The PokeCube I posted about a couple of years ago amounted to nothing. Not sure why really, but it ended up being disassembled after 0 drafts.
I recently picked up some longboxes of Pokemon cards from my LGS for very cheap. I had a small collection already. I've used this to make a new PokeCube over the last couple of weeks. It's been much more of a success. Although not everyone in my group enjoy playing Pokemon, the ones who do have given very positive responses. Since I began the project, I've spent less than $40 on it.
I'm happy to post a visual spoiler if there are a few requests.
I've used all 9 "regular" types (Normal, Water, Dark, Fire, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Fighting, Metal) so far. I plan to get Fairy in there once a few more sets have been printed, because I love the look of the pink frame. I have no plans to use Dragon type as the multicolor cards are very restrictive.
Each type has three stage 1 evolution chains, two stage 2 evolution chains, and eight big basics (which includes 2 Eeveelutions for each type that has them). Each stage 1 chain has 4 of the Basic and 3 of the Stage 2, and each stage 2 chain has 4 of the Basic, 3 of the Stage 1, and 2 of the Stage 2. This is a lot more chains than I've seen used in this thread, and I enjoy the variance that this gives. Normal type has no stage 2 chains, but it has five stage 1 chains. This is because the chains are less powerful and taken with low priority, and this increases the ease with which players can draft some Normal-type chains.
There are no EX's, and I'm making an active effort to make the power of the Pokemon approximately proportional to the difficulty required to play it. Most of the big basics I've chosen have attacks or abilities that let you search for Pokemon or energies, but have weak attacks. Stage 1's are generally stronger, and Stage 2's are generally stronger still. This is because I want the evolution mechanic to be at the centre of play, unlike how it is with a lot of competitive TCG decks floating around.
There are around 100 trainers, consisting of a combination of Items, Supporters, Stadiums and Funky Energies.
I'm trying to make the cube singleton, but there are currently some multiples of Pokemon due to availability. I built this pretty much out of what I had.
We use quilt drafts to draft 50-card decks. We currently use four prize cards, but I might try five soon. We've house-ruled weakness and resistance into the no-zone, because they're silly. There is also no limit on ACE-SPEC cards. Although coin toss cards are unavoidable, I'm trying to minimize the impact coin tosses have on gameplay. This isn't an urgent issue, but it's something I'm always keeping in mind when making card selections. Cards that have very swingy coin tosses, or trainers that do not function if a tails is hit, can easily cause bad feelings during gameplay. I'm intentionally including a few Team Plasma cards for the cool synergies.
I'm still looking through Pokemon cards and trying to build up evolution chains whenever I go to one of my LGS's, because I like the idea of being able to swap out chains in my Cube to keep things fresh. Also, I'm certain that some cards will have a higher power level than I intended, so it's handy to have backups.
Baleful Strix is greatttt. Keyrune and Horror have a minimal impact. Agony Warp is an effect that mono-black has access to. Probe seems like it's trying to do too many things at once for a cost that's too high.
Azorius Herald is the worst of the U/W section. Blink and Deputy are great with ETB creatures (which are really common in Peasant) and the Charm has many applications.
Four damage is a lot more than three damage. The fact that I've cubed Flame Javelin at times (and been impressed with it) makes the new card an auto-include for me.
"Another key invention of Doug Beyer's M13 design team was the cycle of uncommon creatures that powered up off of different land types, most notably Flinthoof Boar. We called them the "Kird Ape" cycle internally, as a nod to the famous Arabian Nights creature they were based on, and for M15 we decided to bring them back, going the other way around the wheel (so the red one powers up off of Forests, etc.). These powerhouses make for great rewards in Limited and reward "splashing" in very satisfying ways."
Looks like more golden goodies will be coming our way. The M13 Kird Ape cycle was at least 60% cubeable.
I'm having trouble against Gr Tron too. I'm playing the 2 Thoughtseize version without the Melira combo but with the Angel combo. This means it's easier for me to disrupt, but slower to combo. However I recently played a dozen games against Tron, and I found it impossible to win.
Getting an early Birthing Pod on the board makes it easier to disrupt and beatdown, but everything goes awry when All Is Dust happens. I already sideboard Aven Mindcensor, but perhaps Fulminator Mage is also a possibility.
I think Mortarpod shines in sacrifice/tokens decks, which have to be pushed in a cube. If you do run the Blood Artist deck, Mortarpod's great. If not, it doesn't really do enough work.
