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Contents

1. Intro
2. Playing With Power
3. How to draft Cube
4. Combos and Interactions
5. Archive of the best Matches in the History of MTG
6. Contract From Below/Ante/Errata
7. Retired Cards
8. Flavor and Fun

This was an old 540 card Powered Vintage cube, but decided to shave it down to 360. There's a couple of glaring reasons I thought the need for this.

1. There is a big drop off between the top 200 cards in Magic, and really any other card printed. When someone spends the energy to draft the "Nuts" aristocrats or blink deck, only to still get blown out by Tinker, Channel, or Mind Twist every game it's pretty disheartening. The fun part about Vintage Magic is definitely the randomness of the imbalance, but it's only really fun if everyone is in the same bracket of brokenness. It's pretty sad otherwise.

2. Because Power is here along with every other design mistake in Magic, I believe it's fair that everyone gets a chance to open and pick a few messed up cards. At 360, every card is seen in an 8 man draft--which means no excuses if you aren't doing something dumb. In the wise words of Sean O'Brien, "If you ain't playing Power, F*** or Walk!"

I made an expansion to this 360 cube pretty much just for variance reasons. The cube link is here if you want to check it out: http://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/31rhs

Why expand you ask? 360 is fun because it almost feels competitive and plays like chess. Now my hometown playgroup and I love how this more resembles vintage constructed, but I'm playing with a new playgroup and that can be a little intimidating. And, sometimes you just want to play Eureka and drink a beer!

Why 430? 540 is definitely too large for all the nutty cards in one pile. There's EASILY 100 cards you can cut when you start comparing power level at 540, and another 100 are a little suspect depending on your cube. 450 Should be the natural go to then, except I added everything I wanted to and the list landed closer to 430 which is better honestly. So, the plan for the expansion will be 430 cards and 16 card packs which leaves 46 lingering cards after the draft. I had the space to load up on all the fun new combos and crowd favorites so it should be fun.

If you've never played Vintage before, you might not be familiar with the Power Trio:

Decks that can play Force of Will, or decks that abuse Bazaar or Shops. Really what this translates to is--> Decks that have the best interaction in the game (Blue decks), decks that strive for little interaction (Bazaar/Dredge decks), decks that can consistently/successfully throw haymakers (Shops/Sneak decks).

Because of this Vintage has the moniker of a "3 Deck Format." This is far from true though as there are many different ways to abuse the "Power" cards in Magic's History. It's also not the turn 1 format that everyone makes it out to be, and it's the most interactive format you can play along with cEDH. One thing is for sure though about Vintage: If you came to play, you better be packing Power.

After having seen how newer cube players draft Powered cubes, it seems necessary to first point out that a Powered Cube isn't actually balanced. And you're lying to yourself if you think your Powered cube is perfectly balanced. It's not. These "Power" cards are an imbalance to the game, but a balancing aspect to this is that most players in the draft will snag these cards on sight where players end up with an equal amount of "Power" and it adds a little sillyness to the game. What I've seen happen at times is newer players don't respect the power of some of these cards, and the "in the know" players end up hoarding them all making for some really lopsided non-games.

So, for newer players, it's time to be "in the know." Some cards are just miles above the rest as far as power level. Here's my list of cards you should try NEVER to pass in a draft. Even if it's not in your colors.

Cards above any tier:

1. Contract from Below -- See below for what I believe to be a fun errata for this card. Edit: with how I've written the rules of ante, it's still great, but it backfires often. This card has the highest ceiling and the lowest floor in this cube. It's a power card for sure, but Ancestral might just be better.

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1. Sol Ring
2. Time Walk
3. Black Lotus
4. Ancestral Recall
5. Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Jack-in-the-Mox, Mana Crypt
6. Mana Drain
7. Oko, Thief of Crowns -- I've talked smack on this card before claiming that it is overrated, but it is admittedly busted too. While the other cards on this list give you an unfair advantage, this card just wins you the game if dropped early.
8. Mind Twist -- Winner of most immediate concessions. 2nd is Plow Under.
9. Jace, the Mind Sculptor

After these 9 absurd cards, there are cards that linger right below them that are still very VERY powerful, but not immediately game breaking like the above cards. Basically cards that are powerful on their own or only need some minor synergy to push these cards into overdrive.

Not in any order:
Demonic Tutor, Thoughtseize, Tinker, Library of Alexandria, Strip Mine, Natural Order, Wheel of Fortune, Timetwister, Mana Vault, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Force of Will, Narset, Parter of Veils, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Assassin's Trophy, Fractured Identity.

Then there are the cards that are really powerful, but need synergy or set up to really show their power:
Mishra's Workshop, Bazaar of Baghdad, Tolarian Academy, Goblin Welder, Yawgmoth's Will, Channel, Survival of the Fittest, Monastery Mentor, Wrenn and Six, Opposition, Fastbond, Upheaval, Wildfire, Sneak Attack, Time Spiral, Umezawa's Jitte, Serra the Benevolent, Balance.

