https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/asylum
You'd have to be out of your mind to draft this cube! With cards in all zones, a plethora of counters and explosive plays, it's going to be a challenge. A challenge I hope will be rewarding, as there are some novel themes (for me at least!) being explored here.
This is the evolution of my Lower Powered Riptide cube, where I've kept some of the things I liked about it and explored some new ideas. The cube is unfinished right now, but the 300ish cards included overlap very nicely and I would love input on how to continue building it. But first, here is what's already in.
The main archetypes right now are
- From exile
- Suspend
- Counters/proliferate
- Artifacts
- Enchantments
- Bounce to hand
Bounce to hand
Bounce is a less oppressive way than blink to give grindy value to decks, and has a few advantages. It’s easy to hit all permanent types, increasing synergy potential. It’s less snowbally, giving games more time to develop. Finally, it plays nicely with other archetypes that care about casting 2+ cards and other includes like Adventures and Sagas.
Enablers
The theme is widely supported and spans non-Red colors. Green has been added compared to my LPR cube, turns out there are enough payoffs and enablers to make it work.
Payoffs
The possible payoffs are quite varied which is why the theme is so appealing.
Suspend
No casting cost suspend cards are a fun drafting challenge that let me add splashy spells that you must work for if you want to maximize them. I appreciate these low cost Suspend cards because if you draw them early, you can fire them off there and then, but if drawn late, then you have the option to use your synergy pieces. And there are a lot of them! Look at Black’s spread of ways to cast them without suspending
These hint towards a combo deck of sorts and means you might prioritize a Wheel of Fate or Gaea’s Will as your payoffs. There are a lot of ways to cast these sorceries in most colors except for Green. The two main ways to involve Green into the mix is via Cascade/Discover, but that is to be explored. I've also included Lotus Bloom and friends, which I'll talk about more in the ramp section.
There are also some fair Suspend cards that are known quantities that play well
All these Suspend cards come into play via exile, which leans into another theme of this cube
From Exile
I explored the from exile theme here and liked the possibilities! A surprising number of cards work well in this space
Enablers
There is a wide spread of cards that are cast from exile, giving drafters multiple avenues to trigger the payoffs.
Payoffs
Lots of cards actively want you to cast spells from exile. A lot of the payoffs are in Red (Proser, Faldorn, Pia Nalaar), but other colors support the archetype too.
Counters
This cube has a heavy counter theme. Not just stacking +1/+1 counters, but also counter manipulation for various benefits.
That's right, Energy counters are in here for more logistical issues. Most of the Energy cards are bread and butter effects, but there are a few self-contained payoffs you can build around
Enchantments
I started this cube off with just enchantments in mind, but as always, I included some artifact stuff. I just can't get away from them! With the Bounce to hand and Counters theme in already, Sagas are a very appealing route to explore, especially with the FF creature Sagas.
Bounce
Proliferate
Remove counter
Bins itself
Leave battlefield
Thanks to the last two points, Revolt and GY themed enchantment stuff makes sense. Sagas are also Historic and can be used with Bargain to tie artifacts and enchantments together.
Saga synergies
Ramp
There are some strong options that need support to shine
More suspend nonsense. These are sweet with White’s recursion, Blue and Red’s artifact cheat and the Black cards above.
Though Green got shafted with suspend, it shines with counters. There is a smattering of proliferation in the cube, and these can generate a lot of mana in the right deck.
This type of ramp might be my favourite because it is built into the fixing lands of the cube. This one is almost exclusively Blue and Green cards, but there are enough of them that you can go UX or GX and still get there.
So that's where I am right now! I feel like Suspend, Exile and Bounce are a wrap. But I would love ideas on where to take the cube. Here are some I am considering
- Big ramp payoffs
- Spell velocity payoffs (always thinking Storm)
- Adding sacrifice to the cube?
- Fleshing out the themes already present (more enchantments, GY, discard and artifact synergies)
Thanks for reading!
