I personally don't run any tricolor cards in my cube outside of coalition victory and who//what//when//where//why, so I'm not very much help there. I have 23 mana-fixing land in my 360 card cube, and I still think mono-rares tax mana bases too much to play three colors much of the time (green gets a bit of help with stuff like utopia tree). Side note, there's literally no way anyone is gonna play rainbow vale, it's just too terrible. Paliano, the high city?
You're right in saying that engine cards are only as powerful as the cards they ultimately play with, which is why birthing pod is fine. I've got cards like Rhystic Tutor and tezzeret the seeker in my cube because they help other cards combo together.
In regards to Hibernation's End, while I'd love to add this because I think it's neat basically having to tap out each turn to get something, I'm worried that this effect may be too strong (Same reason while I think it'd be halarious to watch some of the pod chains people try to pull) due to no other search cards included at all. It'll be added on a trial basis.
With Guided Passage, it's almost for the same reason with Hibernation's end, I'm worried about anything search being too strong, HOWEVER this seems like it might fit right in and since I added Hibernation's End in, I figure I might as well try out this guy.
Kheru Lich Lord is added to help fill out the Tri-Color slots with more options. Additionally I think it got really underdrafted with Khans, so I'd love to see how it works here.
Possible Changes:
Phyrexian Tyranny in for Elemental Augury. I've been thinking that a punishment effect might be better than a weird filter card. Downside is that this card might be too powerful in the decks it gets played in.
Masticore in for Molten-Tail Masticore. Just looking to scale back the power on this card. I want this mythic slot to be an artifact creature (Or at least a colorless one), but so many of them are just too good so I think I could scale back the power with this change.
Watchlist Changes:
Added Retaliator Griffin to Too Strong watch list. While it might be a four drop with a color intensive cost, I'm worried about this card possibly spiralling out of control in games its played in.
Misc. Changes:
Reorganized the Gold section on the cube list in the OP.
As much as I'd love to include Halfdane (I do love his ability), his pricetag at around 8$ is a bit too much for me currently. Maybe later down the line it'll be something I try to fit in.
Additionally, I wanted to add in a 5 color creature (either Genju of the Realm or Karona, False God) but I'm worried about people running tri-color let alone a 5 color deck.
I've been working on a possible Conspiracy Module (Or at least I think thats what we call it here in the cube forum). I know that most Conspiracy modules for other cubes include sometimes only 10-12 cards and it's still singleton, but I'm thinking of allowing 2-ofs or 3-ofs in the module for the sake of fun. Although maybe people only add 1 because its all thats really needed. Something like the following is what I'm thinking about.
Notes about Card update:
Since purchasing portions of the cube, Guardian Seraph seems a little too strong in the cube and has thus been replaced with Camel to help a lower curve (also since Desert is in the cube).
Indomitable Archangel seems too strong even for a mythic, a 4/4 flying for 4 alone seems way too good, so in this sense Jazal Goldmane feels a little better as a 4/4 First Striker for 4 that also has a bit more of a interactive ability.
Possible Changes: Toshiro Umezawa will be getting removed. He was orignally added to help support samurai in a secondary color besides white, however his power level is above the rest of the cube and his price is getting up there as well.
Prophetic Bolt is strong enough to get included into the Vintage Masters set on MTGO, so perhaps it's powerlevel is a lot stronger than I anticipated. I may end up replacing it with Steam Augury.
Misc. Changes:
Updated the Cube Tutor since it was waaaay out of date.
Gold was updated quite a bit again to help make them more playable. Something Khans-Dragons has taught me was that people will just not run some cards if they look even remotely unplayable.
I ended up cutting a couple more tri-color cards to add in the panoramas (Naya, Jund, Grixis, Bant, Esper) to help with fetching for proper colors. As much as I want to keep a many tri-color cards as possible, I'd rather be able to support all multicolor by adding in a few extra lands than nullify the entire gold section.
The Conspiracy module is put on hiatus until cube balacing is complete.
Also hey all, I'm not dead. I've been working quite a bit, I have up to Red complete. Only a couple sections left. About 200$ (including sleeves) and I'll be done. Ever time I purchase something I end up worrying quite a bit that I'll have just a dead cube that we'll never play because no one enjoys it, but a friend pointed out that even if it comes to that, I'll have a bunch of really interesting cards left.
Side Note: Give the cube tutor about an hour from this posting to update. I'm working on it now.
Edit: Added this image just so I can show the actual amount remaining. It's getting pretty exciting getting this close to completion. Green will be ordered this week.
Just as a side note over all I guess because I wanted to write this down somewhere I could keep track of it.
So I've been thinking for a long time about the direction of this cube, it's part of the reason why I've been worried that the cube will turn into a useless stack of cards that will never get played. I'm also worried since the playgroup I have has been dwindling at our card shop on the normal time. The last of my worries is probably the one I worried least about until now, but one that'll probably shape the cube the most in the coming future.
The plans for the cube:
I know this strays from the original plan of the cube, however I think it'll be better than having the Jank Cube not evolve and just be this novelty thing. I think it'll be best for the cube that it does transition from a pure Jank Cube into having cards to support the archetypes that develop. I think it's for the best we keep the power level scaled back from the best options, and perhaps we continue looking into jankier options than people would normally consider but it should perhaps open to other rarities (after the initial couple month run of course).
So I guess the long-term goals in order go like this,
1) Keep the Cube fun to draft
2) Avoid the Cube turning into a Novelty item
3) Slowly transition the cube from a 100% Jank Cube
I think if I can work on these three things when considering future updates, perhaps I'll be able to turn this into something that has an enjoyable experience every time it's drafted.
With all this being said, the first major update I want to roll out after cube completion is going to be a slight land change. I think keeping the jankier options for land stays with the overall power level of the cube, however (like in this latest update with the addition of the Panoramas) I'll probably try adding more traditional multi-color lands and other mana fixing. Doing this will help promote the multi-color aspect of the cube and make the draft overall more enjoyable for those who are even just splashing. I've been currently looking at adding the Guild Bounce Lands (Probably less so for this since the Lair lands are already included), The Guild Gates, the "Frost" Lands or I'm even looking at adding in some of the Masques' Depletion Lands (Although this won't quite help with fixing, so I might add green as a one-of to sort of help out their ramp if I decide they need it).
