From the Ground Up

http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/44187

Disclaimer: Yes I know there is no such thing as a perfect cube. It is a bit subjective.
Mods, if this is not allowed feel free to delete this thread. Also keep in mind this is building a mid-level power cube. A few notches above the power of MM.

I am not posting an already completed list. I am going to go back over my cube, card by card, and posting my thoughts. I will evaluate each card one by one and post them here. While doing so I will keep track of which archetypes they slot into and where they fit in the overall meta game I try to craft.

I am doing this partly because I don’t have the time to sit down and post my full list in one go. Alsothis will be interesting.

“High priority pick”: A card which, if you are committed to the archetype, is often times the card you will pick over all others cards in the pack (even if there are multiple cards that slot into said archetype in the pack).

“Low priority pick”: A card which, if you are committed to the archetype, are cards which slot into your deck, but you are not exactly excited to pick.

Archetypes

Aggro
RG Standard Aggro - Your standard aggro deck. Drop a Frenzied Goblin, followed by a Lightning Mauler, followed by a Bogart Ram-Gang. Cap it all of with some burn. Your typical fast aggro deck. Small and efficient beaters to drain your opponent's life total before they can stabilize.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

RW Standard Aggro - Same general gameplan as RG Aggro. Different from RG Aggro in that it should pack a different color and a few taxing effects like Thalia, Gaurdian of Thraben. Also gives up a tiny bit of speed for better creature quality in white.

High priority picks so far: 3
Low priority picks so far: 1

RB Recursion Aggro - Has aggressive one drops for early aggro, but those same come back from the graveyard so that cards like Goblin Sharpshooter and Goblin Bombardment can be abused. Oh yeah, an creatures that come back from the grave are a a great way to make your opponent's removal look a little silly

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

Artifact Aggro - A deck that wants to attack with small to medium sized dudes that all synergize well with artifacts.

High priority picks so far: 1
Low priority picks so far: 1

Midrange
Jund Midrange – This deck attempts to grind it’s opponent into submission with value plays like Bloodbraid Elf and superior card quality in the midgame.

High priority picks:
Low priority picks:

Junk Midrange – Same as Jund just different colors and somewhat better removal coming in from white.

High priority picks: 1
Low priority picks: 1

Control
Jeskai Control – Burn their early creatures to stabilize, then take over the late game with superior late game threats. This deck should be a natural foil to GR aggro since it 2-for-1 plays like Electrolize and Brutal Expulsion.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far: 2

Esper Control – Get the best hard removal from both white and black.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far: 2

Grixis Control – Generic control in blue, red, and black.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

Combo
UGR Infinite Turn Combo – Eternal Witness + Time Warp +Nephalia Smuggler.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

RG Assault Loam – Countryside Crusher + Life from the Loam + Seismic Assault.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

Miscellaneous
G Ramp – Gain a mana advantage and use it to play threats so large your opponent can’t handle them.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

GR Wildfire – Play mana rocks and sweep the board with Wildfire.

High priority picks so far:
Low priority picks so far:

Wx Prison/Stax – Lock your opponent out of the game by denying them the ability to cast their spells or to even make use of the spells that have been cast

High priority picks so far: 1
Low priority picks so far: 1

I will update every so often. I will list my reasons for adding a card. Feel free to give feedback. Hopefully keeping track of the pick numbers will help me better balance the cube as well as considering the reasoning for every card.
 
I will start with white one drops​
Not a terrible card for control or midrange. But I don't think it rises to the level of high priority. Helps keep the more aggressive deck in check, but not by itself. Overall healthy.​
Good for aggro to protect threats. High priority for Stax decks to protect a Thalia, Gaurdian of Thraben type card.​
Give aggro an aggresive 1 drop that can scale later. Definitly high priority pick for white aggro, lower priority for midrange decks that might want threat. Don't see it going into anything else really.

Doomed Traveler
Fun card that might have a few synergies. But I can't ever think of it being a high priority pick. But that doesn;t mean he would be a terrible pick up for some of the white decks.

Caravan Escort Good for white aggro, Low priority pick for everything else that would run him.

SunlanceRemoval that has some conditions to it, not perfect but a good pick up for all decks running white.

Hyena UmbraGreat for aggro.​
 
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