Cuttups, remember the custom cube contest many years ago on the Wizards forums? It was later talked about here: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/190223-the-custom-cube. The card Woodform from that cube, which is essentially this card (with poorer phrasing) was my design, though I apparently wasn't aggressive enough with the costing (I had it at 3G, thinking that in green it had to cost more that O-ring, even if it gave you a forest). I've always liked that design and I'm glad they finally got around to printing it
I've been thinking about this too. I know several people that used to play Magic, but haven't played for years, so I've been thinking about "core-ifying" my cube a bit to try to help them get back into it without being overwhelmed. It's not exactly the same thing as teaching new people, but it's close.
Some rules I was thinking about:
Stick with 360 cards.
No cards with keywords without reminder text, except abilities that were in Alpha.
No cards that have multiple forms (morph, flip, split, level-up, or double sided).
No phyrexian mana.
Try to stick to simple and/or resonant designs.
I'm trying to figure out where mutlicolor should fit in. Should there be no multicolor at all (like in a normal core set), a smaller than normal multicolor section or a multicolor section about standard for the cube size (as long as the designs are simple and/or resonant). Should hybrid be included (it's not that hard to understand, but could be relatively easily done without)? What about cards that play as multicolor (kird ape, desolation angel)?
Another thing I'm on the fence about is whether or not to omit or limit the number of griefer cards particularly land destruction (like armageddon, strip mine, winter orb, ankh of mishra, etc.) or not. They aren't terribly complex, make aggro more viable and some players like them.
I wonder if Tom is cubing with (proxy) cards from sets that haven't been released yet... I'm not sure how likely that is, but it would be a legitimate reason not to post the list.
I'm going to be there Sat and Sun looking to cube and/or play in the public M12 booster draft events.
Though I've been around this forum on and off for a while and built a budget cube, I have only done Winston cube draft so far, so I'm really hoping to do a proper cube draft this weekend. Hope to see some of you there.
Thanks for trying to recharge this thread. I have updated my lists and transferred them to the spreadsheet (which was really easy and an awesome idea).
If you want green to be really good at ramp, what about making it free (might be too good - but it's not as good as a mox):
Frelf (Mox Druid?) G
Creature - Elf Druid
You may play CARDNAME for 0 if you control a basic forest
0/1
I suppose it could be an color aligned mox-like artifact as well:
Emerald Blox 0
When CARDNAME ETB, sacrifice it unless you control a basic forest
T: G
Probably would have to ETBT as well unless you want almost mox level brokenness. That could be a cycle of color aligned zero cost artifacts where none of the others ramp permanently but do powerful early game things associated with their color.
Or combine green ramp with the white tax mechanic
Qasali Tax Collector WG
Creature - Cat Druid
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped, then shuffle your library.
If an opponent controls more lands that you, you may play CARDNAME for
2/2
Not sure I like that this might more often be played as a hybrid card and thus allow G to land tax.
Alternate version:
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. If an opponent controls more lands that you, you may search your library for a second basic land and put it into your hand.
Alternate 2:
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. If an opponent controls more lands that you, untap up to 2 lands you control. (or make it all lands, if you want to push the power)
Please excuse the playtest names... if they make the cube they'd probably want to be changed
So I was thinking about how people like Tusker and possible green creatures that could serve as both ramp enabler and ramp target without using keywords and camp up with this:
Garden Hydra XG
CARDNAME ETB with X +1/+1 counters
Remove a +1/+1 counter: search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Play this ability as a sorcery and only once per turn.
Having the restriction on when and how to use the counters seems fair given the flexibility of playing it as a rampant growth, cultivate or beater, but one or more of those restrictions could be lifted to pump the power level if desired. Alternatively, the choice to remove a counter could be an upkeep effect.
The OP can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the question wasn't so much which cards are staples, but a skeleton of costs/abilities that might look something like this:
10 2 drops:
4x pure aggro, 3 with evasion
1x utility
...etc...
and/or maybe some guidelines like:
Among all white cards:
Should have 6-8 ways to deal with artifacts and enchantments
Should have 4-6 Wrath effects
Should have 6-8 spot creature removal
Or, getting fancier, have some of those numbers as percentages of the white section...
This kind of skeleton, described completely generically and referencing no actual card names might be an interesting project.
My first instinct was Nekrataal because I think of it as an awesome creature and Command as mana intensive. But even at x=2, I think commaond is likely to have a greater immediate impact on the board than Nekrataal, especially since Nekrataal can't kill the creatures unaffected by the command's fear.
I have to admit, if I was drafting this myself, or doing a team draft, I'd probably go for Winter Orb, for many reasons that have already been stated. However, of all the first pick worthy cards, I think starting with Future Sight will lead to the most interesting discussions, so I'm picking that.