I've found Lightning Greaves to be good in cubes with rares, but in Peasant environments there aren't really enough creatures worth protecting that badly. Spending 2 mana on haste isn't great for the decks that want haste.
The female figures are clearly designed with male arousal in mind, with the focus being on the scantily clad bodies rather than the characters themselves. Compare the amount of clothes worn by the female Walkers to the males.
Didn't mean to derail the thread into a flame war, which is where I sense this is going - anybody who wants to can PM me
I recently picked up some longboxes of Pokemon cards from my LGS for very cheap. I had a small collection already. I've used this to make a new PokeCube over the last couple of weeks. It's been much more of a success. Although not everyone in my group enjoy playing Pokemon, the ones who do have given very positive responses. Since I began the project, I've spent less than $40 on it.
I'm happy to post a visual spoiler if there are a few requests.
I've used all 9 "regular" types (Normal, Water, Dark, Fire, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Fighting, Metal) so far. I plan to get Fairy in there once a few more sets have been printed, because I love the look of the pink frame. I have no plans to use Dragon type as the multicolor cards are very restrictive.
Each type has three stage 1 evolution chains, two stage 2 evolution chains, and eight big basics (which includes 2 Eeveelutions for each type that has them). Each stage 1 chain has 4 of the Basic and 3 of the Stage 2, and each stage 2 chain has 4 of the Basic, 3 of the Stage 1, and 2 of the Stage 2. This is a lot more chains than I've seen used in this thread, and I enjoy the variance that this gives. Normal type has no stage 2 chains, but it has five stage 1 chains. This is because the chains are less powerful and taken with low priority, and this increases the ease with which players can draft some Normal-type chains.
There are no EX's, and I'm making an active effort to make the power of the Pokemon approximately proportional to the difficulty required to play it. Most of the big basics I've chosen have attacks or abilities that let you search for Pokemon or energies, but have weak attacks. Stage 1's are generally stronger, and Stage 2's are generally stronger still. This is because I want the evolution mechanic to be at the centre of play, unlike how it is with a lot of competitive TCG decks floating around.
There are around 100 trainers, consisting of a combination of Items, Supporters, Stadiums and Funky Energies.
I'm trying to make the cube singleton, but there are currently some multiples of Pokemon due to availability. I built this pretty much out of what I had.
We use quilt drafts to draft 50-card decks. We currently use four prize cards, but I might try five soon. We've house-ruled weakness and resistance into the no-zone, because they're silly. There is also no limit on ACE-SPEC cards. Although coin toss cards are unavoidable, I'm trying to minimize the impact coin tosses have on gameplay. This isn't an urgent issue, but it's something I'm always keeping in mind when making card selections. Cards that have very swingy coin tosses, or trainers that do not function if a tails is hit, can easily cause bad feelings during gameplay. I'm intentionally including a few Team Plasma cards for the cool synergies.
I'm still looking through Pokemon cards and trying to build up evolution chains whenever I go to one of my LGS's, because I like the idea of being able to swap out chains in my Cube to keep things fresh. Also, I'm certain that some cards will have a higher power level than I intended, so it's handy to have backups.
Azorius Herald is the worst of the U/W section. Blink and Deputy are great with ETB creatures (which are really common in Peasant) and the Charm has many applications.
Four damage is a lot more than three damage. The fact that I've cubed Flame Javelin at times (and been impressed with it) makes the new card an auto-include for me.
"Another key invention of Doug Beyer's M13 design team was the cycle of uncommon creatures that powered up off of different land types, most notably Flinthoof Boar. We called them the "Kird Ape" cycle internally, as a nod to the famous Arabian Nights creature they were based on, and for M15 we decided to bring them back, going the other way around the wheel (so the red one powers up off of Forests, etc.). These powerhouses make for great rewards in Limited and reward "splashing" in very satisfying ways."
Looks like more golden goodies will be coming our way. The M13 Kird Ape cycle was at least 60% cubeable.
We are fortunate in that Tron is far from the strongest deck choice, meaning that it we will not face it often.
Getting an early Birthing Pod on the board makes it easier to disrupt and beatdown, but everything goes awry when All Is Dust happens. I already sideboard Aven Mindcensor, but perhaps Fulminator Mage is also a possibility.
I've found Lightning Greaves to be good in cubes with rares, but in Peasant environments there aren't really enough creatures worth protecting that badly. Spending 2 mana on haste isn't great for the decks that want haste.
Didn't mean to derail the thread into a flame war, which is where I sense this is going - anybody who wants to can PM me