With all this being said I think a lot of the cards I have in here are fun and really cool but they just don't have their place to shine which is why I want to keep working on things and keep this overall theme. The plans are still on for keeping this as janky as possible for the first month or two probably but this is something I'm looking to do with the cube in the future.
It's nice to see that you're still working on this, and I like the expanded write-up in your intro post. It's easier to tell what your goals are for this cube. I think the tri-color cards for Panorama swaps will help your drafts go a bit more smoothly, but after my last draft I think you should still try to find more mana fixing. Maybe you could try running some 5-color fixers like Transguild Promenade, Shimmering Grotto, Unknown Shores, Evolving Wilds, and Tendo Ice Bridge.
Building decks from your cube isn't always easy, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Jank Cube in the "Draft the Above Person's Cube" thread. It's always an interesting challenge!
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I've been slowly working on overhauling the Artifacts before I purchase them. I've been working a lot on the Multi-color section, I've worked a bit on the mono-colored section in between my sessions of making sure the multi-color looks solid, however I've completely neglected the Artifact/colorless section entirely and haven't updated it since I pretty much put it together.
I'm pretty set on the mythics, and most of the artifacts but there are some that I'm seeing as borderline unplayable (in the sense that it won't be run even for the decks I thought I was including it to try to support) so I'm working on overhauling several elements of what I really want this section to do.
Kinda still working on this artifact update. It's been throwing me for a loop every time I come back to look at it. I'm wanting to add some cool stuff and make it more of the general direction I want it to go however I'm worried that it might overpower the artifact section.
Each of these cards (except Molten-Tail because he's actually really strong and I was dumb for including him in the first place) just don't feel right within the cube. Either they're too slow or just not effective enough to see play. I'd love to keep stuff like Aladdin's Ring however there is just no way it's going to ever be included in the deck.
Here's some of the stonger considerations I'm looking at including. These aren't set in stone, and I'd love feedback on it.
Scroll of the Masters - Probably to replace Celestial Sword. Cheaper cost might allow this to see play, also doesn't have the drawback of having to sac.
Tower of Champions - Similar problem to Aladdin's Ring, but the lower casting cost might allow this to be played on a curve and used as a finisher.
Just trying to make sure I don't make the same mistakes I made the first time I designed the artifact section. I'm going to look through all the Artifacts soon, not just the rares.
Hello and Welcome to the Jank Cube! Whether you were linked here or you accidentally stumbled upon it, I'm glad you've decided to read this far and urge you to continue reading.
Cube Tutor
History
The problem I ran into was that I wasn't sure what kind of cube I wanted to make. I didn't have tons of spare planeswalkers, didn't have any big guys that could be fun to see in a draft and I really didn't have money to drop on planeswalkers let alone powered cards. The Idea really came to me a couple years later during a combination of sorting out my collection (primarily my rares) and me searching endlessly on MagicCards.info to look for fun cheap stuff I could put into an EDH deck I was working on the time. I ended up finding a lot of older cards that just weren't up to par but still looked quite fun. Since I was looking for a somewhat unique cube experience everything sort of fell into place.
I ended up running the idea by my playgroup and they thought it sounded like a lot of fun. So I started making a list of cards that people considered "Jank" and put it all together. Since then I've been working on refining the list and making sure everything I've put in there is playable and still fun.
Card Breakdown
White = 53 Cards (3 Mythics, 44 Rares, 5 Commons, 1 Special)
Pool: Vintage LegalBlue = 53 (3 Mythics, 46 Rares, 3 Uncommons, 1 Special)
Black = 53 (3 Mythics, 47 Rares, 1 Uncommons, 2 Commons)
Red = 53 (3 Mythics, 46 Rares, 2 Uncommons, 2 Commons)
Green = 53 (3 Mythics, 46 Rares, 2 Uncommons, 2 Common)
Guilds = 40 (4 Rares per Guild)
Gold = 25 (5 Mythics, 20 Misc. Rares)
Artifacts = 55 (5 Mythics, 50 Rares)
Lands = 65 (2 Mythics, 31 Rares, 23 Uncommons, 9 Commons)
Totals = 450 total; 27 Mythics, 370 Rares, 31 Uncommons, 20 Commons, 2 Specials
Powered: No
Ideal Players: 2-8
Formats: Balanced between Multiplayer and Duels; Standard Drafting, Type 4 (Big Deck), and Drafting Variants
Card Ideology
Effectivly when we (well, mostly me but with some base suggestions from a couple friends as we went on) started work on this cube it was just us compiling a giant list of a bunch of cards we knew we were bad. Apocalypse Chime was in there among others. After looking long and hard (I swear I've looked through every rare in magic at least ten times now) I started realizing there was a lot of janky cards however thats also when I realized that sometimes jank is TOO janky. That wasn't a concept I had realized before and some of my friends still don't quite understand. So as I kept sorting, adding stuff to the list and removing others I ended up realizing that there's a lot of playable jank while the truly terrible stuff just can't be included because in a drafting environment it doesn't do anything.
That being said, I also ended up realizing that cards that might not be GOOD but aren't jank might be too useless to include as well. In this case, I realized it when I wanted to put Muraganda Petroglyphs in there to help support some of the themes I was trying to incorperate, but I realized that outside of tokens, they all had abilities (even when I made my lands become dudes they still had mana abilities) so I would be better off just adding something like Leyline of the Meek, although I still decided against that. So I started looking at every card carefully to make sure that it could at least see play and that it was still going to be fun.
I suppose I should also explain the decision to include mythics into the Cube when it's supposed to be jank. My one friend suggested I try to take all the worst mythics printed and put them in. I wanted to control how many were actually being used so we didn't end up with all of them in a single pool, so I decided that one of the best ways to do it was use it as the "Pack Rare" so to speak. It'll promote that each person has the chance to pull three mythics if they wish to use them and still create the environment I was hoping for.
