Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Lowered mana curve
Removed cards that were relegated to sideboards and "traps"
I'm tired. How are you?

Lowered mana curve
Removed cards that were relegated to sideboards and "traps"
I'm tired. How are you?

One of the things I wanted to do with this "restart" of the cube was get way more comfortable with proxies. and in that way, I feel we're off to a great start.

My goal is that anything over $25 eventually becomes a proxy, so that if anything (god-forbid) happens to the cube, I'm not out a billion dollars. So, what better place to start than with the reserved list?

Getting 1 of's of what I felt were cube classics and exemplary from the reserved list was quite fun and even allowed a lore seeker POWERPACK! where we can test various cards on the Commander Ban List to see if they truely warrant their banning. (they probably do.) If they aren't due to the uniqueness of Commander limited, we can push them into the cube proper. If they're strong, but not game warping, then they can stay in the power pack. if they warp the game and make it unfun, out it goes.

I think this is definitely ready for primetime, most of the "chaff" has been cut now and I think we've got some good synergies and kept only the strongest choices. Now it's up to an actual draft and the opinion of the people to meld it moving forward.

So I learned a lot from having another 360 cube and pruning it first.

Firstly, I trimmed the entire list down to 720, including seeded cards. This means with 12 players, the whole cube gets drafted each time.

I also tried to reduce cards that were only good in single player. Still stuff to sort through there. I want to do a few aggressive drafts of "Each person pick 3 cards to cut."

Commanders need sifting. I reduced the custom cards. Still more to do, but at least with a working cube i can see how it goes.

With my my Other Cube now hopefully stabilized, I'm beginning to appreciate how complicated a design process for a 360 cube can be when you have a limited cardpool. And it's honestly impacted the way I view cube design as a whole. I want to re-examine this cube under the lens of my new thoughts and understanding of draft and cube to hopefully tweak this in a further positive direction:

Thoughts:

• Combo is good because it ends games, but it seems to be the only way to win, midrange isn't quite there. The cube needs to have powerful "catchup" cards that can swing a game without actually ending it.
• Lands really make or break a deck. While I was so focused on ensuring players get "Playables", lands have a very important purpose to serve -- perhaps expand that in a meaningful way.

voja jaws of the conclave - Naya commander that is strong enough on its own to replace alta palani

Custom conspiracy - Unleashed Potential - "Your Deck Construction does not need to abide by Color Identity Rules."

Hymn of the Wilds - Boon for Creature based Aggro

Whoo! Wow. Okay. I've had this cube just shy of a year. In that time, it has doubled in sized, had massive ok play sessions, and been pretty well loved by the Sonoma cube community.

I still think there's some gameplay tweaks needed to get the cube better balanced, but the sessions tonight made me quite proud of what this little cube can be and represents. And by moving to have a proxy system ( that'll eventually flip to color fake card proxies) I can say that I think this is in a good place.

WOO. Okay. Big changes happened between 5 and now. I went through every multicolor card and did an overhaul thanks to my tax return. In addition, I identified some low performers and placed in "Cards so expensive I'll never buy them." - They need to become proper proxies at some point in the future, but that's for another day, and the list has been updated as such to denote "Not Owned" as cards that currently needs a 'quality proxy'.

Commanders have been rotated as well. The Single Color partner slot has been updated to the highest performing Mono-color Legendary creatures that don't have partner. Especially since Your Pet Commander has been changed.

Your Pet Commander has been flipped into two options. One to search the box of undrafted commanders, and replace it (or stay a 5 color commander) and One to become a copy of any valid commander that is not in the "Commander Slot" -- taking out the hassle of searching EDHRec, outside of bringing up the card for reference.

The One Free mulligan is now allowed across all formats that are drafted, to match the experience that Gavin Verhey has adopted in his mystery events.

After this draft, I'm interested in getting a picture of the whole cube laid out on one table, as well as doing an update of specific card version, foiled status.etc. I feel like the cube is reaching a point where I don't need to change out 5% of the contents every time we get done drafting to take out the chaff. Which is great, because maintaining this cube is EXPENSIVE.

Current Archetypes to Watch:

• Artifacts (too strong?) -- Artifacts lost Reckless Handling. Breya felt a little strong, so I felt like one less tutor would help, especially since the deck likely also wants it's replacement Wheel of Fortune

• Goblins (too weak?) -- While we've moved up to 38 goblins in the cube (more than 1/3rd of the red allocation), I can't help but feel like the archetype still lacks direction and is kind of punished for not having enough pieces to be truely viable in an environment when you're encouraged to go multiple colors. A solution could be to look into more goblins that are in black like Boggart Harbringer. It's tough with this particular tribe because there are so many goblins that have distinct tribal synergies, but stuggle to be exceptionally strong on their own. Broadside Bombadiers could have a good natural slot in the cube, but we're reaching a natural point where we may need to reassess if this is an architype the cube wants to support long term. we can replace Chainer or Prosper with Wort, Boggart Auntie or place her into a R/B slot replacing Rakdos Charm. Food for thought. (or goblins)

• Storm (in general) - Wheel of Fortune,Mox Diamond, Timetwister are in, and Some of the major payoffs and enablers (Goblin Electromancer, Goblin Anarchomancer, Thousand-Year Storm are a few) are out. With better access to Fast mana and quick card selection, the ability to go off quicker has been enhanced, but also hampered. Something to keep an eye on. And on that note--

• High Tide (too weak) -- If you make High Tide work, it's a sick deck. But are there so many cards in this cube that the card is too narrow? especially in an environment which encourages multiple colors -- It's a similar place to Goblins.

