This sounds exciting. It reminds me of something from the forums I can't find right now, the modular cube. Basically constant decision making without the slam dunk cards of powered cubes. A lot of the modular cards (various charms for instance) are 1-for-1s or even 0-for-1s but have a lot of play to them. Feels like they'd fit nicely with your goal.
I don't know if there are others, but I refer to my cube as the Modal Cube. I have attempted to streamline the cube a bit more over the time I've had it. The 0-for-1 charms were fun, but they sat in sideboards as grindy midrange decks tried to find the most efficient pieces available. In the end, the gameplay was fairly dynamic, but the draft felt pretty linear. I've since been trying to push aggro and find cards that fit the decision heavy nature with minimal sacrifice of efficiency. However, I will run zero vanilla creatures.
For example, Flowstone Embrace was a wacky buff-my-fatty or kill-your-dude piece in the original cube, but it was only ever used as mediocre removal. Now we're running things like Arc Lightning and Burst Lightning. White doesn't have Swords to Plowshares or Pacifism, but Cage of Hands and Prison Term fill the role. There are still charms, but generally only those that see play (Dimir Charm, Selesnya Charm, Izzet Charm, Boros Charm, and Simic Charm).
One important theme I see thrown around in discussions about low power cubes is the removal of easy first picks, of which I disagree. There will always be P1P1 material cards. I would take Dismember over most of my cube, except maybe Shrine of Burning Rage and Garruk Wildspeaker.
It isn't necessarily based on tricks, since a lot of it is based on visible information, like creatures with abilities. However, there are plenty of cards that I would suggest, like Divine Deflection, Do or Die, and Beast Attack.
The most important thing I've had to learn in the time I've had the cube is balancing theme versus the core aggro/midrange/control elements. I think my white aggro needs work, but that requires more 2 power 1 drops that I can justify. Some cards fit because they change the way players evaluate the game (even if they aren't necessarily modal themselves), like Steppe Lynx. The line of play for Steppe Lynx is usually somewhat linear, but there's an interaction between players when judging whether there's another land coming. It isn't my perfect aggro creature for Modal Cube, but it's more interactive than Savanna Lions.
Basic Information Cube Size: 180 Breakdown: 71 White, 71 Green, 23 Multicolour/Artifact, 15 Land Standard or Theme: Theme Snow Lands: No Average Number of Players: Two How Often Drafted: Not often, so far
Card Selection Proxies: No Powered: No Portal: Potentially "Un" Cards: Potentially Banned Cards for Power-Level: Power and "Pseudo-Power" Banned Cards for Time Constraints: None Banned Cards for "fun" factor: None so far
Cube Design Standard or Multiplayer: Standard Sideboards?: Yes Color Balance: Yes, but not all colours Gold Balance: Not applicable Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes Color Triggers as Gold: Yes Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
The Selesnya Charm Cube is my effort to make an a unique two player draft environment. It consists of entirely White, Green, or Colourless cards. It is my goal to support aggro, midrange, and control across these two colours. After drafting the cube, each player can add up to ten Selesnya Charms to their deck.
Why Selesnya Charm? It's a creature! It's removal! It's a combat trick! It creates its own themes! Two power matters! Three toughness matters! Five power matters! Tokens matter!
Under these restrictions, some immedate goals and designs appeared. Anything with five or greater power had to have enough benefits if it was immediately exiled. Your opponent is almost guaranteed to control forests, so Elvish Champion becomes terrifying.
This is a somewhat budget list, but I probably wouldn't do much else with endless funds. With Selesnya Charm as the bar, some cube staples like Umezawa's Jitte are simply too strong. There are three Windswept Heaths, but those are all gold bordered.
Phyrexian Metamorph. I love everything about it and it gets pretty good with 'Lark, too. Crystal Shard is probably better with 'Lark, but Metamorph leaves us open in case we need to be flexible.
I run him in my Modal Cube. In that power level, he's great. I do run a fair number of humans, but he often reads "Sac Deranged Outcast," not "Sac a Human." Still, he complicates the board in a good way. I don't think a human theme is necessary for him, but it's a welcome addition.
With that said, he's nowhere near the power level for a normal cube. If you're trying to build a low power, but not C/U cube, he's fun.
I'd definitely think about alternate options for R/W W/R U/G and G/B. Wear // Tear is pretty good and versatile.
I quite like Orim's Thunder, personally. I think it's a great example of a card for this slot. Monocolour decks get an extra disenchant in the sideboard is nice to have for some matchups and the benefits for the off-colour ability is a 2-for-1.
For UG, we've been trying out Plaxmanta. It hasn't been amazing, but countering spot removal and leaving a bear has its perks.