Guidelines on Drafting

Also, here's an amazing article on drafting in cube: https://cubecobra.com/content/article/6018710fc1b0b210738c36a9

Cheers!

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Let's just get the obvious out of the way, there are a plethora of interactions and combos in this cube, and I'm not even sure I know them all. This wouldn't be Vintage cube or the Vintage format without a handfull of lights out combos or durdling puzzles to solve.

Did you ever think Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite was waaaay overcosted for it's ability? Me too. This combo revolves around getting the baddest creatures you've ever wanted into play faster.
Some ways to do it:

Through the Breach + Ancient Stone Idol = Opponent doing some heavy calculating

Natural Order + Some Poor Dude = Dragonlord Atarka = Opponent holding their breath

Channel + Emrakul, the Promised End = It'll be a hard day

Tinker + Random Artifact = Blightsteel Colossus = It'll be an easy day

And you get the picture. This cube is a smorgasbord of Billy Mays selling you ways to cheat creatures. And just like any Billy Mays item, you're damn sure we'll pay the price!.

Important Public Announcement!
It's pretty known that Show and Tell and Eureka are awful in cube, BUT! I just want to remind you that this is mostly based off playing MTGO leagues.

In paper, Show and Tell and Eureka play much more in your favor than what you're used to if you only play cube online.

For those that prefer the dark arts to just simply asking if they want their Boom Boom to join with the Sneak effects, there's also the classic Reanimator. You can't have something for nothing just so you know. Every time you you use a Reanimate, a cute kitten dies. I mean whatever if that's your thing.

Step 1: Put the creature such as Triplicate Titan in the graveyard
Step 2: Necromancy + Triplicate Titan
Step 3: Watch your opponents sour face.

A strategy for those that think Magic is already such an easy and boring game; why not make it harder?

Dark Ritual + Night's Whisper + cross fingers for Yawg's Will + Cabal Ritual + Gitaxian Probe + cross fingers for Yawg's Will + Dark Petition + tutor for Yawg's Will + Yawgmoth's Will + Dark Ritual + Cabal Ritual + Gitaxian Probe + Tendrils of Agony = 10 Storm count = gg

Oh yeah. Everything you've always dreamed of right here.

These will play as written on the card and as originally intended.

When these were originally printed, you could grab cards in the exile zone simply because it wasn't considered a zone in the game at the time.

And yeah, you're reading that right, any card you can sleeve up and put in your deck at that moment. And of course you can break singleton! This is Vintage cube right? Go for broke!

This does seem a little broken--especially Cunning Wish just because the opponent can't really have any pulse on what card they could have at instant speed and react to it--but I'd like to test it to find out. It at least seems fun, and I'll likely see cards get played that would otherwise not see the light of day in cube. I've also tested Contract From Below and really these cards can't be any worse than trying to make that card fair.

If there ever was a "whoops, I win!" combo, here it is. Eat your heart out you skulking bastards.

Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage = 20/20 Flying, Indestructible.

Props to those who use Depths as a mana sink though.

This is a combo specific to Vintage so of course I had to add it. It's not a lights out combo with just the Valakut Exploration and Fastbond, but it's still pretty nasty and might kill your opponent over two turns--that is unless you found a way to gain life while dropping lands of course.

An odd synergy that shouldn't work in all honesty, but I don't make the rules...mostly I guess. Artifacts (specifically continuous artifacts) in the history of Magic used to not "work" when tapped--leaving cards like Howling Mine and Winter Orb one sided effects in combination with Relic Barrier. While this confusing rule went away with 6th edition rules, for whatever reason after the rule drop, it was deemed by the roaring Magic community that a one sided Howling mine, Winter Orb, and now Static Orb was such a fun experience that the cards were errataed to be "suppressed" if tapped. Anyway, that combo is still here in this cube with the original hero/villain of Magic in both Urza and Winter Orb. I'm sure it would make Richard Garfield cry, probably not as intended though.

A new combo on the block. Zirda first of all isn't terrible in an aggro shell. I mean there are plenty of other cards I'd rather play, but it does have synergy with equipment and the ability can let you punch through a pesky wall. But you're not here to read about me sticking up for poor old Zirda are you? Below is what you're looking for:

Zirda, the Dawnwaker + Basalt Monolith = Infinite mana.

Also, the Companion mechanic will just play as it is on the card in this cube. I know, I'm scared about my PTSD of turn 1: Black Lotus, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, cast Lotus for the rest of the game, but Lutri, the Spellchaser likely will really only benefit from this.

UPDATE: Lutri, the Spellchaser as been removed from the cube. It's frustratingly insane without the Errata, and pretty bad otherwise. It's also in the best 2 cube colors, and watching your opponent copy Ancestral Recall and Time Walk into oblivion with Karakas is not the most exciting magic.