• Enchantress (too weak?) - Enchantress is kind of an afterthought in this current edition of the cube (and honestly always has been), but I feel is a strong choice in Orzhov. With Access to Academy Rector, Sanguine Bond Combo, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, and Enlightened Tutor, there are pieces in here for a SOLID deck. However I wonder if there's truely the correct pieces to make it work, and with those pieces, are they "generic" enough to fit into more than one deck, especially when its fighting in those colors for Reanimator. It's a rubber meets the road moment for Enchantress.

#1 - I need Better token selection.
#2 - removing Lore Seeker, Canal Dredger and like cards VASTLY improves the draft experience.
#3 - 3 packs of 20 is about perfect. If 4 packs is ever done, lower card number.
#4 - Your Pet Commander is a pain to look things up online, and most people have a Commander already in mind. Updating into two different commanders that uses the best of the unique situations
#5 - 5 color commanders are critical for folks who just want a normal draft-like experience.
#6 - 2 card combos that are not synergistic with any other strategies got to go.
#7 - Multicolor is getting tweaks to play more extreme Bombs. Removal is fine but needs to be Flexible and Niche answers get relegated to sideboard, effectively never getting played.
#8 - People like the Oath breaker format
#9 - 1v1 is real good in this cube too

Well! It's hard to believe the last time I drafted the commander cube was two months ago, but here we are.

There's been some pretty big changes in the cards in the 720 since then. It makes me seriously wonder what the draft experience will be. It was really encouraging to hear people say things like "I just want every card in this pack," as we drafted.

I can't say I'm overly happy with the current multicolor selection. If we remove signets and talismans from the equation -- there are 6 cards per guild and im not convinced that each set of 6 are the best possible cards that will make people go "this card makes me want to play this color."

A great example of an upcoming change is wear/tear -> Forth Erolingas!

Forth is such a drasticly powerful card that seeing it in a pack is going to make people flip their lid.

wear/tear is a sideboard card that is generally uninteresting. So, if we examine this for each slot -- do we feel the same about Blade historian? time sieve? avacyn's pilgrim?

It's really tough to say. It's a case where following "color identity" makes designing the cube difficult, especially if you want every card to not be "dead" but still include major staples for each color.

For the record, I dont think any of the above cards in particular are a problem. However, I do think that the cube being 720 creates a unique problem where if some card is not adding anything to the draft or a card is warping a play session -- it's diffcult to say "well the card is a problem" because the whole cube was not drafted. If Jace, Weilder of Mysteries causes a win condition 5 times in a row -- do we say the card is a problem or that a proper answer wasn't drafted or wasn't in hand? If the cube is drafted for a year and no-one ever has a Jace win, does that mean that the win condition isn't good enough and is taking up too much space?

I'm very curious to see how the tuesday draft goes, and excited to get more format on the cube. I may try to force goblins to see how the package is working out.

Woo! Alright. Draft 3 was a massive success and it deeply helped learn what is working and what is not.

In short -- There's a pretty stark difference between cards that "Used to be" good in Commander (classic pre-precons commander) and what is good in commander now. A good example is cards like Eternal Dragon. These cards are getting passed because the format is pretty darn fast. The grindy and control decks are successfully beating out combo and the format feels competitive and interactive but the games aren't taking 5 hours to resolve.

The stax packages are helping a lot against control and combo. Which means creature stompy is back on the menu. My current concerns are around "Trigger happy" decks, since there seems to be little to stop these types of builds. as a result, cards like strict proctor are heading into the cube.

The seeded commanders are getting a pretty drastic change. In short, All companions are coming out, and the most loved/most valuable companions are heading into "the 99". Heading into the seeded commanders are one of each 2 color partner commander.

Most commanders being chosen during the draft are 3 color and it is very rare to find 2 color commanders helming a draft pile. As a result, Im expecting more 4 color piles, or people to covet the 2 color partner, and the new custom card "Commander's Partner" to be used in order to make their 3 color pile more feasible. With the "Mono color Legendary creatures have partner" we can see really cool combos like Urza, Lord High Artificer plus Vial Smasher the Fierce in the command zone. Very exciting in my opinion.

Some cards that have seen little impact on play are coming out and more exciting cards are coming in.

The cube is already getting claims of being "the best commander cube they've played" but I still think there's room for making the rules easier to navigate, the cube easier to draft, and the games more interactive and interesting. The cube is catering a competitive experience without giving players the feeling they "can't play".

