Making some changes, got the cards a long time ago and never tested them. Like the blitz tower, I haven't got as many opportunities to play these now at my new job.
Looking to change the red deck into a bit more of a control deck and also giving green the opportunity to play the fog game a bit more.
A thought crossed my mind as to ignoring the mill rule entirely and having players play out games. Instead of representing a win con, Mill would be resource denial and the miller would still need to ensure they have a means to close out the game lest it result in a stalemate.
Testing some things out. I am heavily considering reducing life gain further in the cube by stripping out Environmental Sciences in place of something like Echo Circlet in an effort to make combat decisions more interesting.
So we've tried this a couple times now and it has been a hit. This is a Mexican stand-off style game where only one person wins. There is no second place.
Start with a standard table draft. We have tried 2x packs of 9 cards however I think that 3x packs of 6 is probably better.
Build the standard 15 card decks. Usual mulligan rule applies. Player 1 does not draw. The first player to get a kill wins.
The only rule change is related to Mill. Mill is only a valid win con if a mill piece is played (this includes Clear the Mind). If no mill cards are played and a player decks out naturally, the game is a stalemate. This is to prevent turtling.
Some interesting gameplay has emerged, there is no risk of a crackback from the other player so going for the kill is highly incentivised, reducing the occurence of board stalls. Denying kills has also happened, Van played Stab Wound on Jerry's Arboreal Grazer and then I killed the Grazer with Flame-Blessed Bolt before his turn so Van didn't get the W.
less wall, more mill. kept the kraken because it could be fun with bone saw.
Upgrade for the discard deck.
Thinking about removing Fog Bank and maybe another wall. Think it promotes a turtle deck which can win with incidental mill. Mill should still seek to be aggressive but be otherwise soft to something else. Currently mill is a inevitability so defense makes this too easy. Think even the fog decks should draw cards or something to ensure they have to have a proactive plan.
Zuran Orb had to go. Going to investigate some other options but in the meantime, Fountain of Youth is a good stand in.
Revamping green totally to be more focused on ramping and fogging. Nature's Spiral will let players recur Spore Frog and the druid will add some more ramp. Hoping to find a copy of Nylea's Forerunner in place of Candlelit Cavalry as I think it will be a stronger threat but Cavalry is a fine stand in here too.
As expected, this deck is strong, very likely too strong. I will leave it in for the time being and see how often it comes up. I am concerned that mulling to Zuran Orb simply has no downside. With higher than normal land count, short of holding up Spell Pierce, no deck can be fast enough. The combo with Clear the Mind means the ZMC player only needs stack life up and wait for CtM. Add in a minimal amount of blockers to play too and I think the deck is more or less unstoppable.
Mike got a nice crack at it in the draft with ZO and CtM in the same row on his pick. Thinking about it further, you have to be able to counter both spells.
I'd like to keep Clear the Mind in to enable the mill/control deck but my feelings are that, in order to maintain any kind of tension for the control deck, Zuran Orb will have to go, it simply makes the deck too formidable in the very early game. Feldon's Cane might be a good option however I am also wary of adding anti-mill tech with no colour restriction.
Follow up questions for later thought... How likely is this to occur? Is it worth the occurence of it at all, even if it is very low likelihood? Will this warp the draft totally around the two cards?
I think the deck is too intuitive to draft and play and too stable from the outset. It feels that there is no tension in the gameplay, only inevitability.
Frost Bite was always a placeholder for something along the lines of Magma Spray.
Since the start of this journey, I have been unsatisfied with how Green's top end feels. Untamed Kavu is pretty good but I'd really like another top end green threat. The problem lies in striking the balance between too early and too late, and also between general strength.
On top of this, I am wary of the strategies in place. I have inadvertently ended up with tokens in green and also red. Druid's Deliverance plays nicely into this with populate, however, do I want tokens in both colours?
