Lower power Riptide cube

[Nanonox]

Simic removal

In an effort to give Blue and Green more tools with which to be interactive, I decided to up the amount of removal spells in those colors. The options are somewhat limited, but I am reasonably happy with most of these

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Still keeping a bit of draw smoothing with Bushwhack, but also getting that fight. At a single mana, it's tough to complain even though the blowout potential is there at sorcery speed.

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My counters deck don't really intersect with the GY much, even though Restoration is still reasonable there. I think it's a good spot to fit in another fight spell, while keeping Proliferate.

->

Here we keep an option of pushing damage through with the Talent's second level. We also get a bounceable fight spell which is exciting. Audacity replaced Rancor which I found too powerful.



Don't have a cut for this one yet, but later if you really need a removal spell, you can make even a puny token formidable. This one could also be Inscription of Abundance which also has late game relevance, but is an instant which is huge. Maybe I should just jam both?



No clean cuts here either, but I feel like I need these. Psy Blast is a classic and goes face which can be a win condition in the right deck with the right recursion.
Downpour is experimental, but should work. Base rate is a little overpriced compared to other enchantments in Blue, but Flash and Storm are big. Imagine casting Snap and then Downpour, neutralizing(ish) 3 creatures.

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Changelings



I have a bunch of cards that care about creature types. They are one of with no other support (except the Golem theme). I have a couple others that I like



This has me thinking about Changelings as a secret archetype. With a few Shapeshifters, you can greatly enhance the above cards and maybe even (the dream) get multiple kindred payoffs in the same deck.



This could be a Black archetype since it's the color with "best" Changelings and most kindred payoffs. The Changelings would then increase the Golem density. For those reasons, maybe a simple Automaton, Mascot and Harvester curve of 1, 2, 3 is good enough.

If I go down this route, what other cool one of creature type matters cards would you include?

 

[LadyMapi]

?

 

[Nanonox]

Yes! Skeletons matters!

I actually had this in an earlier version with more enchantment support. However, looking at it again, Descend is surprisingly open ended and a 3/2 haste for 3 is a reasonable floor even absent the enchantment theme. 3 drops are crowded though, what to cut?

 

[Nanonox]

Changelings, Zombies and Enchantments

Decided to actually give the Black Changeling deck idea some more thought and the kindred payoffs that grabbed my attention the most were



Bouncing back to hand greatly helps the Flurry/Prowess decks while filling the GY or adding to the board. Because Black doesn't really do the whole spell matters theme, I thought the enchantment angle could be a way to tie them into what is already present in the cube.



Which suggest a Zombie/gy/enchantment subtheme. These pieces are individually solid and could lead to a fun deck once in a blue moon especially with exisiting support like Sarcomancy already in the cube.

Speaking of Zombies and the GY, I already run these two



Cryptbreaker is a classic self-supporting Zombie payoff . Welcome the Dead is potent if we are milling/discarding cards.



With a filled GY, we can use these two to both create more Zombies and actually buff them. Once again, these are self-contained engines that get better with more Zombies.

Now that we have many ways of removing cards from the GY (these two + Tymaret Calls the Dead + Aphemia, the Cacophony), we can profit with more Zombies thanks to these two.



Another way to trigger these two are a bunch of Zombie Dragons!



Now we come full circle because the Dragons allow you to return the Dragonstorm enchantments back to hand for more value.

On a different axis, we can also use the Zombie theme to push +1/+1 counters in Black



I think there is real potential for a web of synergy all based around a Zombie theme at this power level. But at that point, the Changelings are pretty useless and I lost sight of the original idea. I searched for a lot of kindred payoffs and to be honest, it's a little underwhelming. The only slam dunk is Exsanguinator Cavalry, the rest are good or not great. Especially after fleshing out the Zombie idea, this Changeling subtheme seems a little empty!