I love the idea of an "underpowered, but interesting limited" cube that has cards like Rakavolver (lots of modes, flexible) for example that doesn't play anything of Sword of X and Y power level cards.
Definitely post it when you finalize it.
That's pretty much the theme behind my modal cube. If you want to look at it, use the Cube Tutor link in my signature, since I haven't updated the Salvation link in a while.
On the topic of separated multicolour sections, I agree with wtwlf that you shouldn't strictly bind yourself to quotas for degrees of multicolour functionality. With a cube of this power level, you don't necessarily need the strongest, but I think you should go with whichever multicolour card fits your needs on a case by case basis, ignoring gold/hybrid/semi-gold considerations.
And as a side note as someone who has cubed with Rakavolver, it's never in a monocoloured slot in a deck. There are some semi-gold cards that do fill this role, like Feeling of Dread, but most may as well be gold cards.
Thanks, Metagame! It's always nice to hear about others trying similar things! My cube tutor list is up to date. I haven't bothered to keep the MTG Salvation list up to date, since cube tutor is just easier.
I consider my modal cube to be pretty mid-tier and interactive. It's based around complicated board states and cards with multiple uses. This primarily hurts aggro, but I've finally hit a happy point where the aggro/midrange/control balance seems pretty stable.
My Modal Cube is designed to have interactions all over the place and complicated board states. It includes rares, but it's nowhere near power. It's slightly budget, but I think the only "wishlist" item I have left is fetches.
I actually liked the subtle differences in the decks highlighting the importance of choosing one's third colour carefully. However, I think such a contrast is more useful when the decks are combatting the gauntlet of typical opposition. Although, I realize that this isn't in the nature of the article.
My only complaint is that the red variant wasn't called Sligh Slivers to combat the Sly Slivers.
I often hear about the following numbers for pack sizes:
7 or 8 players: 3 packs of 15
5 or 6 players: 4 packs of 11
4 or less players: 5 packs of 9
With the advent of Cube Tutor, I sat down and completed a great number of 5 packs of 9 drafts. Often I would find the final pools to be lacking in certain areas. While this problem was found across all arch-types, it hurt aggro the most. As decks begin to struggle to put together their final 40, games are more likely to go longer, which in turn favours the slower deck. Aggro is already generally considered a weaker arch-type in most cubes and this only damages its position.
The biggest problem is the increased likelihood of unbalanced packs. In your third pack of 15, one is far more likely to open cards relevant to the currently established deck. Whereas in a fourth or fifth pack of 9, the reduced availability of cards at one point in time can push players in directions that muddle passing signals, leading to a cascade of durdly, three-colour decks.
My group and I have started drafting with 5 packs of 11 among 4 players. The extra couple cards decrease the chance of drastically skewed packs. In contrast to 4 packs of 11, this method includes a larger total card pool (176 cards vs. 220 cards), which is vital to fringe arch-types and aggro, which demands critical mass.
For those who draft 5 packs of 9, how have your experiences been with skewed packs? How has aggro performed when drafted with four in contrast to six or eight?
Disclaimer: I realize that the bots on Cube Tutor are hardly perfect, but this is a trend I have noticed in four person drafts already, independent of Cube Tutor. In addition, these bots were using cards with well established draft statistics and no recent changes.
I don't know if there are others, but I refer to my cube as the Modal Cube. I have attempted to streamline the cube a bit more over the time I've had it. The 0-for-1 charms were fun, but they sat in sideboards as grindy midrange decks tried to find the most efficient pieces available. In the end, the gameplay was fairly dynamic, but the draft felt pretty linear. I've since been trying to push aggro and find cards that fit the decision heavy nature with minimal sacrifice of efficiency. However, I will run zero vanilla creatures.
For example, Flowstone Embrace was a wacky buff-my-fatty or kill-your-dude piece in the original cube, but it was only ever used as mediocre removal. Now we're running things like Arc Lightning and Burst Lightning. White doesn't have Swords to Plowshares or Pacifism, but Cage of Hands and Prison Term fill the role. There are still charms, but generally only those that see play (Dimir Charm, Selesnya Charm, Izzet Charm, Boros Charm, and Simic Charm).
One important theme I see thrown around in discussions about low power cubes is the removal of easy first picks, of which I disagree. There will always be P1P1 material cards. I would take Dismember over most of my cube, except maybe Shrine of Burning Rage and Garruk Wildspeaker.
It isn't necessarily based on tricks, since a lot of it is based on visible information, like creatures with abilities. However, there are plenty of cards that I would suggest, like Divine Deflection, Do or Die, and Beast Attack.