Well, I promised a list so here's what I'd consider my Manifesto as the cube designer and holder.
No card included shall be too useless
Each card will have some fun element to it
The cube will promote multicolour decks
Cards will be carefully monitored to ensure play remains fun and fair
Drafting should remaining interesting and challenging
The Cube
Key
*S* = Special Rarity
*U* = Uncommon Rarity
*C* = Common Rarity
2 Impulse
3 Skaab Ruinator
5 Beguiler of Wills
Creature
1 Electric Eel
2 Chronatog
2 Ertai's Familiar
2 Ludevic's Test Subject
2 Overtaker
2 Renegade Doppelganger
2 Voidmage Prodigy
2 Sapphire Leech
2 Stern Proctor - *U*
2 Void Stalker
3 Daring Apprentice
3 Dralnu's Pet
3 Ovinomancer - *S*
3 Time Elemental
3 Tolarian Emissary - *U*
3 Whirlpool Warrior
4 Kukemssa Pirates
4 Lumengrid Augur
4 Reveka, Wizard Savant
4 Sand Squid
4 Stormscape Master
4 Wall of Wonder
5 Rishadan Brigand
5 Mischievous Quanar
6 Mist Dragon
6 Aerial Caravan
7 Vizzerdrix
8 Maelstrom Djinn
2 Icy Prison
2 Dance of Many
2 Flooded Shoreline
2 Trade Routes
4 Domestication
5 Curse of Echoes
6 Conjured Currency
7 Day of the Dragons
Instant
1 Chain Stasis
1 Read the Runes
2 Ertai's Meddling
4 Spellshift
4 Plagiarize
5 Fervent Denial
6 Reweave
Sorcery
1 Mind Bomb
2 Turbulent Dreams
3 Political Trickery
4 Breaking Wave
4 Juxtapose
4 Polymorph
6 Covenant of Minds
4 Jazal Goldmane
7 Devout Invocation
8 Archangel's Light
Creature
1 Alabaster Leech
1 Camel
1 Sacred Guide
1 Tethered Griffin
1 Icatian Lieutenant - *S*
2 Benalish Calvary - *C*
2 Degavolver
2 Sensei Golden-Tail
2 Shinewend
2 Sunstrike Legionnaire
3 Dogged Hunter
3 Hedron-Field Purists
3 Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo
3 Reborn Hero
4 Ageless Sentinels
4 Defender of the Order
4 Graceful Antelope
4 Hundred-Handed One
4 Trap Digger
4 Wakestone Gargoyle
4 Woolly Razorback
5 Gerrard Capashen
5 Petra Sphinx
5 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
6 Chronosavant
6 Kjeldoran Phalanx
6 Takeno, Samurai General
7 Elder Land Wurm
3 Act of Authority
3 Sacred Mesa
3 Samite Sanctuary
4 Force Bubble
4 Lightmine Field
4 Pegasus Refuge
5 Mystic Barrier
Instant
1 Scout's Warning
2 Formation
2 Lightning Blow
2 Renounce the Guilds
2 Vengeful Dreams
3 Truce
4 Reverent Mantra
4 Seed Spark *C*
5 Banishment Decree - *C*
7 Fated Retribution
Sorcery
3 Blinding Light
5 Evangelize
6 Solar Tide
8 Reverse the Sands
9 Heroes Remembered
1 Dispeller's Capsule - *C*
2 Comet Storm
3 Urza's Rage
9 Worldfire
Creature
1 Dwarven Armorer
1 Obstinate Familiar
1 Mogg Sentry
1 Spikeshot Elder
2 Bomber Corps - *C*
2 Goblin Kaboomist
2 Pardic Miner
2 Reckless Reveler - *C*
2 Ruby Leech
2 Shrieking Mogg
2 Varchild's War-Riders
3 Blood Hound
3 Brothers of Fire
3 Cosmic Larva
3 Rage Nimbus
4 Akki Lavarunner
4 Balduvian Horde
4 Chaos Harlequin
4 Desolation Giant
4 Thunderscape Master
4 Worldheart Pheonix
5 Flowstone Overseer
5 Fortune Thief
5 Menacing Ogre
6 Kamahl, Pit Fighter
7 Chancellor of the Forge
8 Bloodfire Colossus
8 Bearer of the Heavens
1 Ironclaw Curse
2 Ashling's Prerogative
2 Amok
2 Goblin Festival
4 Collapsing Borders
4 Manabarbs
5 Confusion in the Ranks
Instant
1 Telim'Tor's Edict
3 Dark Temper - *C*
3 Fatal Frenzy
4 Bash to Bits - *U*
6 Soulblast
6 Stone Idol Trap
Sorcery
1 Devastating Summons
1 Ghitu Fire
3 Kari Zev's Expertise
3 Thunderblade Charge
4 Rekindled Flame
5 Illicit Auction
5 Incendiary Command
8 Alpha Brawl
9 Volley of Boulders
5 Descent into Madness
6 Champion of Stray Souls
7 Ghastly Conscriptions
Creature
1 Cruel Sadist
1 Entrails Feaster
1 Kederekt Parasite
2 Bloodcurdler
2 Carrionette
2 Consumptive Goo
2 Instigator
2 Treacherous Pit-Dweller
2 Weirding Shaman
3 Andradite Leech
3 Auntie's Snitch
3 Dross Harvester
3 Drinker of Sorrow
3 Maddening Imp
3 Skeleton Scavengers
3 Dusk Urchins
3 Xenic Poltergeist
4 Harbinger of Night
4 Abyssal Hunter
4 Banshee
4 Demonlord of Ashmouth
4 Shambling Swarm
4 Unliving Psychopath
5 Bellowing Fiend
5 Phyrexian Plaguelord
5 Fendeep Summoner
5 Phyrexian Delver
6 Keeper of Tresserhorn
8 Liege of the Pit
2 Heartless Summoning
2 Parallax Dementia - *C*
3 Hecatomb
3 Infernal Tribute
4 Endless Whispers
4 Midnight Oil
4 Nihilistic Glee
6 Gibbering Descent
Instant
2 Rapid Decay
2 Imp's Mischief
3 Carrion
3 Kaervek's Spite
5 Waste Away - *C*
7 Soul Spike
Sorcery
3 Infernal Contract
3 Phyrexian Tribute
5 Aether Snap
5 Planar Despair
6 Assassin's Strike - *U*
6 Undercity Plague
7 Cabal Conditioning
2 Epic Experiment
4 Council of the Absolute
4 Duskmantle Seer
6 Deathpact Angel
6 Deadbridge Chant
Azorius (WU)
3 Aven Mimeomancer