What about a combat trick that gives a buff and trample? I think at 1 or 2 mana this is far too strong and an easy splash for an out of nowhere win in any colour. Sorcery speed might be acceptable or might be straight unplayable. Maybe I could look into foretell and suspend.
Primal Adversary caught my eye when I pulled it, perhaps a too-strong turn 2 threat with Arboreal Grazer or a good turn 4 threat using the ramp. Again, not sure.
Another option I've come to is Bestial Menace however I am concerned with both the fact that it is 5 mana (maybe a turn too slow) and the fact that Spell Pierce could prove to be too oppressive against it.
Following on from all of this, does red need some changes? Perhaps a shift away from tokens toward more controlling measures? Not even sure how I'd manage that at this stage. Maybe more symetrical removal/damage effects. The token cards feel like they're signposting an aggro deck which I didn't really intend.
I've also been happy playing with what I had up til this point, but that may have to stretch out now.
Have tried out a new mulligan based on the Pokemon TCG and it seems to be alright. Mulligans are only allowed if a hand with 1 or fewer lands is drawn and revealed. The opponent get's to scry for every mulligan (Pokemon allows the opponent to draw).
This removes the incentive to mulligan for mill resistant deck and allows the opponent to stack their deck in response to a mulligan.
Adjusting some things. It seems that player 2 needs better access to 1 mana instant speed removal otherwise, the turn 2 win for the player 1 is too easy. Piercing Light will still kill most relevant creatures including Fog Bank. I wish Spark of Creativity was instant speed, the gamble aspect is nice, Frost Bite just feels too solid.
Finally, Forbidden Friendship was definitely a mistake as it presents a guaranteed turn 2 win due to the hastey token unless the opposition has Dual Shot.
As expected, cylix is hot trash, not even comparable to Navigator's Compass.
A lunchtime draft of the cube in it's current form (sans Zuran Orb) went very well. Much faster, more conclusive games. Decks were Blue Red mill vs Black White aggro/burn.
One critique was that Unsummon might be too good... or at least requires more 1 mana instant removal exist in the environment. Reason being that on the draw, a blocker doesn't save you against a player with a creature and Unsummon. More thought required anyway.
Feel like RTF needed to be taken out for two reasons, 1. fewer artifacts now, 2. Buff for attacking creatures only where red should be controlling. Storm strike can act more as a removal spells.
Curtailing life gain and making white more aggressive(I hope). Bone saw will hopefully make decks a bit more proactive and stop the board stalling. Likewise I've removed a kill spell so hopefully this makes mulling more of a risk.
Werner and I learnt something interesting today about the format.
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Lifegain on mass might be a bit strong or maybe there needs to be some more top end to the aggressive colours. There simply doesn't seem to be enough time or power to deal with a player that has shot back to 7 or 8 life.
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Mulligans have an apparent bonus in that they put you ahead on cards. As such, perhaps each colour maybe needs a "win the game at 4 mana" card to prevent that.
I am particularly happy with the little black rack/burn deck that I've created however I think I need to maybe strip out some of the lifegain.
Bone Saw might have a place in the cube... Good with Spikeshot Elder. Might be a good replacement for Navigator's Compass.
Think Healing Grace should come out for something like Sacred Cat.
After two lunchtime rounds with the SDMC, one against a new player, one against a considerably more experienced player, I feel that the cube seems to be well balanced, with a couple of caveats.
I am wondering if decking is too easy of a win con, not in blue but in other colours, ie. fostering the deliberate creation of board stalls because you know your library is 1 card up on the opponent... or is that control? Maybe I could find another card that slips a card back into the library from the graveyard, or something that shuffles back in when it hits the yard.
I don't feel that the colourless lifegain cards are too strong at this stage which is something I was worried about, that they might relieve the tension of the 1 life games too much. That said, I might consider replacing them with removal down the line. Something to consider.
Overall I am very happy with how the cube plays so far. The draft is quite interesting with decks unfolding as you go. Need to keep working and make sure that the balance is good. Today I lost 0-2 but I still think the games were close and not one sided.