https://cubecobra.com/cube/playtest/nightmare
I returned to MtG after a few years break when they announced Return to Ravnica in 2012. I had sold my huge collection long before and didn't know where to start. I did not want to spend a lot of money this time. So a good friend and I decided to invest in a pile of a few hundred cards, we could play with from time to time. We didn't even know what the cube format was then.
But thanks to the internet, our list has evolved an incredible lot. We managed to craft a synergie driven meta, that combines a lot of old classics with the best from modern day magic. It has a low power level, comparable to peasant and there is still a handful of beloved pet cards. And we also get to draft this with a lot more people these days, mostly drafting with between 3 and 8 drafters
Like most cubes, this is still an ongoing project. I'm super thankful for everyone who takes a draft or a look through our list and gives uns any kind of feedback.
Update: Allright, it is december 2020, I haven't posted here for two and a half years. Time to update some stuff!
My cube's power level has not risen, if anything I toned it down a little by removing something here and there (I no longer allow FTK/Nekrataal type cards without hoops to jump through for example). I want my players to work a little bit for the sweet sweet value and I am very careful with creature stats (that's part pf why my cube feels pretty "old school"). I still allow relatively strong nuts and bolts cards (Counterspell and Pacifism), but there is a limit (removal needs to have a restriction or cost 3+) and I cut some cards here too (once I cubed StP!).
Now, before I'll say something, here are some generals to my design principles and broader things regarding the cube's structure:
Now to my archetypes, first the ten color pairs. These build the core and therefor get the biggest support.
Blink
This deck gets played quite often. It plays as value oriented midrange creature deck. I have 12 enablers and 24 relevant on-color creatures with EtB effects in my cube to support it. The deck regularly splashes black (recursion is similar to blinking) and sometimes you see bant or jeskai versions as well. There is synergistic overlap with landfall and Demonic Pact. However, here is an example of the basic white/blue version.
Ninjutsu
A new and already very popular deck among the drafters of my cube. It packs a lot of evasion and EtB creatures and combines them profitably with the ninja's Ninjutsu ability. I run 22 creatures that cost less than 3 cmc and are difficult to block, to ensure my ninjas come through. Of them I am playing eleven and a Mask of Memory, which is like half a ninja (rewards your evasion without the bounce). Almost all cards of this archetype are flexible enough to show up randomly in other decks, but a dedicated ninja deck doesn't tend to splash anything.
Sacrifice
This used to be the deck to beat, but recently I felt like it has gotten a little too weak so I brought back some old favorites (welcome back Fallen Angel and Rukh Egg). While the sacrifice stuff can be paired with aggression and token making, it plays usually as a grindy value oriented midrange/control deck, abusing black's recursion over and over again. To support this, I run 13 sacrifice outlets and 14 cards I classify as payoffs (zulaport cutthroat, threaten-style spells or reuseable recursion). I also try to add as many creatures that would be fine fodder as possible.
Madness
My problem child and favorite child at the same time. This aggro decks still would like a little more support, especially in green, but it has been putting up some good results. It can be a very explosive aggro deck, that - while playing it's Jungle Lions - feels more tricky and clever than your average "dumb" aggro deck. You utilize cheap discard outlets with cards that love getting discarded, most of which not even having the actual madness keyword. 17 outlets and 15 payoffs seem to be the right numbers. Sometimes this deck goes temur midrange when it picks up a looter or a Drake Haven early enough, but usually it stays gruul.
Tokens
Classic strategy here, create a lot of small dudes (and duderinas) and use anthem effects as well as abilities that trigger with each creature and effects that scale with the number of creatures you control. This version plays midrange-y and prefers a bit of ramp and life gain over pure aggression. I love how every part of this archetype is flexible enough to be of use in different decks. That might also be a reason, that token decks in my cube meld with other themes easily. On-color I run 18 token producers and 14 cards I count as producers. You often see naya or abzan token decks, but the selesnya approach is still the most common and very succesful.
Lifegain
This is an aggro deck. It wants to win quick and recklessly. And while it tends to be less explosive than gruul or boros, it can adapt pretty well to a mid or even late game, as the extra life gives it more staying power and it has synergies strong enough. To make this deck not annoying I had to make sure it doesn't play endless games, and it works very well. The 26 lifegain sources are very flexible cards, the 13 payoffs sadly still include some narrow ones. As an aggro deck, splashes are unusual, but once in a while someone drafts a midrange deck with some lifegain synergies.
Dredge
This archetype is full of value. It's not like the combo decks we know from constructed, but a grindy midrange deck. You are dredging up your Stinkweed Imp to equip it then with a huge Bonehoard or your getting back your Penumbra Spider with Haunted Crossroads again and again. Currently I run 14 enablers in these colors (aka cards that mill yourself) and 18 cards tagged as payoffs. This archetype likes to splash blue sometimes and can become more combo-like if you pick up a Lab Maniac.
