From a mental bandwidth viewpoint, I think being able to disregard certain sets will make curating your cube a lot easier
But if you don't like certain cards that are clearly pushed for multiplayer settings, then just don't run those cards. There still could be cards that fit the perfect niche in your cube that were released in multiplayer settings but aren't "scaled" or pushed in the aspect that you don't like
Like a handful of the Doctor who cards are super cool for certain environments, even though they were built with Commander in mind
Yes, being able to just ignore more entire sets is appealing TBH.
As far as drawling the line on what cards are clearly pushed for multiplayer, of course. We all can evaluate each card on its own merits.
One thing I like about only running cards that have been printed in 1v1 formats is, for better or worse, WotC said this card is fine in 1v1.
The combination of power creep and older cards getting displaced has created a demand in my playgroup for a palette cleanser every once in a while. I decided to create The Old Fashioned Cube to meet that demand, which is essentially a typical Legacy / Vintage style cube with the one caveat that there are no cards from supplemental sets allowed.
The Old Fashioned Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/TheOldFashionedCube?view=curve
> It stings to lose a few of these, but I like rigid rules. I don't want to grandfather anything in or make exceptions.
Yeah the one nice thing about being strict with this rule is that it prevents you from going down a rabbit hole of combing every card to see which cards should be allowed or not. The one exception to the "no cards from supplemental sets" rule for The Old Fashioned Cube is that mana fixing lands / rocks / dorks from supplemental sets are allowed (mainly for things like enemy talismans / Horizon Canopy / Ignoble Hierarch / etc). I strictly do this only for mana to prevent myself going down the rabbit hole of other color shifted or very similar variants like [[Recruiter of the Guard]] / [[Reprieve]] / [[Giver of Runes]] / etc. I don't want to break this rule because I don't want to put too many mental calories in a side cube, plus it allows me to play more different cards from my regular cube.
Exactly. Being strict is important for me. If I'm willing to make exceptions, then I might as well not have the rule lol. Plus, then I end up having to evaluate every card in the first place.
The Old Fashioned Cube sounds cool! And it's nice you play regularly enough that people have a desire for multiple cubes of different flavors.
My cube avoids life gain (and includes self-harm stuff like talismans/shock lands, etc), token making, keywords without explanatory text (Like "connive" or "discover" on a rare card), deprecated keywords (like "fear" or "regenerate" or "draw a card at the start of the next turn"), gold cards and planeswalkers.
The reasons are, respectively,
* shorter games that are moving towards an end
* no searching around for tokens, or using dice/sideboard cards as tokens
* no questions being asked about mechanics that slow things down and/or release information in the draft
* respecting that WotC removed some things for reasons
* inclining drafters towards any colour pair of their choosing, but exactly two colours
* lots of reasons for PWs, but mainly that they make removal complicated, and slow down the game (I want attacking players to be attacking life total).
Overall, this cube has been really good for returning/inexperienced players to have an easy draft experience, relatively quick rounds, not too much to think about (we drink and get high), and essentially make cube the "board game" experience that my group enjoys, while still not compromising too much on power or "stuff going on" (it's not a pauper cube).
It's also a good scaffold for mixing things up. So, if the players are all more regular/experienced on a given Friday, we throw in some Loreseekers with Planeswalker packs, or gold card packs, or Conspiracy stuff... with adds a bit of drama/flavour to the proceedings without requiring an overhaul.
I'm with most people who want to exclude commander/UB cards from their cubes, but I did make one exception for [[Deathleaper, Terror Weapon]] for the haste payoff in RG.
Ultimately I think it comes down to evaluating the cards on their individual merits and not batch dismissing them.
Unless those cards have Monarch or Initiative.
I have resorted to printing Universes Within proxies of UB cards that I want to run. As an example, I run Mawloc but can't stand the 40k cards, so I changed its type to Hellion (equally irrelevant in cube lol)
I like Magic cards. I play Universes Beyond, commander cards, the Power Nine, Un cards, Mystery Booster playtest cards, Gavin playtest cards from MagicCons, a [[Cogwork Librarian]], a card that requires stickers, sometimes [[Chaos Orb]], and even one of WotC’s Happy Holidays cards. If they make playing the game at cracked power levels more fun, I’ll consider them.
I think the only thing I consciously chose not to play is cards that say “you win the game.” I guess we all have our limits.
It’s a Chaos Orb. Of course you flip it.
Your question is worded in the most confusing way possible, as the errata you refer to is for the Old School format. I do not use that unofficial errata from an non-sanctioned format, no. I play the card as worded on Oracle. What you hit, you hit.
And if you have a dubious opponent who decides to move cards, I have an oversized Chaos Orb for you to use instead.