3 Leering Gargoyle
3 Reparations
7 Ith, High Arcanist
Boros (WR)
3 Goblin Trenches
4 Spark Trooper
4 Brightflame
6 Foundry Champion
Dimir (UB)
3 Unfulfilled Desires
4 Barrin's Spite
4 Soul Ransom
5 Skeleton Ship
Golgari (BG)
2 Squandered Resources
5 Worm Harvest
5 Grave-Shell Scarab
8 Doomgape
2 Meteor Storm
3 Overabundance
4 Polis Crusher
6 Rubblehulk
Izzet (UR)
2 Frenetic Efreet
3 Dragonshift
3 Invoke the Firemind
4 Tibor and Lumia
Orzhov (WB)
3 Circle of Despair
4 Alms Beast
4 Triad of Fates
6 Necromancer's Covenant
Rakdos (BR)
3 Cryptborn Horror
3 Keldon Twilight
5 Anthem of Rakdos
5 Tyrannize
Selesnya (WG)
3 Dueling Grounds
3 Noble Panther
3 Wellspring
15 Autochthon Wurm
Simic (UG)
2 Biomass Mutation
4 Fathom Mage
4 Omnibian
8 Yavimaya's Embrace
3 Giltspire Avenger
4 Questing Phelddagrif
6 Storm Spirit
Esper (WUB)
3 Merieke Ri Berit
3 Wandering Mage
5 Ertai, the Corrupted
Grixis (UBR)
5 Sol'kanar the Swamp King
1 Breaking // Entering
Jund (BRG)
3 Lavalanche
7 Charnelhoard Wurm
1 Flesh // Blood
Naya (RGW)
3 Fiery Justice
3 Tamanoa
6 Realm Razer
Sultai (BUG)
6 Kheru Lich Lord
Jeskai(WUR)
1 Catch // Release
1 Odds // Ends
Temur (URG)
3 Guided Passage
Rainbow
8 Coalition Victory
5 Last Stand
4 Tree of Redemption
6 Essence of the Wild
10 Primal Surge
Creature
1 Hero of Leina Tower
1 Boreal Druid
2 Magus of the Library
2 Quirion Dryad
2 Wyluli Wolf
2 Tribal Forcemage
3 Avenging Druid
3 Brushwagg
3 Killer Bees
3 Krosan Restorer
3 Rysorian Badger
3 Wild Beastmaster
4 Jade Leech
4 Jungle Patrol
4 Liege of the Hollows
4 Timbermare
4 Nantuko Cultivator
4 Spike Breeder
5 Gurzigost
5 Magnigoth Treefolk
5 Skullmulcher
5 Hystrodon
5 Meandering Towershell
6 Canopy Dragon
6 Witherscale Wurm
7 Moldgraf Monstrosity
8 Gigantomancer
10 Krosan Cloudscraper
1 Hidden Predators
1 Root Maze
1 Mana Bloom
2 Saproling Cluster
3 Bearscape
3 Druids' Repository
3 Cycle of Life
5 Hibernation's End
6 Wurmweaver Coil
Instant
3 Stampede
4 Lure of Prey
4 Fresh Meat
4 Trailblazer
5 Fated Intervention
Sorcery
2 Verdant Touch
3 Clear the Land
3 Seeds of Innocence
4 Break Asunder - *C*
4 Chain of Acid - *U*
5 Animal Magnetism
5 Enlarge - *U*
5 Rebuking Ceremony
0 Desert
0 Shivan Gorge
Color Fixing
0 Rainbow Vale
0 Forsaken City
0 Exotic Orchard
0 Meteor Crater
0 Tarnished Citadel
0 Thran Quarry
0 Crystal Quarry
0 Grand Coliseum
0 Aether Hub
0 Mirrodin's Core - *U*
0 Archaeological Dig - *U*
0 Crosis's Catacombs - *U*
0 Darigaaz's Caldera - *U*
0 Dromar's Cavern - *U*
0 Rith's Grove - *U*
0 Treva's Ruins - *U*
0 An-Havva Township - *U*
0 Aysen Abbey - *U*
0 Castle Sengir - *U*
0 Koskun Keep - *U*
0 Wizards' School - *U*
0 Bad River - *U*
0 Rocky Tar Pit - *U*
0 Mountain Valley - *U*
0 Grasslands - *U*
0 Flood Plain - *U*
0 Land Cap
0 River Delta
0 Lava Tubes
0 Timberline Ridge
0 Veldt
0 Caldera Lake
0 Scabland
0 Salt Flats
0 Pine Barrens
0 Skyshroud Forest
0 Cinder Marsh - *U*
0 Mogg Hollows - *U*
0 Rootwater Depths - *U*
0 Thalakos Lowlands - *U*
0 Vec Township - *U*
0 Bant Panorama - *C*
0 Esper Panorama - *C*
0 Grixis Panorama - *C*
0 Jund Panorama - *C*
0 Naya Panorama - *C*
0 Rhystic Cave - *U*
0 Rupture Spire - *C*
0 Transguild Promenade - *C*
0 Shimmering Grotto - *C*
0 Unknown Shores - *C*
0 Balduvian Trading Post
0 Contested War Zone
0 Desolate Lighthouse
0 Gargoyle Castle
0 Kher Keep
0 Mystifying Maze
0 Safe Haven
0 Slayers' Stronghold
0 Springjack Pasture
0 Stensia Bloodhall
0 Rath's Edge
0 Rustic Clachan
3 Helvault
4 Lux Cannon
5 Ring of Three Wishes
5 Etched Monstrosity
6 Eternity Vessel
Artifact
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Pyxis of Pandemonium
1 Liar's Pendulum
2 Aeolipile
2 Conch Horn
2 Guardian Idol
2 Jinxed Idol
2 Magnetic Web
2 Mercadian Lift
2 Rishadan Pawnshop
2 Scroll of the Masters
3 Druidic Satchel
3 Jalum Tome
3 Kyren Toy
3 Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII
3 Titan Forge
3 Phyrexian Lens
3 Lightning Coils
3 Floodwater Dam
3 Warden of the Wall
4 Acorn Catapult
4 Barl's Cage
4 Blood Clock
4 Riptide Replicator
4 Trading Post
4 Tower of Champions
4 Sands of Time
4 Portcullis
5 Angelheart Vial
5 Amulet of Unmaking
5 The Hive
2 Millikin
3 Dragon Engine
3 Phyrexian Soulgorger
3 Bottle Gnomes
3 Myr Propagator
4 Volatile Rig
4 Dancing Scimitar
4 Mindless Automaton
4 Lodestone Myr
4 Junk Golem
5 Manor Gargoyle
5 Necropolis
5 Snow Fortress
5 Tek
7 Mage-Ring Responder
Equipment
2 Livewire Lash
2 Ogre's Cleaver
3 Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho
4 Sword of the Paruns
Supported Archetypes
