Erik's "The cool side of Magic" cube

[Erik Twice]

Maybe a few extra of those like Ranger-Captain of Eos, Spell Queller, Magus of the Moon or Gaddok Teeg would help if you want to go down that route?

Gaddok Teeg is symmetrical, sadly. So it may lock you out from some key cards for your deck. However, I do want to look into more cards like this, particularly if my power level goes up again.

Let's talk about that. As you know, I'm trying to square the circle by having a fair, interactive cube while also including unfair, inherently uninteractive strategies such as Reanimator and Storm. I'm far from the only one who is trying to do that in these forums, so you probably know it's a difficult balance.

I feel that, once again, I have to choices.

The first is to increase the power level of the cube to "Skullclamp" levels, by allowing more decks to have access to unfair, rule-skirting strategies and increasing the amount of disruption.


So once agian, I hvae to choices.

The first is to increase the power level of the cube to Skullclamp levels, allowing more decks to have access to unfair, rule-skirting strategies.



This might be fun, but it would change the cube significantly. Most of my decks are too janky and fair to compete against true power, particularly once blocking creatures ceases to be all interaction necessary.

The second option is to remove or minimize Storm, tone down Reanimator and create a tighter list that is more permanent-based. Say, something like this:



Either way, I've made these changes for fun and just to try them:

First, why run Unearth when I can run two copies of Reanimate? If I combine them, I get an extra slot:

->
->

Do I actually want Griselbrand? It attracts me because it ties together Reanimator and Storm, but so does Palinchron,

-> ¿?

Either way, I need betterr quality disruption and, in general, improve some slots. There are about 35 cards I don't think are pulling their weight. So what about these changes?

->
->
->
->
->
->
->

 

[Nanonox]

You bring up some interesting thoughts and looking at some of your slots, it feels like you are hesitating between the 2 approaches you described. Whether you go higher or lower power, I think a minimal Storm package is the way to go.
Minimal Storm for me is a Dimir archetype with support and overlap from other colors.

Black Storm support



I think you have the near perfect Black Storm package. The tutors are playable everywhere and give redundancy to cards like Living Death which you can build around. Great!

The rituals (maybe 2x Dark Ritual for more general appeal) can get you an early Liliana OTV or accelerate out Griselbrand. Maybe some more 3 or 4 mana high impact targets could make them more desirable like
Hypnotic Specter
Doomsday
Braids, Cabal Minion

Will and Citadel are your engine cards. Sensei's Divining Top, Tinker, Fastbond all go great with Citadel, giving you multiple avenues of synergy. What I am considering for my own cube and that might be good for yours too is

.

It offsets the life loss from Citadel and gives you a very cool Yawgmoth's Will + Fastbond combo tying lands matter further into Storm. It combos with Titania, Protector of Argoth and Balance too. You had Squandered Ressources in at some point, the Orb is like a more generally applicable version IMO.

Tendrils is a clear signal that you can Storm and does a good job at it. It's the most narrow slot, but it has a big impact.

Extra Black Storm support you don't run: Doomsday and Sedgemoor Witch
Doomsday as mentioned, could be a third minimalist Storm engine, but it's a bit too big brain for me and I don't know all the ins and outs to support it to its fullest. The Witch is a fallback option in case you didn't quite get there and go with a more traditional spells matters theme.

Blue Storm support



Here again, I think you are really close to having a great package. The BF, Breach and LED engine is probably the most powerful thing you can do in your cube.
The rest of the cards minus Conjecture are card draw, with Search and Spiral doubling as mana engines. Conjecture looks a little rough compared to the rest of the pushed options you run, but maybe its primary role is in a more controlling deck as a late game card advantage engine.

Extra Blue Storm support you don't run: Tolarian Academy, Mystical Tutor
The Academy is obviously really good and gets out of hand with the land untap spells. I would definitely add the Academy if you want to support the archetype. It could also help tie Storm into Green with Elvish Reclaimer and Crop Rotation as strong tutors. The power level is very high though obviously, so maybe you have to chose.
The tutor is very versatile in these decks, acting as card draw, recursion or a win condition. I would include it in your tight Storm package.

