For two players, I have been playing a draft format I made up:
Start with 18 packs of 9 cards.
For each pack, lay it out in a 3x3 grid face up (just lay them out in order, don't look at the cards and decide where each one should go).
The first player takes a row or column.
The second player takes a remaining row or column. Discard the undrafted cards (which will be 3 or 4 cards per pack).
Alternate who goes first each pack.
This sounds like a fun way to draft. I'm going to have to try it out this weekend.
I know I'm in the minority, but I would choose collections to buy from Ebay based on the cards that I needed. I'd take the cards that I needed to complete my collection and sell the rest. While I was doing this I was able to make a small profit and still build up a decent collection of cards.
It is really sweet to be able to trust my coworkers and just have the cards out in circulation for a while so that we can do this. Admittedly, it is also a good reason to proxy the valuable cards in the cube, just in case cards get lost.
If you play with sideboards, make sure to count the number of cards every once in a while. I used to do something similar with co-workers, and occasionally someone would forget to turn in their sideboard cards. It was never anything malicious or deceitful, but as the number of players go up there's a better chance that someone will have forgotten to turn some of the cards when the round is done, and the cards will be stuck in their desk until you think to ask for them.
I've had a great time playing my normal cube, but I've been yearning for a different experience from time to time, so I decided to build a tribal cube. I've finally finished it and I've had the chance to play it twice. I think that there are likely some significant issues with power balance between the different colors and tribes. For example, black's average converted mana cost for creatures is significantly higher than red, green and white. I haven't yet added any cards from Innistrad or Dark Ascension, so that can probably help get some cheaper zombies into black. One constraint on the card selection is that I don't want to include cards that are in my regular cube. I'm trying to keep a completely different experience from my regular cube.
Supported Tribes
The cube is focused on 11 tribes, 2 in each color and 1 for artifacts. The two tribes in each color support one tribe at lower mana costs and one at higher mana costs.
WWW:
* lower CMC: soldiers
* upper CMC: angels
UUU:
* lower CMC: wizards
* upper CMC: djinns
BBB:
* lower CMC: zombies
* upper CMC: demons
RRR:
* lower CMC: goblins
* upper CMC: dragons
GGG:
* lower CMC: elves
* upper CMC: elementals
111:
* golems
Any feedback is welcome.
Basic Info Cube Size: 360 Breakdown: 30 gold, 40 artifacts, 40 land, 50 of each color Standard or Theme Cube: Tribal Snow Lands: No Average # Players: 2 How Often Drafted: Once or twice per month
Card Selection Powered?: No Portal?: Yes "Un-" Cards: Maybe Banned Cards for Power-Level: Yes Banned Cards for Time Constraints: No Banned Cards for "Fun" factor: Yes
Cube Design Standard or Multiplayer: Standard Sideboards?: No Even Color Balance: Yes Perfect Creature/Non-Creature Balance: No Gold Balance: Yes Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes Color Triggers as Gold: Yes Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
I just finished building a tribal cube over Thanksgiving, and one of my requirements was that none of the cards could be in my normal cube. The tribal cube has been a blast to play so far. I tried to build this cube so that any one card won't lead to a complete blow-out if you don't deal with it for one turn, and this has offered an interesting contrast to how my other cube plays.
I used to buy collections to resell. There were many more collections than I could buy, so I'd pick the collections that I bought based on some of the cards that I needed in order to get one of every card (of course price mattered too). It took a few years, but it was surprising how well this worked in order to get over 90% of the cards that I was after. Once you get one of every card, you build your cube out of that stock. It lets you build EDH decks too, and then you trade for another copy of the card when it has proven itself.
I think that you're misreading the suggestion. Give each person five commanders, which they look at and are fully aware of the colors and abilities. Next, run the draft. Then let people choose their final commander. This lets people change plans during the draft rather than being locked in no matter what.
This looks like a nice idea, I appreciate the work you put into it.
I agree here, though I haven't had the time to go through all of the comments yet.
I've run Vanguard and Planechase a lot with my cube, but we've never done an actual selection of a Vanguard card before drafting. We'll just draft our decks as normal. If we're adding Vanguard cards we'll shuffle up the pile, and then you get three chances at your card. You flip the first card, decide if you want it or not, then move to the next card. If you don't take the second card then you're stuck with the third Vanguard card. After a game or two we'll change Vanguard cards.
Then we'll run all of the Planechase cards using this setup:
My first thought on looking at your list is that there should be support for building a green aggro deck. I would try to support aggro in each color besides blue. So many of the Vanguard cards are immediately usable with an aggro deck due to the simple +2 or +3 hand modifier, even if the Vanguard ability might not mesh with an aggro strategy.
