Default: Pile

[AdamJ]

Cube Link: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/defaultpile

This cube started as a clone of xonnex's Hyper Cube. I liked the power level, using 4*12 packs, and having lots of fixing.

My play group ranges in skill from power drafters to people who only play once a month with us. I want every skill level to come away from the draft enjoying themselves. The hope is that anyone will have a good time with a Default: 3-Color Pile. (I did find Hypercube's fixing to be a little too generous though, so I've removed the triomes + pathways.)

I've tried to form archetypes in this cube but what I like is just jamming cards that I think have interesting play patterns or choices to make. I like...

:
* Going wide plus anthems
* Cataclysm effects
* Recurring cards
* Tutoring

:
* Tempo, tempo, tempo
* Passing with all my lands untapped
* Tapping down your stuff
* Conditional countermagic
* Big spells that win the game

:
* Recursion from the graveyard
* Blood Artist and sacrifice effects
* Slow re-animation
* Stax

:
* Rocks Me
* Spells matter
* Twin

:
* Ramping into hoof
* Playing big creatures
* Playing off the top of my library
* Growing my creatures

:
* Cranial plating on Vault Skirge
* Steel Overseer + Etched Champion

I'm not a fan of the way most planeswalkers play and keep them to a minimum. They should either be game winners (Nicol Bolas, Ugin) or specific roleplayers (Daretti, Saheeli).

To help casual drafters every card must have the remainder text on it, unless it's an evergreen keyword.

My basic land choices:

Spoiler: Basic Lands

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I've got some ideas for how you could streamline this cube a bit if you'd like to hear them, but I'm a bit short on time this summer so I don't want to write anything long if it's not going to be useful for you. Would you like some feedback?

 

[AdamJ]

I've got some ideas for how you could streamline this cube a bit if you'd like to hear them, but I'm a bit short on time this summer so I don't want to write anything long if it's not going to be useful for you. Would you like some feedback?

Oh dang, I thought I had "e-mail me when there's a reply" on, I'm just now seeing this. I would love any thoughts you have!

 

[AdamJ]

Cube Report for 8/14/22

6 people. Been trying out a new method of ensuring we have color coherence in packs: pick 2 cards of each color, 2 cards from the multicolor+artifact+land pile. Then shuffle it up and pull from the rest. That was made up on the fly and as a result the proportions of the colors in my cube to the total cube was off, but I like how balanced in colors the packs were: it made signals much more clear. Color count in decks is:
W-3, U-2, R-3, B-3, G-2

3-0 RW Aggro

Exactly what I want my aggro to look like and how competitive it should be. Cataclysm is one of my favorite spells and it was an honor to get blown out by it.

2-1 RB Reanimator (me)

Had a blast playing this deck, especially chaining Shriekmaw's with Feldon. The deck was slow to get going but my removal was enough until I could stabilize with a big boy.

2-1 UB Lier Rise

Lier was super strong every time I saw them on board. Was happy to see this style of spells deck work, Rise hasn't been a player before.

1-2 UW Opposition

I had meant to remove Opposition before this draft, but it wasn't so scary in this deck due to the lack of token creators. Very interesting prison-y deck as a result though.

1-2 GWB Recursion?

This deck didn't quite come together. I like the idea of Abzan sticky creatures + sac, but I don't know if I have the right payoffs for it. I used to have more persist in.

0-3 RG Midrange

The guy that drafted this hasn't played since about Ice Age. I'd say my goal of anyone being able to sit down and play a decent deck is proven out here, this is perfectly serviceable.


Think this draft was a good demonstration of the RPS I want out of my cube:
Aggro should beat
Clunky synergistic decks which should beat
Midrange which should beat aggro

 

[AdamJ]

Large DMU update! CubeCobra blog

W: I wanted to add more of a go-wide token theme to go along with the anthems.
Doomed Traveler>Esper Sentinel
I really like the idea of a taxes style deck in cube but think it requires a lot of narrow support.

Topplegeist>Star Pupil
There's not enough +1/+1 support to make Star Pupil interesting. Topplegiest adds some evasive aggro.

Guardian of New Benalia>Glory-Bound Initiate
Glory-Bound Initiate was the right power level but want to try Guardian out.

Blade Splicer>Devoted Crop-Mate
I didn't see many crop-mates cast and it does seem a little too much mana to invest. Blade Splicer adds a blink target.

Galepowder Mage>Daring Archaeologist

Serra Paragon>Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"
Kongming was too weak as a body and over-costed as an anthem. Serra Paragon is a very strong (too strong?) way of helping an aggro deck go over the top.

Raise the Alarm>Glint Hawk Idol

Angel of Serenity>Force of Virtue
More top end for ramp or re-animator. Force of Virtue is a very interesting card that I might end up putting back in. W already has a lot of anthems but it's an interesting card to flash in.

Serra Redeemer>Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
Serra is a nice close out top-end card for aggro. Might have too many of those with this, but Teshar is a little annoying to trigger.