I'll update my main list soon, but I wanted to drop a quick note that I picked up a Skinrender, Perilous Myr, and Slice In Twain at SoM draft tonight if anyone needs.
@Arven: got the cards! Awesome! I had resolved to not worry too much until tomorrow, but admit to have gotten slightly antsy anyway... (and, seriously, you call that Yosei lightly warn? Barely warn is more like it:))
Mechanics I would definitely include:
flying
first strike
Mechanics I would probably include
Protection
Battle Cry
Defender
Landfall
Kicker
Scry
Regenerate
Deathtouch
Lifelink
Bloodthirst
Trample
Haste
Hexproof
Mechanics I might include, but I'm not sure about
Shadow
Flash
Evoke
Shroud
Buyback
Flashback
Echo
Fear
Intimidate
Unearth
Cascade
Imprint? (Duplicant seems OK, Isochron Scepter probably not)
Mechanics I'd probably not include, but might change my mind about
Vanishing
Fading
Ninjutsu
Persist
Rebound
Wither
Cycling
Manlands
Mechanics I would not include
Level Up
Changeling
Suspend
Hideaway
Poison
Flip
Split
Level-Up
Morph
Transform
Thoughts?
Some rules I was thinking about:
Stick with 360 cards.
No cards with keywords without reminder text, except abilities that were in Alpha.
No cards that have multiple forms (morph, flip, split, level-up, or double sided).
No phyrexian mana.
Try to stick to simple and/or resonant designs.
I'm trying to figure out where mutlicolor should fit in. Should there be no multicolor at all (like in a normal core set), a smaller than normal multicolor section or a multicolor section about standard for the cube size (as long as the designs are simple and/or resonant). Should hybrid be included (it's not that hard to understand, but could be relatively easily done without)? What about cards that play as multicolor (kird ape, desolation angel)?
Another thing I'm on the fence about is whether or not to omit or limit the number of griefer cards particularly land destruction (like armageddon, strip mine, winter orb, ankh of mishra, etc.) or not. They aren't terribly complex, make aggro more viable and some players like them.
I'm interested to see what other folks think.
Though I've been around this forum on and off for a while and built a budget cube, I have only done Winston cube draft so far, so I'm really hoping to do a proper cube draft this weekend. Hope to see some of you there.
Thanks
http://deckstats.net/deck-798133-6c23e43bff99565ac5671043f072dd5b-en.html
Frelf (Mox Druid?) G
Creature - Elf Druid
You may play CARDNAME for 0 if you control a basic forest
0/1
I suppose it could be an color aligned mox-like artifact as well:
Emerald Blox 0
When CARDNAME ETB, sacrifice it unless you control a basic forest
T: G
Probably would have to ETBT as well unless you want almost mox level brokenness. That could be a cycle of color aligned zero cost artifacts where none of the others ramp permanently but do powerful early game things associated with their color.
Or combine green ramp with the white tax mechanic
Qasali Tax Collector WG
Creature - Cat Druid
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped, then shuffle your library.
If an opponent controls more lands that you, you may play CARDNAME for
2/2
Not sure I like that this might more often be played as a hybrid card and thus allow G to land tax.
Alternate version:
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. If an opponent controls more lands that you, you may search your library for a second basic land and put it into your hand.
Alternate 2:
When CARDNAME ETB, you may search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. If an opponent controls more lands that you, untap up to 2 lands you control. (or make it all lands, if you want to push the power)
Please excuse the playtest names... if they make the cube they'd probably want to be changed
Garden Hydra XG
CARDNAME ETB with X +1/+1 counters
Remove a +1/+1 counter: search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Play this ability as a sorcery and only once per turn.
Having the restriction on when and how to use the counters seems fair given the flexibility of playing it as a rampant growth, cultivate or beater, but one or more of those restrictions could be lifted to pump the power level if desired. Alternatively, the choice to remove a counter could be an upkeep effect.
White: 60 cards
creatures:
6 1 drops:
4x pure aggro
2x aggro/midrange
10 2 drops:
4x pure aggro, 3 with evasion
1x utility
...etc...
and/or maybe some guidelines like:
Among all white cards:
Should have 6-8 ways to deal with artifacts and enchantments
Should have 4-6 Wrath effects
Should have 6-8 spot creature removal
Or, getting fancier, have some of those numbers as percentages of the white section...
This kind of skeleton, described completely generically and referencing no actual card names might be an interesting project.
My first instinct was Nekrataal because I think of it as an awesome creature and Command as mana intensive. But even at x=2, I think commaond is likely to have a greater immediate impact on the board than Nekrataal, especially since Nekrataal can't kill the creatures unaffected by the command's fear.