Shouldn't Portal, Portal Second Age, Portal Three Kingdoms and Starter be added to the list of sets? I know that not everyone plays them, but it would be handy to comb through these sets as well.
Other possible inclusions are Unglued, Unhinged and the promo cards.
I can do the promos:
Mana Crypt -- great acceleration
Gifts Given -- One of the most overpowered spells around. This is an auto-include if you allow silver-bordered cards.
One last bit is that you should change "Arabian Knights" to "Arabian Nights".
I'm in the middle of making a lot of updates. It's time to comment on some changes that I've already made so that the complete update isn't so long that no one will ever read it.
-Thawing Glaciers -- Thawing Glaciers was just too slow.
+City of Brass -- City of Brass should be a good increase in speed for getting mana.
-Faerie Conclave -- This doesn't seem to play to blue's strengths.
-Kor Haven -- Decent, but I'm ready to try something else.
-Treetop Village -- Great, but I'm interested in seeing some mana acceleration rather than just another creature.
-Yavimaya Hallow -- Too many green lands.
+Gaea's Cradle -- Mana!
+Ghitu Encampment -- I wish red had more to offer, but this is playable.
+Kjeldoran Outpost -- More dudes!
+Shelldock Isle -- This plays to blue's strengths much better.
-AEther Vial -- Too situational.
-Gauntlet of Power -- Too expensive.
-Ivory Tower -- Too much support for control.
+Crucible of Worlds -- I've been reluctant to add this, but I'm interested to see how this works.
+Deathrender -- Probably not good, but I want to try it.
+Dolmen Gate -- Probably not good, but I want to try this too.
+Millstone -- Milling could be interesting with 40-card decks.
-Aura Shards -- Too slow for when you really want a disenchant effect.
-Razia's Purification -- This never got played.
-Spiritmonger -- It pains me to cut this, but I wanted to try something else.
+Gaddock Teeg -- I'd like to try this. It's got an interesting effect.
+Brion Stoutarm -- 4/4 for 4 with good abilities seems so much better than Razia's Purification.
+Nath of the Gilt-Leaf -- This looks great and I would love to try it in a deck.
The following cards seem like good choices for an initial card in my new hybrid slot:
-Hatred -- Too expensive.
-Nightscape Familiar -- Should have been multi-color, but it really wouldn't make it against the competition.
-Rend Flesh -- The non-Spirit portion is too much sometimes.
-Sengir Vampire -- Classic, but it's not good enough for the Cube.
-Slaughter Pact -- Not worth it.
-Tendrils of Agony -- This just doesn't fit the decks that I want to support.
+Ashes to Ashes -- Much better than Rend Flesh or Slaughter Pact.
+Bitterblossom -- I'm ready to try this out.
+Liliana Vess -- Planeswalkers!
+Oona's Prowler -- Aggressive and a good discard outlet for reanimator.
+Shriekmaw -- Removal
+Thoughtseize -- This looks great.
-Juzam Djinn -- Considering the $100+ difference in price, I'd rather be able to buy the next 3 Dominion expansions.
+Plague Sliver -- Juzam wannabe, but it works.
-Blue Elemental Blast -- Too color specific and needs to make room for Proteus Staff.
-Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir -- Needs to make room for Memnarch, but Teferi doesn't play into blue's strengths well enough.
I'm still working on the rest of black, and then on to blue, green, red and white.
This sounds like a fun way to draft. I'm going to have to try it out this weekend.
If you play with sideboards, make sure to count the number of cards every once in a while. I used to do something similar with co-workers, and occasionally someone would forget to turn in their sideboard cards. It was never anything malicious or deceitful, but as the number of players go up there's a better chance that someone will have forgotten to turn some of the cards when the round is done, and the cards will be stuck in their desk until you think to ask for them.
I've had a great time playing my normal cube, but I've been yearning for a different experience from time to time, so I decided to build a tribal cube. I've finally finished it and I've had the chance to play it twice. I think that there are likely some significant issues with power balance between the different colors and tribes. For example, black's average converted mana cost for creatures is significantly higher than red, green and white. I haven't yet added any cards from Innistrad or Dark Ascension, so that can probably help get some cheaper zombies into black. One constraint on the card selection is that I don't want to include cards that are in my regular cube. I'm trying to keep a completely different experience from my regular cube.
Supported Tribes
The cube is focused on 11 tribes, 2 in each color and 1 for artifacts. The two tribes in each color support one tribe at lower mana costs and one at higher mana costs.
