Threw this together and submitted it for the You Make the Cube contest in a whirling frenzy between last night and today. Posted it with this description:
The Modern cube begins from the most beloved staples of the Modern format and proceeds from there, allowing drafters the ability to play their favorite Modern cards in a limited setting while surrounding the staples with an array of cards that fit into a variety of powerful, synergistic archetypes. Synergy is king in this cube, whether you’re combining Whirler Rogue with Nantuko Husk and Tainted Strike for an explosive combo finish or controlling the game by looping Mindslavers with Academy Ruins and Tron lands. I’ve chosen to include a number of duplicate cards, one in each color plus a few in the colorless and lands section. These duplicate cards illuminate strategies and seek to fit into different decks that their color is designed to fit into. For white, the duplicate is Thraben Inspector, which enables metalcraft and allows Ranger of Eos and Proclamation of Rebirth to serve as potent late-game tools. In blue I’ve chosen to include two Whirler Rogues, which as mentioned before enable Nantuko Husk and other sacrifice outlets as well as providing precious artifacts for Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating, evoking Modern’s classic Affinity deck, while being an interesting piece for the stompy archetype that seeks to end games on the spot with double strike effects in concert with powerful pump spells, in the style of Suicide Zoo. Black doubles up on Cryptbreaker as an interesting discard outlet that works well with the sacrifice archetype’s Bloodghast and other recursive threats, while Cryptbreaker also serves as a powerful 1 mana spell to be found by Ranger of Eos and recurred with Alesha and Order of Whiteclay. Red’s duplicate is Abbot of Keral Keep, which works with the pump spell plan as well as the Alesha/Reveillark value engine and the Prowess theme of the cube. Lastly, the Modern Cube’s green section contains two copies of Ancient Stirrings, which digs up Tron lands and powerful Eldrazi alike. In addition I’ve chosen to play two copies each of the Tron lands, Chromatic Star, and Chromatic Sphere. The Tron lands require the redundancy to ensure a powerful late-game mana engine for decks that emphasize large colorless spells, while the “eggs” ensure that these decks can cast their spells on time and also help fuel Delirium and synergistic artifact decks. The interlocking synergies of this cube serve to make powerful, interesting decks with tons of replay value, as the cards will never interact the same way twice. In addition the Modern cube supplies a very different experience from the Legacy and Vintage cubes on account of its limited card pool, and it’ll be fun for players of all levels because, despite its deep and inherent archetypal complexity, it’s “signposted” with a number of cards that make their archetype clear, such as Smothering Abomination and Master of Etherium. The Modern cube will be a lower power-level experience either Legacy or Vintage cubes, but will provide a rich gameplay experience through synergy and by analogy to the great Modern format.
We'll see how it goes!
The Modern cube begins from the most beloved staples of the Modern format and proceeds from there, allowing drafters the ability to play their favorite Modern cards in a limited setting while surrounding the staples with an array of cards that fit into a variety of powerful, synergistic archetypes. Synergy is king in this cube, whether you’re combining Whirler Rogue with Nantuko Husk and Tainted Strike for an explosive combo finish or controlling the game by looping Mindslavers with Academy Ruins and Tron lands. I’ve chosen to include a number of duplicate cards, one in each color plus a few in the colorless and lands section. These duplicate cards illuminate strategies and seek to fit into different decks that their color is designed to fit into. For white, the duplicate is Thraben Inspector, which enables metalcraft and allows Ranger of Eos and Proclamation of Rebirth to serve as potent late-game tools. In blue I’ve chosen to include two Whirler Rogues, which as mentioned before enable Nantuko Husk and other sacrifice outlets as well as providing precious artifacts for Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating, evoking Modern’s classic Affinity deck, while being an interesting piece for the stompy archetype that seeks to end games on the spot with double strike effects in concert with powerful pump spells, in the style of Suicide Zoo. Black doubles up on Cryptbreaker as an interesting discard outlet that works well with the sacrifice archetype’s Bloodghast and other recursive threats, while Cryptbreaker also serves as a powerful 1 mana spell to be found by Ranger of Eos and recurred with Alesha and Order of Whiteclay. Red’s duplicate is Abbot of Keral Keep, which works with the pump spell plan as well as the Alesha/Reveillark value engine and the Prowess theme of the cube. Lastly, the Modern Cube’s green section contains two copies of Ancient Stirrings, which digs up Tron lands and powerful Eldrazi alike. In addition I’ve chosen to play two copies each of the Tron lands, Chromatic Star, and Chromatic Sphere. The Tron lands require the redundancy to ensure a powerful late-game mana engine for decks that emphasize large colorless spells, while the “eggs” ensure that these decks can cast their spells on time and also help fuel Delirium and synergistic artifact decks. The interlocking synergies of this cube serve to make powerful, interesting decks with tons of replay value, as the cards will never interact the same way twice. In addition the Modern cube supplies a very different experience from the Legacy and Vintage cubes on account of its limited card pool, and it’ll be fun for players of all levels because, despite its deep and inherent archetypal complexity, it’s “signposted” with a number of cards that make their archetype clear, such as Smothering Abomination and Master of Etherium. The Modern cube will be a lower power-level experience either Legacy or Vintage cubes, but will provide a rich gameplay experience through synergy and by analogy to the great Modern format.
We'll see how it goes!