The most important thing I've had to learn in the time I've had the cube is balancing theme versus the core aggro/midrange/control elements. I think my white aggro needs work, but that requires more 2 power 1 drops that I can justify. Some cards fit because they change the way players evaluate the game (even if they aren't necessarily modal themselves), like Steppe Lynx. The line of play for Steppe Lynx is usually somewhat linear, but there's an interaction between players when judging whether there's another land coming. It isn't my perfect aggro creature for Modal Cube, but it's more interactive than Savanna Lions.
Basic Information
Cube Size: 180
Breakdown: 71 White, 71 Green, 23 Multicolour/Artifact, 15 Land
Standard or Theme: Theme
Snow Lands: No
Average Number of Players: Two
How Often Drafted: Not often, so far
Card Selection
Proxies: No
Powered: No
Portal: Potentially
"Un" Cards: Potentially
Banned Cards for Power-Level: Power and "Pseudo-Power"
Banned Cards for Time Constraints: None
Banned Cards for "fun" factor: None so far
Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Standard
Sideboards?: Yes
Color Balance: Yes, but not all colours
Gold Balance: Not applicable
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes
Color Triggers as Gold: Yes
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No
The Cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/7423
The Selesnya Charm Cube is my effort to make an a unique two player draft environment. It consists of entirely White, Green, or Colourless cards. It is my goal to support aggro, midrange, and control across these two colours. After drafting the cube, each player can add up to ten Selesnya Charms to their deck.
Why Selesnya Charm? It's a creature! It's removal! It's a combat trick! It creates its own themes! Two power matters! Three toughness matters! Five power matters! Tokens matter!
Under these restrictions, some immedate goals and designs appeared. Anything with five or greater power had to have enough benefits if it was immediately exiled. Your opponent is almost guaranteed to control forests, so Elvish Champion becomes terrifying.
This is a somewhat budget list, but I probably wouldn't do much else with endless funds. With Selesnya Charm as the bar, some cube staples like Umezawa's Jitte are simply too strong. There are three Windswept Heaths, but those are all gold bordered.
With that said, he's nowhere near the power level for a normal cube. If you're trying to build a low power, but not C/U cube, he's fun.
I quite like Orim's Thunder, personally. I think it's a great example of a card for this slot. Monocolour decks get an extra disenchant in the sideboard is nice to have for some matchups and the benefits for the off-colour ability is a 2-for-1.
For UG, we've been trying out Plaxmanta. It hasn't been amazing, but countering spot removal and leaving a bear has its perks.
That's pretty much the theme behind my modal cube. If you want to look at it, use the Cube Tutor link in my signature, since I haven't updated the Salvation link in a while.
On the topic of separated multicolour sections, I agree with wtwlf that you shouldn't strictly bind yourself to quotas for degrees of multicolour functionality. With a cube of this power level, you don't necessarily need the strongest, but I think you should go with whichever multicolour card fits your needs on a case by case basis, ignoring gold/hybrid/semi-gold considerations.
And as a side note as someone who has cubed with Rakavolver, it's never in a monocoloured slot in a deck. There are some semi-gold cards that do fill this role, like Feeling of Dread, but most may as well be gold cards.
Here's the list: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/85
Here's the cubetutor link, since it's a little out of date here on MTG Salvation: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/85
My only complaint is that the red variant wasn't called Sligh Slivers to combat the Sly Slivers.
7 or 8 players: 3 packs of 15
5 or 6 players: 4 packs of 11
4 or less players: 5 packs of 9
With the advent of Cube Tutor, I sat down and completed a great number of 5 packs of 9 drafts. Often I would find the final pools to be lacking in certain areas. While this problem was found across all arch-types, it hurt aggro the most. As decks begin to struggle to put together their final 40, games are more likely to go longer, which in turn favours the slower deck. Aggro is already generally considered a weaker arch-type in most cubes and this only damages its position.
The biggest problem is the increased likelihood of unbalanced packs. In your third pack of 15, one is far more likely to open cards relevant to the currently established deck. Whereas in a fourth or fifth pack of 9, the reduced availability of cards at one point in time can push players in directions that muddle passing signals, leading to a cascade of durdly, three-colour decks.
My group and I have started drafting with 5 packs of 11 among 4 players. The extra couple cards decrease the chance of drastically skewed packs. In contrast to 4 packs of 11, this method includes a larger total card pool (176 cards vs. 220 cards), which is vital to fringe arch-types and aggro, which demands critical mass.
For those who draft 5 packs of 9, how have your experiences been with skewed packs? How has aggro performed when drafted with four in contrast to six or eight?
Disclaimer: I realize that the bots on Cube Tutor are hardly perfect, but this is a trend I have noticed in four person drafts already, independent of Cube Tutor. In addition, these bots were using cards with well established draft statistics and no recent changes.