You'd have to be out of your mind to draft this cube! With cards in all zones, a plethora of counters and explosive plays, it's going to be a challenge. A challenge I hope will be rewarding, as there are some novel themes (for me at least!) being explored here.
This is the evolution of my Lower Powered Riptide cube, where I've kept some of the things I liked about it and explored some new ideas. The cube is unfinished right now, but the 300ish cards included overlap very nicely and I would love input on how to continue building it. But first, here is what's already in.
The main archetypes right now are
- From exile
- Suspend
- Counters/proliferate
- Artifacts
- Enchantments
- Bounce to hand
Bounce to hand
Bounce is a less oppressive way than blink to give grindy value to decks, and has a few advantages. It’s easy to hit all permanent types, increasing synergy potential. It’s less snowbally, giving games more time to develop. Finally, it plays nicely with other archetypes that care about casting 2+ cards and other includes like Adventures and Sagas.
Enablers
The theme is widely supported and spans non-Red colors. Green has been added compared to my LPR cube, turns out there are enough payoffs and enablers to make it work.
Payoffs
The possible payoffs are quite varied which is why the theme is so appealing.
Suspend
No casting cost suspend cards are a fun drafting challenge that let me add splashy spells that you must work for if you want to maximize them. I appreciate these low cost Suspend cards because if you draw them early, you can fire them off there and then, but if drawn late, then you have the option to use your synergy pieces. And there are a lot of them! Look at Black’s spread of ways to cast them without suspending
These hint towards a combo deck of sorts and means you might prioritize a Wheel of Fate or Gaea’s Will as your payoffs. There are a lot of ways to cast these sorceries in most colors except for Green. The two main ways to involve Green into the mix is via Cascade/Discover, but that is to be explored. I've also included Lotus Bloom and friends, which I'll talk about more in the ramp section.
There are also some fair Suspend cards that are known quantities that play well
All these Suspend cards come into play via exile, which leans into another theme of this cube
From Exile
I explored the from exile theme here and liked the possibilities! A surprising number of cards work well in this space
Enablers
There is a wide spread of cards that are cast from exile, giving drafters multiple avenues to trigger the payoffs.
Payoffs
Lots of cards actively want you to cast spells from exile. A lot of the payoffs are in Red (Proser, Faldorn, Pia Nalaar), but other colors support the archetype too.
Counters
This cube has a heavy counter theme. Not just stacking +1/+1 counters, but also counter manipulation for various benefits.
That's right, Energy counters are in here for more logistical issues. Most of the Energy cards are bread and butter effects, but there are a few self-contained payoffs you can build around
Enchantments
I started this cube off with just enchantments in mind, but as always, I included some artifact stuff. I just can't get away from them! With the Bounce to hand and Counters theme in already, Sagas are a very appealing route to explore, especially with the FF creature Sagas.
Bounce
Proliferate
Remove counter
Bins itself
Leave battlefield
Thanks to the last two points, Revolt and GY themed enchantment stuff makes sense. Sagas are also Historic and can be used with Bargain to tie artifacts and enchantments together.
Saga synergies
Ramp
There are some strong options that need support to shine
More suspend nonsense. These are sweet with White’s recursion, Blue and Red’s artifact cheat and the Black cards above.
Though Green got shafted with suspend, it shines with counters. There is a smattering of proliferation in the cube, and these can generate a lot of mana in the right deck.
This type of ramp might be my favourite because it is built into the fixing lands of the cube. This one is almost exclusively Blue and Green cards, but there are enough of them that you can go UX or GX and still get there.
So that's where I am right now! I feel like Suspend, Exile and Bounce are a wrap. But I would love ideas on where to take the cube. Here are some I am considering
- Big ramp payoffs
- Spell velocity payoffs (always thinking Storm)
- Adding sacrifice to the cube?
- Fleshing out the themes already present (more enchantments, GY, discard and artifact synergies)
Thanks for reading!