Landfall
This was the weakest of my guild decks for quite some time, but I think with the inclusion of the 10 fetch lands and more recently some specific additions, landfall should be good. These landfall decks are not meant to play aggressively, rather they try to crazy with land based ramp and generate dozens of landfall triggers, also by bouncing their own lands. Counting only the respective simic bounce land and fetch land, there are 25 cards, that give you extra landfall triggers and 13 payoffs. The value can be absurd, but the deck can be a little slow. Also, Simic has very little removal options, so this archetype often splashes one or more colors.
Spells Matter
This archetype resembles the classic control decks the most from all the two-color themes. The decks usually contain lots of instan or sorcery based removal, card draw and countermagic, complemented by a few payoffs, often capable of winning the game for you. 41 card in the cube are red/blue instants or sorceries, this deck would be interested in, then we have 8 payoffs. Sometimes this deck splashes black, rarely even white, for boardwipes, but usually you find everthing you need in the two main colors.
Go Wide Aggro
This right here is a prettystraight forward deck, but it has it's fans and for a reason. Playing a bunch of small dudes and running your opponent over with your army, backed up with team pump and burn magic can be fun. It's like a token deck on speed. Red and white not only have the most 1-drops and 2-drops, they also have 12 payoffs aka cards that synergize well with an aggressive army.
Okay, now there are also 5 themes that appear in a single color.
Equipment
Here we have the newest adiition to the cube, so new that I actually can't say much about it yet. Equipments are really flexible, fun cards, and white has a lot of creatures and keywords that pair well with getting buffed. There are also a few cards that mention equipment/artifacts directly. Both add up to 16 "payoff" cards, alongside 15 relevant pieces of equipment. I expect this deck to play something between aggro and midrange. I expect splashes of all kinds to happen. Here is a list I drafted on cubecobra.
Classic Control
Next we have another one of the less specific archetypes. I try to enable the classic blue decks, which means reactive control decks with card draw, counters and one or two finishers. Some people hate it, but everyone else can enjoy and draft it here. I run 11 counterspells, quite a bit of card advantage/filtering and some finishers like Striped Riverwinder or Teferi's Tutelage. These decks usually splash a color or two, mostly for point and mass removal, but the support for MUC would be there.
Devotion
When I was a kid, Nightmare was my first rare creature card. That's the reason why this archetype was always supported in my cube, which itself has lead to both mono color archetypes getting added and monocolored decks being supported. Mono black still has the biggest explicit devotion support, which gets integrated in black decks that usually fall into the sacrifice/graveyard/control range grindy and evil. 9 cards in black and 3 colorless ones (for every color) play best in mono.
Goblins!
I am not a huge fan of tribal, but I had so many goblins and goblin token producers, that this archetype felt natural. And everyone loves goblins, right? I have 31 cards that are goblins or produce goblin tokens, which is a lot. To make this deck less parasitic, I then only included 6 payoffs. You'll often have so many goblins naturally, you just need ~2 tribal effects to make it a goblin deck. This deck plays pretty aggressively, but I can see it be more midrange-y. As it bleeds kinda nice in the boros/gruul aggro decks, rakdos sarifice and to some degree even izzet spells all kinds of 2-color versions are possible.
Super Ramp
Like the blue deck, the green one is a classic and allows for splashes easily. Sometimes you find yourself in mono green still, since some of the best super ramp cards reward you for a very green mana base (Llanowar Tribe, Vernal Bloom). There are 18 ramp effects in mono green plus lots of stuff to ramp into. The deck mostly plays like you would assume.
I returned to MtG after a few years break when they announced Return to Ravnica in 2012. I had sold my huge collection long before and didn't know where to start. I did not want to spend a lot of money this time. So a good friend and I decided to invest in a pile of a few hundred cards, we could play with from time to time. We didn't even know what the cube format was then.
But thanks to the internet, our list has evolved an incredible lot. We managed to craft a synergie driven meta, that combines a lot of old classics with the best from modern day magic. It has a low power level, comparable to peasant and there is still a handful of beloved pet cards. And we also get to draft this with a lot more people these days, mostly drafting with between 3 and 8 drafters
Like most cubes, this is still an ongoing project. I'm super thankful for everyone who takes a draft or a look through our list and gives uns any kind of feedback.
Update: Allright, it is december 2020, I haven't posted here for two and a half years. Time to update some stuff!
My cube's power level has not risen, if anything I toned it down a little by removing something here and there (I no longer allow FTK/Nekrataal type cards without hoops to jump through for example). I want my players to work a little bit for the sweet sweet value and I am very careful with creature stats (that's part pf why my cube feels pretty "old school"). I still allow relatively strong nuts and bolts cards (Counterspell and Pacifism), but there is a limit (removal needs to have a restriction or cost 3+) and I cut some cards here too (once I cubed StP!).