Everyone is thinking it…I’m just saying it…pirates!

Notion Thief + Timetwister = Mind Twist on your opponent, and double Braingeyser on yourself.

Some of the other ways to do this aren’t quite as good, but it's still a pretty crazy advantage over your opponent.

Doomsday the namesake card itself is not actually in my cube, but Tainted Pact plays a similar role and is just more limited friendly.
Quick Note, I do offer snow-covered lands to go with this package, but it's still hard to build a no-fail Tainted Pact even with that advantage.

Tainted Pact + Thassa's Oracle = You win the game
Tainted Pact + Laelia, the Blade Reforged = you win the game if not blocked

Welder or Emry + Mindslaver = "Infinate Turns"

I wanted to put a little emphasis on the boots here just because of how backbreaking the card is in the deck trying to slaver lock someone. It's a cute and fun combo on it's own, but with the support of boots the combo is more than a meme.

The most overlooked cube combo—I mean I get it, it’s a mono white combo, and who plays mono white when everyone is drawing 7 cards a turn and dumping their hand into play?

The combo ain't flashy, but it's honest work.

Parallax Wave + Leonin Relic-Warder + any ETB creature = infinite ETB’s

Parallax Wave + Containment Priest = 1 sided Wrath of God

Old hat, same tricks. We all know the combo, and we both love it and loath it.

kiki + any creature that can ETB untap = Infinite Pesties or Restys

I want to point out, that Resto angel only works with kiki, but not with its banned counterpart (Splinter Twin). People seem to forget that Resto angel is a combo piece!

This was known more for its dominating presence in the Modern format, but we can’t even do that anymore. So… I guess it’s here to stay in Vintage cube where it’s the only place we'll see it go off.

People have been clamoring about White card advantage since the beginning of Magic, but we've had Auriok Salvagers who is a card advantage and mana engine for the last 16 years. And by mana--well I mean infinite mana:

Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond = Infinite Mana

There are other ways this combo works--I'm not gonna say it, but if you ever come across it, **** you! And trust me when I say the rest of the draft pod agrees.

This is for sure a Vintage classic, and the fact that it's not here feels like a cop out. I did have someone ask me, "So these are just a bunch of cards that you can't play anywhere else?" With that, I feel like Time Vault deserves to be there alongside P9 and company.

I'm a fan of the Time Vault combo in Vintage and Old School, but I'm not sure how I feel about it in draft. With the combo I had now that's replacing this--Painter/Grindstone--On paper it'll act the same as a 2 card combo except: Voltaic Servant > Painter, and Mirage Mirror gets more draftable, and Time Vault = Grindstone in terms of usefulness outside the combo. So, considering that, I think the draft environment is slightly better.

Maybe you can pull a Gerry Thompson and actually untap it like a man without all the cheap tricks!
https://youtu.be/FX-EhT78cPc?list=PL04lbfeNAaS96Tj8wZ8LHy_VRHZbQ5Ugl&t=626

Last but not least, The art on Time Vault is incredible.

Painter's Servant + Grindstone = no deck for opponent

I know what you're thinking, "Wow are you desperate for really bringing out the Vintage spirit." And... yes I am actually. But yes, this is a Vintage classic that I finally decided to add over the Sword of the Meek combo which was more color intensive.

As far as justifying the separate parts of the combo in cube, I can't say it's possible, but I'll try. They both play out with the thought in pack 3,"I guess this works with this deck."

Grindstone in a 40 card format isn't terrible at milling your opponent, and it's also not terrible in Dredge and Lab Man/Thassa's Oracle decks.

Painter's Servant is even less playable on it's own than Grindstone, it is a 1/3 that just bullies aggro, it also has some funky potential to boot.

It can mess with Black's exclusive targets if you name Black.
Help pitch effects like Force of Will
Turns Natural Order and Green Sun's Zenith on for any creature
It also always pumps your Runaway Steam-Kin.

I did a whole rant on the most powerful cards in respect to the game of Magic, but this is a LIMITED environment, and some cards really will get you to the finish line with their simplicity of just being good at what they do. Don’t forget everything Umezawa's Jitte taught us about drafting: You don’t need strategy when you’ve got a nuke!

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I wanted to put this here for a couple of reasons.

1. This is the Magic I always loved watching and playing. When designing my cube, these are events/moments I'd like to replicate. Magic should be fun and exciting as a game and it's important as a designer to think of how a card will make for memorable experiences rather than just cube every powerful card under the sun.
2. I also just wanted a place where I can find these matches to watch again if I ever have a bad day at work.

