While at SCG CON Charlotte, I had the opportunity to try out the latest iterations of Parnell's Cube and UberBear's Artifact Cube. Artifact aggro has needed some love in the Creative Cube, so I was looking for solutions that didn't lean heavily on Modular, since it can be very parasitic.

I had some interesting finds while playing, including Cyberman Patrol, Iron Apprentice, and JackKnight. I'm also bringing back some cards tried in the past, such as Paladin Danse, Steel Maverick, Gingerbrute, and Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender that were good on their own, but flourish when the environment better supports them. To put more artifact rectangles on the board, Spyglass Siren, Whirler Rogue, and Forensic Gadgeteer are making their way in (plus will be good friends with Stridehangar Automaton).

Outside of artifact aggro, trying a few other adjustments for cards that simply weren't getting there, and to see if Emperor of Bones can play nicely with the cube if Atraxa, Grand Unifier is put in Time Out (she knows what she's done).

Another month, another Magic set...

With the density and focus of artifacts in the cube, I was fairly excited about what Aetherdrift was going to bring to the table. Though it ended up being extremely vehicle heavy, there were still some nice gems to be found. At the top of that list were the Gearhulks, with 4/5 making the cut (sorry Pyrewood, maybe next time).

In addition to some testing, I made it out to Vertex in Philly a few weeks back. While there I tried out the Bodleian Cube and the Atomic Cube so I could get a taste of similar environments and see what they do differently. Both were a ton of fun, especially everyone getting a Cogwork Librarian during the Bodleian draft. Tempo strategies, death & taxes, high spell densities, and different power deltas all caught my eye as different directions Jake and Greg took for their environments. Coming out of the event, I felt there were some areas to reconsider or re-approach for the Creative Cube:

I. Retry cards I felt were previously too powerful for the environment

I was previously concerned about including some cards in the Creative Cube leading up to CubeCon 2024 as to not warp the format. I felt like I learned my lesson with CubeCon 2023's list, where the power delta was too small and a few power outliers took over, by widening that delta and taking out anything egregious. However, some of those cards may not have been as egregious as I previously thought, plus Magic cards are overall getting stronger. Our last testing session with most of today's updates pushed the format to have more powerful plays, but it ultimately made for more exciting games and fun from our drafters. I may need to make a couple power-level calls before UberCubeathon, but I'm going to keep testing the waters.

II. Put a hard(er) restriction on no outside object tracking

Present day Magic cards are complicated, and there is only so much attention equity that can be devoted to everything taking place on the battlefield, in addition to tricks in other zones. There were a few Start Your Engines! cards I was very interested in including from DFT, but if I was this to be an approachable environment with high interaction, I need to draw a line in the sand. There will still be a couple cards with Toxic—though I've yet to see someone win a game with poison—and as complicated as Craft is, it's closely tied to the artifact control theme, an important identity to the Creative Cube.

III. Determine what range of turns games should take to play out

There have been some cards excluded from the cube that I wouldn't consider too powerful* but didn't create pleasant games for the environment, and I've been trying to articulate why. I feel one of the reasons is how quickly it closes a game and makes the opponent feel like they didn't have an opportunity to deal with the threat. Emperor of Bones is my most recent example, where it can quickly lead to a massive threat being reanimated on turn 3 or 4, and puts their opponent too far on the backfoot to recover. On the other end of the spectrum, this has been a reminder to have proper threats to finish the game so games can end in a timely fashion.

IV. Ensure players have enough interaction without invalidating themes

Someone reviewing the cube list may notice that there's a noticeable ratio of sorcery-speed interaction compared to its instant speed counterparts. There's also not a ton of artifact removal, or any artifact wipes. This is a product of ensuring that artifact strategies aren't feast or famine, and that they can compete as tap-out control strategies. Graveyard interaction is still an area where I'm searching for a sweet spot, not wanting to wreck graveyard strategies, but ensuring reanimator strategies don't rule supreme.

V. Enjoyment and excitement over "synergy"

I originally presented this cube as a "synergy cube," and I feel like that doesn't do the cube any favors in explaining what I want it to provide to players. Often, when synergy comes up, the expectation is that lower power-level cards—when combined—will always beat out more powerful ones, or that a drafter keeping a single focal point of a game plan will cause their deck to fully come together.

My goal with this cube is to create an environment where drafters are encouraged to mix-and-match themes to cleverly build engines, play with exciting cards that allow for powerful plays, and temper the power delta enough so games don't feel won by difficult to answer threats. Over the next week or so, I'll be updating the Overview page to better convey these goals and provide a better primer to those new to the cube.

As a reminder, the Creative Cube will be featured at UberCubeathon 2025 on April 26th in Chapel Hill, NC. I hope to see many of you there!

