(Disclaimer: I realize this project isn't completely on-topic in terms of cube building, but I think there's enough of a shared interest to make this a kosher thread. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to move it.)
While I love cube, I'm always looking for other ways to have fun with casual Magic. In particular, I'm hunting for ways to play with my friends who are newer or less invested players that avoid the extra time and learning curve needed to draft (While I love drafting and limited deckbuilding, I also realize that it's not for everyone). I love deckbuilding and tinkering, so having an outlet that lets me avoid shifting cards in and out of my cube all the time would be great. Similarly, there are lots of narrow cards and strategies that don't work in cube that I still want to play with from time to time. After some brainstorming about how I can address these various desires, here's what I've landed on:
The Gauntlet - Limited/Constructed Decks
The basic idea is that to take the template of cards you get in a typical draft (3 rares, 9 uncommons, and a remainder of commons) but use the entire card pool of Magic to build 40 card decks to play against one another. The decks should ideally be built around mechanical or flavor themes, but not so all-in that explicit counterplay cards are necessary as I don't want to include sideboards.
These should be cheap cards, so I have no qualms about bringing these out to my LGS for randos to play with. Ideally, I might make a few extra copies of the decks to give away to newer players.
Deckbuilding Guidelines
The rares/mythics should be some combination of fun, splashy and interesting, but not immediately game-winning. The uncommons should include some mechanical anchors for the deck and a few pieces of premium removal. The commons should be roleplayers and curve fillers. Decks should stick to using just a few related non-evergreen mechanics in order to keep them focused and easy to learn.
These are obviously artificial guidelines, but I think the restrictions will keep me from encountering the type of decision paralysis I run into when given unlimited options. Overall, I'd expect these creations to be stronger than an off-the-shelf WotC retail Intro Deck but weaker than a focused pauper constructed deck.
Given the above restrictions, if you built a deck that maximized the number of each unique card, the list would look something like this:
23 Spells
Of course, actual decklists will likely have some fun one-ofs to increase variety of gameplay. As an example, here's a quick deck I literally just threw together for this post to provide an example of what I'm going for:
As you can see, I've intentionally included some suboptimal, but on-theme cards. I want each deck to feel different from each other, and racing toward making the best version of each deck makes it more likely that they'll converge and make a more uniform metagame.
Conclusion
As has been noted by others around here, most cubes are lucky to have more than 10 viable decks in them, so I consider this project as a way to get cube-style games for people who don't have the time or interest to draft. My plan is to start with 5-10 decks of various color combinations, then refine them and add new decks to the collection over time. While perfect balance across all deck matchups is not realistic, I want to avoid an overall best or worst deck from appearing among the gauntlet.
Thoughts, questions, and comments from the Riptide peanut gallery are all welcome. In particular, decklists would be more than appreciated! Thanks for reading!
While I love cube, I'm always looking for other ways to have fun with casual Magic. In particular, I'm hunting for ways to play with my friends who are newer or less invested players that avoid the extra time and learning curve needed to draft (While I love drafting and limited deckbuilding, I also realize that it's not for everyone). I love deckbuilding and tinkering, so having an outlet that lets me avoid shifting cards in and out of my cube all the time would be great. Similarly, there are lots of narrow cards and strategies that don't work in cube that I still want to play with from time to time. After some brainstorming about how I can address these various desires, here's what I've landed on:
The Gauntlet - Limited/Constructed Decks
The basic idea is that to take the template of cards you get in a typical draft (3 rares, 9 uncommons, and a remainder of commons) but use the entire card pool of Magic to build 40 card decks to play against one another. The decks should ideally be built around mechanical or flavor themes, but not so all-in that explicit counterplay cards are necessary as I don't want to include sideboards.
These should be cheap cards, so I have no qualms about bringing these out to my LGS for randos to play with. Ideally, I might make a few extra copies of the decks to give away to newer players.
Deckbuilding Guidelines
3 Rares/Mythics (Singleton)
- 2 spells
- Up to 1 nonbasic land
9 Uncommons (Up to two of each unique card)
- 7 spells
- Up to 2 nonbasic lands
Unlimited Commons (Up to three of each unique card)
The rares/mythics should be some combination of fun, splashy and interesting, but not immediately game-winning. The uncommons should include some mechanical anchors for the deck and a few pieces of premium removal. The commons should be roleplayers and curve fillers. Decks should stick to using just a few related non-evergreen mechanics in order to keep them focused and easy to learn.
These are obviously artificial guidelines, but I think the restrictions will keep me from encountering the type of decision paralysis I run into when given unlimited options. Overall, I'd expect these creations to be stronger than an off-the-shelf WotC retail Intro Deck but weaker than a focused pauper constructed deck.
Given the above restrictions, if you built a deck that maximized the number of each unique card, the list would look something like this:
23 Spells
- 1x Rare
- 1x Rare
- 2x Uncommon
- 2x Uncommon
- 2x Uncommon
- 1x Uncommon
- 3x Common
- 3x Common
- 3x Common
- 3x Common
- 2x Common
- 1x Rare
- 2x Uncommon
- 3x Common
- 11x Basic lands
Of course, actual decklists will likely have some fun one-ofs to increase variety of gameplay. As an example, here's a quick deck I literally just threw together for this post to provide an example of what I'm going for:
Spider Spawning.dec
| Rares (2) 1 Champion of Stray Souls 1 Splinterfright Uncommons (7) 2 Spider Spawning 1 Dreg Mangler 1 Deadly Allure 1 Grave Strength 1 Putrefy 1 Cruel Revival Commons (14) 3 Satyr Wayfinder 2 Shambling Ghoul 2 Deadbridge Shaman 1 Organ Grinder 2 Returned Centaur 2 Reave Soul 1 Chainer's Edict 1 Gnaw to the Bone | Lands (17) 1 Blighted Fen 1 Golgari Rot Farm 2 Jungle Hollow 7 Forest 6 Swamp |
As you can see, I've intentionally included some suboptimal, but on-theme cards. I want each deck to feel different from each other, and racing toward making the best version of each deck makes it more likely that they'll converge and make a more uniform metagame.
Conclusion
As has been noted by others around here, most cubes are lucky to have more than 10 viable decks in them, so I consider this project as a way to get cube-style games for people who don't have the time or interest to draft. My plan is to start with 5-10 decks of various color combinations, then refine them and add new decks to the collection over time. While perfect balance across all deck matchups is not realistic, I want to avoid an overall best or worst deck from appearing among the gauntlet.
Thoughts, questions, and comments from the Riptide peanut gallery are all welcome. In particular, decklists would be more than appreciated! Thanks for reading!