One of the thing I'm loving about the cube experience is what happens after the first game when players aren't succeeding in what their build wants to do. The result ends up being that Players examine a player's deck and give building advice and swap suggestions. The rules and experiences of many other cubes is proving relevant to this draft experience. It's unique, but not SO unique that you need to re-learn how to draft.

all of this is very great news in my opinion, and im excited for the next draft in which we will be attempting a 1v1 Oathbreaker style experience.

woo!

With a lot of excitement, the third draft is happening tonight which I anticipate will be a lot of exciting play. Now having the "Combo guide" as well as some "Prismatic Piper" style custom cards for those who fail to get successful commanders during draft -- I've hopefully made the draft way more forgiving to beginners.

I do plan to force "Your Pet Commander" into the seeding randomly tonight to see how it gets chosen/how it plays in action. I'll pick it myself if it comes around and see if I can break it. If only to see if it's actually a good idea in practice.

White, Stax, Red, Flicker and Tokens should have all gotten massive upgrades. Animar might be too strong of a deck but it's going to be an exercise in bringing down power level or adding staxy hate cards to counter them rather than upping power of other colors.

I'm very excited. The fourth time this gets drafted (if it doesnt happen tonight) -- I'm gonna force a 1v1 draft to test that playstyle.

In very brief, Tokens and Flicker, both Bant strategies, have gotten pretty strong power boosts.

Taken out was a lot of cards that didnt seem to make the cut in other cubes. Put in were some incredible staples such as:

Armageddon - Specifically to counter ramp strategies
Opposition
Time Warp
Arcane Savant - What a fun card that specifically only works in Draft! Im excited to see what combos this gives the flicker deck.
Seasoned Dungeoneer and White Plume Adventurer
Curiosity and a second Niv-Mizzet in the Commander seedings
Kappa Cannoneer as a top end for the artifact decks
and of course Cat Jesus I mean Leonin arbiter as a way to slow down the MANY tutor strats in here.

While the next draft isn't in sight im very excited for this power boost to white and I'm hoping I can see how this works in action.

Im also considering fipping the spread of 2 color and 3 color seeded commanders. (3 per 2 color, 2 per 3 color to the opposite) -- It seems that multicolor strategies are most prevalent in the draft pods I bring the cube to, and having more "color inclusivity" would ease some pressure when drafting. Alternatively, I may flip one of each 2 color commander seed to a 2 color partner commander. Im leaning towards the latter.

Big, awesome changes and flips -- in my opinion.

Artifact duals -> OG duals
5 meh utility lands -> 5 On color fetches
5 color specific lands -> LOTR Landcycling cycle

Foreign cards -> English

The cube has hit a level of changes that While there was a "hit" to the artifact deck, the general color fixing has become much more flexible and gameplay has less "stalls" due to come into play tapped lands. I say hit in quotes because there aren't many cards that utilize improvise or require high artifact count outside of Urza's karnstruct and Thought Monitor

In addition, there's been cuts made to frequent "last picks", additions of popular stax pieces against combo and promoting the aggro/permanent based decks, and an added emphasis on cards that make immediate impact to the board rather than having to wait to get value. One of the cuts im not crazy about is Sheoldred, Whispering One but we will see if Ink-Eyes actually makes a difference. If he doesnt, I just need to order an english version.

I'm continuing to examine the cube and aim to promote multiple strategy types. One of the decks Im concerned doesn't have enough love is the Token strategy, but I also don't think that adding 4 token doublers just -auto- makes the strategy better. More examination will be required.

More changes coming in the next week or so, because I'm a glutton for buying cards.

So, decisions have been made. And work has been done:

Accomplished:
Sleeve Cleanup - All cards are in collect sleeving and double-sleeving/stickering has been done to denote what needs to be separated from the cube.
Dice box acquired
All cube tokens acquired
QR code "rules card" made

I'm keeping the cube size at 720 to keep variance up, combo down, allow 2 full pods of 1v1 draft, (with a "Multiversal legends" spot) and not need to buy a new box.

I have 10 cards currently interested in making their way into the cube but im unsure what to cut

Insurrection
Embercleave
Icy Manipulator
Rune-Scarred Demon
Bridge from Below
Rhythm of the Wild
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Teferi's Protection
Heroic Intervention
Academy Manufactor

Tonight it looks like we're doing a 4 person pod of this cube and I'm going to be curious how it gets played. I tailored the feedback sheet towards finding underperformers/bad fits for the cube. So hopefully we can slot some of these staples in.

684 is enough for a 12 player multiplayer cube draft
912 is 16 player

Decisions.

Goblins and Artifacts package - Check!
Lowered curve and more creatures - CHECK
More Stax - CHECK!

NOW! The next goal is improving the Feel and Draft experience. Off to the CRAFT ZONE!

Need:
Handy Dandy QR Code to Rules/Draft Explanation (Cube Overview page)
Tokens (Proxy them)
Sleeves Cleanup
"Deal Broker" Zone
Dice Solution