Had an awesome time at CubeCon this year, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing card pool data from everyone that drafted the Creative Cube. Some key notes:

• This year's version of the Creative Cube provided a much more fun experience for players than 2023's version! Increasing the power delta provided more excitement during drafting and gameplay, and clear signpost cards helped guide players into established themes during their first drafts.
• Successful aggro decks required leaning on established themes to succeed (e.g. +1/+1 counters) as was the intention. This gave other themes time to establish their gameplans and interact with the board.
• Players were great at providing feedback, and I left the event feeling like there were only a few specific areas and cards requiring changes.

Speaking of changes, there were some cards and themes that didn't work out—some of which I had low hopes for, like The Blackstaff of Waterdeep. Here's a brief breakdown:

• Cards intended for value but often viewed as combo cards in constructed formats created confusion and were often not played. E.g. Indomitable Creativity, Lich-Knights' Conquest.
• has been a struggle to find a proper theme, and tokens/ETB wasn't quite it either. This is moving back to welder, but will need some help from Aetherdrift to gain additional support and clear signposts. Campus Renovation is not powerful enough even though it provides clear direction.
• Likeness Looter is such an amazing card for , and I wish I had swapped Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator for it much sooner.
• could use a bit more direction and/or alternate play directions than simply reanimator. I'm going to see how Kiora, the Rising Tide performs and if there's more support that feels fitting to the cube to support either more of a graveyard focus or draw X focus.
• Some additional overlap between Artifacts and adjacent color pairs would be nice, so hopefully Aetherdrift delivers. I like the increase in artifacts to make Ingenious Smith a card that can see play in more decks.

I expect half of these changes to stick, but a handful more updates will be needed in the coming months.

MH3, BLB, and DSK gave me a bunch to think about when trying to finalize this list. While testing over the last few months, some archetypes, like GUR ramp and URx spells, were performing amazingly, but a few others were not quite pulling their weight. To rectify this, the environment was slowed down a bit, aggro decks went bigger, and other themes got the added support they needed. Here's some highlights:

• streamlined its artifact control theme by melding it with blink effects and switching more cards that care about instants & sorceries into ones that care about noncreature cards.

• leans harder into self-mill and reanimate, plus more reactive spells added to the list.

• didn't see much change, but received some overlapping benefit from the and changes.

• is finally something exciting that doesn't have to piggyback on 's ramp plan. Pairing self-mill with escape creatures like Bloodbraid Challenger and Detective's Phoenix packs a punch and brings a very unique aggro feel to the table.

• was reverted to +1/+1 counters since red needed to steal some token support and players missed Bristly Bill, Spine Sower.

• received the added aristocrats support it needed and should function as intended.

• received a fun side-quest with Indomitable Creativity and Reality Scramble, but otherwise no noticeable changes.

• has a more solid identity with the added Delirium support from Duskmourn.

• has had quite the identity crisis, with artifact aggro and historic aggro not cutting it. The former couldn't compete against most of the field, and the latter wasn't of interest to players. The color pair now takes a familiar go-wide aggro strategy, but leverages triggers from ETB and attack effects. Riders of Rohan and The Jolly Balloon Man should see a lot of screen time.

• is still doing ramp things. No notable changes.

It's been quite the journey, but I'm finally happy with the current state of the cube and how it properly exemplifies its intended goals and themes. I look forward to seeing new folks get to draft it at CubeCon in the coming weeks!

MH3 Updates

Modern Horizons 3 was a lot to take in and evaluate. It included some new, powerful cards that I had to test to see 1) if they fit any of the themes I supported and 2) if they were the right power level for the environment. The highlights include:

• MDFCs: Sink into Stupor, Disciple of Freyalise, Fell the Profane, Witch Enchanter
• Land-central cards: Six, Springheart Nantuko
• Other standouts: Psychic Frog, Chthonian Nightmare, Warren Soultrader

Theme Changes

After additional testing, I was able to hammer out fun, interesting, and intuitive themes for some color pairs that were still confused. The primer will be updated in the coming weeks, but the short version is as follows:

• UB: Draw-Discard Triggers (Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, All-Seeing Arbiter, Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer, Shadowgrange Archfiend)
• BR: Discard Value (Veronica, Dissident Scribe, Carnage Interpreter, The Raven Man, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger)
• RG: Land Recycle (Worldsoul's Rage, Deeproot Wayfinder, Cavalier of Flame, Life from the Loam, Six)
• GW: Bolstered Tokens (Trostani Discordant, Securitron Squadron, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Rosie Cotton of South Lane)
• WB: Aristocrats (Teysa, Opulent Oligarch, Warren Soultrader, Mirkwood Bats, Staff of the Storyteller)
• BG: Buried Creatures (Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Saytr Wayfinder, Woe Strider, Royal Warden)
• RW: Historic (Arbaaz Mir, Sarah Jane Smith, Monumental Henge, Magda, Brazen Outlaw))
• GU: Explore Ramp (Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy, Lotus Cobra, Tireless Provisioner, Astral Dragon)

One last update before MH3 previews are in full force! Swapping out a few underplayed cards and adding some spice to spell strategies.

Simulacrum Synthesizer has been a consideration for a bit. Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh isn't seeing much play with few ways to capitalize on the static ability, so this felt like an easy swap.