Other colors



For me, there are two tiers in this list. Breach and Fastbond are the most busted ones and a big reason for the success of Storm decks. Pyro and Mentor are nice, but more of a fallback plan in a true Storm deck. E. Tutor gets some of the best cards for the deck (LED, Breach, Fastbond). The Wheel effects are nicely, but you have 3 already in Blue/colorless, so they are a little less essential. I like having some sort of recursion in Storm and Green provides some nice options that will be played in other colors.

What I am less of a fan of are some of your Red spells. Seething Song and Bonus Round seem like the exact type of cards you want to avoid for your small Storm package. Bedlam Reveler or Hearth Elemental could be secondary win conditions for the deck without being overly narrow.

In Green, Oath of Druids could be another way to cheat in Griselbrand that Storm could use, as well as being a crazy GY enabler if you have some recursion. If you do go with Oath, I then like Dream Halls as a mana engine that can cheat your fatties. Hullbreaker Horror then becomes an option too as it goes well with all the spells you are casting and goes infinite with 2 0 mana artifacts.

That's all I have for now. Can't help you with your decision, even if I think you are just a few cards off either direction you chose to go in.

 

[Erik Twice]

Fantastic and truly helpful post, thank you Nanonox.

I can't believe I never thought of doubling up on Dark Ritual. I was always annoyed by how limited Cabal Ritual is in comparison but I never thought about just running two copies! You are completely right about the red spells, by the way, they have never pulled their weight and feel downright awkard.

I tried to make Doomsday work but I don't know how to make piles without Thassa's Oracle. If there were other combos that worked, it's really one of the best ways to keep Storm compact. I also find the idea to run Hypnotic Specter funny, though I'm not sure it would be appropiate at my power level!

Looking at my list and my own personal tastes, I think I'll try the high-power version first. I've gone and done a couple changes, just as a test. You know, add Skullclamp, Tolarian Academy, the MH2 free spells and so on.

-> ->
-> ->

This is mostly a test, but I need to start somewhere. Feel free to make any suggestions regarding removal and what not because I'm out of my depth here.

 

[Erik Twice]

I've been thinking about the changes I've to the cube. Most of them have been more impactful than I ever thought they would be.



Staff should become a cube staple, at least to the same degree as Young Pyromancer. It's the best card I've found so far to boost a tokens archetype. The reason is that, unlike Goblin Bombardment and other synergy cards, it has a good floor. At worst, it's a Thraben Inspector variant. Sure, it doesn't have the explosiveness of its competitors, but one extra card per turn is a lot of cards. Even if it "just" draws two cards, it's incredible value. It's a fantastic pick and I'm really glad I decided to try it.

Lingering Souls is undercosted, but look. It's a card you can play cheaply from the graveyard. I tried to run Triarch Praetorian only to realize that, at five mana, it's not what graveyard decks want. They are already spending so many resources in filling the graveyard and trying to synergize things that what they need is cheap stuff. And Lingering Souls costs just two mana. That's it. It's a versatile card, it takes only black space (as opposed to a gold slot) and it's more than enough to trigger any token synergies you may have,



I've tried Zuran Orb at least 3 or 4 times and it has always been a dissapointment. It was either completely forced or unplayable, the kind of card you slot in its deck because it wheels around. Well, for whatever reason I now actively seek it. Perhaps it's that I now run Balance and Titania but it has been working out when before it wasn't. Huh.



I didn't expect anything out of double Reanimate other than more broken Reanimator decks and a somewhat leaner cubelist. Yet, their versatily has given smaller, fairer graveyard-based decks a chance. Simply being able to reanimate 4-mana drops for the cost of Unearth opens more options. Reanimator as the Griselbrand-monster is not really that boosted by going from 2 to 1 mana, but Gravecrawler decks apparently are.



Another card that didn't work out when I tried it. For a long time, it was a 3-mana creature removal spell at sorcery speed and which required two colours. That's it. It didn't achieve anything different from a million other removal spells and ended up being cut.

