I suspect many of us haven't able to play much Cube during the pandemic. During this time I've been reading up on Horde Magic, a coop Magic mode developed for Commander, and its applications for solo cubing. I wasn't really satisfied with any current system, so tried to make my own. This is how it works:
The most important element of this Horde system is that it is clear and simple. A lot of cards were deemed not feasible for the module because they were either too wordy or contained a choice for the Horde to make. Price was a second consideration: the whole module costs around 25 euros total. The gameplay should remain interesting nonetheless, for which I tried to include lots of effects that scale over a game's length.
The Draft
- sleeve the module in a sleeve color different from your cube
- get 110 cube cards and 52 Horde cards, shuffle them into one pile
- grid draft this pile, with you picking first every time
- add any Horde cards undrafted by you to the Horde deck
Gameplay
- you are the starting player, starting at 7 cards (before muligans) and 20 life
- the Horde has no cards in hand and no life total
- if the Horde should draw a card, but can't, you win the game
- whenever the Horde loses life, exile that many cards from the top of its library face-down instead
- the Horde goes through the standard turn structure
- during its first main phase, the Horde casts all cards in its hand, in a random order, for free
- during its combat, the Horde attacks you with all creatures (without summoning sickeness)
- during your combat, the Horde chooses to never block if it can help it
- if the Horde should make a choice, you make that choice instead (Curse of Disturbance always targets you, not the Horde)
Included Cards
Undead Servant and Liliana's Elite are probably two of the most important pieces, as they have the potential to scale very nicely into the endgame. The scaling has been one of the biggest hurdles to jump through, as each card shouldn't be too devastating on turn 1, but also not insignificant on turn 10. Both creatures also provide an opportunity for the Horde to come back after a board wipe.
Because you, as a player, have so much agency as a blocker, I tried to add cards that make blocking a though choice as well. Butcher Ghoul and Tattered Mummy have artistocrat-like effects when dying, and might have to be kept alive sometimes. Undead Augur and Headless Rider make blocking or removing anyone but themselves a headache. Ghoulraiser can bring back threats you thought you'd dealt with.
Some zombies let you build or play your own deck differently, especially if you know multiple have made it into the Horde's deck during draft. Crow of Dark Tidings means you have to be able to handle fliers. Miasmic Mummy means you have have to manage your hand differently, but also increases the strength of instant-speed bounce spells on your side. Tormod, the Desecrator stops you from effectively using graveyard-exile effects.
Boarded Window, Grave Peril and Marchesa's Decree provide their own 'minigames' to handle their effects. Boarded Window is also an effect that neutralizes the strength of token or go-wide decks. Grave Peril is one of the few removal 'spells' to not have a target. It would removal any non-black creature entering the battlefield, but since all creature from the Horde's deck are black, that shouldn't pose a problem. I guess a player could make a mono-black deck to circumvent the enchantment, but that just seems like an award for their effort. I myself have a Jeskai Cube anyway.
War Horn and Curse of Disturbance are cards that become very dangerous once the Horde has a decent board presence. The advantage of both is that the can be answered by a board clear, and are quite ineffectual for the first (few) turn(s). That supports the scaling I was considering before.
Damping Matrix is the only card able to answer activated abilities effectively, while Mortal Combat provides a fun(?) alternative win condition for the Horde at the later stages of the game. Both cards provide an effect not obtainable otherwise.
Instants and sorceries have a few advantages as well. They are quite ineffective at the start of the game, and scale well towards the end. They provide one-time effects, which aren't so scary and thus can be a little stronger. The disadvantage is that too many spells will restrain the Horde's board presence. As mentioned before, you effectively drafting the Horde deck might make it possible to create a dud-deck for them. Only playtesting will tell...
Dredge the Mire and Sypon Flesh provide a multiplayer scaling on top of the game-length scaling. Both card get considerably stronger when the Horde faces more opponents. This may make it feasible to introcude a cooperative variant to the Horde module, although that is pure speculation for now.
Cower in Fear and Soul Shatter bring specific answers for different problems. They handle the go-wide strategies and go-tall strategies respectively. Soul Shatter is also the only card in the modul to handle planeswalkers, which might actually prove problematic depending on the cube.[/SPOILER]
Changelog
07-01-2022: This weekend I'll be able to first test the module (as the cards will arrive then). I expect something to be completely broken, so the core rules will probably needs some changes here or there. That being said, I'd like for all your cube veterans to hear if this module could work for your cube, why it would or wouldn't, and which changes you'd propose. Let me know!
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