landofMordor
Administrator
Summer 2024 Update: Steel City Cube & Cube For A Cause
Hey! I guess it's time for an update.
LCI and MKM and OTJ
The few dozen cards I added this year have really brought the room together. In 2023 it was a bit of a struggle to hit the flavor notes of Indiana Jones and Maltese Falcon on one hand, while on the other offering a cohesive set of mechanics on a tight complexity budget.
LCI hit the pulp Indy flavor perfectly, while reinforcing self-mill and artifacts through its Explore and Treasures. MKM hit the noir flavor, while its Surveil and Clues boosted two of Pulp's core mechanics. These two really helped Pulp Nouveau feel mechanically and thematically cohesive, especially by making each one-mana creature feel thematic and special (without breaking form on complexity). Even OTJ, for as much disrespect as I have for the set overall, contributed a few key flavor hits.
One disappointment: MKM's Disguise creatures were a miss here. Their bodies were too aenemic or blocking-focused for how unique and complex the mechanic is. There's a world where they become Emerge fodder because of their artificially large MVs (oh yeah, this reminds me that MH3 was horrible for Pulp -- not a single new Emerger for this cube, and that blows [well ok i'll get a Herigast just in case]).
Steel City Cube & Cube For A Cause
Pulp Nouveau has been featured at two more Cube tournaments: Steel City Cube (Pittsburgh, PA) and Cube For A Cause (Brooklyn, NY)! Thanks to the organizers for the invites. Both events were fantastic and will quickly become must-attend weekends for people in the area.
I love the 64-player event format for these and will bring Pulp as often as I can. I think the 64-player tournaments skew a little towards casual/local players, so Pulp's "Desert" rule has been a detractor for would-be drafters, but those who already know of the cube are excited each time.
Feedback from these events: Dark Ritual's tenure may be at an end. I also notice that the draft is quite slow (even with the often-repeated mechanics, this is a lot of new cards people need to read), and matches are always bumping up against the round timer. However, people always surprise me with what they build, from mono-
aggro to Ruinator Unearth aggro. The cube feels like it's in a great spot.Looking forward
I'm considering toning down some of the graveyard interactions, and/or further pushing aggressive decks. I'm just looking for a 10% speedup during the slowest games and matches, but I'm not sure how subtly to push that.
There are also a few "boiled frogs" that have overstayed their welcome, so, if next year's Strixhaven revisit includes Lessons, then I'll easily have the space to slot them in!