G/B/x Threshold - Didn't initially intend on this deck to be there, but I managed to include enough cards that work well together that it seems to be a relevant deck to have been drafted a couple times. Been coupled with G/B/x Tokens a couple times. Supporting Cards: Bloodcurdler, Auntie's Snitch, Gurzigost, Deadbridge Chant, Worm Harvest
R/x Midrange - Just Generally dual colored decks with red in it tend to be this. Usually either Boros or Gruul, seems to be drafted quite decently. Supporting Cards: Urza's Rage, Comet Storm, Ghitu's Fire, Reckless Reveler, Incendiary Command, Kamahl, Pit Fighter, Rekindled Flame
U/W/g Control - Sometimes just Azorius control; this is one of the most prominent control decks in the cube. This was planned as Cube-Supported but since it was more meant to be mono-blue it's now listed under Supported Archetypes. Supporting Cards: Scout's Warning, Rishidan Brigand, Ertai's Meddling, Mischievous Quanar, Graceful Antelope, Ith, High Arcanist, Sand Squid, Daring Apprentice, Void Stalker, Overtaker, Yavimaya's Embrace
W/x or G/x Tokens - Supported in the cube due to having a couple EDH token players in our playgroup, this isn't as prominent as I would have thought. Green is still used a bit more prominently than the White though. Supporting Cards: Devout Invocation, Scion of Vitu-Ghazi, Sacred Mesa, Pegasus Refuge, Seed Spark, Liege of the Hollows, Spike Breeder, Saproling Cluster, Bearscape, Stampede, Fated Intervention
Azorius Skies - Pioneered in this cube by Spike Rogue, U/W Skies seems to be a really well drafted archetype on CubeTutor. Although Similar to Bant Control, this appears to be more Midrange. Supporting Cards: Skaab Ruinator, Maelstrom Djinn, Sapphire Leech, Ageless Sentinels, Aven Mimeomancer, Graceful Antelope
Watchlist
Reborn Hero - Recursion effect might be too strong; will have to see in play
Autochthon Wurm - Worried this might be just as strong as Mycoid Shepherd.
Too Weak - Cards that might get removed for not seeing play or just not doing enough.
Nihilistic Glee - Might not see play
Kher Keep - If I'm removing CotF(^), should I remove all red Token support?
Probation - Cards that are currently removed from the list but may get added back in.
Vhati il-Dal - Just cut in 1.4 to make room for some more fixing. Might return in a later update.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
None Yet ; _;
Change Log
19 Feb. 2016 - 1.5 Update. Power Update.
30 Nov. 2015 - 1.4 Update. Guild cuts. Mono-color and land additions.
29 Sept. 2015 - 1.3 Update. Colorless update.
30 May 2015 - 1.2 Update. Major gold update (again).
8 Feb. 2015 - 1.1 Update. Updated Gold cards.
31 Jan. 2015 - 1.0 Update!
7 Sept. 2014 - Added Mythics to the Cube
9 Sept. 2014 - Updated each color and land a lot
12 Sept. 2014 - Replaced three cards; Added "Watchlist" to keep an eye on cards.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
At this point, I'm going to start working on collecting the cards (I'll post a list of what cards I have later) and combing the list to make sure everything is fine. Null Profusion and Kentaro will probably go, for instance and I'll probably find a couple others I'd want to replace.
Past that, I'm looking forward to what will be built given the resources. I think it's overall in a good state of what I want and where I think it should be.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
The one thing that seems to be missing from your cube is mana fixing, which should help make a lot of your multi-color and color intensive cards a lot more playable. Most traditional cubes run about 10% mana fixing lands, which in a cube your size would be 4 lands per 2 color combination plus some 5 color fixers. I only see one in your whole cube list (Land Cap), so I have a hard time seeing how a lot of your 3+ color cards are even going to get drafted, much less played anywhere near on time. Far be it from me to recommend cube staples like ABU duals, fetches, shock lands, etc., for your cube - that's clearly not the kind of flavor you're going for here.
If you're just trying to get cheap, quality fixing, here are some underrated but legitimately playable budget rare duals that have worked well in my cheapskate cube:
M10/Innistrad check lands (Clifftop Retreat)
Scars of Mirrodin fast lands (Copperline Gorge)
Pain Lands (Karplusan Forest)
Something tells me that's not the kind of budget rare you're looking for, though. You might be more interested in these:
Lorwyn tribal duals (Auntie's Hovel)
Tempest ETBT pain lands (Caldera Lake)
Odyssey filters (Darkwater Catacombs)
Ice Age depletion lands, like the Land Cap you're currently running.