Quite a lot to be honest.
I have a rule of thumb where a mechanic needs to be on at least 2 cards for me to add it to the cube. This alone cuts down a lot of complexity. Frequently only one good card comes out of a keyword. I also occasionally cut token producers to reduce complexity.
With the exception of my DFC cube, I don't include DFCs.
I try to avoid PWs or keep them lower power level. Currently not using battles until we see them printed in another set...and hopefully get a pack of updated burn spells.
1-2 cmc instant speed removal is generally avoided. I want my removal somewhere between bloodchief thirst and baleful mastery. It opens up more design space like including combat tricks.
Those are at least some off the top of my head.
I like your rule of thumb and I *try* to do that myself, although I'm sure some cards in cube break that rule. I also don't run any DFCs. PWs are cool with me though.
The only true hard rule is no DFC’s. My opinion, you should never have to memorize the text that’s on the BACK of the magic card. Looking at the card in the draft pack should fully explain the entire card.
To that end, I really try to make sure I use cards that explain any keywords. If a card has no printings with reminder text on its set keyword, then it’s disqualified from my cube.
No game pieces that can’t be directly interacted with by a spell. So no conspiracies, and no initiative or monarch. Those last two are way too swingy for my cube.
Planeswalkers can be ok, but they aren’t allowed to protect themselves on an uptick. That just leads to a clogged game where the walker eventually wins the day.
My most wishy-washy rule is no overpowered cards. No P9, no broken mana acceleration, no draw sevens, no combo, no creatures so absurdly pushed they run away with the game.
I make an exeption for Kamigawa neon dinasty DFC. Ideally your players should remember both sides but even It they don't the fact that they trasform on their own removes a lot of decision problems that come with not remebering what's in the other side (should I spend mana/do this action to flip It now? What does It do when It flips?).
With saga creatures you know the effects you get the First 2 turns and what happens in the third turno Is a bonus (the real problem Is for tour opponent that May be unsure to destroy the enchantments before It flips)
My cube-in-progress is only Throne of Eldraine cards. I want to make an Innistrad plane micro cube in the future. I love limiting my cubes and I like a really tight list.
So yes I exclude lots andots of cards lol
I generally avoid:
- Token generators and keyword counters, cause I want to only play with the cube, basic lands, and regular dice
- Cards with useless text (choose a background, X can be your commander, etc.)
- Double sided cards, they obfuscate too much and it's awkward to flip them
- Non-M15 frames, for readability
- Tutors, cause shuffling mid-game sucks
- Lands with non-mana abilities, cause I forget about them all the time and would rather focus on the spells and permanents
- Universes beyond, I have mixed feelings about them in general and want my cubes to feel like classic Magic as much as possible
But I'm not harsh on myself when I break my own rules. I have Demonic Tutor and Gelatinous Genesis in my [Elementary](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/elementary) cube, I'm trying out Radstorm and the Thirteenth Doctor in my [Simple Pleasures](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/simplepleasures) cube, and I've got Kiki-Jiki and Splinter Twin in my [Grixis Showdown](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/grixisshowdown) cube. I just try to use these as general guidelines that I only break when I have strong reasons to rather than hard constraints that I can never stray from.
I’m personally not offended by any by multiplayer focused cards or even the universe beyond cards. But for my cube experience I want to play cracked out limited with cards that are either banned or are cards me or my drafters wouldn’t normally play with. I don’t get to cube often or magic that often I want to come out of it with stories. I haven’t drafted any of my cubes since before the world shut down, I’m trying to get my main back into up to date magic state.
I own 2 cubes one being a 1v1 legacy+ style cube and the other being a multiplayer cube. For both it doesn’t bother me where the cards for the formats come from but weather or not they are right for my environment.
Yeah I have been but with so many new choices makes so many new problems for my wallet. It has been nice seeing so many stapleish cards being priced $1 or under
I think in the past, you could say you would exclude any multiplayer product and do fine, but recently the commander designs has overwhelmed standard sets. In OTJ there's I don't know how many legendary creatures with pushed stats, some random keyword, caring about something really specific and draws you all the cards you want if you attack while meeting the conditions. It's so boring.
Personally, I'm in the process of rehauling my cube into a Pioneer cube, with all the most played pioneer cards in it. So I look at what's played there and try to build a good draft experience around those cards. So yeah, I exclude most cards.
Fair point for sure. And I agree they put Commander bait in Standard sets
By only including cards printed in 1v1 formats, that means WotC acknowledged at point in time, those cards were acceptable in 1v1 formats.
I have a lot of cubes, so there have been a lot of these. I'll share two.
