MTG Salvation

I actually thought about making a second cube, that is all about artifacts and artifact-synergies. Right now I'm only looking for possible cardchoices: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/909

Before moving on building the cube, I wanted to hear some opinions on the idea itself and one big question, which I don't get out of mind: Should such a cube include green?
The most green cards, that interact with artifacts, are destroying them. I'm not sure if I want a color, that mainly works against the rest of the cube. On the other hand I think I would miss something, if I cut one color completly.

When I started with my cube, I added a artifact theme as well. It didnt work, because I never had enough good artifacts to trigger Metalcraft or abuse Affinity. Might work, when you dedicate the whole cube to it.

Id always run all colors and destroying artifacts still fits the theme. And you get Carapace Forger. Not sure you find enough thematic cards for the other colors.

I curretly support a heavy enchantment theme in my synergy cube which I like more, since there are lots of strong playables and thanks to theros, bng and the next edition it got/gets some nice stuff.

Your cube base looks good to me. Atog <3 but you probably need 50% artifacts in the end.

Well I think the artifact count will be no problem. The cube is not about power, but only artifacts and interactions. It's also some kind of overview about all the commons in the sets, when Wizards made an artifact set, from Antiquities (Citanul Druid) over the Urza block (Angelic Curator) till the Mirrodin blocks (Ardent Recruit).

Maybe its a good idea to build a smaller cube with just 180cards. So you can cut the bad stuff and focus on the good cards without losing much synergy.
Depends on how big your average draftsize is

This sounds like a fun idea.

I think you should definitely include green. It has some very efficient common artifact removal in Crumble and Deconstruct. You wouldn't want too much of these, of course, but I think it would be cool to have the most powerful artifact removal spells to compliment the most powerful artifacts. Green interacts with the Fifth Dawn sunburst mechanic well because of its color fixing, and I'd include many of the sunburst because they can be powerful and are fun to play.

I'll keep green. Too many cool cards I would miss.

I got a little bit forward with the list. Some basic Information:
-The cube is proposed to be a 200 card cube (I draft 10x4 boosters)
-Right now I think the balancing will look like this: 28 cards per color, 60 colorless cards, 0 multicolor cards

Actually I'm thinking about 2 things:
1) Do you think multicolor cards should be included? I only found cards for 6/10 guilds, that would really fit into the cube:
Gruul: Blazethorn Scarecrow
Rakdos: Rattleblaze Scarecrow
Selesnya: Thornwatch Scarecrow
Azorius: Watchwing Scarecrow
Dimir: Wingrattle Scarecrow (Parasitic Strix or Tidehollow Strix would fit aswell)
Orzhov: Darklit Gargoyle
I would hate it to support only 5/10 guilds, while I would also like to play the Scarecrow cycle. Would you fill it with random multicolor cards, or let it away completly?

2) Fixing. Right now I only have the Signets included, obviously, because they're artifacts. Would you play the Guildgates aswell?


Edit: Anyone knows 1 black cards, that is in any way connected to artifacts or an artifact, that is in anyway connected to black?
Btw. the first test draft with this cube: Link

Id fill the guilds with fitting cards, im sure there are some options. Or you just dont care about perfect balance.
I probably wouldnt include the guildgates, but the borderposts or a 5/5 split.

I don't want it unbalanced. Here are the options. Which would you recommend for the missing 4 gilds (Boros, Izzet, Simic, Golgari)?

Edit: I think maybe Orim's Thunder for Boros, but 3 are still missing.

Thunder sounds good.
Id problably just add Snakeform, Jilt, Consume Strength

you might need a few answers to Cranial Plating

Hmmm I'm not really convinced by Snakeform, Jilt, Consume Strength. Consume Strength is maybe Ok, by powerlevel, but Jilt is too stupid powered, IMO. Instead of Snakeform maybe Temporal Spring with the reason, that it can put anything (including artifacts) on the top of it's owner library. So I would only need an Izzet card.

Another problem is, that I still need 1 black card right now.

In order to include Multicolor cards and Fixing I could think, to change the cube like this:
240 cards (6 x 40 cards): 30 per color, 10 multicolor, 80 colorless cards (includes 10xSignets and 10x Guildgates)
or
240 cards (6 x 40 cards): 32 per color, 10 multicolor, 70 colorless cards (includes 10xSignets and 10x Guildgates)

In booth cases I have problems with black to get enough playables, that fit into the cube.