But now it's working. The reason is that the decks that create small decks are now more viable. Being able to blow up any permanent, particularly a land, is great for decks packing Liliana of the Veil, Smallpox and Smokestack. More importantly, it gives an out to those decks that can't run as much removal. It can be difficult to justify a Naturalize effect so running Vindicate may not be the most mana-efficient play, but it is the most efficient card to draft in.

I don't even remember what I cut for it, either, so it mustn't have been very important.



I've been running Cabal Ritual for ages and it has always been bad. While it's good in Storm, and actually gives one more mana, it's practically useless for everyone else. Nanonox suggested to run two copies of Dark Ritual instead and it just works! It actually opens the possiblity to play decks that rely on it to some degree. He suggested the following:



I'll be honest, I would love to run Hypnotic Specter, I'm just not sure it's an actual, playable card.

--



I suspect Doomsday allows for one of the most compact Storm packages in cube. However, I just haven't been able to make it work without Thassa's Oracle. The deck existed before it and Laboratory Maniac came out, but I just can't find decklists with example piles anymore. Still, if you don't use Thassa's Oracle, you are probably relying on Lion's Eye Diamond. If it had a secondary combo you could run, I would be fine with Doomsday, but I don't like how it's only useful if you already have two other pieces in your deck.



This is a great, versatile package. However, I'm very short of targets. I have Gaea's Cradle, which is great, and a second copy in the form of Tolarian Academy which may be too powerful for my format. I don't know yet. Either way, they seem a bit narrow. A second Wasteland helps but it's not ideal. I don't want to run Strip Mine, Maze of Ith or other broken stuff, either. I do think Crop Rotation into Shelldock Isle is great, however.



Skullclamp is broken. It's an interesting design but it offers too much for too little. Sadly, Transmogrant's Crown just doesn't work as well and it's not a matter of cost. No, getting a single card or paying 2 instead of 1 isn't the problem. The problem is that the crown is not a sacrifice oulet, meaning you need a third card to get a meaningful effect.



I had to think about this one. Let me start, this is not a self-mill card, per se. It's most similar to a blink payoff (you get activated abilities instead of ETBs) that acts as a payoff for a +1/+1 counters deck. A ton of the stuff you can copy is going to have great uses so that's great. I just wonder how it fits, if it all.

 

[Erik Twice]

After trying, I've decided not to go high power. The reason is that I can only find two, perhaps three, reasons to go for it:



It feels like a lot of work for such little gain, particularly since some of my archetypes may struggle at a higher power level. In fact, I've looked at my list and divided them like this:

Human Aggro
Graveyard Aggro
Artifact Aggro (To be improved on)
Spells Aggro
Blink

Lands/Wildfire
Stax/Pox
Artifact Midrange
Pod
Traditional Control

Reanimator
Storm
Earthcraft
Sneak Attach

At a glance, green is underrepresented and a bit isolated from the other colours so that's an area I can work in. I thought about this:

-> ¿?

Thorn Mammoth is weak for my power level, let's see if Primus is too strong (can blow up lands) or fair. Alternatively, I can try Decimator of Provinces?

Given I already run Managorger Hydra, perhaps I can extend green into more control and spells-based decks with these changes:

-> ->
-> ->
->

Some of these cuts might be surprising. I like Survival, but it competes hard with Pod and is a bit linear (you tend to search for the same targets). Edge of Autumn is an incredible design, but it's not necessary with artifact mana and dorks.

While I've cut Hooting Mandrils, I do hope to revise my green section to support both Artifact Aggro and Graveyard Aggro as well. An interesting point of support might be +1/+1 counters with



In order to make room, I'll cut:

(Now free with Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar)

Finding support and room for green graveyard will be more challenging. I didn't want to cut the Unearth spell Perennial Behemoth but it's an obvious cut. I just don't know how to support green graveyard despite being a natural fit for the archetype. Let's be honest, most of its payoffs suck, Hooting Mandrils is janky.
--

Regarding Reanimator, I'm replacing Griselbrand with whatever for now. Rune-Scarred Demon seems like a good enough slot while I think of something better. I've looked into all of black 6 mana or more creatures and there doesn't seem to be any other slamdunk choice.



