CubeTutor Link: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/17849
Design Principles:
- Synergy is more important than card power. The power curve is relatively flat, and the Cube has few bombs. Drafters should be rewarded for building synergistic decks.
- Tier 1 removal is acceptable. Decks that invest multiple cards into a creature (Auras, Heroic) must have cheap protection spells available to counter high-quality removal.
- Gold cards should, wherever possible, emphasize the themes of their respective color pairing. Some gold slots will be dedicated to solid value cards (removal, in particular).
- Planeswalkers will be limited in number. If possible, only planeswalkers that do not directly affect the board should be included in the Cube. Exceptions may be made to support a specific theme or archetype.
- Themes should bleed into a 3rd color when possible, as long as they do not significantly affect the card density of the 3rd color's natural themes. For example, Black/Red's theme is an Aristocrats-style sacrifice/recursion deck. White/Black's theme is tokens. The token producers in White provide ancillary support for the sacrifice theme by providing additional fodder for the sacrifice effects.
- Color-based protection and hexproof are used sparingly.
- Artifact removal is limited. Artifacts are lower in power and limited in scope to compensate. Games should not be unwinnable due entirely to one player resolving an artifact.
Themes by Color Pair:
White/Blue: Tempo
Description: WU deploys cheap, evasive threats. Detain and bounce effects are used to gain tempo. Decks will also usually have some White-based removal and Blue-based counterspells to gain a mana advantage. Some of White's creature protection spells may be used. Prowess creatures interact favorably with the deck's spell suite.
Key Cards:
Detain: Lavinia of the Tenth - Lyev Skyknight - Geist of Saint Traft
Flicker: Galepowder Mage - Flickerwisp
Tempo creatures: Stratus Dancer - Harbinger of the Tides - Man-o'-War
Prowess: Soulblade Djinn - Seeker of the Way - Monastery Mentor
Sub-themes:
Flicker
- Remove blockers - Flickerwisp
- Counter removal - Cloudshift - Ghostway
- Value - Blade Splicer - Ephara, God of the Polis
Sample Decklist:
White/Black: Tokens
Description: WB looks to generate a lot of tokens and then pump the tokens through permanent and temporary anthem effects. WB utilizes the strong removal suite inherent in both colors to remove opposing blockers and go wide around them. WB can also use its token generators to gum up the ground and allow larger, evasive threats to close the game. The tokens can also be used to power Black's sacrifice effects.
Key Cards:
Token generators: Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Monastery Mentor - Blade Splicer - Mardu Strike Leader - Bloodline Keeper - Bitterblossom
Anthem effects: Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Zealous Persecution - Spear of Heliod - Archangel of Thune - Intangible Virtue
Sacrifice effects: Ghoulcaller Gisa - Carrion Feeder - Blood Artist
Evasive closers: Tombstalker - Cloudgoat Ranger
Sub-themes: None
Sample Decklist:
White/Red: Heroic Aura Aggro
Description: White's Heroic creatures are paired with Auras in both Red and White. White's double-strike creatures also can fill in for this deck. +1/+1 counters matters cards also function well here. Prowess creatures also function reasonably well, as the Auras and protection spells trigger Prowess. Green's enchantment suite and limited set of protection spells work well in this deck.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
White/Green: Enchantments Matter
Description: Green (as always) provides some ramp. Green runs multiple enchantments, as well as several enchantments-matters cards (some sharpied Constellation cards, plus standard Enchantress cards). White provides enchantment-based removal, as well as Heroic and double strike creatures as targets green and white's auras. Both colors provide protection spells. Both colors run +1/+1 counters matters cards to take advantage of the counters provided by white's Heroic creatures and Green's Evolve creatures.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Blue/Black: Looting/Graveyard Recursion
Description: UW only loosely ties together. Blue provides looting spells to get cards into the graveyard, while Black runs recursive creatures that can be cast from the graveyard. Both colors run several Delve spells. UW is probably the most natural control color in this cube.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Blue/Red: Spells Matter
Description: Both colors run several instants and sorceries. UR has the highest concentration of prowess creatures in the Cube. Cards like Young Pyromancer (x2), Chandra's Phoenix, and Guttersnipe provide additional value from spells. Delver of Secrets is also common in this list. UR builds will generally be aggressive, relying on burn spells to close the game, but some more midrange variants exist (generally more blue-based)
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Blue/Green: Creature Draw-Go
Description: UG is the draw-go deck in this format. Blue provides counterspells to control the early game, plus cheap bounce spells to gain tempo. Green runs a number of flash creatures, as well as ways to give all creatures flash (Yeva, Nature's Herald and Prophet of Kruphix in particular). UG will generally play mana dorks early, and then use its counters/cheap bounce spells to slow the midgame until it can deploy its larger threats.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Black/Red: Sacrifice/Recursion
Description: BR is the primary color for sacrifice effects. The color pair has several ways to sacrifice creatures for value. Black's recursive creatures allow the deck to gain additional value from its sacrifice effects.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Black/Green: Graveyard
Description: BG carries a lower density of sacrifice effects than BR. Green provides several ways to get cards directly into the graveyard. Both colors are also able to generate value from cards in graveyards.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Red/Green: Haste Beatdown (Fires)
Description: RG looks to beat down. Fires of Yavimaya and Hammer of Purphoros give all creatures haste, while many creatures in this pairing naturally have haste.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Design Principles:
- Synergy is more important than card power. The power curve is relatively flat, and the Cube has few bombs. Drafters should be rewarded for building synergistic decks.
