http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1135
This cube is definitely still a work in progress (they all are, right?), but I wanted to post here as a scratchpad for some of the ideas I'm working on. I'd also love any feedback or card suggestions.
There's only one unusual rule in this cube: Guildgates come into play untapped. This won't be an issue for long, as I'll be proxying dual lands and fetch lands when I get some time, but this was a good (cheap) alternative when first building the cube.
Themes:
White:
- Aggro
- Control
- Support (Fatties for Green ramp, token producers and flicker effects to support G/W Tokens)
Blue:
- Tempo
- Control
Red:
- Aggro/Burn
- Control Support (A few nice cards to support Green ramp, burn to support a standard aggro strategy)
Green:
- Ramp
- Tokens (Still a work-in-progress, see below)
Black:
- Aggro Support (A few good cheap creatures plus removal to support a White or Red-based aggro strategy)
- Reanimator
- Pox / Resource Denial
- Control
- Graveyard Recursion
To-Do List:
- Add Green/White tokens theme
- Increase token support in Selesnya section
- Add a few more token-producers in Green and White mid-range / top-end
- Consider more anthem effects (Honor of the Pure, Intangible Virtue?)
- Create some custom tokens once this section is solidified
- Revamp several multi-color sections (especially Izzet, Orzhov, Golgari, Dimir, Simic)
- Black - too many themes
- Revisit the Pox theme it see if it's sufficiently supported / worth keeping
- Graveyard Recursion likewise probably needs help
- Reanimator is reliant on fatties from other colors
- Replace the Guildgates with dual lands and fetch lands
- Look at cards to support a blue-focused artifact theme
Issues / Problems:
1) I'm not sure I like Swords or Wurmcoil Engine. All of them fit easily into nearly any deck and each one is an easy first-pick in any pack. I don't like cards that feel like they have to be first-picked out of any given pack. Also, while it's a small sample size, the last three drafts have been won by whomever picked up two swords. I feel that Wurmcoil Engine is comparable to the Titans in power level, but at least the casting cost on the Titans asks something of your deck.
2) Aggro is under-drafted. I think this is partly a function of my cube (I've been adding more aggro support after the last few playthroughs) and partly a function of my players, who mostly prefer control or mid-range strategies. As my drafters get used to seeing the aggro cards, we'll see if more aggro decks are drafted. If not, I may need to push aggro support even further.
3) I'm really interested in whether the Green / White token experiment will work out (I've not fully started adding cards to support this). I want Green to have an identity outside of ramp, and I'm not fond of Green aggro, especially as I'm already support aggro in White, Red, and Black already. With a focused Selesnya section, token generators and anthem effects in both colors, and flicker effects from White to bounce the token generators, I think a G/W tokens deck is quite viable. I do want to make sure that the tokens theme feeds back into the ramp theme by having creatures and spells worth ramping to, such as Hornet Queen and Deranged Hermit.
This cube is definitely still a work in progress (they all are, right?), but I wanted to post here as a scratchpad for some of the ideas I'm working on. I'd also love any feedback or card suggestions.
There's only one unusual rule in this cube: Guildgates come into play untapped. This won't be an issue for long, as I'll be proxying dual lands and fetch lands when I get some time, but this was a good (cheap) alternative when first building the cube.
Themes:
White:
- Aggro
- Control
- Support (Fatties for Green ramp, token producers and flicker effects to support G/W Tokens)
Blue:
- Tempo
- Control
Red:
- Aggro/Burn
- Control Support (A few nice cards to support Green ramp, burn to support a standard aggro strategy)
Green:
- Ramp
- Tokens (Still a work-in-progress, see below)
Black:
- Aggro Support (A few good cheap creatures plus removal to support a White or Red-based aggro strategy)
- Reanimator
- Pox / Resource Denial
- Control
- Graveyard Recursion
To-Do List:
- Add Green/White tokens theme
- Increase token support in Selesnya section
- Add a few more token-producers in Green and White mid-range / top-end
- Consider more anthem effects (Honor of the Pure, Intangible Virtue?)
- Create some custom tokens once this section is solidified
- Revamp several multi-color sections (especially Izzet, Orzhov, Golgari, Dimir, Simic)
- Black - too many themes
- Revisit the Pox theme it see if it's sufficiently supported / worth keeping
- Graveyard Recursion likewise probably needs help
- Reanimator is reliant on fatties from other colors
- Look at cards to support a blue-focused artifact theme
Issues / Problems:
1) I'm not sure I like Swords or Wurmcoil Engine. All of them fit easily into nearly any deck and each one is an easy first-pick in any pack. I don't like cards that feel like they have to be first-picked out of any given pack. Also, while it's a small sample size, the last three drafts have been won by whomever picked up two swords. I feel that Wurmcoil Engine is comparable to the Titans in power level, but at least the casting cost on the Titans asks something of your deck.
2) Aggro is under-drafted. I think this is partly a function of my cube (I've been adding more aggro support after the last few playthroughs) and partly a function of my players, who mostly prefer control or mid-range strategies. As my drafters get used to seeing the aggro cards, we'll see if more aggro decks are drafted. If not, I may need to push aggro support even further.
3) I'm really interested in whether the Green / White token experiment will work out (I've not fully started adding cards to support this). I want Green to have an identity outside of ramp, and I'm not fond of Green aggro, especially as I'm already support aggro in White, Red, and Black already. With a focused Selesnya section, token generators and anthem effects in both colors, and flicker effects from White to bounce the token generators, I think a G/W tokens deck is quite viable. I do want to make sure that the tokens theme feeds back into the ramp theme by having creatures and spells worth ramping to, such as Hornet Queen and Deranged Hermit.