That's all I could find.

Anyways, this is it for now, I'll continue later!

 

[Nanonox]

Instead of Decimator, I like



It's more reasonable to cast and doesn't ask that you to shrink your board when you cast it (which goes against the whole point of the card).

A few more cards to consider for your aggressive Green spells package (instead of more generic strong ones like Explore and Call of the Herd)



I've been experimenting with artifact/counter/discard aggro in Green. Discard aggro rather than GY aggro because it is easier to tie into with artifacts



The artifact creatures receive the counters from Arcbound Ravager or Steel Overseer, while providing value for discarding. Bazaar of Baghdad is perfect here, as are the classic Survival of the Fittest, Basking Rootwalla, Vengevine, ... We've talked about it before, but Wild Mongrel and Noose Constrictor are pretty mandatory for the discard aggro package (and play nicely with your newly added Berserk!). The Hooting Mandrils also make more sense if you can fill the GY fast with the Mongrels.

Here is a sample deck that needs a few more cuts, but you get the idea:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/deck/0afd766b-9cd2-4ad8-8c12-efbe6f88af38

I am tempted to go back to Reyhan, Last of the Abzan as a second pseudo Ravager and counter payoff. The Ozolith and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire could be good pick ups for the deck too.

Looking forward to see where you end up, as I like a lot of your ideas and they inspire me to get creative

 

[Erik Twice]

I've done even more changes to the cube. Starting with my black section:

-> ->

My question here is, can I replace Tendrils of Agony with Sheoldred? Certainly, a wheel gets close to a kill and you have Sedgemoor Witch, Monastery Mentor and Orcish Bowmasters to close things out! But perhaps it's not reliable. After all, they are creatures and they can be killed.

I like Sheoldred. It's a rare example of a beefy non-ETB, non-cheaty creature with a good ability. It's big and a hatebear, but not oppressive. I need some beef for control and midrange strategies and she's a good fit.

I do not like Orcish Bowmasters. It creates tokens, it can work as a minisheoldred and its a hatebear. It's useful and I'll try it out. But it's a BRAND NAME card and power crept beyond an important boundary: I believe it's the first 2-mana card that has all the power usually reserved to three drops. And it's a natural point to push the game to because 2s are far more versatile than 3s.

I'm also following Inscho in changing this card for another:

->

Bloodghast is fantastic because it's free. But it's a 2/1 and I often feel it just doesn't do enough, no matter how much you can cheat it in. Skyclave Shade must be paid for, but it's a 3/1 and can be kicked to be even larger. I feel it will be wanted for more decks this way.

--

I've noticed that I had a few too many cards doing the same thing. Namely, blowing up lands:



Four is too much for my cube. I think the ideal number is a little under 3, which allows 2 copies of the effect and one card being lost of the cube or undrafted. Both Balance and Cataclysm are extremely playable so I want to avoid the same decks piling up redundant copies. Hence, I've decided to cut Wildfire. It's the least unique of the effects and sees the least interesting play.

While it may seem strange, I've decided to move the effect to blue:

->

While it's still too much, there's a reason for it. Wildfire slots best (in my cube) with white and black. Upheaval, however, pairs better with creature-based ramp in green. So it's a different take in the archetype.

Right now I feel I have more space than I can actually use. There are a bunch of cards that aren't doing anything but that I don't know what to replace them with.

P

I feel I could slot another archetype or better support some of my weaker ones, but I don't know what else to include. My current archetypes are very broad and fun so I'm a bit of a loss here.

 

[inscho]

I'm also following Inscho in changing this card for another:

? I run both!

 

[Erik Twice]

? I run both!

Oh, I thought you only ran one! Still, I do believe Skyclave is going to be better for me here, I feel the mana is less of a limitation than size.

Anyways, I've been thinking about which black reanimator targets I actually want. Rune-scarred Demon feels terrible even as a placeholder.



