The BEST Jumpstart Cube

[Brad]

I've recently started playing MtG at work with incarcerated youth. They have janky ass decks made out of the few hundred cards the have access to and that's it. The process for donating cards to the facility is kind off cumbersome, but I can bring cards with me to play with.

Time: A lot of their free time is only for 30-60 minutes. We need to be able to grab some cards and get going. Jumpstart is perfect for that. I'll probably give someone three packs, they choose two, and that's their deck.

Resources: No tokens or excess of cards that need dice such as +1/+1 counters.

Speed: No searching decks unless it's a trivially easy search, like Rampant Growth.

Budget: They're all good kids, but they're definitely more volatile than other populations. The cards should be quite cheap in case anyone decides to take out frustrations on them.

Simplicity: The players are mostly beginner to intermediate. Only one colored Jumpstarts in a normal color pie.

 

[Brad]

White

Spoiler: Heroic

Spoiler: Equipment

Spoiler: Hate Weenies

 

[Brad]

Blue

Spoiler: Spiritual Skies

Spoiler: Flash Control

Spoiler: Artifacts

 

[Brad]

Black

Spoiler: Tomb Raider

Spoiler: Devotion

 

[Brad]

Red

Spoiler: Burn

Spoiler: Control

 

[Brad]

Green

Spoiler: Mulch

Spoiler: Kick er?

Spoiler: Landfall

 

[LadyMapi]

Can we contribute some sweet packs? I might have some stuff in my favorite colors (Blue, Red, and Green) to share.

 

[Brad]

As long as it fits the criteria, that'd be great! Probably 3-4 packs per color.

 

[LadyMapi]

Spoiler: Burn

EDIT: Wait, are these supposed to be standard 20-card Jumpstart packs, or the 25-card set-up you mentioned in the opening post? Your Heroic pack has 30 cards in it, and only 8 lands.

I think that, given that you're playing with kids who don't have a lot of time (and who aren't very experienced players), 20 card packs with no cutting down/sideboarding are probably best.

 

[Brad]

EDIT: Wait, are these standard 20-card Jumpstart packs? Your Heroic pack has 30 cards in it, and only 8 lands.

Because I'm a fucking idiot.

 

[LadyMapi]

Yorion Jumpstart pack when?

 

[Brad]

Yorion Jumpstart pack when?

Probably never.

Cut some cards from your burn list that are relying on noncreature spells so that it will pair better with creature heavy decks. Also cut Arc Trail because it's such a blowout when you hit their one and two drops. Slaying Fire is a cool one that I had forgotten about due to my usual color bias. The deck might need Firebolt.

 

[LadyMapi]

Alright, give me a sec to update the Burn list. EDIT: Updated it.

Also, looking at your Heroic list, I see three creatures that use +1/+1 counters. Should I be using that list as an example if I want to make, say, a Green Stompy pack? In other words, 1-3 creatures that put counters on themselves max, nothing that puts counters on other stuff?

...

This one might be a problem, since it's asking for a single Treasure token... but I just couldn't resist.

Spoiler: Yarr!

 

[Brad]

Alright, give me a sec to update the Burn list. EDIT: Updated it.

Oh, my bad. Shoulda said "I cut."

Also, looking at your Heroic list, I see three creatures that use +1/+1 counters. Should I be using that list as an example if I want to make, say, a Green Stompy pack? In other words, 1-3 creatures that put counters on themselves max, nothing that puts counters on other stuff?

Yeah. It seemed a little unavoidable in heroic. A few is alright, as long as we aren't exhausting the small supply of dice there.

Spoiler: Yarr!

Probably too tribal, but there's gonna be some sort of raid/flyers deck for sure. Might have a spirit angle to it, but those are at least decent statted flyers.

 

[LadyMapi]

I feel like there's space to be a little tribal in Jumpstart packs — you do want the packs to have a strong, cohesive theme, after all. I will admit that the Pirate pack is more of a goofy "everyone loves pirates" kinda thing.