You could also fill out your lands section with some truly questionable 5-color fixers like these:
Crystal Quarry
Exotic Orchard
Forsaken City
Glimmervoid
Lotus Vale
Meteor Crater
Pillar of the Paruns
Rainbow Vale
Tarnished Citadel
Tendo Ice Bridge
Thran Quarry
I hope this helps. Happy cubing!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
As far as mana fixing goes, I didn't even think about that. I think I was a bit too preoccupied in trying to get as much jank in a possible. I really dig some of those last cards you listed, so I'll be sorting through my lands again and make room for some more fixing (maybe via dropping a couple cards per color and some artifacts). I'll be sure to post the next update when I get the lands a bit more evened out.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Attached are pictures of "Pimped" cards I have and below is a list of the total cards I currently have for this cube.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Here are the mana-fixing artifacts I'm considering (however I'm not sure what I'd want to cut to get them in, maybe I cut a card or two from each color to add them in).
At the Rare slots we have the Mana Batteries(White, Blue, Black, Red, Green) which seems OK, but I'm not sure if this would really help with fixing or just help get out some of the higher costing spells. We also have the Ramos artifacts (Tooth, Eye, Skull, Heart, Horn) which might really help the fixing better but I'm not sure if these are really what I'm looking for.
At the Uncommon rarity, we have the Attendant cycle (Crosis, Darigaaz, Dromar, Rith, Treva) which covers the shard colors pretty well. I'd consider running these. We also have the mana eggs(Darkwater, Mossfire, Shadowblood, Skycloud, Sungrass).
But past those sets of cards, there's also Pili-Pala (Common), Lotus Guardian (Rare), Celestial Prism (Uncommon) and a couple others which I might look at if I don't add the sets (or even if I do, I might still add Lotus Guardian).
I'd have to figure it out, I want to make sure that everything is mostly viable to play or at least CAN see play if you build a deck for it. Because of this I'm willing to add a small amount uncommons or commons, provided they're still janky, to the cube to help make it that way.
Past all that, this post is also to update that I've managed to collect a few more cards for the cube.
Doomgape
Hedron-Field Purists
Banishment Decree (Foil)
Charnelhoard Wurm
Entrails Feaster
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
- Sky Swallower
- Blood Funnel
- Flowstone Slide
- Words of Wilding ?
- Violent Ultimatum
- Johan
- Titanic Ultimatum (+ Palladia-Mors) ?
- Diamond Faerie
- Enigma Sphinx
- Unscythe, Killer of Kings
- Lord of Tresserhorn (+ Nicol Bolas) ?
I'd be removing these in order to make room for some more lands (And the two other Elder Dragons I wasn't running).
Here's what I'd be adding:
+ Darigaaz's Caldera
+ Dromar's Cavern
+ Rith's Grove
+ Treva's Ruins
+ Tooth of Ramos
+ Skull of Ramos
+ Eye of Ramos
+ Heart of Ramos
+ Horn of Ramos
Unfortunately the lands aren't rares, but at this point I'm more looking to make sure cards are playable over packing it full jank rares (it already has 450 jank rares anyways, a couple uncommons/commons wont hurt any). I was heavily looking at the Homelands Tri-Mana lands (An-Havva Township, Aysen Abbey, Castle Sengir, Koskun Keep, Wizards' School) but I couldn't tell if they'd be too detrimental or too durdly to play where-as I knew the Artifacts there would be a bit more useful in terms of getting some bigger stuff down faster and perhaps be able to push some of the fatter guys I have in the cube into the spotlight so to speak.
Granted all this is just a mock update for now, but I'm hoping to finalize it in the next week or two.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Jank Cube Update 1.0!
The list grows tighter and even Jankier!
Cards Updated:
- Eye for an Eye > + Crosis's Catacombs
- Sky Swallower > + Darigaaz's Caldera
- Blood Funnel > + Dromar's Cavern
- Flowstone Slide > + Rith's Grove
- Words of Wilding > + Treva's Ruins
- Violent Ultimatum > + An-Haava Township
- Johan > + Asyen Abbey
- Diamond Faerie > + Castle Sengir
- Engima Sphinx > + Koskun Keep
- Unscythe, Killer of Kings > + Wizards' School
- Moorland Haunt > + Bad River
- Grove of the Guardian > + Rocky Tar Pit
- Heart of Yavimaya > + Mountain Valley
- Hellion Crucible > + Grasslands
- Howltooth Hollow > + Flood Plain
- Titanic Ultimatum > + Palladia-Mors
- Lord of Tresserhorn > + Nicol Bolas
- Mycoid Shepherd > + Autochthon Wurm
- Rubina Soulsinger > + Giltspire Avenger
- Worst Fears > + Ghastly Conscriptions
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
It's your cube thread, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're looking for feedback on your update, though, you should use card tags.
I do recognize the names of those Homelands filter tri-lands. You're a sick, sick man Pet Snake. Those Mirage duals, on the other hand, are a great choice for budget mana fixing.
How's the Jank Cube been playing?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
As for playing, still not sure yet. Thankfully I've finally gotten a secure job and now that we're past the Holidays I can start finishing the cube. I've gotten 75 cards traded, but I'm having a pretty hard time finding people who actually keep these cards. I'll end up having to buy it but I'll have it completed and sleeved by the end of February, which is exciting. Overall I'm pretty happy with how its looking now.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
The only changes I think you might want to reconsider are these, because they're so hard to cast they'll probably just sit in sideboards:
If you want tri-color dragons you might try the cycle from Planar Chaos and Invasion like Numot, the Devastator and Rith, the Awakener. They're way easier to cast, they're still really cool cards, and aside from Crosis, the Purger they only cost about a buck apiece. Also, instead of a 15-drop like Autochton Wurm, might I suggest Armada Wurm or Trostani's Summoner (not a rare, but a really fun card)?