These two cards are strictly superior versions of Rune-Scarred Demon. Razaketh has has more combo potential while being otherwise identical. You won't miss your Stitcher's Supplier. Hoarding Broodlord looks like it could be convoked out, though I doubt many decks will be interested in doing so.



Vilis triggers when you reanimate him, making him a fairer Grieselbrand. It has no lifelink and can only trigger once. However, he's just a beater for Sneak Attack.



This one is cool, but at 2/2 he's just dead to removal. He's also useless to other decks.


A black mana doubler is interesting, though I doubt Sneak Attack and other fair decks care at all.

In other colours:



Probably the best Grieselbrand equivalent, but it's a bit of a dumb card.



It works for storm and other cheaty decks, but it's just Fact and Fiction on legs.



Technically, a storm card. It's cool, but does any deck like this truly want a 7/7? I doubt it.


Broken and unfun.

 

[Zoss]

No love for Scourge of Nel Toth? There's also Waker of Waves, Mirrorshell Crab, and Ore-Scale Guardian in other colors that could work nicely for you, even if they are a little lower on the power level.

 

[Nanonox]

I liked your earlier suggestion of



Dumping something in the yard is easy to take advantage of. Dread Return for protection against removal. Life from the Loam for value or further milling. Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger for more threats. Combo with Reckless Charge for hasty beater, etc.

Other suggestions

?

No ETB value which is rough, but it's like a combination of Griselbrand/Niv-Mizzet, Parun if you squint. Really shines in Storm/Reanimator if that is what you want to push.



Artifact spam and self-mill seems decent. I like the build around possibilities that intersect with Living Death.



Incidental reanimator? Not exciting or flashy but extremely functional.

 

[Erik Twice]

?

No ETB value which is rough, but it's like a combination of Griselbrand/Niv-Mizzet, Parun if you squint. Really shines in Storm/Reanimator if that is what you want to push.

I like this one for the reasons you mention, but I'm afraid of getting killed if I reanimate it.

No love for Scourge of Nel Toth? There's also Waker of Waves, Mirrorshell Crab, and Ore-Scale Guardian in other colors that could work nicely for you, even if they are a little lower on the power level.

They feel a bit fair for my cube, though they are solid. I'm mostly looking for targets that justify going into combo decks as opposed to just value ones.

 

[Erik Twice]

I'm still polishing the cube, here are some more changes I'm working on.

First, some quality of life changes:

-> ->

-> ->

->

Green is a bit short of mana dorks, if you have to players into the colour, it's extremely limiting for green midrange. So I'm adding another one. Birds is a bit of a placeholder, though.

Dragonsguard Elite works and is very neat. However, it's not really needed. Tarmogoyf is a spells-payoff and both it and Managorger Hydra work with all non-creature spells. I'm replacing it with Tough Cookie to see if it boosts the artifacts deck.

The Gitrog Monster is neat, but Titania fills the same role, better, while not being a gold card. I'm trying out Glissa, The Traitor, to see if it creates new decks. It has a nasty combo with Executioner's Capsule, though.

Perennial Behemoth is narrow so I'm happier making The Underworld Cookbook its own card again.

Selfless Spirit is a nice-have in decks that are already overflowing with 2 drops. I'm happy with making wide decks less resilient to wrath effects and Dauntless Bodyguard still has some uses.
--

My equipment suite has a problem: Almost all of them cost three mana:



Hence, I'm thinking about doing these two changes:

-> ->

Cranial is a bit narrower, but it's one less mana. On the other hand, I don't feel like I need Maul in the cube so it's getting cut.

--

vs

Isn't this a less narrow (and more powerful) version of Hardened Scales? The two mana is noticiable, but I wonder if I shouldn't make the switch. It's an artifact, too, if that counts for something.

--

What I want to revise next are my sacrifice outlets. I cut one, I think, and I need more, particularly artifacts.



While Altar of Dementia is cool and it has the right cost at 2 mana, I'm finding it a bit awkard. Most notably, it only does something for a single type of deck. If you don't have many graveyard synergies, it's just filler. Jinxed Idol is a supercool design, but, if you give it away, you are also losing your sacrifice outlet.