The challenge is to not fall prey to the classic kindred on rails problem. I think most of these are justifiable on their own and don't require you to draft a critical mass of Zombies (minus Champion of the Perished).

Suppose that we do go for the Enchantment theme. I'd like it to branch out to other colors.

White



One of the cleaner ways to get White to care about the GY. This is fairly unique and has a lot of play with discard, mill and sagas. There are also these enchantment creatures that I like a lot. Obviously don't have space for all of them, but maybe a few could sneak in.



In Blue, BoBguyjoe suggested some enchantment bounce effects in a previous post and a number of these could do some work. I especially like Riptide Chimera as an undercosted beatstick that rewards you if you can build around it. There is also one I enjoy from Duskmourn



I'm not sure if I want to pull the trigger on this as it's a big change to the cube, but it's definitely on the table. As always, I value your feedback so if you have any ideas, please share!

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For future reference

Spoiler: Various kindred payoffs

Clerics



Rotlung is a functional piece by itself which is always nice. Taborax is also fine individually as a scaling evasive 3 drop that adds counter density.

Rogues



Burakos gets better the more Cleric, Warrior and Rogue payoffs I have, effectively acting like another Changeling. I haven't been impressed by the Warrior payoffs though and the Rogues are average. The Blackguard could be a nice counters payoff that sometimes buffs a random Rogue. Dicey.

Goblins



Great standalone card, but the typal payoff is minimal.

Humans



Similar to Rotlung Reanimator, but isn't a zombie.

Rats



Decent little dude, not a fan of Control Magic effects though.

Vampires



Champion draws a few cards which is pretty meh at 5 mana and the Baron has a list of nice keywords.

Zombies



Undead Augur would be too if not for the mana cost. The Muse is sure to play well, but can be dangerous depending on how deep I go on Zombies. It's also a 4 drop which is a crowded slot.

Knights



Haakon is a tough one to crack. It definitely needs a bit more support instead of just throwing it in and working by itself.

Skeletons



Death-Priest buffs a bunch of types which can randomly add value to some cards. It seems like a hassle to track though, so not convinced it's a fun way to go. The Skeleton Crew is not much better in that regard, but a nice build around for GY decks.

Demons



I am already running Contract and it's been quite good. Covenant is another sweet one. Mill, draw and big token. Cellarspawn is cost reduction and a cool build around. Counsel would work well with the artifact Changelings as they count for two types for Delirium.

 

[Nanonox]

I've stopped working on this cube about a year ago. While I am happy with how it ended up, it didn't quite capture the Riptide feel that I was looking for. I tried my hand at another cube but that was even further away from what I was hoping to build.

It turns out I was more so looking for an era of MTG rather than a web of synergies (though still important). The solution to that? I am excluding all the cards printed after 2019*. Even then, I'm sparingly adding cards from DOM and WAR, while completely ignoring MH1. This is 100% vibes based, but I can't resist The Mirari Conjecture for example. There are other cards that are so clean that I feel like they could hang. Honor and Primal Might for example are very tempting here!

* I am making an exception for the mana base.

Rather than open a new thread, I figure I'll just keep posting here, since this is what the original cube was aspiring to be.

Here is the list​

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Since the card pool I am drawing from isn't as big as I am used to, I'll be making the cube slightly smaller than usual. I can always scale up later if needed. I am also keeping to singleton as a design challenge for now, but wouldn't mind doubling up on certain cards if it makes or breaks an archetype (I would double up on Ninja of the Deep Hours for example).

6 players with 4 packs of 12 each = 288 cards

I'm not at the cutting stage just yet, but it's getting there.



This is still a bounceland format. I love how bouncelands let you hit land drops and get some marginal value later in the game. I also appreciate the work fetchlands do in making more of your fixing live during any given draft. For them to work optimally though, I need another cycle of duals with basic land types.

or ?

What I haven't decided yet is whether to use Surveil duals or Bicycle lands. Either way, this will break my 2019 year restriction as we just got the Bicycle land cycle completed and the surveils are still recent. Leaning towards Bicycles because the first half of the cycle was printed within my timing restriction.

