ish incarnation of my Two Headed Giant Cube. You may be thinking, isn't this just Battlebond? And to you I say, kinda. In my opinion Battlebond suffered from underpowered archetypes which created games that went too long, especially for the causal format that is 2HG. With that in mind, this cube features a higher power level and (hopefully) very clear synergies.
Take a look at vs right here to see the evolution of the cube: Link
The cube is enemy color pair focused, even if their are more allied color cards in v3.1. Each pair has an archetype:
: Knights
: Reanimator
: Dragons
: Tokens
: Control/Ramp
In v2 the archtypes were exclusive to the color pairs, there were no Knights outside of ,
, or
. Now each color has at least one knight so you can benefit in multiple colors! This example goes for the other archetypes.
A brief aside on Simic. The archetype used to be Clones. While it was a very defined archetype, it wasn't that fun. Control is vague and more a role than an archetype. Simic is just the best equipped to play that role in the cube.
Themes
There are several subthemes in the cube. Some support the main archetypes, others are just there because I like things that go boom.
Enchantments
Each color has enchantments and cards that interact positively with the enchantments in their color and/or enemy color pair. This is where allied color cards really shine. There is an entire enchantress deck to be drafted but you need to be disciplined to draft it.
Cycling
Cycling is in every color partially to smooth draws and do what cycling does, partially because I really love Living End and Zenith Flare. Pairing Living End with Reanimator creates an interesting tension for both players so that they don't walk into the other team benefiting from their actions.
X marks the spot
There are a lot of X spells in the cube. I mentioned that I thought Battlebond games could go too long and here's my solution for that.
Mana Doubling
You know what's better than mana? MORE MANA. The mana doubling comes in two flavors, the traditional doubling effects, which just so happen to be enchantments and untappers. Untappers can work on non mana sources, but like.....why?
All the mana doublers work for all players. There is a real downside to playing one without a plan.
Shuffle everything and Draw Again
There are 5 different soft resets of the game. The goal is chaos and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Storm
This is the largest deviation from v2. The cube always contained Dragonstorm, because dragons, but now there are multiple large mana storm payoffs. There are however, no ritual effects. To get a reasonable storm count you and your teammate need to work together and plan out your turn. And maybe get lucky when an opponent plays a spell. Remember, storm counts all spells cast that turn, not just yours.
Cascade
There are more Cascade cards than storm, but that only scratches the surface. The cube has 5 free suspend cards, Crashing Footfalls, Living End, Ancestral Vision, Profane Tutor and Hypergenesis. Add in honorary free card See the Truth and you have a ton of build around potential, as well as the normal value cascade.
Sideboard Matters
There are 8 "Wish" cards that allow you to access cards from your sideboard. This (hopefully) gives more access to hate cards or cards that may be good but situation.
Fixing
I made this without thinking about the amount of fixing I should really have. As a result there isn't a lot of fixing, but it is all powerful.
Enemy Dual Lands
Enemy Shock Lands
Enemy Pain Lands
Enemy Signets
If you have the ability to pick a piece of fixing, you should probably think carefully before passing it.
Draft Thoughts:
Free cards. How am I casting it? Can I cheat it into play? Should I reread some cards to double check? YES.
Consider what effects impact both members of your team and which impact creatures you control.
Have fun and tell me what you think