Spawning Pit does tend to flood the board but it's free (important), 2 mana (very important) and gives you bodies, whcih all sacrifice decks want.

While people have had success with turning creatures for mana, I'm not sure I want to run Ashnod's Altar. First, I haven't had too much luck with it and its friends. And second, I already have too many decks whose ultimate goal is to ramp or cheat or get something big on the board. I don't want sacrifice decks to fall into the same trap.

 

[Erik Twice]

While I decide which sac outlet to run, I'm going to include one of my favourite cards as a placeholder. In fact, I'm going to add a couple more so I reach 388 cards in the cube:



The reason is that I've been looking for a big red replacement for Wildfire. While cutting it was the right move, it's true that it's one of the few red cards that favour a big, non-aggro style. So far, I'm looking into these picks:



I like Opening Ceremony's effect. It gives you a lot of cards and is not unlike a big red Time Spiral. However, since the cards don't come from your cube and it's not symmetrical, it's more of a value spell. It seems like a good target to build around.

Double Vision is terrible, but it seems strictly better than Pyromancer's Googles. After all, it can copy all spells, not just red ones.

Last time I tried Chandra, she was a problem. She's very generically good-stuff so she agglutinated herself into all kinds of deck without much interesting. However I'm willing to give her another shot. If she doesn't work out, I might try Opportunistic Dragon or whatever.

There's a bunch of crappy stuff in the cube I don't know what to replace with. For example, these cards contribute basically nothing to the cube but I don't know what to run instead:

 

[Zoss]

Couple thoughts--



Alternative cards for 5C Red, which is a cool archetype. This Chandra seems a lot less problematic than Torch of Defiance due to the higher CMC, but since she's able to uptick--double the spell cast off of that ability, she's still fairly resistant to removal.


Tameshi is great, maybe it's a skill issue? FR, I don't think that he's a great fit for your cube either as you don't have a lot of artifact aggro or NEO flip sagas, which tend to be the artifacts/enchantments that wind up in the graveyard most often.

For Champion, maybe switch it out for The Modern Age? I know that you don't have many DFCs, but this one is particularly solid. It fulfills many of the same roles but at a lower mana cost and over time.

For Winota, I'm not sure you'll find something equivalently explosive. Angelfire Ignition is shockingly tricky to deal with, especially with flashback, and can be a nice way to throw Timmies/Tammies a bone. Riders of Rohan and Eowyn, Fearless Knight are also both memes and not at the same time.

 

[Nanonox]

With the vibe and feel of your cube, this one popped up for me



Supports your themes of sacrifice (with fodder) and discard. Mostly a board wipe, kind of a draw card.

For Boros, I think this one would be a good fit



It's a human that works wonders with Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Earthcraft and Katilda, Dawnhart Prime. Plus it has Wildfire in the name so it's kind of like you never cut it



If you can stomach a 5 mana enchantment with low board impact (like Double Vision or The Mirari Conjecture), it's a cool build around!

 

[Erik Twice]

I've been giving a hard look into my cube and it seems to me that colours are pretty imbalanced. Most notably, I think the cube is fairly white-centric and the farther away you get from it, the worst your chances become. At a glance, I believe these five pairings work well:







And these five aren't pulling their weight:

Too uncommon for such a natural pairing, too few tempo and control decks, mostly Reanimator and Storm.
Midrange decks are surprinsgly rare, there should be more pod, more sacrifice, more lands crossover.
Solid, but blue might not be pairing well enough, I may need to revise it to provide creatures for UR spells and control.
Can be a good deck, but often fails.
Lacks disruption, often feels like a bad alternative to going with white.

The big loser here is green. It has two pairings that are traditionally problematic (, ) and isn't producing at the rate it should for a pairing that is so natural.

The good news is that I have the slots to make changes. The bad one is that I'm a bit at a loss on how to boost this stuff. Most notably, I want to rework green so it supports graveyard and discard interactions, but most of the card pool in this regard is poor.



