Cube Maxim
I aim to create the most fun, exciting, powerful and balanced custom limited environment
that I can for my playgroup within the confines of a Vintage legal and Singleton legal frame.
that I can for my playgroup within the confines of a Vintage legal and Singleton legal frame.
Basic Info
Cube Size: 450 Cards
Breakdown: 55 Each Color, 105 Guild/Multicolor, 70 Colorless
Standard or Theme Cube: Standard
Average Draft: 3-6 players
Cube CMC: 2.762
Design Restrictions
Powered?: Yes
Vintage Legal?: Yes
Singleton Legal?: Yes
The only cards I ban from the cube are cards that aren't Vintage legal (Ante cards, Dexterity cards, Un- Cards, Conspiracies & Holiday Promos, etc), cards that can't function within all game types (like draft manipulators that are blanks in Sealed Deck, or cards that would require a commander to function, etc) and cards thar reference "outside of the game" as a zone (Wishes, Companions, etc).
Color Balance?: Yes
Guild Balance?: Yes
Mana Support?: No
Mana Support?: No
Other Info
Here's a link to the cube on CubeCobra if you want to mock draft it:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/wtwlf123
I wrote a cube article about the fundamental cube design questions, and how I decided to build my cube to cater to my playgroup. The article was designed to help those folks that are still in the incipient phase of cube building, and may need some pointers on how to balance the cube for smoother drafts and gameplay. But hopefully even the veteran cube managers can find at least some useful information on how to streamline the cube and better enable aggressive archetypes. Here's a link:
"Cube Design Philosophy"
I also wrote an article that deals with managing your manabase when cubing, and the impact those mana demands have on drafting, deck-building and constructing the cube. Here's a link to that one:
"Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
Feel free to post comments on the article page or here in this thread with any questions or comments!
Additionally, I've written some Set Reviews in the form of top 20 countdowns based on set previews. Note, these are written as set previews, not necessarily set reviews, but here's the links to them anyways:
My Review #01 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from AVR!
My Review #02 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M13!
My Review #03 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from RTR!
My Review #04 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from GTC!
My Review #05 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from DGM!
My Review #06 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M14!
My Review #07 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from THS!
My Review #08 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from BNG!
My Review #09 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from JOU!
My Review #10 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M15!
My Review #11 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from KTK!
My Review #12 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from FRF!
My Review #13 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from DTK!
My Review #14 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ORI!
My Review #15 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from BFZ!
My Review #16 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OGW!
My Review #17 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from SOI!
My Review #18 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from EMN!
My Review #19 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from KLD!
My Review #20 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from AER!
My Review #21 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from AKH!
My Review #22 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from HOU!
My Review #23 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from XLN!
My Review #24 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from RIX!
My Review #25 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from DOM!
My Review #26 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M19!
My Review #27 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from GRN!
My Review #28 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from RNA!
My Review #29 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from WAR!
My Review #30 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M20!
My Review #31 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ELD!
My Review #32 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from THB!
My Review #33 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from IKO!
My Review #34 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from M21!
My Review #35 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ZNR!
My Review #36 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from KHM!
My Review #37 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from STX!
My Review #38 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from AFR!
My Review #39 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MID!
My Review #40 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from VOW!
My Review #41 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from NEO!
My Review #42 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from SNC!
My Review #43 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from DMU!
My Review #44 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from BRO!
My Review #45 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ONE!
My Review #46 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MOM!
My Review #47 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from WOE!
My Review #48 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from LCI!
My Review #49 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
My Review #50 - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Enjoy!
I was invited to be a guest on the MTGin3D Podcast with Liam and Pedro. Here's a link to that episode ...give it a listen!
MTGin3D Episode #5 - Exploration
I was invited on as a guest for the "What's In The Box!?" Podcast with Zakeel and Drew. Here's a link to that episode:
What's in the Box EP8 - Community Spotlight: wtwlf123
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There's a reason Flash was banned/restricted in every format.
Griselbrand wouldn't work though (not a big deal). "If you choose not to pay, the creature is sacrificed immediately. No player will get priority in between the creature entering the battlefield and being sacrificed. Sacrificing the creature this way will trigger any abilities that trigger when it leaves the battlefield, and those abilities will be put onto the stack at the same time as those that triggered when it entered the battlefield."
I'm such a fan of your cube, going through the list/content every single day. So much cool/broken interactions! Love it!
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On the premise that most people won’t spend a card removing it nor counter it, this is better IMHO.
If it does get spot removed, which I think is a very weird play, well, you just replaced it. Unless you really really need the mana, then the Elf is slightly riskier than Cultivate. There will be people running Aggro decks that just will bolt it.
If it gets countered, which I think can be a good play sometimes, it’s still no more riskier than getting a Cultivate countered.
If it gets Wrathed, Cultivate is better obviously.
I think the better chance of recursive value should outweigh his flaws, especially in decks that can and want to abuse it.
With that said, I don’t run Cultivate/Reach so I’m not sure if I’d run this. It’s a good card nonetheless.
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Yeah!
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Basri's Lieutenant 3W
Creature - Human Knight
Vigilance, protection from multicolored
When Basri's Lieutenant enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
When Basri's Lieutenant or another creature you control dies, if it had a +1/+1 counter on it, create a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance.
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This card is good. If you support a +1/+1 theme in your cube, this card is amazing! Curving this into a Wildfire is glorious (Edit: Wildfire is 6 but you get the idea)! This card also makes all the Metallic Mimic variants that much better! If you set up your persist combo with two Mimic/Good-Fortune Unicorn effects in play, you get an infinite army (a bit of a stretch yet possible.) (Edit: See #3 for better approach ) Aristocrats can make good use of this effect. I'm pretty sure there are still many more applications/combos/shenanigans that benefit from the ETB, the trigger or both! Not to mention it can do just fine on its own.
The question for almost every cube card nowadays is can this compete for a slot?
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Recently I started to wonder what exactly is your power ranking, based on your 540 list? I ask because my cube is not as big as yours. Often times I find myself trying to make cuts from your list in order to come up with a 360 one (It's funny how a Modern-only cube such as mine is always referring to a powered list such as yours, but anyways). Sometimes I get a glimpse of your thoughts on ranking certain color/cmc/guilds sections through your comments, but those are really the only info I can get.
Do you think it's difficult to rank cards of each cmc section in your entire list? Now your list on the forum is in alphabetical order. Wouldn't it be nice (educational even) to have it in power order? I know ranking is subjective but it should be reasonable for the creator to make a qualified judgement for his own cube. I mean I searched but I'm not sure if anyone has done it before. And I sure love to see how you would rank them (Your set review rankings were awesome). You are my cube mentor!