...

I'm a little amused that you swapped Flame Jab for Searing Blaze (which is a card that I considered, then rejected for being too color-heavy for a mostly-basics mana base) — I guess having a repeatable source of pings is a little much? I'd probably sub in Firebolt instead. Skewer the Critics is a good card that I somehow forgot about despite including Light Up The Stage.

Not entirely sure about the creatures you picked — why not go with Grim Lavamancer instead of Jackal Pup, to avoid having a creature that's basically just strictly worse than another one in the same pack? It'd also make it so that all of the creatures are related to fire in some way, which is nice in its own way.

EDIT: One last pack before I go to sleep.

Spoiler: Loam

If Life from the Loam is too expensive for what you're looking for, replace it with Mulch.

Also, it is weirdly hard to come up with graveyard payoffs in Green that don't involve tokens or +1/+1 counters. Genesis was a lifesaver.

 

[Brad]

I kinda just miss Jackal Pup as a relevant card lol. I'll swap it for Grim. Swapped Lightning Strike for the fiery Incendiary Flow, which also gives the pack some kind of yard answer when that matchup comes around.

Loam idea is pretty good. I'll likely tweak a few cards and keep that. Some sort of land-yard pack. Needs a Wilds and a Terramorphic, probably. Maybe Splendid Reclamation.

 

[inscho]

If Life from the Loam is too expensive for what you're looking for, replace it with Mulch.

There’s winding way as well

 

[LadyMapi]

Yeah, but that pack really wants creatures in the graveyard, so I thought I'd simplify thing (and go with the card that got sick new art).

 

[Brad]

Did I fuck up the Loam pack? Named it Mulch. Got a little rampy off Werebear and Taxidermist, then I added Hatchery Spider as a top end thing to recur. I wasn't very scared of any of the current recursion picks, as they just mill the deck's owner to death.

Added a Spirit deck. It's mostly flyers with a few cards that get better with spirits. Added Opt and Curate as generically useful blue cards to fill it out. Consider will go somewhere else, but I figure there's no harm in having a deck randomly have access to some grave assist.

 

[LadyMapi]

It's always kinda funny to me when you end up using cards that I decided not to use (Grapple With The Past, in this case.)

It looks solid, though.

 

[Brad]

It's always kinda funny to me when you end up using cards that I decided not to use (Grapple With The Past, in this case.)

It looks solid, though.

11-12 cards is so few. Went with Grapple because instant speed will mesh well with some kind of blue deck, probably.

Will likely need a second pass after the v1.0 decks are ready to add highly versatile cards like Acidic Slime or Return to Nature to account for the variety of matchups. EDIT: Abrade. Goblin Cratermaker. Thrashing Brontodon. Other "choose" cards.

Added a black "devotion" deck that's basically a regular black deck that focuses more on permanents and wants to use Gary. Ramp deck is very land-based for superior fixing.

I'm liking that the power level feels kind of retail. Always been a decent power level (when the mythics don't fuck up the draft) and affordable.

 

[LadyMapi]

I'd honestly swap Sylvan Primordial for Mold Shambler in the Ramp pack (and maybe swap out that Skysnare Spider for a Territorial Allosaurus).

 

[Brad]

I'd honestly swap Sylvan Primordial for Mold Shambler in the Ramp pack (and maybe swap out that Skysnare Spider for a Territorial Allosaurus).

Changed it to a Kicker ramp so the curve is more versatile. I think we aren't ready for a 5/5 for 4 with upside.

 

[LadyMapi]

I feel like Skysnare Spider might be too much of a roadblock, honestly. What about good ol' Citanul Woodreaders?

 

[Brad]

I feel like Skysnare Spider might be too much of a roadblock, honestly. What about good ol' Citanul Woodreaders?

Pelakka is a huge roadblock, too. Reinforces your life total. I feel like the deck may be behind by the time it gets there.

Added a flash control deck and a green landfall deck that I'm not in love with as is.