As far as supported archetypes go, I am looking for heavy GY themes, some artifact and spells matters as well as a bit of sacrifice.

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White GY

One of the challenges I wanted to tackle with this cube was making White participate in various GY decks. This has been an issue plaguing GY cubes of that time. I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish it, but I at least want to revisit it with a fresh set of eyes and improved designer skills (hopefully).

An important part of making a broad theme like this work in a color is density of effects. I want lots of references to the GY to force my drafters to care. Of course, I have to be wary of having similar, but better effects in other colors, which would invalidate what I am trying to do.

Going to start off with cards that don't mind being binned. Flashback, Retrace, Aftermath and the likes.



I like this effect for my Berserker theme and adding a piece of interaction for Green is a big plus. Travel Preperations is in a similar space, but two of this effect seems like a lot, especially in a smaller cube.



A little GY token action is perfect. I am also considering Nearheath Chaplain to further bolster the theme. If you can discard it, you get the back half of Lingering Souls which is too powerful here.



These two are pretty generically powerful spells that are a good pull into White.



A situational wrath and/or recursion engine. Being 2 power or less rather than mana value 2 or less is a big game for the Aftermath side, opening up the range of targets by a lot.



These two are solid roleplayers for aggressive and slower decks respectively. Sacred Cat, Trueheart Duelist and Angel of Sanctions are out as I don't want both Embalm and Eternalize.



If I am at a lower power level and not including this Dragon, what am I even doing?

These noncreature cards you can cast from the GY lead me to this guy, that I didn't even know existed from a commander release



I immediately thought of Burning Vengeance, which has a better effect, but the solid body more than makes up for that. The tokens are great in all speeds of decks as pressure or roadblocks, just like Lifelink which can swing a race or help you survive a few turns. There are a lot of cards in the cube to trigger it



Some decent spells matter cards and generically useful effects. Feeling of Dread could be used as a more tempo spell that could also trigger heroic, but is quite low impact most of the time. There is also Farm // Market which is mediocre removal and bad looting effect.



A bit of sacrifice stuff where the token from Geistcaller will be useful and some interaction. This seems like a spot for Haakon, Stromgald Scourge, which is an awesome one to have.



Outside of the burn spell that play well everywhere, the cards definitely fit into a slower spells matter build. Chandra, Acolyte of Flame could also work in that shell. As for an explicitly GY aggro card we have Squee, the Immortal, but it isn't very exciting.



Fantastic spread of GY aggro effects for the Geistcaller to make use of. There are more GY token producers in Green that could be good, but I don't want to go all in on them. Will need to chose between Worms or Spiders, not clear yet which is best.

All that to say, all the colors can use the Geistcaller. WB can be more aggressive, while WU is more controlling. WR and WG can play both roles, which is great.

White is also an awesome recursion color. In addition to Dusk // Dawn, we have



I definitely want Rally or Ranks, probably not both. Rally the Ancestors offers more options in terms of what it can recur, which puts it ahead.

I'll be adding either Reveillark or Guide, but not both to avoid the combo. I've always felt clever returning Triskelion or Pentavus with Reveillark, so am leaning towards it.

I find Ajani to be quite boring honestly, so I'll pass on it.

Tethmos High Priest is one I am actually curious about. If you have a Heroic/spells theme and some sacrifice shenanigans then it starts looking actually decent. Selfless Spirit and Sakura-Tribe Elder look like fun hits to recur for example. The actual correct pick might be the Devoted Cropmate though. It's a human, has a better 3/2 statline and is self-contained.

Multicolor has these two recursion creatures that I like



Rallier is probably a little too generically good for what I have in mind, but Alesha is perfect. Just like Reveillark, you get to recur some novel cards.

Other miscellaneous cards that have potential



Big for Berserkers and triggers landfall, classic for a reason.



