2/17/2022: I've mostly finished editing creatures to fit a balanced 3/2/1 ratio for aggro/midrange/control.

Now I'm working on removal. If we take 1.7 removals per 15-card pack, we'd have 42 removal spells. At 1.8, we'd have 45. I also read that keeping board wipes to a minimum is necessary to balance aggro and control, so I'll stick to 3-5 boardwipes (I will probably count mass bounce in blue as half a board wipe. So maybe three mass bounce spells in blue, and three true board wipes in red would be 4.5).

The other question I have is about evaluating bounce spells as removal. This blog (https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/alexullman-030414-removing-removal-in-cube) didn't count bounce spells as removal, but they will be so prevalent in my cube. They will be most powerful in a midrange deck, which can take advantage of the gain in tempo, then bring down a bigger creature to gum up the board. I wonder if midrange will be too powerful. Midrange beats aggro. Control beats midrange. I've been making as much room for aggro as possible, and taking away from control. Midrange might be the true winner in this exchange. For now, I'll just stick with...

• 42 true removal spells, ignore the bounce factor
• three mass bounce (in blue)
• three hard board wipes (in red)

Once those 48 cards have been decided, we'll move on to the next phase, other noncreature spells.

Notice: As of 1/30/22, this cube is under construction.

This is a 360-card cube that focuses on the best two colors of magic! Red and Blue <3

The central themes are simple, however nothing in Izzet is ever as simple as it seems:

• Wizards and Shamans (aggro, tempo and control)
• Spell Slinging (burn and control)

My main goal with this cube is to showcase my favorite two colors and explore all Izzet has to offer.

Format Goals:

• Ability to play 1v1, 2v2, and free-for-all.
• Great traditional 3 packs of 15 draft experience
• Potential for a slow-roll commander format (If no one ramps, then ramp doesn't matter. Lot of fire, lots of draw).

Guiding Principles:

• No stacks. The point of this cube is to allow red and blue to flourish, so even though blue is a fantastic stacks color, and there are fantastic stacks wizards, I'm leaning more towards chaos than order.
• 50/50 creatures/non-creatures. One of the goals of this cube is to make Izzet aggro viable. That means a solid balance of control, midrange, and aggro, and a solid balance of creature and non-creature spells
• 3/2/1 ratio for creatures (aggro/midrange/control). Of the nonland cards in the cube (336), half are creatures (168). Half of those creatures are aggro (84). A third are midrange (55). A sixth are control (29).

As with any cube, the obvious need is balance. It will be tricky because half the cube is blue (which traditionally plays fewer creatures than spells), but I want half the cube to be creatures. Some concessions will need to be made (mono blue tempo cards might bleed into aggro builds), but I hope the results will be worth playing.