Realistically, I feel these are the only graveyard synergies that Green does well:



And, frankly, Vengevine is colourless. I'm also a bit at an odds on how to support Pod decks well, because they work, but it seems like I'm pushed too often out of green for them. There should be more and versions of them, too.

Anyways, this is the current problem I have with my cube.

 

[Zoss]

I have the same seven cards in my green section, but I think the biggest difference is that you don't have a lot of graveyard support in G, which makes it so that you need to start from B to get into BG, and starting G will always lean towards a stompy route--no Satyr Wayfinders or Grapple with the Pasts to start sparking players' creativity makes it hard to even imagine this deck. Also, a Seasons Past might go a ways towards encouraging a more controlling G graveyard deck all by itself, lending another dimension to the archetype.

 

[Erik Twice]

I used to run self-mill cards in green, but I quickly found that, even if you are running green, it's better to use other colour's methods of filling the yard. The only exception in that regard was Survival of the Fittest which felt very centralizing. I ended up cutting it.

 

[blacksmithy]

cut bad green cards and add good blue cards, green decks will be less frequent but win more when they show up

 

[Nanonox]

Midrange decks are surprinsgly rare, there should be more pod, more sacrifice, more lands crossover.

I've enjoyed Mosswood Dreadknight. A strong early that shines in midrange decks and has some sacrifice/ETB/spells synergies. You wanted another Pod target in Green, this one fits the bill!

Too uncommon for such a natural pairing, too few tempo and control decks, mostly Reanimator and Storm.

I am tempted to add Ertai, Resurrected myself. I think it would play well in the fairer Dimir decks you want to support.

Lacks disruption, often feels like a bad alternative to going with white.

Mawloc is a powerhouse of a card that will make drafters want to go in the color combination. Ulvenwald Oddity and Fiery Confluence are solid top end for the Gruul decks. Maybe a bunch of hasty beaters can give it a distinct flavor and steer drafters away from White. Robber of the Rich, Rabbit Battery, Shivan Devastator and more.

Solid, but blue might not be pairing well enough, I may need to revise it to provide creatures for UR spells and control.

I've been enjoying Sea Gate Stormcaller that I recently added. Since Green and White aren't as big on spells, it often ends up in your UB and UR decks that you want to support. It would also fit into more combo decks by doubling Manamorphose or something.

I'm also a bit at an odds on how to support Pod decks well, because they work, but it seems like I'm pushed too often out of green for them. There should be more and versions of them, too.

Beefy beater that will get you some value and wants to be sacrificed. I think it has legs in your format if you can stomach the Blitz mechanic as a one of.

Most notably, I want to rework green so it supports graveyard and discard interactions, but most of the card pool in this regard is poor.

Outside of the Mongrels, Survival and Fauna Shaman, discard is bad in Green at higher power level. Bazaar of Baghdad gains value because it's a land that can be easily fetched. But you are still relying on other colors.

For the GY, Shigeki, Jukai Visionary could be both an enabler and late game payoff. It plays very grindy, but I think you want to bolster that. Most Green GY stuff is land focused. Maybe Blossoming Tortoise or Splendid Reclamation could be worth a look.

 

[Erik Twice]

Even though I've kept updating my cube, I haven't said much about it here. Let's do an overview.

Currently, the best thing about my cube is how you can shift from one archetype to the other, be it during the draft or even the deckbuilding process. I've gone from forced archetypes, driven by single cards, to versatile ones, where the difference is subtle and you could take many different directions.

For example:






These are all decks that will run Thalia's Liutenant, but each with a different twist. And they can all be combined with each other, in different colour combinations, and differ in game plan and key pieces.

Even better, those pieces are fun and create interesting and interactive games. They don't fit into every deck, the closest my cube has to "good stuff" is aggro, which opens the door to all sorts of variations:

Cheat:

Artifact-core:

Tokens:


To me, this is what I wanted from cube, and I think I got it.
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The issue is that this amalgam of archetypes is strict. Once an archetype or card strays too far away from this core, its viability drops. They don't become unplayable, or anything of the sort, but simply become far less necessary. You have so many options that going into the clunky, less well-designed archetype becomes an even worse strategy than usual.