- Luminarch Aspirant
Felt like games quickly spiraled out of control if Luminarch Aspirant was played T2. It's a fun card to play with though and can come back in if there's more removal.

U: I want to add self-mill and Thassa's Oracle / Lab Maniac.
Mystical Tutor>Rishadan Dockhand
Again taxes are too narrow. Give combo / control decks some support.

Thassa's Oracle>Warkite Marauder
Warkite Marauder was too strong.

Aether Channeler>Exclusion Mage
Strict upgrade.

Champion of Wits>Waterfront Bouncer
Waterfront Bouncer is insanely annoying to play against. I wouldn't mind a self-bounce only version of this. Champion adds some self-mill support.

Haughty Djinn>Moonblade Shinobi

Laboratory Maniac>Condescend

Protect the Negotiators>Mana Leak
Similar spell effect but with a multi-color kicker.

Joint Exploration>Saw It Coming
Not a fan of the foretell mechanic, too much to keep track of. Joint Exploration is okay as 1U and adds multi-color optionality.

Mystic Confluence>Circular Logic
Deep Analysis>Preordain
Beef up spell quality.

Gifts Ungiven>Opposition
Opposition is way too strong, meant to remove it earlier. Gifts is a fun card and works well with Unburial Rites.

- Crush of Tentacles
I like the idea but wasn't seeing play.

G: Mainly just switching stuff around here.
Quirion Beastcaller>Elvish Reclaimer
There's not enough other land stuff going on to keep Reclaimer.

Untamed Kavu>Den Protector
With the card quality of this cube playing a morph on 3 doesn't feel great.

Yavimaya Iconoclast>Titanic Brawl
Not sure if there's enough +1/+1 counters for Brawl to make sense.

Briarhorn>Vines of Vastwood

Yeva, Nature's Herald>Ripjaw Raptor
Ripjaw's effect wasn't doing much.

Avenger of Zendikar> Pelakka Wurm
I like just having a big dumb creature instead of something that takes a bit to get going.

Tear Asunder>Vorapede
Add some artifact/enchantment removal. I probably need even more of it.

- Greenwarden of Murasa
Too slow.

B: Again adding self-mill.
Undead Butler>Dark Confidant

Braids, Arisen Nightmare>Ruin Raider
Ruin Raider by contrast is slightly too weak. Braids looks like fun.

Gurmag Angler>Dauthi Marauder
Add a self-mill pay-off and remove a weak evasive creature.

Liliana's Reaver>Grief
With the good hand distruption spells coming in evoking grief seems very bad and playing it on 4 is just okay. Reaver forces trades.

Night Incarnate>Shriekmaw
Shriekmaw is a classic, but black has enough single target kill spells. Night Incarnate provides some mass removal.

Inquisition of Kozilek>Vampire Lacerator
Thoughtseize>Rankle, Master of Pranks
Hand disruption back in. Rankle is a little too good.

Urborg Repossession>The Eldest Reborn
5 mana is a lot for a sac then discard effect even if the last effect is very good. Urborg gives some recursion with multi-color options.

Foul Play>Eliminate

Unburial Rites>Whip of Erebos
Whip of Erebos is too strong with the amount of enchantment removal I have. The lifelink saves games and closes them out with the effect. Unburial Rites keeps the reanimate effect and is playable from the GY.

Infernal Grasp>Sinister Concoction
Sinister Concotion asks for a little too much. Make it more direct.

- Ravenous Chupacabra
Too uninspiring.

R
Conspiracy Theorist>Dismissive Pyromancer
Side-grade for discard. Want to try it out.

Earthshaker Khenra>Young Pyromancer
Not sure Young Pyro does enough with the tokens. Earthshaker fits in well with discard/gy themes.

Reckless Bushwhacker>Guttersnipe
Aggro close out card in for mediocre spells matter card.

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death>Thopter Engineer
Removing artifact theme for some multi-color optionality.

Ox of Agonas>Grim Lavamancer
Grim Lavamancer controls boards too easily. 1

Hurloon Battle Hymn>Char
Downgrade in effect in exchange for a multi-color kicker.

Zealous Conscripts>Daretti, Scrap Savant
Remove artifact theme for more aggro close out cards.

Sudden Demise>Fiery Impulse
Sudden Demise seems like it might be fun to play with.

- Goblin Welder
As much as I like this card it does way too much at R.

Since there's such a large amount of fixing in this cube it's worthwhile to add another round of multi-color cards I think.

Multi-color

+
Runic Shot
Agony Warp
Sprouting Goblin
Renegade Rallier
Phyrexian Missionary
Prophetic Bolt
Pernicious Deed
Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero (I don't know if this works very well but I didn't have many other interesting effects in RW)
Bounding Krasis
Bloodhall Priest

Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart>Time Wipe
No deck really wants Time Wipe.

Warhost's Frenzy>Dreadbore

Balmor, Battlemage Captain>Rielle, the Everwise
Trying this switch out.