Vintage Cube

LSV and BK draft Urza/Winter Orb.
Easily the sloppiest playing from one of the best Magic players in history, and he still manages an undefeated record. Hilarious and incredible.
"Now we can really Bomat..."
"He can't Keep getting away with this!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vtXx3snN8w

LSV drafts mono black reanimator.
Shout out to ChillMTG for showing me this draft. LSV drafts Legacy constructed TinFins with moxen and lotus. Literally. It's an absurd deck, and yet we still get to hear LSV complain!
"Lotus Mindtwist is good...but it's not busted busted."
"We are missing some reanimation targets...(only 16 picks into the draft)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7Bf3SiTN0

Matt Nass reluctantly drafts Reanimator.
Not only drafting instant speed reanimator, but also having all the pieces of a Storm combo, possibly building the most broken deck anyone has seen in Vintage Cube.
"I'm not sure If we're storm with transformational reanimator, or reanimator with transformational storm, but we definitely have both!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnf3HpoEUMo

Kenji Egashira - Red Rocks Me
A great and entertaining player--NumotTheNummy--who has countless streams of Vintage Cube. This one was one of my favorites where he drafts a mediocre mono red deck after claiming to only want to play braindead Magic. Spoiler -- every game is very tight.
"Lieutenant Krark, you ain't got no thumbs!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaND2wnN6Sw

Caleb Gannon - Green/Red Storm before it was cool
Gannon is another famous Vintage cuber who I've stole a lot of ideas from for sure. He's always drafting to have fun and really thinks outside the box. Here's a great deck where his beginning idea was using Empty the Warrens with Gaea's Cradle as a ritual. Somehow he ends up going undefeated against 2 Bribery/Channel decks and Twin.
"Man I can't cast Hydroid Krasis! I guess Emrakul is good enough, but..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdq-tvyG8lE

Caleb Gannon - Mono Red artifact control
Registers Mono Mountains "Just 17 lands, ramp stuff out!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIT0bUKDQAA

Caleb Gannon - PrimeTime Storm
What a roller coaster of matches
"Look at this hand! A turn 2 Brain Freeze for 3!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8xaZ4jP5Gk

? - Black/White Smokestack Control
No idea who the player is, but the dude puts a masterful Smokestack deck together. It's worth watching this just to see an underrated strategy go 3-0.
"We're going to tick the Smokestack up to 4 and start from scratch."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1y409dTvDY

King Poopa - A stack of HOT Garbage with Oath in it.
A couple of doofbags pilot an absolute train wreck of a draft and - yet it went 3-0 on MTGO!
It really goes to show you how much luck is involved in many of these drafts and games. Don't be upset, "sometimes you just get Vintaged!"
"Oh yeah, standard all-star wombo-combo. 10 life and a shitter."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5akt-Aso1u4

Chill MTG - Rakdos Midrange
This dude drafted a flawless red/black deck and manages to almost lose every chance he gets. It's laughable and entertaining.
"We know they have Spellpierce. Why did we play it that way."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ysobo3qU7A

Vintage

Joe Dyer - The current Vintage Guru
It's actually long overdue that I didn't just add the mtggolfish.com eternal format weekly columnist here. Joe has been writing about Vintage for quite some time and keeping major tabs on the format while showcasing his love for the extra spicy decks. If you want a crash course in Vintage, just read some of his articles. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/series/vintage-101

Joe Dyer - The Riddler
Again, Joe is a lover of spicy decks and wont settle for anything less, which I love. Here's a super cool vintage list of his on camera.
https://youtu.be/WxvmJicc8uE

Reid Duke - DPS (Dark Petition Storm)
Reid who is know as a Jund/Midrange aficionado in most other formats actually prefers one of the more unfair strategies when it comes to playing Vintage. Reid is a big fan of Vintage Storm and has played it pretty much every year during the Vintage Challenges. It's worth watching him play this infamous deck where you can learn a lot about the format.
Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0cZhntaD9Q
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiOpDA7nL6c

Gabby Spartz (and LSV) - Doomsday
Gabby Spartz (a casual streamer) plays Vintage for the first time with a very complicated deck for it's time(Lab Man Doomsday)-- and faces off against Randy Buehler game 1--some luck! If you don't know who Randy Buehler is, he is basically the most inventive player in Magic history causing many cards to get banned before WotC finally hired him to balance the game. He's also known as the voice of Magic as he commentated the game for many many years including ongoing sanctioned Vintage events.
"I think conducting rocket surgery would made you less anxious."
https://youtu.be/hZIoodHScpk

Justin Gennari - Oath
I need to give a shout out to a very important player in the Vintage community, Justin Gennari - the most important Vintage player currently creating content and knows how splash some spice on the format. The link I provided is great in showcasing how the Vintage format is controlled chaos. There's a lot that happening every turn, but as Justin shows, keep calm and don't panic!
https://youtu.be/nbZ_01ev6IQ
Justin Gennari - Dress Down PO
WTF is this pile? No wincon? Not Even infinite turns? Incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3v2xAfsRiAlist=PLQQ8jPMFzt7lo5QewBKq2ewCng3ej6Nlk&index=2
Justin Gennari - Goblins
Vintage is in a weird place right now where there's a lot of decks 5-0ing that have no business doing so
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp6UNo4ufN0