Now, before I'll say something, here are some generals to my design principles and broader things regarding the cube's structure:
The cube is singleton. No cards are allowed to be functional identical or strictly better than another. I don't allow myself errata or custom cards - with one exception: I completed the amonkhet bicycle lands with 5 custom enemy versions.
I am very careful with the lines I'm drawing. Easy 2-for-1s like 187-creatures need to have some conditions attached (Warfire Javelineer) or require an extra Investment (Aphetto Exterminator). Removal must have a weakness (Pacifism) or have a limited range (any toughness based removal). Creature stats should be humble, only green is allowed to break that rule. In exchange, green gets no removal (no fight cards).
I am very careful with the lines I'm drawing. Easy 2-for-1s like 187-creatures need to have some conditions attached (Warfire Javelineer) or require an extra Investment (Aphetto Exterminator). Removal must have a weakness (Pacifism) or have a limited range (any toughness based removal). Creature stats should be humble, only green is allowed to break that rule. In exchange, green gets no removal (no fight cards).
Of currently 500 cards total, every color gets 71, then we have 55 colorless ones.
Every color combination gets 2 gold cards, one flexible hybrid, one narrow hybrid and the same 4 lands and 1 artifact to fix their mana. Here is the example of Gruul:
While the pain lands are just great untapped mana fixers, all the others have further synergistic applications (landfall, loam, discard matters).
I also happen to have this complete cycle:
More to why in the next spoiler!
Every color combination gets 2 gold cards, one flexible hybrid, one narrow hybrid and the same 4 lands and 1 artifact to fix their mana. Here is the example of Gruul:
While the pain lands are just great untapped mana fixers, all the others have further synergistic applications (landfall, loam, discard matters).
I also happen to have this complete cycle:
More to why in the next spoiler!
I am trying to make mono colored decks a real possibility. In addition to a low number of gold cards and quite a few colorless cards and hybrids (some of which are color heavy), each color has a few cards that work best in a mono colored deck:
Another thing that appears in all 5 colors is Morph. I have 3 in white, 4 in blue, 8 in black, 4 in red, 6 in green and one colorless.
There are also a few payoffs, just enough that you can make morph a mechanical theme of your deck.
Another thing that appears in all 5 colors is Morph. I have 3 in white, 4 in blue, 8 in black, 4 in red, 6 in green and one colorless.
There are also a few payoffs, just enough that you can make morph a mechanical theme of your deck.
Now to my archetypes, first the ten color pairs. These build the core and therefor get the biggest support.
BlinkThis deck gets played quite often. It plays as value oriented midrange creature deck. I have 12 enablers and 24 relevant on-color creatures with EtB effects in my cube to support it. The deck regularly splashes black (recursion is similar to blinking) and sometimes you see bant or jeskai versions as well. There is synergistic overlap with landfall and Demonic Pact. However, here is an example of the basic white/blue version.
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NinjutsuA new and already very popular deck among the drafters of my cube. It packs a lot of evasion and EtB creatures and combines them profitably with the ninja's Ninjutsu ability. I run 22 creatures that cost less than 3 cmc and are difficult to block, to ensure my ninjas come through. Of them I am playing eleven and a Mask of Memory, which is like half a ninja (rewards your evasion without the bounce). Almost all cards of this archetype are flexible enough to show up randomly in other decks, but a dedicated ninja deck doesn't tend to splash anything.
| | | | |
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SacrificeThis used to be the deck to beat, but recently I felt like it has gotten a little too weak so I brought back some old favorites (welcome back Fallen Angel and Rukh Egg). While the sacrifice stuff can be paired with aggression and token making, it plays usually as a grindy value oriented midrange/control deck, abusing black's recursion over and over again. To support this, I run 13 sacrifice outlets and 14 cards I classify as payoffs (zulaport cutthroat, threaten-style spells or reuseable recursion). I also try to add as many creatures that would be fine fodder as possible.
| | | | | |
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MadnessMy problem child and favorite child at the same time. This aggro decks still would like a little more support, especially in green, but it has been putting up some good results. It can be a very explosive aggro deck, that - while playing it's Jungle Lions - feels more tricky and clever than your average "dumb" aggro deck. You utilize cheap discard outlets with cards that love getting discarded, most of which not even having the actual madness keyword. 17 outlets and 15 payoffs seem to be the right numbers. Sometimes this deck goes temur midrange when it picks up a looter or a Drake Haven early enough, but usually it stays gruul.
| | | | |
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TokensClassic strategy here, create a lot of small dudes (and duderinas) and use anthem effects as well as abilities that trigger with each creature and effects that scale with the number of creatures you control. This version plays midrange-y and prefers a bit of ramp and life gain over pure aggression. I love how every part of this archetype is flexible enough to be of use in different decks. That might also be a reason, that token decks in my cube meld with other themes easily. On-color I run 18 token producers and 14 cards I count as producers. You often see naya or abzan token decks, but the selesnya approach is still the most common and very succesful.