Also, if you haven't seen it before, I think you might enjoy checking out Nof's Sphere, a cube list that forces players to choose from a series of bad options. I don't think Nof's goals were quite the same as yours, but I'll bet you'd get some ideas for cards you'd like from her list: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/192526-360-sphere-nofs-sphere
Good luck getting the rest of your cube together, it's one of a kind, and I can tell you're going to have a lot of fun with it!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I think I'd like to keep the Autochton Wurm if possible, but I could be argued into possibly running the Trostani's Summoner if the Wurm doesn't work out. I'll keep an eye on it.
Funny that you should mention the Sphere. A friend was wanting me to make this as a basically something similar but also as a "Draft this for the person next to you" format as well (Which I might try to run once or twice!).
And thanks, I'm pretty excited to finally be able to get close to having it premiere at my LGS.
As a Storage update, I've determined I'm going to double sleeve with KMC Purple Hyper Mat and perfect fit. I'm debating on storage still. Part of me just wants to pick up a 5$ 800 count cardboard box to start. Probably upgrade to a better case later.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
If i could make one suggestion from my cube, conspiracy has a few great rare artifact creatures to add. If you're okay with mechanics that take place during the draft, they're a bunch of fun to play with.
For cards to remove, Sedraxis Specter comes to mind. I've found with decent removal being hard to come by, specter effects are incredibly powerful, and not in a fun way. I started with 3 or so black specters in my cube and have eventually removed them all.
Legacy: B currently brewing... W
EDH: RRosheen Meanderer G
Thanks for pointing out the Conspiracy stuff, I looked through them before but kinda just ignored them because they dont feel janky, but you're right. Lot of them seem like fun so I might put an optional conspiracy package that I can add or remove depending on the players.
And yeah I see what you're saying about specter effects, I'll keep an eye on it for now, and I'll probably drop it with my next update (gold cards always throw me off when I'm trying to keep power levels in check).
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
I made mine as a way to utilize all the bulk rares my friends and I had, so I imagine there's got to be a few people people out there who had the same idea. It's evolved into something unique since then, the archtypes that have cropped up are something special haha. (ion storm/inexorable tide, 5 color coalition victory/door to nothingness, myr welder/necrotic ooze dredge, opalescence enchantments, etc)
I think one thing that really helped out my cube is to not really worry about how janky a card feels, but to be more concerned about fun as long as it doesnt break anything. I've got a birthing pod in my cube, traditionally an extremely powerful card. I don't have to worry about power level here due to the inherent weakness of creatures, and it makes for weird, hilarious pod chains.
It also looks like you figured out the same thing I did for this cube: a soft ban on angels, demons, and dragons. I've got a few notable exceptions (like Hellcarver Demon), but they just tend to end the game without resistance too much.
Legacy: B currently brewing... W
EDH: RRosheen Meanderer G
And I could almost imagine what people would pod chain into for this cube. Maybe it's something I'll have to look into either as a "Power Module" or just adding some fun Powerful cards later that rely on others card to interact, especially with Pod getting banned in Modern!.
In regards to angels, demons and dragons: Even some of the "Less good ones" seem way too strong here, just having beatsticks in the air seemed too strong to even chance including. Although I did really want to run the Elder Dragons because they don't ever seem to be relevant outside of Nicol Bolas or someone's Flavor EDH deck but seems like they'll honestly be getting cut in favor of something more playable.
Possible update might look something like:
- Chromium
- Arcades Sabboth
- Palladia-Mors
- Vaevictis Asmadi
- Niall Silvain
- Sedraxis Specter
- Parallectric Feedback
Unsure of Additions, I'm just not liking how these cards are looking right now.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
You're right in saying that engine cards are only as powerful as the cards they ultimately play with, which is why birthing pod is fine. I've got cards like Rhystic Tutor and tezzeret the seeker in my cube because they help other cards combo together.
To take a few shots in the dark:
You know what people don't expect? The late game hibernation's end, which happens to find a very early panglacial wurm
Legacy: B currently brewing... W
EDH: RRosheen Meanderer G
Card Update:
- Palladia-Mors > + Tamanoa
- Arcades Sabboth > + Guided Passage
- Nicol Bolas > + Breaking // Entering
- Sedraxis Specter > + Ankle Shanker
- Chromium > + Merieke Ri Berit
- Parallectric Feedback > + Thunderblade Charge
- Niall Silvain > + Hibernation's End
Notes about Card update:
In regards to Hibernation's End, while I'd love to add this because I think it's neat basically having to tap out each turn to get something, I'm worried that this effect may be too strong (Same reason while I think it'd be halarious to watch some of the pod chains people try to pull) due to no other search cards included at all. It'll be added on a trial basis.
With Guided Passage, it's almost for the same reason with Hibernation's end, I'm worried about anything search being too strong, HOWEVER this seems like it might fit right in and since I added Hibernation's End in, I figure I might as well try out this guy.
Kheru Lich Lord is added to help fill out the Tri-Color slots with more options. Additionally I think it got really underdrafted with Khans, so I'd love to see how it works here.
Possible Changes:
Phyrexian Tyranny in for Elemental Augury. I've been thinking that a punishment effect might be better than a weird filter card. Downside is that this card might be too powerful in the decks it gets played in.
Masticore in for Molten-Tail Masticore. Just looking to scale back the power on this card. I want this mythic slot to be an artifact creature (Or at least a colorless one), but so many of them are just too good so I think I could scale back the power with this change.
Watchlist Changes:
Added Retaliator Griffin to Too Strong watch list. While it might be a four drop with a color intensive cost, I'm worried about this card possibly spiralling out of control in games its played in.
Misc. Changes:
Reorganized the Gold section on the cube list in the OP.
As much as I'd love to include Halfdane (I do love his ability), his pricetag at around 8$ is a bit too much for me currently. Maybe later down the line it'll be something I try to fit in.
Additionally, I wanted to add in a 5 color creature (either Genju of the Realm or Karona, False God) but I'm worried about people running tri-color let alone a 5 color deck.
I've been working on a possible Conspiracy Module (Or at least I think thats what we call it here in the cube forum). I know that most Conspiracy modules for other cubes include sometimes only 10-12 cards and it's still singleton, but I'm thinking of allowing 2-ofs or 3-ofs in the module for the sake of fun. Although maybe people only add 1 because its all thats really needed. Something like the following is what I'm thinking about.