Brian Kelly (Justin Gennari) -- Boggles vs UW Lurrus control
This is really a Justin stream, but the real star there is his match against bpk at 52 minutes in. Brian Kelly is notorious for building sub-par power level decks and crushing with them. He's a master at his own craft that no one can replicate. This is such a good showcase of that.
"Briiiaaaaaaan!!!" (I dare you to drink every time Justin says this)
https://youtu.be/pxMw5S-yCyo?t=3163

Vintage Super League

Links to the Vintage Super League created by Randy Buehler who invites the best players in history along with popular content creators:
Season 1 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQQ8jPMFzt7lo5QewBKq2ewCng3ej6Nlk
Season 2 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQQ8jPMFzt7m48cwyhI_WOn0T3I2wsCBE
Season 3 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQQ8jPMFzt7lyO6pY5Sm1gT38lL5WUnw0
Season 4 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQQ8jPMFzt7n5U8DU8mXwmlJzx1PBmphp
Season 5 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rP64NRtmbhGb6I6vTslqQKoLpfnrKry
Season 6 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rP64NRtmbjEmQqIe5hiF9Z6v9d-xgnT
Season 7 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rP64NRtmbiCQZE1kXNu08MXiv-MM8SG
Season 8 & website - https://vintagesuperleague.com/
Season 9 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rP64NRtmbjLOGH-Wkn5q-zdSAhzyKu0

Standout Matches
Season 8, week 10 -- Dredgeapalooza!
Why have 1 good dredge deck when you can have 5 mediocre ones instead!
It's baffling how Team Channelfireball made it to the finals with repeatedly being clowns in the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRFPyspZ0eg&list=PL3rP64NRtmbiv9mp1FyFIAvl6WOR5148v&index=12

Old School 93/94

I didn't actually play Magic until '97 (Mirage/Tempest), but I absolutely love the Old School format. First off, you cannot beat the aesthetics of that era of Magic. It's also just a super nostalgic era, and even though I didn't play with a lot of the cards of that era until much later, everyone knew about them. The cards were legendary, immortal and iconic! I mean from the crazy price of Black Lotus (I remember they weren't even $300 bucks at the time), the rumors of Chaos Orb, The Inquest Magazine articles (https://www.magiclibrarities.net/magazines-inquest.html) littered with Juzam Djinn and Serendib Efreet artwork.

The other thing that really hits home for me in these non-rotating eternal formats, Old-School and Pre-Modern, and why I always think of Magic as this super exciting game is because it began before Internet was readily around. I don't think people honestly can comprehend that at all anymore. Even now, I'm sitting in front of two computers typing this out! I can barely remember what that was like myself, but playing Magic helps me peer back into that world when everything was without question more exciting, because nothing was truely ever solved--or at least that you knew anyway.

Flippin' Orbs Podcast - Sean O'Brien interview on the beginning of Magic
Sean O'Brien is not a famous Magic player, but he is immortalized in the history of the game for spearheading the mana denial strategy in Magic and was written about in the very first strategy article printed for Magic called the Schools of Magic.
What's great about this interview though is Sean O'Brien reveals how much of modern gaming we absolutely take for granted. During this time period, there were no spoilers, no deck lists, no strategy articles, rules were almost made up, no consistency of card value, hobby & game stores were scarce, and cards were absolutely hard to find--something I remember very well by the way.
"You literally have never seen this thing in your life! He might as well have been a wizard, pulling a spell out of his pouch."
"I'm not worried about Brian Weissman in California when I'm getting my dick Balanced off here in Atlanta."
The interview begins at 55 minutes in.
https://www.wak-wak.se/9394/podcast/2018-2-24/episode-11-mana-is-overrated

"Tournament of Professionals" - '95 Finals
This is a great production of an Old School finals match. Entertaining as hell and a great match to boot!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiSVZTVPujtj1GPIWnsT_BQ

Historical

Pro Tour Chicago 1999 - Brian Davis vs Bob Maher Jr.
The absolute best match ever recorded. Mr. Dark Confidant himself, a rowdy crowd, and Randy Buehler with some hot takes.
"The first person to lose a match 5-0." Brutal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMei_cxSC0c

Pro Tour Chicago 1997 - MTG Breakdown Rewind
Listening to Randy Buehler commentate is always a treat, and here he is commentating on himself. This was his first pro tour he ever played and just completely thrashed the competition with a card he would make notorious throughout Magic: Necropotence.
"Life is cards!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km8AMFUetuc

Samuel Pardee vs. Patrick Dickmann - Modern Pod Vs Twin
Two of the best decks in the history of Modern that is somehow swingy and close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00J996JYLGo

