I'm currently funemployed so my family is staying with my parents in the boonies for a while, and have been drafting/playing standard a few times a month at the LGS that just opened up. I've made enough inroads while I've been here that I'll be hosting a Cube night on Thursday for the first time.
Because I don't really like to bring my main Cube to a store for understandable reasons (it's my baby!), I'll be bringing
my reject Cube, The California Champion's League Cube. It was great fun the last time I brought it to an anime convention with some friends, but I haven't been maintaining it as closely. I did a quick-and-dirty 2023 update to it last night with cards from my on-deck binder but I'd like to see if I can support some fun archetypes in here while staying true to my goals, as listed below. I'm not going to have enough time to do any serious testing, even just on CubeCobra, so advise is appreciated for changes! It's a bit too generic-goodstuffy for me, and even with my efforts to lower the mana curve, it's still too high.
I had previously allowed for the occasional crossover cards between my two main Cubes (my primary being
The California Premiership Cube) but I think it's more novel/sticks to the theme to have them 100% unique, so I'll be updating it accordingly as well, but I'd ask any recommendations avoid cards in that list (unless you think they really need to leave).
Goals of The California Champion's League Cube
- Create a compelling draft and play environment with a relatively flat power level across all cards, more explosive and memorable than a retail draft.
- Provide a home for favorite cards that no longer can compete or have a place in the primary cube.
- Prioritize interactive gameplay with a focus on resource management, creature combat, and reactive spells.
- Focus on glue cards that work across multiple archetypes and deprioritize cards that follow linear or repetitive play patterns.
- Allow for aggressive, controlling, and midrange decks to all thrive.
- Avoid cards that would be obvious first and last picks across multiple drafts
- Ensure cards are clear and easy to grok, avoiding wordy cards and unexplained keywords where possible.
- Prevent card overlap with the main cube wherever possible, allowing for minimal exceptions with staple effects such as mana elves and fixing.
- Minimize combo decks by removing any two-card combos able to win a game outright or any obvious three-card combos, while still promoting synergy.
- Allow for splashy enough individual cards that the better player does not always win.