WWW:
* lower CMC: soldiers
* upper CMC: angels
UUU:
* lower CMC: wizards
* upper CMC: djinns
BBB:
* lower CMC: zombies
* upper CMC: demons
RRR:
* lower CMC: goblins
* upper CMC: dragons
GGG:
* lower CMC: elves
* upper CMC: elementals
111:
* golems
Any feedback is welcome.
Basic Info
Cube Size: 360
Breakdown: 30 gold, 40 artifacts, 40 land, 50 of each color
Standard or Theme Cube: Tribal
Snow Lands: No
Average # Players: 2
How Often Drafted: Once or twice per month
Card Selection
Powered?: No
Portal?: Yes
"Un-" Cards: Maybe
Banned Cards for Power-Level: Yes
Banned Cards for Time Constraints: No
Banned Cards for "Fun" factor: Yes
Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Standard
Sideboards?: No
Even Color Balance: Yes
Perfect Creature/Non-Creature Balance: No
Gold Balance: Yes
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes
Color Triggers as Gold: Yes
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
WWWWW White WWWWW
Creatures
Alaborn Zealot
Cenn's Tactician
Elite Vanguard
Mosquito Guard
Resistance Fighter
Ballyrush Banneret
Benalish Trapper
Catapult Squad
Master Decoy
Veteran Armorsmith
Ballynock Cohort
Intrepid Hero
Preeminent Captain
Veteran Swordsmith
Lieutenant Kirtar
Benalish Commander
Heavy Ballista
Kongming's Contraptions
Serra Advocate
Rhox Pikemaster
Voice of All
Baneslayer Angel
Battlegrace Angel
Catapult Master
Radiant, Archangel
Adarkar Valkyrie
Captain of the Watch
Reya Dawnbringer
Non-Creatures
Gerrard's Battle Cry
Pay No Heed
Smite
Strip Bare
Divine Offering
Invulnerability
Pacifism
Righteous Aura
Seal of Cleansing
Shelter
Martial Coup
Retribution of the Meek
Abolish
Divine Sacrament
Prison Term
False Defeat
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Serra's Embrace
Miraculous Recovery
Opal Archangel
Akroma's Vengeance
Planar Cleansing
UUUUU Blue UUUUU
Creatures
Aphetto Alchemist
Minamo Sightbender
Stonybrook Banneret
Voidmage Apprentice
Echo Tracer
Graceful Adept
Puppeteer
Sage of Fables
Trinket Mage
Daring Apprentice
Fatespinner
Serendib Sorcerer
Sigil Tracer
Temporal Adept
Fledgling Mawcor
Inspired Sprite
Nameless One
Braids, Conjurer Adept
Riptide Director
Serendib Djinn
Waterspout Djinn
Djinn of Wishes
Supreme Inquisitor
Magus of the Future
Quicksilver Dragon
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Maelstrom Djinn
Tidespout Tyrant
Non-Creatures
Mystic Remora
Ponder
Stream of Unconsciousness
Unsummon
Confound
Essence Scatter
Memory Lapse
Negate
Ovinize
Truth or Tale
Eye of Nowhere
Faces of the Past
Ixidor's Will
Sage's Dousing
Symbol of Unsummoning
Dissipate
Equilibrium
Distorting Wake
Tidings
Gather Specimens
Spelljack
Day of the Dragons
BBBBB Black BBBBB
Creatures
Carrion Feeder
Maggot Carrier
Zombie Cannibal
Barrow Ghoul
Crypt Creeper
Dregscape Zombie
Shepherd of Rot
Phyrexian Ghoul
Bone Dancer
Cemetery Reaper
Death Baron
Lord of the Undead
Grave Defiler
Gravedigger
Haunted Cadaver
Soulless One
Graveborn Muse
Grinning Demon
Undead Warchief
Cairn Wanderer
Corpse Harvester
Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Seizan, Perverter of Truth
Woebringer Demon
Vengeful Pharaoh
Gravespawn Sovereign
Nefashu
Putrid Raptor
Xathrid Demon
Lim-Dul the Necromancer
Liege of the Pit
Reiver Demon
Non-Creatures
Executioner's Capsule
Doom Blade
Corpse Dance
Infest
Snuff Out
Aphetto Dredging
Tendrils of Corruption
Zombify
Tombstone Stairwell
Mutilate
Diabolic Tutor
Grave Pact
Cruel Revival
Call to the Grave
Incremental Blight
Beacon of Unrest
Hellfire
Promise of Power
RRRRR Red RRRRR
Creatures
Goblin Lackey
Goblin Taskmaster
Goblin Vandal
Skirk Prospector