Chapin vs Nassif - Dragonstorm Mirror
The infamous Ignite Memories dodge with two great Hall of Famers playing the mirror match. The showmanship of this match is what makes it one of the best to ever watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8BNu_vrVXE
Also, Nassif again showing off calling his top deck.
"I'm rearranging my Ultimatum Mana."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_LZGBN5qU

Worlds 2000 - Finkle vs Maher
Shadowmage Infiltrator vs Dark Confidant in the mirror with one of the most notorious decks in the game: Saga/Masques Tinker.
"Alright, so both those 19/19's collide into each other and go away." WTF!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqBPpZV7oxw

2012 Players Championship Finals: Shouta Yasooka vs. Yuuya Watanabe
This is not a flashy game by any means, but there are 2 main reasons I believe this match has won over many of us and is remembered as one of the best matches in Magic ever:

1. I don't think either player made a single mistake out of 5 matches. Both players played incredibly optimal games for almost 2 hours. That is a feat in itself.
2. The decks shown here remind a lot of us when competitive Magic was at an all time high. Both decks are filled to the brim with cards we shuffle up into our powered cubes, yet the game looks surprisingly fair and well matched. This was such a great time to play Magic and I think we all watch this remimnicing about those days.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQT_1dyec8

Conley Woods vs. Craig Wescoe - 2011 Worlds Top 8 Quarterfinals
People consider Kai Budde the tightest player in the game--possibly even the best, but Kai may need to hand over the title here to Conley after this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXQmu_OXIzM

Pro Tour Paris '97 Long vs. Justice
Mike Long was very important to the development of Magic despite all the issues surrounding his character. This match is a great watch as Mike Long psychologically destroys his opponent. And if you're watching this thinking, "Poor Mark Justice is getting brain raped by that asshole Mike Long." Don't. You can be free of your guilt as Justice was a huge asshole to many players as well--Long was just giving him a taste of his own medicine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLa8GMQAMu4

Magic: The Gathering Road to the 1998 World Championships
This is just a fun rewind to the early Championships of the game and the 90's in general. You're gonna want your pair of Jenga pants for this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8bl8eIlB24

The Ben Seck vs Laurent Calligaro - Modern Scapeshift vs Hardened Scales
The decks and players are good, but that's not why this match is here. It's game 3 and the fact that Ben Seck sacrificed a goat that morning to get that lucky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40mUi6iQAD0

The Bob death compilation.
https://youtu.be/Viwx-QTFZuc

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This very powerful and dumb card is included in this cube. With Ante. And if this is your first time playing with Contract, you have to Ante... and really the 2nd and any other time too I guess... Fight Club is a great movie. Anyway, here's the rules I made for Ante below:

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Ante:
1)The Ante Zone
1.1) A new ANTE ZONE is created for each player when a player begins a MATCH with an Ante card in their starting deck (AKA: if your playing Contract from Below). At the beginning of each GAME, each player with an Ante card in their starting deck adds a random card from their deck FACE UP to their ANTE ZONE.
1.2) If a player adds a card to their ANTE ZONE during a game (if you play Contract during a game), they add that card FACE DOWN in their ANTE ZONE.
1.3) If a card is put into the ANTE ZONE, it remains there for the rest of the MATCH unless played (a match is best of at least 3 games with sideboard).
1.4) When a GAME ends, return all ANTE cards FACE UP to the ANTE ZONE.

2)Playing Cards from the Ante Zone
2.1) Players may look at, put into play or cast FACE DOWN cards in their opponents ANTE ZONE without paying its mana cost any time they could cast an instant.
2.2) Players may play each FACE UP card in their opponents ANTE ZONE using mana of any color once a GAME.
2.3) If a land is played from the ANTE ZONE, that land gains "This land is every basic land type in addition to its other types" for the remainder of the GAME.

3)When a Game ends
3.1) After each GAME, players with missing cards from their starting deck used for Ante must replace the missing cards using cards exclusively from their sideboard, and may not replace the missing cards with basic lands.
3.2) After each GAME, players with FACE DOWN cards in their ANTE ZONE turn those cards FACE UP.

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To explain it in normal speak:
If you have Contract in your deck game 1, your opponent begins the game with 1 extra card from your deck, and 2 extra cards from your deck in game 2 if you did nothing else other than just have Contract in your deck game 1 and game 2.
Now if you cast Contract in game 1, your opponent begins the 2nd game with 3 cards from your deck, and 4 cards in game 3...Yes, this drawback really adds up quickly.
In the game you play Contract, the 1st card of the 8 you draw is a face down ante card your opponent can play for free at any time the rest of the game. If they don't play it, it gets turned face up in the Ante Zone for the opponent to play the next game along with any other cards put up for ante throughout the entire match.

Crazy drawback? Maybe? But drawing 7 for ONE BLACK MANA!!! is beyond crazy. Hopefully this allows the opponent an immediate interaction to such a powerful effect with also more of comeback plan in game 2 and 3. I mean, you are selling your soul to the Devil with Contract from Below--this effect should play out accordingly.

UPDATE 1: I tested the crossed out above text, and it's just too much. Using the original errata I laid out by letting the opponent play with a free card game 2, The Contract player looses Game 2 almost all the time, and Game 3 is pretty difficult to win for the Contract player when their opponent starts off with at lest 3+ extra cards. Remember too, and while it is rare, drawing 7 cards doesn't immediately win you the game. Even in Storm. I've seen it.

UPDATE 2: I've tested this, and I like the rule as it is now. It's some times hard to say that this is better then Ancestral Recall--It has an amazing effect, but the drawback is very real over the course of a match. I also like that it basically forces the Contract player to play ante sort of how ante was intended--aside from the whole face down thing, and the opponent actually keeping the cards.
While I did reel in the drawback of Contract to not let the opponent start Game 2 with a free spell, I did add the rule to allow lands played form the Ante Zone to tap for any color mana which can allow for some insane starting hands.

While we're talking about errata, here's some other cards in this cube you might want to read about.

I'm using the Old School format's rules which reads:

, : Choose a nontoken permanent on the battlefield. If Chaos Orb is on the battlefield, flip Chaos Orb onto the battlefield from a height of at least one foot. If Chaos Orb turns over completely at least 360 degrees during the flip, and lands resting on the chosen permanent, destroy that permanent. Then destroy Chaos Orb.
(Note: because of how Chaos Orb is worded, with it being destroyed after a flip, it can still be Disenchanted or Shattered in response to the activation, which will nullify the ability to flip, since it is no longer on the battlefield. This is consistent with the wording of Chaos Orb not being sacrificed upon activation, as it probably would with modern templating. Also note that Chaos Orb chooses, but does not target.)

I love Cabal Therapy. Up there with Fact or Fiction, it's one of the more oddly fun cards in Magic's history. So rather than just dismiss Cabal Therapy or Cabal Therapist for unplayability, I'll try and fix it:

Link to card:
Cabal Therapist

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Bribery
My pick for the most unfun card in cube. Just everything about is ... garbage honestly.

"I'll just draft Bribery and 3-0" F@#$ you! if that's your mindset.

It promotes many non-games for the opponent, and if your the caster you don't even need 2 brain cells to rub together to "figure out" how to use this card. I remember playing a game once where I played Bribery game 1 and won. My opponent takes out all their top end creatures game 2 to stop an immediate Bribery win. I take Questing Beast from their deck and still win. The card is just that dumb to where your opponent is forced to play with trash game 2 and you can still win with low end creatures.

Hexdrinker / True-Name Nemesis
I've said this many times about recent technology in Magic: Being open to a response or interaction is not a design flaw, that is the game of Magic!
True-Name is the worst offender here and after playing with Hexdrinker enough times, it follows suit for unexciting games.

Sword of Fire and Ice / Sword of Body and Mind --The Swords - all of them
The swords are mostly pretty bad. They have an high ceiling as we all know, but they fall short too many times for cube. Their main use is a sideboard card for the colors they protect against, and if you already read my part on Hexdrinker and True-Name Nemesis, you already know how I feel about non-interactive cards.

Opposition
I'm not completely against Opposition honestly. I have Tax/Stax strategies in my cube and how you beat them is pretty similar to beating Opposition--top decking and/or timing your interaction in your favor. Opposition really just fell casualty to the fact that it's Blue--and double Blue at that. I guess Blue already having oppressive interaction along with Tax/Stax was not a strategy I wanted to give to a heavy Blue deck.

Lutri, the Spellchaser
To start, just know that I'm playing Companions without the WoTC errata, and in a powered vintage cube it's pretty fun - except this card. Lutri is absolutely wrong without the errata. Every deck can play him as a companion on top of being in the best colors is already enough to make games with him mundane. Then just pairing him with Karakas, Paradoxical Outcome or Feldon of the Third Path and watching your opponent cast Time Walk into oblivion-- it's basically a Time Vault lock with a lot of extra steps. For the record, I hate the Time Vault comb--especially in a draft environment where it can warp drafts.

Also For the record, I love the art on Time Vault.

Simic Signet / Talisman of Impulse -- Green signets/talismans
Unlike other cards on this retired list due to power level, not fitting a deck type, or even being iconic, any green mana producing artifact aside from having "Mox" in its title is just plain bad in cube. The only justification to keeping any green producing artifact is that your OCD, and need to have all 10.

I'll just say this: if you feel like Green is laking power in your cube and you still have Green signets/talismans in your cube, just replace them with Rampant Growth, Nature's Lore, Utopia Sprawl, Rampant Growth, or Explore and watch as Green becomes a little more enticing to play.

No Green deck has ever used artifacts to color fix or ramp. Ever. And after playing with them for a while I understand why.

Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus -- Big Mana rocks
These cards are powerful, but one thing to consider is the league of cards they are competing with. When many players have Moxes, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, in their decks--playing a Worn Powerstone will probably get you laughed at.

Update: Colaition Relic is pretty gas in cube.

So to give other decks a fighting chance, I increased the amount of low cost artifact mana producers: Jeweled Amulet, Prismatic Lens, Coldsteel Heart, Everflowing Chalice. These are all cards worth considering in your powered vintage cube to spread the wealth of fast mana.

Palace Jailer, Custodi Lich -- Monarch
Explaining Monarch in 1v1 in terms of Magic: your opponent now has Library of Alexandria that you cant Strip Mine or Mind Twist away. Nor does your opponent care about the handsize requirement of Library. And if you read all this asking WTF is Library of Alexandria -- That card is the greatest lesson in card advantage and resource management in the game of Magic! if it's in your opening hand, you will likely win that game. If you draw it, it's in your best interest to think of a plan to get to 7 cards in hand to get it working.

While you do have to jump through hoops for Library, Monarch just gives it to you every turn regardless.

Like the Bribary argument before, any card with monarch 1v1 is just lopsided beyond end.

Teferi, Time Raveler - in the cube (shakes head)
I hate this card. I hate that it was printed.

I am a Gruul player though and through so yes, I have an obvious Guttural Response to this card. But I also respect a good control card that allows me to play tic-tac-toe against them. Is this card a drag to play against? yes. What's new? it's Blue/White and should be expected.

My problem is the static ability which turns a combo deck from exciting to unbeatable with Teferi in play. This card exacerbates combo while also acting as interaction-and doesn't allow other decks to interact! in 1 card! Again...I hate non-interactive cards.

Avenger of Zendikar
A comment that I feel will make or break what people think about my opinions, but Avenger of Zendikar is a bad card. It's often so underwhelming. Let's get one thing straight, the chances of you casting a seven mana card making seven 1/2's over TWO TURNS is literally the best case scenerio. Often the card is essentially "8 mana" or you've set up to drop a land the turn it comes into play. I get that the card is more exciting than many other creatures in this slot, but it's so hard to make work most of the time.

The amount of cards that better fits Avengers role is really up to your imagination. What ever you pick almost can't be wrong as long as it's better than a 5/5 with no abilities for 7 with a smattering of 0/1's.

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This bit is for people that are completely new to Magic. I feel like in order to really enjoy the game, it's fun to let players in on the philosophies that make Magic such a spectacle of a game.

Colorless, Brown, the factionless tribe--whatever you want to call it--isn't really a faction many identify with when they think of all the identities within Magic. That's odd considering Magic's original and longest story about the war between Mishra and Urza is very much about people who identify as "Artificers" -- essentially the faction that tries to understand what these otherworldly secrets can unlock for the people along with our intentions to use them. Because the game of Magic at its core is a fight between different ideologies over efficiency and equality of resources; these "artifacts", "constructs", and "unfathomable beings" which unlock resources and technology seem to be at the center of what all major conflicts are about.

The Thran are no different than ancient societies of our past: Egypt, Celts, Myans, Germaic Tribes. We obsessively look to our past to give us purpose and inspiration. Any time we uncover something that is centuries old, we know we are tapping into a mind that thought nothing like our own. Not only do these discoveries allow us to think in creative ways we never thought imagined, but more dangerously, it also gives us purpose.

People fight and die over their technology, culture, and customs. Uncovering a text or artifact that bolsters any of these tends to create battle grounds for any indifference. And why not! Most of ancient customs has pushed society through hardships where we shouldn't have survived.

The Eldrazi are a very obvious rip from H.P. Lovecraft's Elder Gods--Beings that have always existed and are intertwined with the universe that often pull threads of fate causing madness, chaos, and destruction in our world. In fact, the Eldergods in Magic are close to the same story as Lovecrafts's--except WotC told a much more positive spin of the story: A cute story of the "Avengers" fighting off the multiverse's ultimate threat. This is far from any reality staring across the horizon of annihilation.

The end, whatever it may be, can ask even the worst of enemies to bury the hatchet and fight against something much worse than their feud. But, this is not only what happens...

Not everyone views life as something worth living, hence a welcoming end to everyone who did them wrong.

Some people try to appease the greater force and may show allegiance in some way in hopes to survive annihilation.

Others might want to understand and study such a force for their own gain. Often this involves some of the most important individuals of a conflict switching sides.

In the case of H.P Lovecraft, wherever you stand, there is no controlling annihilation when it comes. These beings don't communicate with us, they don't comprehend us, they likely don't even know we exist. Anything short of annihilation is not an option.

And as much as we want to blame annihilation on the things we can't control like the Eldrazi, don't neglect looking inwards: Nevinyrral's Disk, Engineered Explosives, Chaos Orb, Oblivion Stone...we've invented plenty of ways to cause our own annihilation.