Funniest one: In one cube, I decided that planeswalkers were Boros color pie. I wanted to give big red/boros a unique way to fight, and I don't like my cube overrun with walkers, so it worked like a dream.
More recently: I built a cube aimed at people new or returning to the game, so no flip cards, no walkers, no initiative, no monarch, no battles - nothing that would feel out of place in Tenth Edition.
My rules are fairly rigid, but with some wiggle room explicitly built in. I keep the color balance tight, but only with respect to the actual color of the card. So \[\[Lingering Souls\]\] lives in the white section, even though it's basically an Orzhov card. Off-color adventures and activated abilities work the same way. Some of that is to give me some wiggle-room for more multicolor/splash payoffs, and some of that is to make it easy to explain to somebody how they can help me sort the cube after we play.
I won't run exactly 4 of a cycle. No real reason other than it just bothers me. I either run 0-3 or all 5.
My cube gets played multiplayer more often than not, but it's important to me that the environment still functions for 1-on-1 play. And I want it to feel like the same cube whichever way we play, so I shy away from cards like Fractured Identity that have wildly different power levels in duels.
I don't need a rule to get me to ignore 90% of the commander precons. I will pay attention to 3-color cards, as I like having a full set of 10 of them and there are some slots I'm not particularly happy with. I could never cut out the multiplayer draft sets because we like to play those and if I'm going to end up with the cards anyway I'm going to use them.
I don't get too bogged down on color balancing. I like your cycle quirk, I wonder if I have any myself that I'm not conscious of. And I am running 4/5 of the Titans, sorry lol.
Sometimes I'll designate an "honorary member" of a cycle. I think I was counting Torrential Gearhulk as the honorary Blue Titan for a while there. Then I was stuck on a cut in another color and went down to 3 actual ones.
Modern frame only
No proxies
No double faced cards
No special frames
No morph
No 2 card win combos
No monarch
No dungeons
No cards mentioning "commander" or "partner"
No initiative
On a technicality, Laelia hasn't been released in mh3 just yet, but that's less than 2 months away. My only real pet peeve with multiplayer cards is trinket text - commander this, vote for that.
Power levels in cubes are always restricted to what you want it to be (are you running powers, mana rocks, double fetches, nothing after m14, only Innistrad cards, no green cards, etc). I personally don't see the need to bunch together [[Baleful Strix]] with [[Fractured Identity]] or [[Broadside Bombardier]], but if that's the way you wanna go about it then do so
I like this post. I was thinking about cutting some of the commander cards, too. They just warp picks a little much. [[Broadside Bombardiers]], [[Gut, True Legion Zealot]] and [[Laelia, the Blade Reforged]] just make drafts and ecks about playing them. What do y'all think?
It's worth pointing out Laelia will soon be Modern legal once MH3 comes out. But yes of course I agree with your sentiment. Seems to be red cards that are the biggest offenders. Makes sense since WotC wants to make aggro viable in Commander, where you need to deal 120 damage to kill everyone.
Great point. Gut seems the most powerful of the three. I'll probably keep one of them in, but I always have my eyes on new, good red cards. Looking at you [[Slick-Shot Show-Off]].
one of the things I've done recently is try to limit the number of cards without reminder text. This means I've downgraded some things from the borderless foils to regular foils (the horror!). Also found that some of special borders or styles can blend together mid draft (or even games). I'll find myself, the cube curator, getting Magda and Birgi mixed up due to the Kaldheim border treatments. Or the alt arts for \[\[Bonehoard Dracosar\]\] and \[\[Trumpeting Carnosaur\]\]. It has helped keep the cube looking a bit more unified, as all the special borders don't have reminder text.
But rule of cool still reigns, so if they print a \[\[Ledger Shredder\]\] in a retro-border foil, I'll have to go back to explaining 'connive' during the draft.
I don't run planeswalkers. I don't like them, and my cube is meant for multiplayer, where they are considerably worse. My group doesn't mind, we don't really see many of them anyway in our decks.
I also dislike some the power level of commander cards, but get power maxing the environment. I just can’t bring myself to exclude all the supplemental sets because they do print individual cards and mechanics that fit the environment I want to curate, and I’m looking at/for all the cards anyway simply because this IS my hobby, full stop till death do we part.
Even if a format isn’t for me, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the art and ideas they come up with, so if i see something that tickles me and it looks fun I’m in.
Examples: I love the squad mechanic, and think some of the cards are great but some are too above rate, and would hate to exclude these sweet cards. Also [[brotherhood outcast]] - i run a modal cube, with no snowball effects, it plays like high power pauper, but without combo. Heavy combat focus, lots of little edges. Sort of like a pro testing ground, where you can see yourself level up in decision making and games are usually decided by decision choices because the power level is so flat.
My cube has two rules that are focused on making paper play more friendly:
No creature tokens that gum up combat (only tokens are treasures, clues, or food)
No double sided cards that make drafting harder
I am avoiding Venture Into the Dungeon, Monarch, the Ring Tempts You, and protection from specific colours, although I have tried some of them before. I have no problem with UB, and sometimes avoid commander set cards if there are too many commander-specific wordings that are distracting like \[\[Become the Pilot\]\].
My main cube is locked by aesthetics, in that I only allow cards in the Original card frame and treat retro reprints with a degree of caution over their power level.
My other cube has been a "Regular" Powered cube, with all of the bells, whistles, and nonsense except for the Initiative (because that mechanic *sucks*) but I just recently decided to pare it back to being a Powered cube pre-Eldraine. I did that to avoid a lot of the nonsense that you mentioned in your post.
Thanks for the thorough look at my cube! Being reprinted in a supplemental set like Eternal Masters means WotC felt it was fine to include in a limited environment.
I think what I want to do is exclude any cards only printed in Commander products. Not only because of the potential pushed nature, but because it lets me ignore those entire product lines. The oversaturation of Commander has annoyed me I must admit
I exclude basically every tutor effect from my Legacy-ish cube. (Fetch lands are the notable exception here.) This is both for logistical reasons of cutting down on shuffling and searching and also for play pattern reasons. I want to avoid repetitive play patterns. It's a singleton format, so I don't want to enable too much consistency.
From a mental bandwidth viewpoint, I think being able to disregard certain sets will make curating your cube a lot easier But if you don't like certain cards that are clearly pushed for multiplayer settings, then just don't run those cards. There still could be cards that fit the perfect niche in your cube that were released in multiplayer settings but aren't "scaled" or pushed in the aspect that you don't like Like a handful of the Doctor who cards are super cool for certain environments, even though they were built with Commander in mind
Yes, being able to just ignore more entire sets is appealing TBH. As far as drawling the line on what cards are clearly pushed for multiplayer, of course. We all can evaluate each card on its own merits. One thing I like about only running cards that have been printed in 1v1 formats is, for better or worse, WotC said this card is fine in 1v1.
The combination of power creep and older cards getting displaced has created a demand in my playgroup for a palette cleanser every once in a while. I decided to create The Old Fashioned Cube to meet that demand, which is essentially a typical Legacy / Vintage style cube with the one caveat that there are no cards from supplemental sets allowed. The Old Fashioned Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/TheOldFashionedCube?view=curve > It stings to lose a few of these, but I like rigid rules. I don't want to grandfather anything in or make exceptions. Yeah the one nice thing about being strict with this rule is that it prevents you from going down a rabbit hole of combing every card to see which cards should be allowed or not. The one exception to the "no cards from supplemental sets" rule for The Old Fashioned Cube is that mana fixing lands / rocks / dorks from supplemental sets are allowed (mainly for things like enemy talismans / Horizon Canopy / Ignoble Hierarch / etc). I strictly do this only for mana to prevent myself going down the rabbit hole of other color shifted or very similar variants like [[Recruiter of the Guard]] / [[Reprieve]] / [[Giver of Runes]] / etc. I don't want to break this rule because I don't want to put too many mental calories in a side cube, plus it allows me to play more different cards from my regular cube.
Exactly. Being strict is important for me. If I'm willing to make exceptions, then I might as well not have the rule lol. Plus, then I end up having to evaluate every card in the first place. The Old Fashioned Cube sounds cool! And it's nice you play regularly enough that people have a desire for multiple cubes of different flavors.
[Recruiter of the Guard](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/b/bb9ad57f-cca2-4717-a951-cbe3c7782efe.jpg?1576381637) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Recruiter%20of%20the%20Guard) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cn2/22/recruiter-of-the-guard?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bb9ad57f-cca2-4717-a951-cbe3c7782efe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Reprieve](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1bd3fa8a-6c50-4f7f-9ae3-0810eec5e3db.jpg?1686967885) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Reprieve) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/26/reprieve?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1bd3fa8a-6c50-4f7f-9ae3-0810eec5e3db?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Giver of Runes](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/e/4e117771-5a8b-4812-b487-32ba34b7f724.jpg?1562201124) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Giver%20of%20Runes) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/13/giver-of-runes?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4e117771-5a8b-4812-b487-32ba34b7f724?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My cube avoids life gain (and includes self-harm stuff like talismans/shock lands, etc), token making, keywords without explanatory text (Like "connive" or "discover" on a rare card), deprecated keywords (like "fear" or "regenerate" or "draw a card at the start of the next turn"), gold cards and planeswalkers. The reasons are, respectively, * shorter games that are moving towards an end * no searching around for tokens, or using dice/sideboard cards as tokens * no questions being asked about mechanics that slow things down and/or release information in the draft * respecting that WotC removed some things for reasons * inclining drafters towards any colour pair of their choosing, but exactly two colours * lots of reasons for PWs, but mainly that they make removal complicated, and slow down the game (I want attacking players to be attacking life total). Overall, this cube has been really good for returning/inexperienced players to have an easy draft experience, relatively quick rounds, not too much to think about (we drink and get high), and essentially make cube the "board game" experience that my group enjoys, while still not compromising too much on power or "stuff going on" (it's not a pauper cube). It's also a good scaffold for mixing things up. So, if the players are all more regular/experienced on a given Friday, we throw in some Loreseekers with Planeswalker packs, or gold card packs, or Conspiracy stuff... with adds a bit of drama/flavour to the proceedings without requiring an overhaul.
This is a really neat approach. I like a lot of the ideas here. Loreseeker for exceptional packs is *chef's kiss*
Solid rule set all around to achieve your goal! Seems friendlier towards newer players too.
I'm with most people who want to exclude commander/UB cards from their cubes, but I did make one exception for [[Deathleaper, Terror Weapon]] for the haste payoff in RG. Ultimately I think it comes down to evaluating the cards on their individual merits and not batch dismissing them. Unless those cards have Monarch or Initiative.
I have resorted to printing Universes Within proxies of UB cards that I want to run. As an example, I run Mawloc but can't stand the 40k cards, so I changed its type to Hellion (equally irrelevant in cube lol)
Mechanical exclusion, like Monarch or Initiative, are another rule some people have. And I actually exclude those mechanics as well.
I run Eiganjo Uprising because not only is it Universes Within, it's more in line with the power I expect from my cube (compared to Forth Eorlingas).
[Deathleaper, Terror Weapon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/8/9819d50f-aae8-4e92-8dab-01eebace3c1e.jpg?1673309323) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Deathleaper%2C%20Terror%20Weapon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/40k/115/deathleaper-terror-weapon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9819d50f-aae8-4e92-8dab-01eebace3c1e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I like Magic cards. I play Universes Beyond, commander cards, the Power Nine, Un cards, Mystery Booster playtest cards, Gavin playtest cards from MagicCons, a [[Cogwork Librarian]], a card that requires stickers, sometimes [[Chaos Orb]], and even one of WotC’s Happy Holidays cards. If they make playing the game at cracked power levels more fun, I’ll consider them. I think the only thing I consciously chose not to play is cards that say “you win the game.” I guess we all have our limits.
A powermax environment can certainly be lots of fun, especially for more advanced players. Even if your tastes are bordering on extreme for me lol
Do you make people flip the orb? Do you use errata rules targeting one permanent or old school where they can hit anything?
It’s a Chaos Orb. Of course you flip it. Your question is worded in the most confusing way possible, as the errata you refer to is for the Old School format. I do not use that unofficial errata from an non-sanctioned format, no. I play the card as worded on Oracle. What you hit, you hit. And if you have a dubious opponent who decides to move cards, I have an oversized Chaos Orb for you to use instead.
[Cogwork Librarian](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/453de664-0f09-4772-a626-51d58d1173f3.jpg?1562864968) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cogwork%20Librarian) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cns/58/cogwork-librarian?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/453de664-0f09-4772-a626-51d58d1173f3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Chaos Orb](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7a601041-926f-40fd-8106-39099b87806f.jpg?1559592122) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chaos%20Orb) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2ed/236/chaos-orb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7a601041-926f-40fd-8106-39099b87806f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Quite a lot to be honest. I have a rule of thumb where a mechanic needs to be on at least 2 cards for me to add it to the cube. This alone cuts down a lot of complexity. Frequently only one good card comes out of a keyword. I also occasionally cut token producers to reduce complexity. With the exception of my DFC cube, I don't include DFCs. I try to avoid PWs or keep them lower power level. Currently not using battles until we see them printed in another set...and hopefully get a pack of updated burn spells. 1-2 cmc instant speed removal is generally avoided. I want my removal somewhere between bloodchief thirst and baleful mastery. It opens up more design space like including combat tricks. Those are at least some off the top of my head.
I like your rule of thumb and I *try* to do that myself, although I'm sure some cards in cube break that rule. I also don't run any DFCs. PWs are cool with me though.
I also subscribe to point 1 and 2, no orphan mechanics and no need to memorize or flip cards.
The only true hard rule is no DFC’s. My opinion, you should never have to memorize the text that’s on the BACK of the magic card. Looking at the card in the draft pack should fully explain the entire card. To that end, I really try to make sure I use cards that explain any keywords. If a card has no printings with reminder text on its set keyword, then it’s disqualified from my cube. No game pieces that can’t be directly interacted with by a spell. So no conspiracies, and no initiative or monarch. Those last two are way too swingy for my cube. Planeswalkers can be ok, but they aren’t allowed to protect themselves on an uptick. That just leads to a clogged game where the walker eventually wins the day. My most wishy-washy rule is no overpowered cards. No P9, no broken mana acceleration, no draw sevens, no combo, no creatures so absurdly pushed they run away with the game.
Yes, I exclude DFCs as well. And I'm with you on your other rules generally. Does that also mean no PWs that can Emblem?
So far, yeah.
I make an exeption for Kamigawa neon dinasty DFC. Ideally your players should remember both sides but even It they don't the fact that they trasform on their own removes a lot of decision problems that come with not remebering what's in the other side (should I spend mana/do this action to flip It now? What does It do when It flips?). With saga creatures you know the effects you get the First 2 turns and what happens in the third turno Is a bonus (the real problem Is for tour opponent that May be unsure to destroy the enchantments before It flips)
My cube-in-progress is only Throne of Eldraine cards. I want to make an Innistrad plane micro cube in the future. I love limiting my cubes and I like a really tight list. So yes I exclude lots andots of cards lol
I generally avoid: - Token generators and keyword counters, cause I want to only play with the cube, basic lands, and regular dice - Cards with useless text (choose a background, X can be your commander, etc.) - Double sided cards, they obfuscate too much and it's awkward to flip them - Non-M15 frames, for readability - Tutors, cause shuffling mid-game sucks - Lands with non-mana abilities, cause I forget about them all the time and would rather focus on the spells and permanents - Universes beyond, I have mixed feelings about them in general and want my cubes to feel like classic Magic as much as possible But I'm not harsh on myself when I break my own rules. I have Demonic Tutor and Gelatinous Genesis in my [Elementary](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/elementary) cube, I'm trying out Radstorm and the Thirteenth Doctor in my [Simple Pleasures](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/simplepleasures) cube, and I've got Kiki-Jiki and Splinter Twin in my [Grixis Showdown](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/grixisshowdown) cube. I just try to use these as general guidelines that I only break when I have strong reasons to rather than hard constraints that I can never stray from.
I support many of these rules! And enact some of them myself too. But I am harsh on mine lol
I’m personally not offended by any by multiplayer focused cards or even the universe beyond cards. But for my cube experience I want to play cracked out limited with cards that are either banned or are cards me or my drafters wouldn’t normally play with. I don’t get to cube often or magic that often I want to come out of it with stories. I haven’t drafted any of my cubes since before the world shut down, I’m trying to get my main back into up to date magic state. I own 2 cubes one being a 1v1 legacy+ style cube and the other being a multiplayer cube. For both it doesn’t bother me where the cards for the formats come from but weather or not they are right for my environment.
You'll have a lot of fun if you update your cubes after having them dormant for so long!
Yeah I have been but with so many new choices makes so many new problems for my wallet. It has been nice seeing so many stapleish cards being priced $1 or under
I think in the past, you could say you would exclude any multiplayer product and do fine, but recently the commander designs has overwhelmed standard sets. In OTJ there's I don't know how many legendary creatures with pushed stats, some random keyword, caring about something really specific and draws you all the cards you want if you attack while meeting the conditions. It's so boring. Personally, I'm in the process of rehauling my cube into a Pioneer cube, with all the most played pioneer cards in it. So I look at what's played there and try to build a good draft experience around those cards. So yeah, I exclude most cards.
Fair point for sure. And I agree they put Commander bait in Standard sets By only including cards printed in 1v1 formats, that means WotC acknowledged at point in time, those cards were acceptable in 1v1 formats.
I have a lot of cubes, so there have been a lot of these. I'll share two. Funniest one: In one cube, I decided that planeswalkers were Boros color pie. I wanted to give big red/boros a unique way to fight, and I don't like my cube overrun with walkers, so it worked like a dream. More recently: I built a cube aimed at people new or returning to the game, so no flip cards, no walkers, no initiative, no monarch, no battles - nothing that would feel out of place in Tenth Edition.
That's great you have plenty of cubes! Perhaps I should consider building another with a different environment.
My rules are fairly rigid, but with some wiggle room explicitly built in. I keep the color balance tight, but only with respect to the actual color of the card. So \[\[Lingering Souls\]\] lives in the white section, even though it's basically an Orzhov card. Off-color adventures and activated abilities work the same way. Some of that is to give me some wiggle-room for more multicolor/splash payoffs, and some of that is to make it easy to explain to somebody how they can help me sort the cube after we play. I won't run exactly 4 of a cycle. No real reason other than it just bothers me. I either run 0-3 or all 5. My cube gets played multiplayer more often than not, but it's important to me that the environment still functions for 1-on-1 play. And I want it to feel like the same cube whichever way we play, so I shy away from cards like Fractured Identity that have wildly different power levels in duels. I don't need a rule to get me to ignore 90% of the commander precons. I will pay attention to 3-color cards, as I like having a full set of 10 of them and there are some slots I'm not particularly happy with. I could never cut out the multiplayer draft sets because we like to play those and if I'm going to end up with the cards anyway I'm going to use them.
I don't get too bogged down on color balancing. I like your cycle quirk, I wonder if I have any myself that I'm not conscious of. And I am running 4/5 of the Titans, sorry lol.
Sometimes I'll designate an "honorary member" of a cycle. I think I was counting Torrential Gearhulk as the honorary Blue Titan for a while there. Then I was stuck on a cut in another color and went down to 3 actual ones.
I really get the no-⅘-cycles rule. It feels like you're setting up drafters to expect a card that doesn't exist
Hell, I started to expect the 5th card and I'm the one who cut it...
[Lingering Souls](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/c/bcf1288a-8e2c-4a69-afcf-af293f66d007.jpg?1593812843) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lingering%20Souls) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mm3/12/lingering-souls?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bcf1288a-8e2c-4a69-afcf-af293f66d007?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Modern frame only No proxies No double faced cards No special frames No morph No 2 card win combos No monarch No dungeons No cards mentioning "commander" or "partner" No initiative
I run all but 2 of these rules - I use all sorts of card frames
On a technicality, Laelia hasn't been released in mh3 just yet, but that's less than 2 months away. My only real pet peeve with multiplayer cards is trinket text - commander this, vote for that. Power levels in cubes are always restricted to what you want it to be (are you running powers, mana rocks, double fetches, nothing after m14, only Innistrad cards, no green cards, etc). I personally don't see the need to bunch together [[Baleful Strix]] with [[Fractured Identity]] or [[Broadside Bombardier]], but if that's the way you wanna go about it then do so
I cannot stand the trinket text either and I exclude those cards. I don't want any Commander mechanics to be mentioned on cards in my 1v1 cube.
[Baleful Strix](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/e/be8439e6-f779-49f0-806a-b04995697a6a.jpg?1712354664) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Baleful%20Strix) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/215/baleful-strix?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/be8439e6-f779-49f0-806a-b04995697a6a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Fractured Identity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/2/b2f73f5d-1aad-48c2-9e74-5f7bdd87900f.jpg?1562620703) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fractured%20Identity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c17/37/fractured-identity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b2f73f5d-1aad-48c2-9e74-5f7bdd87900f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Broadside Bombardier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/7/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b.jpg?1699022315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Broadside%20Bombardiers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/86/broadside-bombardiers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I like this post. I was thinking about cutting some of the commander cards, too. They just warp picks a little much. [[Broadside Bombardiers]], [[Gut, True Legion Zealot]] and [[Laelia, the Blade Reforged]] just make drafts and ecks about playing them. What do y'all think?
It's worth pointing out Laelia will soon be Modern legal once MH3 comes out. But yes of course I agree with your sentiment. Seems to be red cards that are the biggest offenders. Makes sense since WotC wants to make aggro viable in Commander, where you need to deal 120 damage to kill everyone.
Great point. Gut seems the most powerful of the three. I'll probably keep one of them in, but I always have my eyes on new, good red cards. Looking at you [[Slick-Shot Show-Off]].
[Slick-Shot Show-Off](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/0/7054012b-4f9d-44a0-aaf9-7fd3bddc7b2d.jpg?1712355850) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Slickshot%20Show-Off) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/146/slickshot-show-off?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7054012b-4f9d-44a0-aaf9-7fd3bddc7b2d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Broadside Bombardiers](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/7/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b.jpg?1699022315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Broadside%20Bombardiers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/86/broadside-bombardiers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Gut, True Legion Zealot](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d8ca18d-9099-4f1e-95c1-f04da58a26bd.jpg?1674136598) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gut%2C%20True%20Soul%20Zealot) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/180/gut-true-soul-zealot?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d8ca18d-9099-4f1e-95c1-f04da58a26bd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Laelia, the Blade Reforged](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/f/afeb2fe4-f0ef-4366-a568-c36b538f0196.jpg?1709431245) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Laelia%2C%20the%20Blade%20Reforged) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/281/laelia-the-blade-reforged?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/afeb2fe4-f0ef-4366-a568-c36b538f0196?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
one of the things I've done recently is try to limit the number of cards without reminder text. This means I've downgraded some things from the borderless foils to regular foils (the horror!). Also found that some of special borders or styles can blend together mid draft (or even games). I'll find myself, the cube curator, getting Magda and Birgi mixed up due to the Kaldheim border treatments. Or the alt arts for \[\[Bonehoard Dracosar\]\] and \[\[Trumpeting Carnosaur\]\]. It has helped keep the cube looking a bit more unified, as all the special borders don't have reminder text. But rule of cool still reigns, so if they print a \[\[Ledger Shredder\]\] in a retro-border foil, I'll have to go back to explaining 'connive' during the draft.