I think it's ok if some of the spells aren't purely artifact Synergies. A few removal spells in White, Black and Red is probably a good idea and a few counters in Blue. Keep it light, but that will definitely help get playables for Black and will let you keep some of the color's identity.

Quote from Runner5678 »

I think it's ok if some of the spells aren't purely artifact Synergies. A few removal spells in White, Black and Red is probably a good idea and a few counters in Blue. Keep it light, but that will definitely help get playables for Black and will let you keep some of the color's identity.

I agree with this. You could choose something like Terror, which I remember as interesting in Mirrodin block draft because it was so restricted compared to normal.

The cube's looking good! I like the scarecrow cycle. Orim's Thunder is a great card, and your other multicolor choices look fine as well. I'm coming up blank on izzet though.

Id just throw random cards in the last slots and playtest the cube. Then you see the powerlevel and what to tweak.
I like terror for blacks last card.

You forgot the artifact lands btw

I didn't forgot the artifact lands. I cut them on purpose for 2 reasons. I don't want people to pick "basic" lands in the boosters and I wouldn't like to see, how the people are destroying each others mana base.

Yeah Terror is a great idea. I added it and Expunge now.

Btw. I had a really expen$ive idea to play only artifact lands instead of normal basics. This would make some interactions insane, but I think I'm not willing to spend so much money.

Again all I need is a black card...

Any ideas?

Ashes to Ashes?

Hmmm maybe, while I'm not that convinced of it. I think I'll take it, till I find something new.

Edit: Btw. The decks look pretty sweet so far. This is my latest draft deck.

The list on cubetutor has two Keldon Vandals. Could have Ingot Chewer in place of one?

Ah thanks. I have made cuts and adds the whole day. Yeah I think it's maybe Ingot Chewer.

Btw. the first this or that questions for this cube:
Choose 4:
Vulshok Replica
Keldon Vandals
Krark-Clan Stoker
Ingot Chewer
Spin Engine
Builder's Bane
Saberclaw Golem


Btw. I've decided not to play Shattering Pulse, because it's more than just a bomb. It's destroying too much and there are no real answers to it, except for saccing in response.

http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/83224

My deck. I was struggling to get enough playables, the whole 10 card pack thing was too much, and I felt like every other card was either a manarock or an artifact kill spell. Is the cube being made for only 5 or 6 drafters?

Keldon Vandals, Vulshok Replica, Ingot Chewer, Spin Engine. But maybe not the kill spell guys, they're was a lot of them to pick from.

Yeah there is a lot of artifact hate right now. Maybe I'm going to decrease it during the coming updates.

It's supposed to be 6 man cube, with 40 cards per player.

I had the opportunity to test the cube online.
I've reset the cube to 200 again. The Scarecrows didn't worked out at all, just like the Skulkins, simply because way too many creatures are colorless to enable them. So I cut the whole multicolor sections and every Skulkin, except for Fang Skulkin, that is the only one among them, that has an acceptable body. I've also cut the Guildgates, simply because there are nearly no double mana costs.
Another point, why I had to decrease the amount of cards in the cube, was the too high difference in the power level of some cards. Some cards are 4/6 for cc4, while some are 4/5 for cc6.

The mana scarecrow is quite good. The ones that depend on colored dudes are all pretty sub-par.
Blue skulkin is theoretically better because there should be a boatload of esper dudes.

Yeah I was talking about the 2-colored scarecrow cycle, not the creature type scarecrow.

I'm not playing any esper-only dudes, because the other color combinations have no pendants. I agree, that the blue Skulkin has the best ability, but I'm still not sure if it's worth it, because the body is very bad and you need to keep 3 mana ready for it.

Quote from Humphrey

When I started with my cube, I added a artifact theme as well. It didnt work, because I never had enough good artifacts to trigger Metalcraft or abuse Affinity. Might work, when you dedicate the whole cube to it.

I have been looking to add more "classic" archetypes to my pauper cube and thought of including Artifact/Affinity along with goblins, soldiers, etc. In the end I came to a similar conclusion. While there are some very powerful/important artifacts that can be included in Pauper cube, to get the critical mass you need to make Affinity viable, you just end up jamming a bunch of sub par artifacts into the mix.