In the last year, my playing habits have been geared mostly toward playing limited formats on MTGO, with the ultimate goal of redeeming one copy of each expansion as it rotates out of Standard. I look forward to the end of October when I get to "cash out" and get a full paper set last year’s core set and three expansions. All those rares and mythics finally in my hands, ready to be deployed in to any of my EDH decks.
But what about those commons and uncommons? After those rotate out, how often am I going to use them? Hardly at all, unless they find their way in to an EDH or Modern deck. The main reason why I wanted to build a peasant cube was do something with all those old C/U cards sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
Then it hit me… There is the perfect number of common and uncommon cards in any one expansion block to be its own small peasant cube! Here I was, cranking my brain, trying to devise this great custom-made cube out of all my old cards.... When the perfect answer was hiding in plain sight! And, what's better is that WotC already did all the work for me! LOL!
Innistrad Block
Set - C - U -Total
ISD - 107 - 67 - 174
DKA - 64 - 44 - 108
AVR - 101 - 60 - 161
Total - 242 - 171 - 443
Scars Block
Set - C - U -Total
SOM -101 - 60 - 161
MBS - 60 - 40 - 100
NPH - 60 - 40 - 100
Total - 221 - 140 - 361
If you want to add more cards, just throw in an adjacent core set. Or, you could make a cube of just the last 3 or 4 core sets.
If you want to sleeve your cube, you can get the limited run Ultra-Pro themed sleeves for that block.
I can’t be the only person to have thought of this. It’s just too obvious. Has anyone else done a cube like this?
Standard (KLD):UR Thermo-Thing Modern:UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters Legacy:UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves EDH:GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
This seems pretty boring. A lot of the C/U cards in a given block are unplayable by normal peasant cube standards. You're basically making a regular draft minus the rares. If that's what floats your boat, go for it, but I'm nonplussed.
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I have a bunch "draft sim" cubes with (roughly) a 1R/2U/4C distribution of cards, from sets like Rise, INN/DKA, and AVR. I've been very happy with these, but I specifically went after making sims for sets with legendary reputations for quality limited experiences (3x Rise, 3x Inn).
Buying a 4x common/uncommon set from ebay might be fun, but as WF implies, I'd work towards acquiring rares and mythics for the set you pick, fiddling with the rarity distributions, and only attempting this for sets with high limited player esteem.
This seems pretty boring. A lot of the C/U cards in a given block are unplayable by normal peasant cube standards. You're basically making a regular draft minus the rares. If that's what floats your boat, go for it, but I'm nonplussed.
That's really the beauty of it, though. It's a cheap, lazy, and unimaginative way of making a cube. The card list is already made. You just have to get one of each card and that can be accomplished for under $50, easy. It's basically a paint-by-numbers way of getting play time to every piece of jank in your collection. I'm going to call it "No Card Left Behind".
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Standard (KLD):UR Thermo-Thing Modern:UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters Legacy:UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves EDH:GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
I have a bunch "draft sim" cubes with (roughly) a 1R/2U/4C distribution of cards, from sets like Rise, INN/DKA, and AVR. I've been very happy with these, but I specifically went after making sims for sets with legendary reputations for quality limited experiences (3x Rise, 3x Inn).
Buying a 4x common/uncommon set from ebay might be fun, but as WF implies, I'd work towards acquiring rares and mythics for the set you pick, fiddling with the rarity distributions, and only attempting this for sets with high limited player esteem.
Check out my sig for a couple examples.
I could just keep the rares and mythics with it and sleeve them all up. I was just taking the peasant route because I'll want to have R/M cards go to EDH decks and I'm not a fan of playing with proxies. Shuffling sleeved cards is a pain, and with that many card it would be a nightmare. (Crazy question: Has anyone ever tried to shuffle Magic cards with those battery operated card shufflers? Would sleeved cards fit in there? Never done it myself.) Another concern is with people damaging or stealing my cards. Not that I would play with people I don't trust, but things happen.
If you do a "complete set" cube of ISD/DKA you have 407 cards, with 28 C/U and 125 R/M, giving a ratio of 2.25 to 1. Not too shabby. Throw in about $25 for sleeves.
For an AVR mini-cube... 229 cards, 161 C/U and 68 R/M, for a 2.36 to 1 ratio. $15 for sleeves.
Looking at SOM/MBS/NPH, as that block is due to rotate... 519 total cards, with 361 C/U and 158 R/M, giving a ratio of 2.28 to 1. Budget no more than $35 on sleeves.
Standard (KLD):UR Thermo-Thing Modern:UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters Legacy:UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves EDH:GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
Another thought... I think the reason why a boring peasant cube with tons of jank in it is appealing is that it would be like playing back in the old days. Back in 1994 when I was in high school and funds were limited, you played with the cards you had. You didn't go shopping for cards on eBay. There was no MTGO. You played with what you opened in packs and that was it. It's really about getting back to basics and why I fell in love with the game to begin with.
/$0.02
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Standard (KLD):UR Thermo-Thing Modern:UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters Legacy:UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves EDH:GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
if your going to do a block, Ravnika or go home imo. In my opinion there was no block more complete, more well rounded, and more fun to daft.
Agreed. RAV block was awesome. Too bad I wasn't playing then. Can't wait for RTR.