I wanted to expand the range of Jace Reawakened's plot ability, by adding in Ancestral Vision and Profane Tutor. I think added in a few other tricks to cast them, including Arcane Proxy and Electrodominance. Capricious Hellraiser can do the same, but will more often try to cast a Portal to Phyrexia or Dig Through Time.

One other fun include is See the Truth. I forgot this card existed until playing another cube recently, but there's a handful of ways to easily turn it into a draw three: plot, casting from the graveyard, and The Reality Chip.

Highway Robbery is one I'm trying out after having sequencing issues with Demand Answers. Putting Robbery on layaway should benefit welder and Mizzix's Mastery decks so they can discard and weld/cast on the same turn. It's been infrequent that players want to sacrifice artifacts with Demand Answers, a sacrificing a land can be better in the late game plus generate another token with Titania, Protector of Argoth.

There's a few quick swaps I'm excited to make from the MH3 leaks, so expect another update soon!

While waiting for some spicy cards to be previewed from MH3, there's a few small updates focused on .

Insidious Roots didn't consistently come together, requiring both drawing the card and having enough support around it. But thanks to the upcoming release of Wight of the Reliquary, can instead focus on creature cards in graveyards. This direction should blend well alongside the sacrifice theme. Fiend Artisan is already a favorite of mine that provides a toolbox of answers while growing. Rise of the Witch-king is a strong 4mv reanimation spell I've tried in @ItsShoup Abzan cube and is probably at home here.

is the least drafted color pair at the moment, so giving it a little bit more focus and potential for explosive plays. E.g. Mayhem Devil + Greater Gargadon

The new Kaervek, the Punisher looks like fun, so I'm giving him a whirl.

Going to test out Insidious Roots in and see if the deck can come together consistently. Both colors have a handful of ways to remove cards from graveyard between unearth abilities, regrowth effects, and graveyard hate.

Part 8 of 2024 update

Swapped in artifacts that are great payoffs for Refurbish effects and moved aggressive threats to support modular & +1/+1 counters.

Part 7 of 2024 update

Established clearer signposts for each multicolor pair to help players navigate into archetypes. Updated themes will be posted under Overview.

Part 6 of 2024 update

Green has been refocused to +1/+1 counters, ramp, and self-mill

Part 5 of 2024 update

Added support for red artifact aggro, treasure ramping, and welding. Removed support for legendary theme.

Part 4 of my 2024 update

Adjusted black for the slower format and greater focus on reanimation. Black now has a more prominent token theme it shares with white.

Part 3 of my 2024 update

Blue received enough support to pair with white and red in artifact strategies.

To add more flavor to blue, it now focuses on casting large spells and supporting reanimation strategies.

Part 2 of my 2024 update

White now has a greater focus on artifacts thanks to additions from LCI and PIP. Arcbound cards were added to help bridge +1/+1 counter and aggressive artifact themes.

Part 1 of my 2024 update

Trimming down cube to 360 and reducing lands to keep a good land/nonland ratio.

Each color pair now has the following land suite:

• Shockland
• Fetchland
• Surveil Land
• Unique Land

Triomes are still included, but removed rainbow lands. Wasteland was removed as to not punish players for taking bouncelands.

It's time to lock in the CubeCon 2023 list and post the last batch of changes. My playgroup has been testing the cube weekly over the last couple months to ensure the environment is fun, fair, and intuitive. The final list is now down to 385 cards after some trimming of power outliers (high and low) and ridding the list of some trap or narrow subthemes. Here are some highlights:

Do not discard under penalty of law
As much as I love Asmor and Currency Converter, it was too difficult to draft all the necessary pieces to build a well-functioning self discard deck. Any cards specifically focused around the discard subtheme have been removed.

Feeling from artifacts
Artifacts in blue have not been working and Emry, Lurker of the Loch has felt like a trap. The last of the artifact support in blue has been removed.

Blink and you'll miss it
/x needed some more cohesion, so its beloved theme of flicker/blink has been added to the environment. Bant is filled with ETB value to make the most of this new theme.

Reaching new heights
As another color-bridge improvement, now has a clear ramp theme and some nice endgame payoffs.

Pondering the Orb
Palantir of Orthanc is a really fun card, and Hidetsugu and Kairi has proven to been a great top-end for control. Between these, ramp, and delve spells, this interesting theme found a nice home.

And the rest...
Other than these major updates, some power-level tweaks were needed to remove anything regularly sitting in sideboards or unfun cards dominating games.

Additionally, aggro was dominating the majority of drafts in testing, so a few more pieces of early removal were added to level the field. Though it's nice to lean the environment towards aggro to prevent too much "durdling," not giving other archetypes time to enact their plan is counter to the spirit of the Creative Cube.

I hope to see many of you at CubeCon this year, and that you have the opportunity to draft the Creative Cube while you're there!

Halsin, Emerald Archdruid -> Tough Cookie

Removing some cards that were underperforming or not seeing much play and replacing them with others I've been on the fence about. Murktide Regent is the only addition here that I'll need to keep an eye on.