This little guy doesn't look like much, but it can be quite annoying combined with the various bounce to hand effects. Also wears equipment like a pro.



One flyer a turn for 3 mana isn't going to break anything, but it does give a mana sink and inevitability. Also, this is another card producing spirit tokens, there might be a subtheme there.



5 mana is a lot for this effect, repeatable or not. Don't think it quite cuts it, but a cool card nonetheless.



Regardless whether or not this is a real Magic card, the effect is very strong. Honestly, probably a little too much, considering it nullifies wraths, races like a pro thanks to flying tokens and can attack with impunity with Vigilance.

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Aggressive decks

Before diving into the synergistic aggro decks, wanted to mention a few overarching decisions.

With the cube being smaller than I am used to, slots are precious. For that reason, I am including colorless and hybrid one drops to bolster aggro for everyone. I excluded some like Tattermunge Maniac, because I imagine it would be played a lot more in Red decks than Green ones. I also don't want too many of these as they take the spot of otherwise synergistic aggressive cards.



This gives Red and White 4 one drops, while Blue and Black get 3.

Artifact aggro

Similar to the colorless and hybrid one drops, artifact aggro is another tool meant to open up the possibilities in a smaller cube, giving access to an aggro package any color can use. The main aggressive artifact payoffs I've settled on are



I could see a Lodestone Golem joining the fun. My main criteria for these is that they can work without your other cards explicitly needing to be an artifact. I find cards like Mystic Forge too committal to be slotted into a random deck that happens to have artifacts.

A supporting cast of aggressive artifacts, creatures and equipment



Wargear is a power outlier, but the selection is slim as equipment was either hot trash or GRBS before 2020. Bloodforged Battle-Axe could be a replacement, but don't really want to mess with token copies of cards.

I'll be posting my various synergistic aggressive decks next!

 

[OlegKlishin]

I've stopped working on this cube about a year ago. While I am happy with how it ended up, it didn't quite capture the Riptide feel that I was looking for. I tried my hand at another cube but that was even further away from what I was hoping to build.

It turns out I was more so looking for an era of MTG rather than a web of synergies (though still important). The solution to that? I am excluding all the cards printed after 2019*. Even then, I'm sparingly adding cards from DOM and WAR, while completely ignoring MH1. This is 100% vibes based, but I can't resist The Mirari Conjecture for example. There are other cards that are so clean that I feel like they could hang. Honor and Primal Might for example are very tempting here!

I love your extensive writeups. You definitely have a style in your cubes. It seems we have a lot of common tastes, so I take inspiration to finally finish mine some day.

I'd be curious to read why you think it didn't capture what you were looking for, and how did the high level concept changed. From my point of view you are doing pretty much the same thing as before, that's why I'm interested how you view it.

 

[Nanonox]

I love your extensive writeups.

Thanks for the kind words. These writeups actually help me when I'm stuck on my designs, glad they can help others too.

I'd be curious to read why you think it didn't capture what you were looking for, and how did the high level concept changed.

I think the issue was that I used too many recent cards. While they offered up more synergistic connections between archetypes and allowed new themes to emerge, they outshone the classic cards that make a Riptide cube for me.

I'll readily admit that it's my fault for not using enough restraint in my card choices and therefore changing the nature of the cube. I think a newer version of a Riptide cube could work with some smart choices. Cards like Scrapwork Mutt and Archfiend of Sorrows fit the vibe, power level and synergies I am looking for. Same thing with Vesperlark and Faithful Mending which would bolster White GY decks a bit.

As for the high level concepts, the first version is a lot more centered around spell velocity and combos. There are good Storm decks in that cube that some of you have drafted (thanks!) and more over the top synergies thanks to uncapped engines like Flux Channeler or Bolas's Citadel.