- Tier 1 removal is acceptable. Decks that invest multiple cards into a creature (Auras, Heroic) must have cheap protection spells available to counter high-quality removal.
- Gold cards should, wherever possible, emphasize the themes of their respective color pairing. Some gold slots will be dedicated to solid value cards (removal, in particular).
- Planeswalkers will be limited in number. If possible, only planeswalkers that do not directly affect the board should be included in the Cube. Exceptions may be made to support a specific theme or archetype.
- Themes should bleed into a 3rd color when possible, as long as they do not significantly affect the card density of the 3rd color's natural themes. For example, Black/Red's theme is an Aristocrats-style sacrifice/recursion deck. White/Black's theme is tokens. The token producers in White provide ancillary support for the sacrifice theme by providing additional fodder for the sacrifice effects.
- Color-based protection and hexproof are used sparingly.
- Artifact removal is limited. Artifacts are lower in power and limited in scope to compensate. Games should not be unwinnable due entirely to one player resolving an artifact.
Themes by Color Pair:
White/Blue: Tempo
Description: WU deploys cheap, evasive threats. Detain and bounce effects are used to gain tempo. Decks will also usually have some White-based removal and Blue-based counterspells to gain a mana advantage. Some of White's creature protection spells may be used. Prowess creatures interact favorably with the deck's spell suite.
Key Cards:
Detain: Lavinia of the Tenth - Lyev Skyknight - Geist of Saint Traft
Flicker: Galepowder Mage - Flickerwisp
Tempo creatures: Stratus Dancer - Harbinger of the Tides - Man-o'-War
Prowess: Soulblade Djinn - Seeker of the Way - Monastery Mentor
Sub-themes:
Flicker
- Remove blockers - Flickerwisp
- Counter removal - Cloudshift - Ghostway
- Value - Blade Splicer - Ephara, God of the Polis
Sample Decklist:
White/Black: Tokens
Description: WB looks to generate a lot of tokens and then pump the tokens through permanent and temporary anthem effects. WB utilizes the strong removal suite inherent in both colors to remove opposing blockers and go wide around them. WB can also use its token generators to gum up the ground and allow larger, evasive threats to close the game. The tokens can also be used to power Black's sacrifice effects.
Key Cards:
Token generators: Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Monastery Mentor - Blade Splicer - Mardu Strike Leader - Bloodline Keeper - Bitterblossom
Anthem effects: Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Zealous Persecution - Spear of Heliod - Archangel of Thune - Intangible Virtue
Sacrifice effects: Ghoulcaller Gisa - Carrion Feeder - Blood Artist
Evasive closers: Tombstalker - Cloudgoat Ranger
Sub-themes: None
Sample Decklist:
White/Red: Heroic Aura Aggro
Description: White's Heroic creatures are paired with Auras in both Red and White. White's double-strike creatures also can fill in for this deck. +1/+1 counters matters cards also function well here. Prowess creatures also function reasonably well, as the Auras and protection spells trigger Prowess. Green's enchantment suite and limited set of protection spells work well in this deck.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
White/Green: Enchantments Matter
Description: Green (as always) provides some ramp. Green runs multiple enchantments, as well as several enchantments-matters cards (some sharpied Constellation cards, plus standard Enchantress cards). White provides enchantment-based removal, as well as Heroic and double strike creatures as targets green and white's auras. Both colors provide protection spells. Both colors run +1/+1 counters matters cards to take advantage of the counters provided by white's Heroic creatures and Green's Evolve creatures.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Blue/Black: Looting/Graveyard Recursion
Description: UW only loosely ties together. Blue provides looting spells to get cards into the graveyard, while Black runs recursive creatures that can be cast from the graveyard. Both colors run several Delve spells. UW is probably the most natural control color in this cube.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Blue/Red: Spells Matter
Description: Both colors run several instants and sorceries. UR has the highest concentration of prowess creatures in the Cube. Cards like Young Pyromancer (x2), Chandra's Phoenix, and Guttersnipe provide additional value from spells. Delver of Secrets is also common in this list. UR builds will generally be aggressive, relying on burn spells to close the game, but some more midrange variants exist (generally more blue-based)
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Blue/Green: Creature Draw-Go
Description: UG is the draw-go deck in this format. Blue provides counterspells to control the early game, plus cheap bounce spells to gain tempo. Green runs a number of flash creatures, as well as ways to give all creatures flash (Yeva, Nature's Herald and Prophet of Kruphix in particular). UG will generally play mana dorks early, and then use its counters/cheap bounce spells to slow the midgame until it can deploy its larger threats.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Black/Red: Sacrifice/Recursion
Description: BR is the primary color for sacrifice effects. The color pair has several ways to sacrifice creatures for value. Black's recursive creatures allow the deck to gain additional value from its sacrifice effects.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Black/Green: Graveyard
Description: BG carries a lower density of sacrifice effects than BR. Green provides several ways to get cards directly into the graveyard. Both colors are also able to generate value from cards in graveyards.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist:
Red/Green: Haste Beatdown (Fires)
Description: RG looks to beat down. Fires of Yavimaya and Hammer of Purphoros give all creatures haste, while many creatures in this pairing naturally have haste.
Key Cards:
Sub-themes:
Sample Decklist: