Hyped by CubeCon to finally build your first Cube? Follow along as I give you ten actionable steps to make your very own first Cube! I stay general here but give a few specific examples. I’ll take those examples from the pool of Cubes from CubeCon to ride the hype wave of that incredible tournament. My personal ideal is having as many completely different Cube environments in the world as possible. By different I mean unique, so different that you basically can't go wrong when building your Cube.
To help you channel the enthusiasm for this fantastic format, I will give you the framework I use. Of course, there are as many ways to go about things as there are Cubes, but this way has worked for me.
1) What is Fun for You is Likely Fun for Others!There is always one person you know well whose opinion you can trust: yourself! So my first guideline is: What is fun for you is likely fun for others! This is a great starting point for your new Cube project.
2) Build What You LoveWhat do you love about Magic? Picture this and make it your own with your first Cube!
This can be many different things. Do you love the Booster draft of a certain set? A Constructed format? Cheap spells? Combos? Commons? Vintage Cube? Blue cards? This is your framework, an overarching idea which will be the identity of the Cube. It’s also the starting point I build from. Some examples from the CubeCon main event can give you an idea.
Do you like a certain Magic theme, such as a card type? These Cubes are incredibly fun to draft since players have to significantly reevaluate the power of cards in a uniquely defined metagame. Great examples include the Proliferate Cube, Uber Bear's Artifact Cube, and the Devoid Cube. They are also very fun to build since you can find some real gems that weren't ever as powerful as in your new environment, or even playable. To cite the creator of Uber Bear's Artifact Cube, "Cards that would traditionally be labeled side board now become strong removal making for an interesting draft environment."
To quote Mark Rosewater: "Restrictions breed creativity". In other words, it's easier to draw a house, than to be handed an empty sheet of paper and be told to paint something. Restrictions are fun! Rather tight restrictions were chosen in the creation of the 2CMC or less Cube. A different type of restriction was chosen for the aptly named BUG Cube, which contains only black, blue, and green cards.
Some Cubes try to recreate a certain gameplay experience. The Regular Cube goes for "a powered up experience with everything great about Limited Magic". On the other hand, the Cube 4 Packs of Magic explicitly tries "to evoke Constructed Magic play patterns".
The experience you want is the most powerful cards and strategies in Magic? Build a Vintage Cube! Da Cube which was drafted in the CubeCon Top 8 describes itself as "basically a clone of the MTGO Vintage Cube with small tweaks". This demonstrates that you don't have to move far from other lists in order to make your own personal and amazing Cube.
There are so many more ways to design a Cube. Some Cubes are very conceptual. I love them a lot, but would not recommend building one as your first Cube. Instead, I’d recommend coming back later (please do!).
The takeaway is: Pick something that you think would be fun to build This really helps you finish and play.
3) Pick Cards as Supporting Pillars-What will the colors be about? Think of deck types and cards you like. Those deck types can be macro-archetypes (aggro, mid-range, control, ramp, combo) or sub-themes (Sliver tribal, enchantress, graveyard matters).
We are already adding the first cards to the Cube. Those first cards are the supporting pillars. It’s good if they stand out thematically. Think Tinker in Vintage Cube, telling people to draft blue with artifacts this time, or signpost uncommons like Soulherder. Give some to each color or color-pair. You don't need them, but people generally like them and they make your later job easier. Among those first adds are also any cards that can be considered staples. In my opinion, the concept of staples in Cube is overrated (and a topic worth writing its own article about), but if you want to build a Vintage Cube, you might as well start by adding the Power Nine.
As you can see, this is just adding all the low hanging fruits. This is a lot of fun and will drive your progress forward fast. Don't hold back when adding cards this way. You can always remove stuff later.
From time to time take a step back and gaze upon your creation. I do this by changing the view in the "List" tab from "Table View" to "Visual Spoiler" here on Cube Cobra, or by organizing the paper cards on a large surface. It is amazing what you will notice. Which colors are still underrepresented? Do you have doubts that one of the sub-themes will work? Once you have enough added that you could pitch your Cube to your players (e.g. "this is what my Cube is about"), you can continue with the next step. I’d estimate this to happen at about 100 cards.
5) Fill in the GapsOnce you know the structure of the Cube, the puzzle part starts. It’s about filling in the gaps between the cards you already added. This is where somewhat disjointed ideas are brought together. Some cards you added earlier might really need some support. Glue cards are your best friend because they synergize with multiple of the cards and themes that were added previously. Cloudkin Seer for example works within a blue-black Ninjas shell, as well as in a blue-white blink deck.
Here you can also add cards that stand on their own. These cards are a little less exciting for me as a designer than the glue cards, but they allow for more flexibility as they will basically go in any deck that can cast them. Luckily, everyone wants interaction so you have an easy and important swath of cards that fill this requirement. I’d suggest finishing this step somewhere above 330 cards.
Many designers and players say the more plentiful and better the fixing, the better the gameplay. They do have good points, mainly that getting mana-screwed is not really fun. Add plenty of fixing, at least 10% of the number of cards in your Cube is a good starting point. Better up than down from there.
- Does each color have enough creatures? Creatures drive the game forward. Progress is good.
- Do all colors have a mana curve that resembles one you would want from a deck that plays this color?
Likely no action needs to be taken here, but this assures you have a playable Cube.
And play it we shall! Playing the Cube is part of designing the Cube. Time to reap the first rewards of your work!
Things you might not have done yet include: balance the exact numbers of cards per color or a round number of cards in the Cube (like 360, 450 or 540). That does not matter much, but it does give you an easy point to start cutting once you have experienced your work and gotten some feedback.
Feedback is fun and often useful. I tend to just act on feedback without overthinking it. Luckily, a Cube is never finished and feedback just gives you inspiration on what to change. You will see if you and others liked the changes and you can go from there. You might just go straight back to the previous version, but change keeps the Cube fresh and alive.
The most important message for all current and future designers of Cubes is: Don't worry! Especially, try not to worry what other people will think before the Cube is even built or before they have played with it. What you are building is not going to be everyone's all-time favorite format; players are too different in taste to achieve that. Fortunately, one thing this community has in common is that it’s one of the friendliest and most welcoming you will find. Got questions? Ask!
Happy cubing!
If you want more Cube content feel free to check out my podcast with Finite! Cube & Chaos