Vilespawn Spider>Growth Spiral
Add some self-mill to UG.

Urborg Lhurgoyf>Neoform
Same thing, add some self-mill to UG.

Colorless

Containment Construct>Contagion Clasp
Contagion Clasp wasn't being used.

Dismember>Blasting Station
With the persist combo pieces out, just add some colorless removal.

Remove:
Cave of the Frost Dragon
Den of the Bugbear
Hive of the Eye Tyrant
Not a fan of manlands, will consider removing the other dual color ones too.

Metallic Mimic
- Not very useful w/o persist combo.

Stonecoil Serpent
- I want to avoid protection effects in general.

 

[AdamJ]

11/20/22 - Drafted with 4 people. 5 packs of 15, burn 6. Seeded packs with 2 of each color / multicolor / lands + 1 artifact. (Artifacts section wasn't really built for this, will need to rethink either the seeding or the artifacts.) Saw a good amount of the cube, resulting in good decks.

URw Spells, 3-0. Ended up removing Protect the Negotiators for Alesha.
As the only R drafter I had free reign. Mystic Confluence is extremely powerful, and flashing it back with Gearhulk is game-ending.

BG Midrange, 1-2

BGW Pod, 1-2
I think the drafter first picked Pod, and I don't really support a Pod focused deck. I really like the card itself but it sends the wrong signal as a build-around.

UBW Reanimator, 1-2
Serra Paragon was nuts, as expected. It with fetch lands is just gross... The drafter pointed out it wasn't super broken and his deck is especially good with it--but that 3/4 flier with the effect is a lot.

Mostly 3 color piles

Changes I'm thinking of making:
Cut:
Protect the Negotiators - too weak without kicker, often too weak with kicker. Didn't want to play it in a deck that should have liked it.
Manlands - Manlands make it too difficult to read the board state since they're often tangled up with other non-basics.
Birthing Pod - to avoid signaling that there's an ETB deck.
Mystic Confluence
Serra Paragon

Watchlist:
Fiend Artisan - Pod drafter felt like it wasn't really working for him. Might be different in a self-mill deck, but I'm not certain how strong that deck is.

 

[AdamJ]

I drafted my friend's archetype heavy cube last Sunday and what I noticed was how easy it was to read signals in that draft. By the time the first pack wheeled I knew my archetype was open and the rest of the drafters settled on something just as easily.

With my cube there isn't these well-defined archetypes that make packs easier to read. Color stacking the packs has worked well for that, so here's what I'll be doing for 6 players (my usual draft size):

1. Separate the cube into 8 piles: individual colors, multicolor, land, and colorless.
2. From every pile but colorless pick up 2 cards for a single pack. For colorless pick up 1.
3. Shuffle the pack, then randomly burn 1 card from it.
4. Do that 4 times so you have 4 packs of 14.
5. After picking 12 from a pack burn the remaining 2.

 

[AdamJ]

BRO Updates
Tocasia's Welcome>Welcoming Vampire
I like the Welcome effect but I'd prefer not to also have it on a 2/3 flyer for 3.

Simian Simulacrum>Hedron Archive
Hedron didn't make much sense curve-wise. Simian is a fun Goblin Engineer target.

Transmogrant's Crown>Hangarback Walker

The Binding of the Titans>Werewolf Pack Leader
Pack Leader has a lot of text on it for a 2 cmc 3/3. Binding gives green some more GY tools.

Chord of Calling>Birthing Pod
I like pod as a card but there really isn't an ETB deck in green. Chord is a fun tutor.

Dissipate>Protect the Negotiators
Protect felt too weak, make it a non-conditional counter.

Crush of Tentacles>Mystic Confluence
I want Big Blue Spells to be a deck, but Mystic was too powerful.

Stoke the Flames>Spikefield Hazard
Dual-faced dual-typed cards are a little too confusing for new players.

Electrostatic Infantry>Heartfire Immolator
Red has enough burn effects.

Goblin Engineer>Soul-Scar Mage
Soul-Scar Mage lacks the prowess reminder text so it's gotta go. Goblin Engineer

Stinkweed Imp>Flesh Carver
Another reminder text issue on Flesh Carver, Intimidate is too rare a keyword. Lab Maniac decks need something to be more consistent and Stinky fits that role.

Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle>Serra Paragon
No one's made Teshar work yet, but I'm going to hope that changes with guaranteed artifacts in packs.

Reclassify Molten Dragon as Colorless and not Red.
Lines up with the other Phyrexian mana cards.

Daretti, Scrap Savant>Worn Powerstone
Artifact ramp isn't really a thing. Daretti + Goblin Engineer makes for cool red artifact decks.

Scuttling Doom Engine>Mindslaver
As much as I love Mindslaver I feel like it's underpowered in this cube. Scuttling gives Daretti a close out.

Manlands>Pathways
Might make this scrylands instead but when I opened my lands box the first thing I saw were the 10 pathways already picked out. Value!