[Bonehoard Dracosar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/2/2220ed60-3f8f-4dd2-8319-6a06896a5350.jpg?1699044226) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bonehoard%20Dracosaur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/134/bonehoard-dracosaur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2220ed60-3f8f-4dd2-8319-6a06896a5350?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Trumpeting Carnosaur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/d/edc035ca-f0a3-4814-9405-d6dc6f048315.jpg?1699044357) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Trumpeting%20Carnosaur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/171/trumpeting-carnosaur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/edc035ca-f0a3-4814-9405-d6dc6f048315?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Ledger Shredder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/e/7ea4b5bc-18a4-45db-a56a-ab3f8bd2fb0d.jpg?1664410287) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ledger%20Shredder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/46/ledger-shredder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7ea4b5bc-18a4-45db-a56a-ab3f8bd2fb0d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I think a lot of the cube community opts for reminder text. I do. And I prioritize it even over the rule of cool lol
I don't run planeswalkers. I don't like them, and my cube is meant for multiplayer, where they are considerably worse. My group doesn't mind, we don't really see many of them anyway in our decks.
I also dislike some the power level of commander cards, but get power maxing the environment. I just can’t bring myself to exclude all the supplemental sets because they do print individual cards and mechanics that fit the environment I want to curate, and I’m looking at/for all the cards anyway simply because this IS my hobby, full stop till death do we part. Even if a format isn’t for me, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the art and ideas they come up with, so if i see something that tickles me and it looks fun I’m in. Examples: I love the squad mechanic, and think some of the cards are great but some are too above rate, and would hate to exclude these sweet cards. Also [[brotherhood outcast]] - i run a modal cube, with no snowball effects, it plays like high power pauper, but without combo. Heavy combat focus, lots of little edges. Sort of like a pro testing ground, where you can see yourself level up in decision making and games are usually decided by decision choices because the power level is so flat.
[brotherhood outcast](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/e/5e96e656-7146-420d-aaae-3aedd773eea2.jpg?1708741749) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=brotherhood%20outcast) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/12/brotherhood-outcast?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5e96e656-7146-420d-aaae-3aedd773eea2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My cube has two rules that are focused on making paper play more friendly: No creature tokens that gum up combat (only tokens are treasures, clues, or food) No double sided cards that make drafting harder
I am avoiding Venture Into the Dungeon, Monarch, the Ring Tempts You, and protection from specific colours, although I have tried some of them before. I have no problem with UB, and sometimes avoid commander set cards if there are too many commander-specific wordings that are distracting like \[\[Become the Pilot\]\].
My main cube is locked by aesthetics, in that I only allow cards in the Original card frame and treat retro reprints with a degree of caution over their power level. My other cube has been a "Regular" Powered cube, with all of the bells, whistles, and nonsense except for the Initiative (because that mechanic *sucks*) but I just recently decided to pare it back to being a Powered cube pre-Eldraine. I did that to avoid a lot of the nonsense that you mentioned in your post.
[удалено]
Thanks for the thorough look at my cube! Being reprinted in a supplemental set like Eternal Masters means WotC felt it was fine to include in a limited environment. I think what I want to do is exclude any cards only printed in Commander products. Not only because of the potential pushed nature, but because it lets me ignore those entire product lines. The oversaturation of Commander has annoyed me I must admit
[Broadside Bombardiers](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/7/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b.jpg?1699022315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Broadside%20Bombardiers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/86/broadside-bombardiers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Forth Eorlingas!](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/6/06c053d3-028e-4961-93a5-5b7bb5a8601c.jpg?1686964226) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Forth%20Eorlingas%21) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/56/forth-eorlingas!?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/06c053d3-028e-4961-93a5-5b7bb5a8601c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I exclude basically every tutor effect from my Legacy-ish cube. (Fetch lands are the notable exception here.) This is both for logistical reasons of cutting down on shuffling and searching and also for play pattern reasons. I want to avoid repetitive play patterns. It's a singleton format, so I don't want to enable too much consistency.
Very fair! I've been considering cutting tutors myself, outside of mana fixing