I am also a bit more prescriptive with this new cube, where I am solidly planting various forms of aggro decks rather than broad themes like the old one for example. This is in part due to the cards available in newer sets that often have multiple uses, but also because I want there to be a solid Berserkers theme and I am ready to go heavy handed if it meshes with the rest of the cube.

The old cube is doing some cool things that are inline with Riptide cubes IMO. Notably the bounce to hand theme which I tried incorporating and the proliferate stuff. Still not sure if I want a counter subtheme, but it could be neat.

 

[Nanonox]

Blue aggro/tempo

I love Blue tempo decks and want to make sure it is present here.



This is the core of that deck, including a lot of temporary disruption and some evasive bodies. Much like the aggressive artifact package, this is something you can plug and play in other aggressively slanted decks.

A few notes: to support humans, Exclusion Mage over Man-o'-War. This is in line with Thought Courier over Merfolk Looter. I can see myself going back to the classics, synergy be damned.
One issue here is Venser and Cloudskate targeting bouncelands. Not a huge fan of that play pattern and one of the reasons Flickerwisp is absent from the list. Do you think this is too brutal?

I am going for a more generic package here because I'm not super happy with other strategies. Take GY aggro for instance



These pieces are decent, but I would need more threats that key off the GY to be excited about the theme.

I don't love the Prowess cards either. Though I am considering instant + sorcery aggro though where you cast a bunch of spells and use these as oversized beaters



But these two are the only ones I've found to support the aggressive side of that archetype.

Rather than force mediocre packages, I think I'll stick to the tempo cards that fit Blue's identity and game plan.

Berserkers

I feel like this era and power level was peak Berserkers fun because you had straight up double strikers to buff, but also a host of other cards from other archetypes you could grow. It's an aggro-combo deck that needs to go through the combat step to work and there are a lot of windows to respond.



For example you could use the GY aggro cards from Red and Green as big targets to push through damage



You could use prowess creatures that naturally grow with the pump spells



Shoutout to this guy who is a lot of fun with pump spells



The other half of the equation are the pump spells of course. Trample or evasion in general is very strong for big creatures. On the other hand, stats are welcome for you smaller double strikers. I want a mix of both so drafters can go nuts.



Boon being expendable until you need it is great for the GY decks and Guidemother's evasion on both the body and adventure is perfect. Stike can turn combat quite spectacularly and is a cantrip to boot. It's a little narrow and I am not sure I have the space for it at 288. TBD.



Battle Rage is a well known classic that is sure to end games. Knight provides some spell density alongside a body which helps at smaller cube sizes. Charge's haste can end a game out of nowhere if you combine it with Fabled Hero for example.



Berserk gives the archetype its name and sends a great signal if you see it in a pack. Sylvan Might doesn't seem great until you realize how much overlap between Berserkers and GY aggro there is in Green. Having a source of trample for when you need it is clutch. Likewise, Become Immense bridges those two decks brilliantly.



Prepare is a good combat trick that doubles as interaction. The lifelink can be brutal if you cast bost halves of the spell, but it likely won't happen often. The Charm is a good versatile card, but taking up a multicolored slot is rough as I like other Selesnya options.



I'm not yet sure if I want to use a multicolored slot on one of these, but they certainly send the right signal!

Another aspect of the Berserker deck are protection spells. It's fun to have a back and forth between pump, removal and protection.



This one is in the running solely because it's colorless, giving Red an options to protect its threats (I'm not a big Bolt Bend believer).



These are the front runners in White for me. Valorous Stance's versatility gives it a leg up on the others. I don't think I want all three, but two seems like a decent number.

I am excluding Emerge Unscathed as the only Rebound card I would run.



Blossoming Defense is rock solid and a neat one to have. Vines needing double Green is a big turn off honestly. Snakeskin Veil is another one that makes me hesitate to break the 2020 year restriction, as the effect is perfect and the card is clean.

Black can has a few cards that play well with the theme, but I didn't find enough of them to really make it work. If I missed some, I'd love to hear what you have for me



As I am writing this, I realized I didn't even consider landfall aggro as another option for getting big creatures to work with the various pump spells



The density of aggressive creatures isn't there, so singleton breaks would be needed. At this point though, I don't think it's needed, aggro already has a lot of various archetypes.

 

[OlegKlishin]

Love all your stuff! I've read so much before, that most of these turned out already present on my shortlist. I want pretty much everything here, except maybe discard/madness. I worry it takes too much space.

Just added berserkers back in a few days ago, they look so sweet! That also means I'll probably never finish my cube, as I want all the things at the same time.

That said, a couple of questions for you:

1. How many effects do you want for an archetype to be a "thing that cube does"? Lucky Paper Radio suggested 3 cards to introduce a noticeable thematic twist to a limited deck, like landfall or prowess. That probably means about 5-10 cards in the present draft pool. I understand that it may vary wildly for different themes. Berserker combo seems to require quite a setup. Or are you okay just Berserking up a green fattie without double strike as an already passable result? Or playing a double striker in a generic deck without any tricks?

2. Do you tune down removal to make combat tricks viable? As much as I want Sylvan Might, it looks weak.

 

[Nanonox]

That also means I'll probably never finish my cube, as I want all the things at the same time.

Man I feel this so much! Making the tough cuts takes practice and a lot of trial and error. Sometimes I start designing a cube I know I’ll never finish just to get it out of my system.

I want pretty much everything here, except maybe discard/madness. I worry it takes too much space.

I'll get to it later in the post, but I've yet to find a GY aggro strategy in Red that I like that doesn't use discard. If you have one, please share!

1. How many effects do you want for an archetype to be a "thing that cube does"?

That depends a lot on the archetype. For artifacts and kindred that usually require a critical mass of pieces, you likely need to scale that number up big time.

For Berserkers, you want either big bodies + trample/double strike or double strikers + pump. The nice thing is you don’t care where the big body comes from meaning you have plenty of choices seeded in the cube. It’s trickier for pump spells. I am happy with only Berserk + Battle Rage to double power since I don’t want to have that line happen every time. I am more generous with the density of pump spells because it makes for dynamic combat which is a fun part of Magic, though format familiarity gives a big edge here.

At 288, I do think I will settle at 2-3 offensive pump spells for each of the Naya colors and one protection spell for each. Although it's never cut and dry, for example I want Setessan Tactics as Green removal that also triggers Heroic. Where you count that is up to you, but I think that if you can get synergistic removal you should go for it. Another example is Arc Lightning in Red where you can target your own dude without killing it.
For a bigger cube, I would look at having between 5-7 I think. But I would want them to be versatile like Faerie Guidemother or Boon Satyr.

For double strikers, there are 4 that I like: Adorned Pouncer, Fabled Hero, Swiftblade Vindicator and Silverblade Paladin). However, Hero and Paladin are so similar that it feels wrong including both. Right now I like Hero, but Paladin being both an enabler and a payoff make it very appealing too. What I am trying to say is that I wouldn't add cards I don't like or don't fit the power level. If I don't have a lot, I would look for other solutions (cards that double their power or something) and should that fail, then I either scrap the theme or accept it to be a subtheme or cool interaction that might happen sometimes.

Or are you okay just Berserking up a green fattie without double strike as an already passable result? Or playing a double striker in a generic deck without any tricks?

For this cube, I am a lot less all-in in my synergies, so yes, a 10 damage Berserked creature is great especially if you put pressure on opponent beforehand. I wouldn't be happy with a unsupported double striker though, but I don't need a ton. Give me a Reckless Charge, a Bonesplitter and Mikaeus, the Lunarch and I'd play a Swiftblade Vindicator.

2. Do you tune down removal to make combat tricks viable? As much as I want Sylvan Might, it looks weak.

100%! Removal that is too efficient not only trounces combat tricks, but also makes any 4+ mana creature that doesn't have an ETB suspect. This is why combat tricks don't work in my higher powered environment. My removal spells are all premium and you are setting yourself up for a 2 for 1 with tempo loss if you get your creature removed in response.

Sylvan Might is a late pick for sure and I could see myself being wrong by including it. Maybe it's going to get cut too often

Just added berserkers back in a few days ago, they look so sweet!

I'd love to see your new cube when you have a chance!

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GY aggro

Another strategy that is taking up a lot of real estate in the cube project is GY aggro. I am regrouping Discard and self-mill strategies together as there is a lot of overlap, but they have their differences.

Red

Red is a more committed to the discard strategy and while there is some overlap with self-mill, it's not as much as other colors. As I mentioned above, it's not that I don't want the cross-synergy, it's that I haven't found enough cards to make it work (both in terms of payoffs and enablers).



These are the discard payoffs I am using and like them all a lot. The trample from the Wurm and Occultist work nicely with Berserkers and the Adept can grow large.



These are the cards that work in both GY aggro strategies, allowing self-mill decks to still be interested in Red's offerings.

Green

Green is kind of the opposite of Red and has a fantastic spread of self-mill and/or discard options.



It also has many ways to discard cards or mill them over, meaning you can go into whichever direction is open. I currently have too many payoffs and not enough enablers, so that will need work (if you have any favorites, share them!).

Black

Just like Green, Black doesn't care how the cards end up in the GY, they just work.



I didn't mention it in the Berserkers post, but these Delve creatures you can cheat out early are great targets for pump spells to push through a lot of damage. The recursive creatures hint at a sacrifice theme to make use of the bodies, and that will be a later post.

White and Blue are mostly support colors. Blue's tempo cards sometimes bin cards and go well with aggro, whereas White has a few solid role players, but not in big enough numbers to be reliable.

 

[OlegKlishin]

I guess that depends on how you view "graveyard aggro" strategy. You probably mean to discard selected things like Anger or madness cards, then you need more enablers.

I can share my first cube experience, with which I'm reasonably happy. Mind, it was catered toward non-Magic players, so no complicated interactions and niche combos.

For discard outlets, I mostly selected hand filtering to smooth out bad draws. Happy to say, it greatly reduced non-games.



You see that some of these double as mill payoff. But red doesn't have any mass discard, reanimator, delirium etc. Other mill payoffs in red:



Real mill enablers are mostly in Sultai. I just made red care about graveyard, so it perfectly encapsulates the idea of a whole cube flavor without there being a dedicated red discard / graveyard deck. I'm really happy how it turned out. Other main themes in red are weenie aggro and spellslinger, which you can notice from my card choices. Or you can just use most of these in a generic Rx deck, that would enjoy mana sinks and recursion in late game. My favourite universal darlings are Grim Lavamancer (absolutely love this card), Reckless Charge, Firebolt, Barbarian Ring.

I'm not super happy about some of the cards that didn't see any action. But when I started concocting an update, I quickly realized what I'm really doing is a completely new cube. And my main board game group quickly got tired of Magic anyway, it seems. So I embraced a long futile project of my ultimate "everything cool I like" cube, which has been on and off for months. But no push and no deadlines mean I'd be tinkering forever.

Red was my favorite accomplishment in the first cube, and it inspired me to extend this approach to other areas. That's why I ask about how much slots you dedicate to an archetype. I'm thinking instead of assembling a madness "combo", maybe it's enough to focus on recursive cards with a reasonable floor, that enjoy occasional mill from other colors. I promised myself to call v1 "finished" under 500 cards, but studying the forums for the past weeks has put me over 700 again. Say, now red has artifacts, spellslinger, graveyard, berserksers, counters, go wide, lands, sacrifice, mountains matter. I gotta be really ruthless with cuts. Alternatively, turn it into a huge chaos cube or embrace occasionals, which will definitely hurt narrow interactions like heroic, berserksers, madness etc.