Relying on artifacts (or hating on them hard) is the path to victory in this cube. Artifacts have always been my favorite card type. They have always seemed like the "other" category in Magic, allowing for mechanics and interactions that simply wouldn't fit anywhere else.

This cube uses each color and color pair's strengths as they relate to artifacts as archetypal signposts. Multicolored cards synergize well with their respective color pairs, but did not much influence design philosophy. Please note that three color decks are not entirely discouraged, and we have drafted them and had a lot of fun, but the design philosophy of the cube was focused mainly around color pairs. (Color fixing support is coming as I expand from 450 to 540) Additionally, one of the major caveats when initially building the cube was that rare or mythic cards had to either be artifacts, or references them somewhere on the card. Concessions had to be made for green to be a viable color, but I also allowed for some bending of the rules there to include cards like Thoughtseize and several other cards that reference “target permanent,” such as Venser, the Sojourner. This rule kept me from simply jamming in typical cube auto-includes like Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, or Noble Hierarch.

The power level between some of the cards initially looks to be drastic. You may have a first pack where you are looking at Tinker right next to Cultivator of Blades. The gameplay of the cube, however, typically reflects a much more balanced experience, where that same Cultivator of Blades is imitating a smaller Craterhoof Behemoth and the Tinker target got blown up by Manglehorn. Even the wackiest of decks can triumph in the Scrapyard (looking at you RUG Madcap Experiment deck running a single artifact...)

I like to think of the cube as a literal scrapyard, and the people drafting it are approaching it loosely following the philosophies as defined below:

"Finding my weapon of choice"
-White can abuse equipment better than any other color. It looks to win through insurmountable advantage in the combat step, and can do so by going wide or tall, or better yet, both. Serves primarily an aggressive role, but can very easily take over the middle of the game as well. Also pairs well with Red for equipment and vehicle synergy, and Blue or Black for true tempo.

"What's the craziest pile of junk you've ever seen? Bet I can top it..."
-Tinker, tokens, abusing interactions with artifacts. Blue plays a traditional Tempo role, choosing to play the game at their pace with countermagic and cards to monitor the speed of the game. The traditional control role can be utilized as well, grinding out games and winning the battle of attrition better than any other color. Also pairs well with Red or Black for cheating huge threats into play, or with Green to control the game with card advantage and unbeatable late-game threats.

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoice."
-Black wants to play the midrange king of the hill, but can play tempo equally well. Abuse of the graveyard and sacrifice outlets to later reanimate targets or just profit off of their demise is where you'll be in Black. Also pairs well with Red to abuse recursive threats and self-sac, and with Green for a strong midrange game plan of efficient threats that can grow.

"One man's trash..."
-Red can do two very different things very well. It can play the aggro role, efficiently utilizing equiptment and vehicles, or play the combo/tempo role in being able to bring back threats from the graveyard. Couple that with the traditional suite of excellent Red removal, and you've got red filling many different roles in the cube. Also pairs well with White to pressure your opponent early, or with Blue or Green to provide a strong support role alongside their potent strategies.

"I don't need none of these newfangled contraptions."
-Green fulfills the traditional control role in the cube. It's removal is better, it's creatures are more efficient, and it's endgame is right on par with every other color, thanks to the Natural Order package. In order to balance Green's non-synergy with Artifacts (for the most part) I had to make it the boogeyman in the cube. You'll be looking to pack a lot of artifact removal, much of it stapled on a creature, and to deploy efficient threats that can grow over time in the form of +1/+1 counters. Also pairs well with Red and White to abuse the Modular Mechanic, and can support all colors in their game plans very well. Oh yea, and it ramps mana pretty well still, too.

Color pairs as you read above,have a lot of synergy, and primary and secondary archetypes often bleed into three colors or more (i.e. "+1/+1" being primary in green also dips into black, and modular now is in red and white as well. Reanimating artifacts with Daretti and Co. pairs extremely well with black and blue (sac outlets and Tinker support) and that is just a fraction of the cohesion.

Part of the decision to move to 540 cards is that I would also like this to be able to be played as a Commander/Oathbreaker cube, and adding support in for more Legends and mana fixing was needed to ensure that we could fire off a traditional draft or a commander style one from the same cube.