Here's the thing. Players will draft 360 cards but only play around 240 of them, including lands. So a third of every cube will always be left unplayed every time. If we want to use that third, we need enough archetypes, of a similar power level and development, that the order in which cards are drafted is enough to change which cards go unplayed and not.

Needless to say, that's hard! The margin given to us by the randomness of the draft isn't large. Hence, it's normall for a large number of cards to simply be there, rarely played. Currently, I count about 50 underperformers, including a few cards that are redundant and a couple which lean too good-stuff.

For example:


The solution is to extend the cube into more archetypes and slighty tweak the ones already in. But this is difficult because:

1) There are not that many cards.
2) Cards may be redundant 80% of the time, but different the remaining 20%
3) There's a huge designer bias, you draft the decks you like drafting more.
4) Cards are designed with narrow types in mind for constructed. So you get Instant vs Non-creature, Wizard vs Warlock, Zombie vs Horror, etc.

The good news is that Modern Horizons 3 looks like a banger set for cube. I'll probaby add at least a dozen cards!

 

[Nanonox]

The solution is to extend the cube into more archetypes and slighty tweak the ones already in.

I’ve been trying to fit in more utility lands and more draw smoothing rather than archetypes (to a certain degree of course). The utility lands will increase the number of cards each deck plays, since as you mentioned, a lot of the cube is unused. And draw smoothing limits non-games.

It could be more fixing, the NEO channel lands, Mishra’s Workshop, Phyrexian Tower and many others for lands. I like the 1 mana land cyclers from LotR as well here.

 

[inscho]

I hone my card selection periodically by reidentifying each of my main guild archetypes. I aim for 4 distinct archetypes within each guild….often the distinction is play style and win condition, but there is mechanical/thematic overlap

Like dimir has a couple archetypes rooted in self-mill…one is a creature heavy dredge deck and the other is a combo deck with a low creature count that wins with something like Thassa’s Oracle or reanimated fatty….thematic overlap but dynamically different. They use many similar cards to very different effect

This gives you 40 guild archetypes before adding a third/fourth color. Which has been a sweet spot for me at 360 cards.

It’s getting easier to maintain this archetype density as more versatile cards are printed. Marionette apprentice is a great example of a new card that bridges multiple archetypes, and aids in consolidating card inclusions… 5 years ago we’d need to run 2-3 separate cards to have the functionality of just apprentice

 

[Erik Twice]

That's a good way to measure it. I think I've lost track of my archetypes, so perhaps I should write it down!

I'll write more about Modern Horizons 3 once everything gets updated. In the meanwhile, I'm giving Replenish a second though and perhaps Academy Rector as well. The core looks like this:



What's difficult is finding good targets. Right now, I'm considering the following. Some of them are additions, some are already in the cube, but I'm fairly certain of them:



I'm far less sure about these ones, however:



Sneak Attack has gotten worse and worse in my cube, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. It seems to me, my choice of fatties has made it suffer significantly.
Everyone seems happy about Valakut Exploration, so perhaps it deserves a second chance.
Equilibrium has that issue where it's yet another noncreature card in a deck that wants creatures, but I like the design.
Virtue of Knowledge gives you interaction and ramp. It should also work in blink, but it's a fairly redundant card.
I'm told Treachery is busted, but untapping has combo potential.
Dream Halls seems perfect, but I suspect it has the same problem as Sneak Attack. Right now there's nothing to cheat with it, all the big targets are colorless.
Saproling Burst is a great design, but it's filler.
Bitterblossom isn't really a Replenish card, but I'm tempted to have it replace Orcish Bowmasters, which is annoyingly good.
Virtue of Persistence is an obvious way to increase enchantment cost.
Solitary Confinement seems like it would be no fun to play against, but I love the buildaround potential.
Form of the Approach of the Second Sun. This is way more powerful than the normal approach and an enchantment. But it's a silly card, isn't it?