| | | | | |
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LifegainThis is an aggro deck. It wants to win quick and recklessly. And while it tends to be less explosive than gruul or boros, it can adapt pretty well to a mid or even late game, as the extra life gives it more staying power and it has synergies strong enough. To make this deck not annoying I had to make sure it doesn't play endless games, and it works very well. The 26 lifegain sources are very flexible cards, the 13 payoffs sadly still include some narrow ones. As an aggro deck, splashes are unusual, but once in a while someone drafts a midrange deck with some lifegain synergies.
| | | | |
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DredgeThis archetype is full of value. It's not like the combo decks we know from constructed, but a grindy midrange deck. You are dredging up your Stinkweed Imp to equip it then with a huge Bonehoard or your getting back your Penumbra Spider with Haunted Crossroads again and again. Currently I run 14 enablers in these colors (aka cards that mill yourself) and 18 cards tagged as payoffs. This archetype likes to splash blue sometimes and can become more combo-like if you pick up a Lab Maniac.
| | | | | |
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LandfallThis was the weakest of my guild decks for quite some time, but I think with the inclusion of the 10 fetch lands and more recently some specific additions, landfall should be good. These landfall decks are not meant to play aggressively, rather they try to crazy with land based ramp and generate dozens of landfall triggers, also by bouncing their own lands. Counting only the respective simic bounce land and fetch land, there are 25 cards, that give you extra landfall triggers and 13 payoffs. The value can be absurd, but the deck can be a little slow. Also, Simic has very little removal options, so this archetype often splashes one or more colors.
| | | | | |
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Spells MatterThis archetype resembles the classic control decks the most from all the two-color themes. The decks usually contain lots of instan or sorcery based removal, card draw and countermagic, complemented by a few payoffs, often capable of winning the game for you. 41 card in the cube are red/blue instants or sorceries, this deck would be interested in, then we have 8 payoffs. Sometimes this deck splashes black, rarely even white, for boardwipes, but usually you find everthing you need in the two main colors.
| | | | | |
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Go Wide AggroThis right here is a prettystraight forward deck, but it has it's fans and for a reason. Playing a bunch of small dudes and running your opponent over with your army, backed up with team pump and burn magic can be fun. It's like a token deck on speed. Red and white not only have the most 1-drops and 2-drops, they also have 12 payoffs aka cards that synergize well with an aggressive army.
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Okay, now there are also 5 themes that appear in a single color.
EquipmentHere we have the newest adiition to the cube, so new that I actually can't say much about it yet. Equipments are really flexible, fun cards, and white has a lot of creatures and keywords that pair well with getting buffed. There are also a few cards that mention equipment/artifacts directly. Both add up to 16 "payoff" cards, alongside 15 relevant pieces of equipment. I expect this deck to play something between aggro and midrange. I expect splashes of all kinds to happen. Here is a list I drafted on cubecobra.
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Classic ControlNext we have another one of the less specific archetypes. I try to enable the classic blue decks, which means reactive control decks with card draw, counters and one or two finishers. Some people hate it, but everyone else can enjoy and draft it here. I run 11 counterspells, quite a bit of card advantage/filtering and some finishers like Striped Riverwinder or Teferi's Tutelage. These decks usually splash a color or two, mostly for point and mass removal, but the support for MUC would be there.
| | | | | |
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DevotionWhen I was a kid, Nightmare was my first rare creature card. That's the reason why this archetype was always supported in my cube, which itself has lead to both mono color archetypes getting added and monocolored decks being supported. Mono black still has the biggest explicit devotion support, which gets integrated in black decks that usually fall into the sacrifice/graveyard/control range grindy and evil. 9 cards in black and 3 colorless ones (for every color) play best in mono.
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Goblins!I am not a huge fan of tribal, but I had so many goblins and goblin token producers, that this archetype felt natural. And everyone loves goblins, right? I have 31 cards that are goblins or produce goblin tokens, which is a lot. To make this deck less parasitic, I then only included 6 payoffs. You'll often have so many goblins naturally, you just need ~2 tribal effects to make it a goblin deck. This deck plays pretty aggressively, but I can see it be more midrange-y. As it bleeds kinda nice in the boros/gruul aggro decks, rakdos sarifice and to some degree even izzet spells all kinds of 2-color versions are possible.
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Super RampLike the blue deck, the green one is a classic and allows for splashes easily. Sometimes you find yourself in mono green still, since some of the best super ramp cards reward you for a very green mana base (Llanowar Tribe, Vernal Bloom). There are 18 ramp effects in mono green plus lots of stuff to ramp into. The deck mostly plays like you would assume.
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