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Standard (KLD):UR Thermo-Thing Modern:UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters Legacy:UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves EDH:GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
That's really the beauty of it, though. It's a cheap, lazy, and unimaginative way of making a cube. The card list is already made. You just have to get one of each card and that can be accomplished for under $50, easy. It's basically a paint-by-numbers way of getting play time to every piece of jank in your collection. I'm going to call it "No Card Left Behind".
Another thought... I think the reason why a boring peasant cube with tons of jank in it is appealing is that it would be like playing back in the old days. Back in 1994 when I was in high school and funds were limited, you played with the cards you had. You didn't go shopping for cards on eBay. There was no MTGO. You played with what you opened in packs and that was it. It's really about getting back to basics and why I fell in love with the game to begin with.
/$0.02
Fair enough, but I'm not really sure that "laziness" is a great principle to aspire to with respect to cubing. For most of the users in these forums, a cube is a real labor of love, expenditure of lots of time and resources, and means of personal expression within magic.
If you're able to get 3+ friends (or especially strangers) together for a cube draft, you might as well attempt to make their involvement worthwhile by putting together a decent cube list and sleeving(!) the cards. If funds are short, that's one thing, but you can still respect yours and your players' time by doing research on a good list, and acquiring inexpensive, but usable cards.
This could just be my opinion, but not everyone is that nostalgic for the crummy decks they used to play before they put actual effort into their game.
But what about those commons and uncommons? After those rotate out, how often am I going to use them? Hardly at all, unless they find their way in to an EDH or Modern deck. The main reason why I wanted to build a peasant cube was do something with all those old C/U cards sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
Then it hit me… There is the perfect number of common and uncommon cards in any one expansion block to be its own small peasant cube! Here I was, cranking my brain, trying to devise this great custom-made cube out of all my old cards.... When the perfect answer was hiding in plain sight! And, what's better is that WotC already did all the work for me! LOL!
Innistrad Block
Set - C - U -Total
ISD - 107 - 67 - 174
DKA - 64 - 44 - 108
AVR - 101 - 60 - 161
Total - 242 - 171 - 443
Scars Block
Set - C - U -Total
SOM -101 - 60 - 161
MBS - 60 - 40 - 100
NPH - 60 - 40 - 100
Total - 221 - 140 - 361
If you want to add more cards, just throw in an adjacent core set. Or, you could make a cube of just the last 3 or 4 core sets.
If you want to sleeve your cube, you can get the limited run Ultra-Pro themed sleeves for that block.
I can’t be the only person to have thought of this. It’s just too obvious. Has anyone else done a cube like this?
Cheers!
Modern: UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters
Legacy: UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves
EDH: GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Buying a 4x common/uncommon set from ebay might be fun, but as WF implies, I'd work towards acquiring rares and mythics for the set you pick, fiddling with the rarity distributions, and only attempting this for sets with high limited player esteem.
Check out my sig for a couple examples.
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
That's really the beauty of it, though. It's a cheap, lazy, and unimaginative way of making a cube. The card list is already made. You just have to get one of each card and that can be accomplished for under $50, easy. It's basically a paint-by-numbers way of getting play time to every piece of jank in your collection. I'm going to call it "No Card Left Behind".
Modern: UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters
Legacy: UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves
EDH: GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
I could just keep the rares and mythics with it and sleeve them all up. I was just taking the peasant route because I'll want to have R/M cards go to EDH decks and I'm not a fan of playing with proxies. Shuffling sleeved cards is a pain, and with that many card it would be a nightmare. (Crazy question: Has anyone ever tried to shuffle Magic cards with those battery operated card shufflers? Would sleeved cards fit in there? Never done it myself.) Another concern is with people damaging or stealing my cards. Not that I would play with people I don't trust, but things happen.
If you do a "complete set" cube of ISD/DKA you have 407 cards, with 28 C/U and 125 R/M, giving a ratio of 2.25 to 1. Not too shabby. Throw in about $25 for sleeves.
For an AVR mini-cube... 229 cards, 161 C/U and 68 R/M, for a 2.36 to 1 ratio. $15 for sleeves.
Looking at SOM/MBS/NPH, as that block is due to rotate... 519 total cards, with 361 C/U and 158 R/M, giving a ratio of 2.28 to 1. Budget no more than $35 on sleeves.
/rant
Modern: UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters
Legacy: UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves
EDH: GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
/$0.02
Modern: UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters
Legacy: UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves
EDH: GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
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Agreed. RAV block was awesome. Too bad I wasn't playing then. Can't wait for RTR.
Modern: UR Delver, URB Delver, URB Control, G Elves, WB Soul Sisters
Legacy: UR Delver, URB Delver, G Elves
EDH: GWTrostani, Selesnya's Voice, UBOona, Queen of the Fae
Find me on MTGO and Twitter with the same username
Fair enough, but I'm not really sure that "laziness" is a great principle to aspire to with respect to cubing. For most of the users in these forums, a cube is a real labor of love, expenditure of lots of time and resources, and means of personal expression within magic.
If you're able to get 3+ friends (or especially strangers) together for a cube draft, you might as well attempt to make their involvement worthwhile by putting together a decent cube list and sleeving(!) the cards. If funds are short, that's one thing, but you can still respect yours and your players' time by doing research on a good list, and acquiring inexpensive, but usable cards.
This could just be my opinion, but not everyone is that nostalgic for the crummy decks they used to play before they put actual effort into their game.
/moralizing
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."