2 Backup Plan
1 Brago's Favor
2 Immediate Action
1 Power Play
1 Sentinel Dispatch
1 Worldknit
1 AEther Searcher
2 Canal Dredger
2 Deal Broker
3 Lore Seeker
1 Lurking Automaton
2 Piliano, the High City
Artifact
1 Spectral Searchlight
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Card Update:
- Indomitable Archangel > + Jazal Goldmane
- Worldpurge > + Reparations
- Mindleech Mass > + Breathstealer's Crypt
- Woodwraith Corrupter > + Grave-Shell Scarab
- Dracoplasm > + Frenetic Efreet
- Righteous War > + Circle of Despair
- Identity Crisis > + Orzhov Pontiff
- Discordant Spirt > + Mountain Titan
- Collective Blessing > + Duelling Grounds
- Gabriel Angelfire > + Noble Panther
- Warping Wurm > + Cytoshape
- Punish Ignorance > + Bant Panorama
- Elemental Augury > + Esper Panorama
- Misfortune > + Grixis Panorama
- Retaliator Griffin > + Jund Panorama
- Ankle Shanker > + Naya Panorama
Notes about Card update:
Since purchasing portions of the cube, Guardian Seraph seems a little too strong in the cube and has thus been replaced with Camel to help a lower curve (also since Desert is in the cube).
Indomitable Archangel seems too strong even for a mythic, a 4/4 flying for 4 alone seems way too good, so in this sense Jazal Goldmane feels a little better as a 4/4 First Striker for 4 that also has a bit more of a interactive ability.
Possible Changes:
Toshiro Umezawa will be getting removed. He was orignally added to help support samurai in a secondary color besides white, however his power level is above the rest of the cube and his price is getting up there as well.
Prophetic Bolt is strong enough to get included into the Vintage Masters set on MTGO, so perhaps it's powerlevel is a lot stronger than I anticipated. I may end up replacing it with Steam Augury.
Misc. Changes:
Updated the Cube Tutor since it was waaaay out of date.
Gold was updated quite a bit again to help make them more playable. Something Khans-Dragons has taught me was that people will just not run some cards if they look even remotely unplayable.
I ended up cutting a couple more tri-color cards to add in the panoramas (Naya, Jund, Grixis, Bant, Esper) to help with fetching for proper colors. As much as I want to keep a many tri-color cards as possible, I'd rather be able to support all multicolor by adding in a few extra lands than nullify the entire gold section.
The Conspiracy module is put on hiatus until cube balacing is complete.
Also hey all, I'm not dead. I've been working quite a bit, I have up to Red complete. Only a couple sections left. About 200$ (including sleeves) and I'll be done. Ever time I purchase something I end up worrying quite a bit that I'll have just a dead cube that we'll never play because no one enjoys it, but a friend pointed out that even if it comes to that, I'll have a bunch of really interesting cards left.
Side Note: Give the cube tutor about an hour from this posting to update. I'm working on it now.
Edit: Added this image just so I can show the actual amount remaining. It's getting pretty exciting getting this close to completion. Green will be ordered this week.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
So I've been thinking for a long time about the direction of this cube, it's part of the reason why I've been worried that the cube will turn into a useless stack of cards that will never get played. I'm also worried since the playgroup I have has been dwindling at our card shop on the normal time. The last of my worries is probably the one I worried least about until now, but one that'll probably shape the cube the most in the coming future.
The plans for the cube:
I know this strays from the original plan of the cube, however I think it'll be better than having the Jank Cube not evolve and just be this novelty thing. I think it'll be best for the cube that it does transition from a pure Jank Cube into having cards to support the archetypes that develop. I think it's for the best we keep the power level scaled back from the best options, and perhaps we continue looking into jankier options than people would normally consider but it should perhaps open to other rarities (after the initial couple month run of course).
So I guess the long-term goals in order go like this,
1) Keep the Cube fun to draft
2) Avoid the Cube turning into a Novelty item
3) Slowly transition the cube from a 100% Jank Cube
I think if I can work on these three things when considering future updates, perhaps I'll be able to turn this into something that has an enjoyable experience every time it's drafted.
With all this being said, the first major update I want to roll out after cube completion is going to be a slight land change. I think keeping the jankier options for land stays with the overall power level of the cube, however (like in this latest update with the addition of the Panoramas) I'll probably try adding more traditional multi-color lands and other mana fixing. Doing this will help promote the multi-color aspect of the cube and make the draft overall more enjoyable for those who are even just splashing. I've been currently looking at adding the Guild Bounce Lands (Probably less so for this since the Lair lands are already included), The Guild Gates, the "Frost" Lands or I'm even looking at adding in some of the Masques' Depletion Lands (Although this won't quite help with fixing, so I might add green as a one-of to sort of help out their ramp if I decide they need it).
With all this being said I think a lot of the cards I have in here are fun and really cool but they just don't have their place to shine which is why I want to keep working on things and keep this overall theme. The plans are still on for keeping this as janky as possible for the first month or two probably but this is something I'm looking to do with the cube in the future.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Building decks from your cube isn't always easy, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Jank Cube in the "Draft the Above Person's Cube" thread. It's always an interesting challenge!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I've been slowly working on overhauling the Artifacts before I purchase them. I've been working a lot on the Multi-color section, I've worked a bit on the mono-colored section in between my sessions of making sure the multi-color looks solid, however I've completely neglected the Artifact/colorless section entirely and haven't updated it since I pretty much put it together.
I'm pretty set on the mythics, and most of the artifacts but there are some that I'm seeing as borderline unplayable (in the sense that it won't be run even for the decks I thought I was including it to try to support) so I'm working on overhauling several elements of what I really want this section to do.
tl;dr - More updates soon.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube
Here's what I'm looking to remove really.
Here's some of the stonger considerations I'm looking at including. These aren't set in stone, and I'd love feedback on it.
Semi-Retired EDH: Saffi Infinite Combo | Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro
Modern: Shamanism
Thread | CubeTutor :Jank Cube