General The Draft Exchange

Drafted ravnic’s and ended up in MBC with plenty of payoffs.
i kind of share Eric’s opinion that it’s very hard to evaluate cards in this format, at least at my low level of skill. but, having really clear themes like “draft Ninjas” and “draft black cards” really helps mitigate that. there’s just something really Zen about drafting MBC so i quite enjoyed this draft!
 
Drafted inscho’s and ended up with a grindy mono-W Second Sun deck that could splash black or red for additional removal or wraths. lots of recursion pieces. i enjoyed the fact that i could continue taking white cards throughout the draft and not feel like i was “missing out” on the cool stuff the other colors were doing- and they were doing cool stuff, but the white cards felt just as cool and i was happy to take them and have that really solid Wx manabase with plenty of playables and really kind of a transformative sideboard.
The one thing that always makes me uneasy when drafting this cube is, there’s so many cool combo cards that i feel like you almost have to bring in this large memory aspect to know “okay if i draft this weird card, i need to look for this other weird card to get the sweet combo.” it seems like a cube that really rewards a stable, invested playgroup because there’s so many crazy things that are possible. so i always kind of freak out and just pick bombs and removal instead because i haven’t been able to play the cube on paper!
To be clear, this isn’t a gripe against the cube design, more a gripe about the limitations of CubeCobra and my own lack of player skill and knowledge. If your audience is capable of making the Rube Goldberg machines that are definitely in there, i’m sure they have a blast with this cube.

Where’s the deck list? I didn’t see anything saved on cube cobra
 
yeah, i had some troubles with that one. it wouldn’t go from “picks” to “build deck” so it may have been lost in the shuffle when i left the window.
i’ll just have to draft yours again!
 
Ah, all good. I hope that themes are woven together in a deep and intuitive enough way to allow for people to take a leap of faith with an interesting card and just see where it takes them. I also want there to be plenty of accessible strategies for newer players. In general, I’ve tried to weed out some of the more fringe combos and lean a little heavier on the base mechanics that lay the foundation of the cube. Thanks for your perspective! Look forward to seeing what your draft looks like in light of your uneasiness.
 
just drafted a fun BUG Pod list in inscho’s cube. still feeling out all the interactions but i think i’m past the “i’m new here and what is this” stage. going to need a few more drafts before i can give intelligent feedback, but it was fun! i also had cataclysm in my opener so i’ll look for another chance to try a cataclysm deck.
 
I drafted Blackmsmithy's cube a bunch. Here are some thoughs I shared when he asked for advice for UR Spells. I'll divide it in "Core", cards that lead me into the archetype, and "Support", cards that will rank higher if I'm in it but that aren't part of the archetype per se.

Blue: Pteramander, Wavebreak Hippocamp, Niblis of Frost, Ethereal Forager,
Blue Support: Augur of Bolas, Snapcaster Mage

Here the problem is that the most obvious payoffs are very expensive or weak. I think Izzet spells leans towards being aggressive because the better payoffs are and because the longer the game goes, the more spells and card draw you need to keep the deck working.

For example, if I play Niblis of Frost I I need to play at least two spells for it to become decent value. But if I play it on turn 4, chances are I've played other spells before. So I actually need a very high amount of spells and control elements just to make it work. I would try to keep that in mind and add a simpler more aggressive card over Niblis, like Jessian Thief, which is a good blocker for controller decks too.

Also, in my experience, Augur of Bolas is a trap without a very high amount of spells. Same with Glint-Nest Crane for artifacts.

Red Core: Monastery Swiftspear, Burning Prophet, Heartfire Immolator, Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe
Red Support: Grim Lavamancer

Here I would cut Burning Prophet for sure. It just doesn't hit hard enough. I run just three payoffs in my 52 so you can probably cut Guttersnipe too. After all, the deck is going to have payoffs in other colours as well. Either way, I think Guttersnipe is very fragile and, unlike Young Pyromancer, provides no value so I prefer Mizzium Tank for decks that just want to hit the opponent's face.

White: Soulfire Grandmaster

I don't like the Grandmater. I think it's going to be a 2 mana 2/2 lifelink the vast majority of the time. It leans red much more than it leans blue as a tricolor card and its ability is only relevant for Time Walk and other very undercosted spells. I would rather run Seeker of the Way on its place.

Now, there's an intersection between Izzet Spells and Izzet Draw two and I'm not sure how to judge it. I have similar problems with my cube with discard matters and spells.

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As a whole, I like your cube. It's very elegant and I think the archetypes you have are fun. It's not very different from mine, though I run a far higher power level and yours is "cleaner". I think the main issue with the cube at a glance is that you run too many payoffs and not enough support. You often run 4-5 payoffs for an archetype, which means a good chunk of your cards are not useful to the drafter even if there's good crossover between themes.
 
this is EXCELLENT feedback for me, thanks for drafting!
i ended up cutting Backdraft Hellkite and Talrand, Sky Summoner to add two more spells in their place. My ulterior motive is to reduce the overall curve of the cube and trend towards an average mana cost of 2-3.
I do agree that Burning Prophet is probably my weakest Red incentive, and Niblis will be the next to go in Blue.
The intersection between URGw draw two, URw spells, and UGw flash is one of my favorite things in the cube, so i’m glad you noticed it :)
 
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