Bloodmark Mentor
Goblin Piledriver
Goblin Recruiter
Mogg War Marshal
Skirk Marauder
Sparksmith
Gempalm Incinerator
Goblin Matron
Goblin Chieftain
Goblin Warchief
Sensation Gorger
Goblin Ringleader
Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
Dragon Whelp
Rakdos Pit Dragon
Skirk Fire Marshal
Voracious Dragon
Flameblast Dragon
Predator Dragon
Imperial Hellkite
Kilnmouth Dragon
Dragon Tyrant
Non-Creatures
Brightstone Ritual
Goblin Grenade
Reckless Charge
Blaze
Blood Lust
Braid of Fire
Breath of Darigaaz
Fling
Rockslide Ambush
Rough // Tumble
Shattering Pulse
Volcanic Hammer
Fork
Fault Line
Act of Treason
Puncture Blast
Seething Song
Shared Animosity
Smash
Hammer of Bogardan
Cone of Flame
Shower of Coals
Form of the Dragon
Dragonstorm
GGGGG Green GGGGG
Creatures
Elvish Herder
Elvish Lyrist
Elvish Scrapper
Skyshroud Ranger
Taunting Elf
Joiner Adept
Pendelhaven Elder
Priest of Titania
Quirion Elves
Seeker of Skybreak
Tribal Forcemage
Wellwisher
Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Farhaven Elf
Spawnwrithe
Timberwatch Elf
Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Champion
Jagged-Scar Archers
Heedless One
Immaculate Magistrate
Timbermare
Wren's Run Packmaster
Glissa Sunseeker
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Ambush Commander
Thornling
Voice of the Woods
Primalcrux
Thorn Elemental
Tornado Elemental
Regal Force
Verdant Force
Non-Creatures
Mirri's Guile
Wirewood Pride
Hurricane
Constant Mists
Alpha Status
Harrow
Defense of the Heart
Might of Oaks
Stonewood Invocation
Creeping Mold
Gaea's Embrace
Primitive Etchings
Soul's Majesty
Incremental Growth
Verdant Embrace
Overrun
Lurking Predators
WUBRG Multicolored, Artifacts & Land GRBUW
Multicolored
Nemesis of Reason
Dire Undercurrents
Golgari Germination
Woodwraith Corrupter
Dralnu's Crusade
Bladewing the Risen
Necromancer's Covenant
Angel of Despair
Experiment Kraj
AEther Mutation
Prophetic Bolt
Mindwrack Liege
Iridescent Angel
AEthermage's Touch
Dragon Broodmother
Hull Breach
Aura Shards
Tolsimir Wolfblood
Fight to the Death
Balefire Liege
Crypt Champion
Nightscape Battlemage
Cetavolver
Jilt
Thornscape Battlemage
Skyshroud Elf
Rakavolver
Thunderscape Battlemage
Orim's Thunder
Dismantling Blow
Artifacts
Creatures
Emblazoned Golem
Proteus Machine
Sparring Golem
Junktroller
Silent Arbiter
Transguild Courier
Basalt Golem
Glass Golem
Composite Golem
Mirror Golem
Tribal Golem
Clockwork Dragon
Lunar Avenger
Bosh, Iron Golem
Non-Creatures
Chrome Mox
Darksteel Ingot
Thran Golem
Gilded Lotus
Gorgon Flail
Scythe of the Wretched
Kusari-Gama
Quietus Spike
Sword of the Paruns
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
Avarice Totem
Crawlspace
Jalum Tome
Shell of the Last Kappa
Staff of Domination
Door of Destinies
Font of Mythos
Grinning Totem
Helm of Obedience
Jester's Cap
Power Matrix
Quicksilver Amulet
Wand of Ith
Cryptic Gateway
Gauntlet of Power
Gate to the AEther
Land
Arena
City of Shadows
Springjack Pasture
Thawing Glaciers
Zoetic Cavern
Ancient Ziggurat
Exotic Orchard
Meteor Crater
Rupture Spire
Thran Quarry
Lake of the Dead
Unholy Grotto
Academy Ruins
Faerie Conclave
Pendelhaven
Treetop Village
Yavimaya Hollow
Forbidding Watchtower
Kor Haven
Skarrg, the Rage Pits
Blood Crypt
Breeding Pool
Godless Shrine
Hallowed Fountain
Overgrown Tomb
Sacred Foundry
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Temple Garden
Watery Grave
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Glacial Fortress
Rootbound Crag
Sunpetal Grove
Bad River
Flood Plain
Grasslands
Mountain Valley
Rocky Tar Pit
Emeria, the Sky Ruin and Cathedral of Serra.
OK, maybe not the Cathedral.
I agree here, though I haven't had the time to go through all of the comments yet.
I've run Vanguard and Planechase a lot with my cube, but we've never done an actual selection of a Vanguard card before drafting. We'll just draft our decks as normal. If we're adding Vanguard cards we'll shuffle up the pile, and then you get three chances at your card. You flip the first card, decide if you want it or not, then move to the next card. If you don't take the second card then you're stuck with the third Vanguard card. After a game or two we'll change Vanguard cards.
Then we'll run all of the Planechase cards using this setup:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/100
Other possible inclusions are Unglued, Unhinged and the promo cards.
I can do the promos:
Mana Crypt -- great acceleration
Gifts Given -- One of the most overpowered spells around. This is an auto-include if you allow silver-bordered cards.
One last bit is that you should change "Arabian Knights" to "Arabian Nights".
This includes cube and other formats. A lot of people here seem to have a good bit of time for cubing.
It's somewhat expensive, but it seems like interesting untargeted removal.
-Thawing Glaciers -- Thawing Glaciers was just too slow.
+City of Brass -- City of Brass should be a good increase in speed for getting mana.
-Faerie Conclave -- This doesn't seem to play to blue's strengths.
-Kor Haven -- Decent, but I'm ready to try something else.
-Treetop Village -- Great, but I'm interested in seeing some mana acceleration rather than just another creature.
-Yavimaya Hallow -- Too many green lands.
+Gaea's Cradle -- Mana!
+Ghitu Encampment -- I wish red had more to offer, but this is playable.
+Kjeldoran Outpost -- More dudes!
+Shelldock Isle -- This plays to blue's strengths much better.
-Island of Wak-Wak -- Underwhelming
+Mutavault -- I'm interested to see how this plays.
-AEther Vial -- Too situational.
-Gauntlet of Power -- Too expensive.
-Ivory Tower -- Too much support for control.
+Crucible of Worlds -- I've been reluctant to add this, but I'm interested to see how this works.
+Deathrender -- Probably not good, but I want to try it.
+Dolmen Gate -- Probably not good, but I want to try this too.
+Millstone -- Milling could be interesting with 40-card decks.
-Helm of Kaldra -- I finally got buy-in on cutting the Kaldra equipments.
-Shield of Kaldra
-Sword of Kaldra
+Chimeric Idol -- More artifact creatures
+Epochrasite
+Snake Basket
+Su-Chi
-Aura Shards -- Too slow for when you really want a disenchant effect.
-Razia's Purification -- This never got played.
-Spiritmonger -- It pains me to cut this, but I wanted to try something else.
+Gaddock Teeg -- I'd like to try this. It's got an interesting effect.
+Brion Stoutarm -- 4/4 for 4 with good abilities seems so much better than Razia's Purification.
+Nath of the Gilt-Leaf -- This looks great and I would love to try it in a deck.
The following cards seem like good choices for an initial card in my new hybrid slot:
+Figure of Destiny
+Wilt-Leaf Liege
+Boartusk Liege
+Godhead of Awe
+Nucklavee
+Overbeing of Myth
+Evershrike
+Fulminator Mage
+Sapling of Colfenor
+[card]Oona, Queen of the Fae
[/card]
-Hatred -- Too expensive.
-Nightscape Familiar -- Should have been multi-color, but it really wouldn't make it against the competition.
-Rend Flesh -- The non-Spirit portion is too much sometimes.
-Sengir Vampire -- Classic, but it's not good enough for the Cube.
-Slaughter Pact -- Not worth it.
-Tendrils of Agony -- This just doesn't fit the decks that I want to support.
+Ashes to Ashes -- Much better than Rend Flesh or Slaughter Pact.
+Bitterblossom -- I'm ready to try this out.
+Liliana Vess -- Planeswalkers!
+Oona's Prowler -- Aggressive and a good discard outlet for reanimator.
+Shriekmaw -- Removal
+Thoughtseize -- This looks great.
-Juzam Djinn -- Considering the $100+ difference in price, I'd rather be able to buy the next 3 Dominion expansions.
+Plague Sliver -- Juzam wannabe, but it works.
-Blue Elemental Blast -- Too color specific and needs to make room for Proteus Staff.
-Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir -- Needs to make room for Memnarch, but Teferi doesn't play into blue's strengths well enough.
I'm still working on the rest of black, and then on to blue, green, red and white.