Welcome to the Grant Park Cube. A cube that, like many, is a personal creation reflecting the fun we've had along the way playing Magic the Gathering. This cube started focusing on a balanced land package and has evolved to fit play patterns that have been memorable to me over the 30 years I've played the game.

This cube is all about celebrating the fun and interactive play patterns that make Magic: The Gathering timeless. It takes inspiration from the early days of the game, focusing on creating engaging matches where decisions matter, spells are impactful, and games don’t spiral out of control from an oppressive start.

If you love drafting well-balanced decks with powerful cards—but without the chaotic swings of Vintage Cube—you’re in for a treat. This cube walks the line between nostalgia and modern gameplay, showcasing iconic cards while prioritizing fairness and interactivity.

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Design Philosophy

1. Fun Play Patterns:

   • Cards and archetypes are chosen to make every game feel dynamic and rewarding. The focus is on thoughtful interaction, not solitaire strategies or single-card dominance.

2. Balanced Power Level:

   • The cube strives for balance between archetypes and colors, with a few power outliers to keep things exciting without overwhelming the experience.

3. Powerful, Interactive, and Fair:

   • You’ll find cards that are undeniably strong but require careful play or deck-building to shine. Oppressive cards that dominate games or win without interaction are left out.

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Cube Restrictions

To ensure a fair and enjoyable environment, the following restrictions are in place:

1. No Power 9:

   • While iconic, cards like Black Lotus and Time Walk can make games feel lopsided. This cube opts for power that promotes balance.

2. No Fast Mana:

   • Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, Ancient Tomb, and similar cards are excluded to keep early turns interactive and fair.

3. No Auto-Includes:

   • Cards like Mox Diamond or The One Ring, which fit into every deck without effort, are avoided. This encourages more creative deck-building and decisions.

4. No Super Cheats:

   • Cards like Tinker, Sneak Attack, and Show and Tell, which provide massive rewards with little to no setup, are left out to preserve balanced gameplay.

5. No Initiative, Monarch, Companions, or Dungeons:

   • While these mechanics are fun in their own right, they’re excluded to maintain a focus on more traditional gameplay. The City’s Blessing remains as the lone exception.

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Color and Archetype Balance

Every color offers viable Aggro, Midrange, and Control strategies. Drafting is designed to reward experimentation and variety, ensuring that you can build around your favorite colors or combinations while staying competitive. Synergies abound, but no single deck archetype should dominate the field.

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Archetypes

The cube focuses on archetypes first and matches them to color pairs to encourage creative deck-building. Multicolor cards primarily serve as signposts for their respective archetypes, but archetypes are shared across colors to enable new and exciting combinations.

Flicker :

• Focuses on blinking creatures and permanents for repeated value.

Unblockable :

• Utilizes evasive creatures and effects to push damage through defenses.
  
  

  

  

Reanimator / Graveyard Value :

• Leverages graveyard recursion and synergies to gain long-term advantages.
  
  

  

  

Tokens :

• Centers on creating and utilizing token creatures for swarming or value.
  
  

  

  

Enchantments :

• Builds around enchantments for powerful synergies and board control.
  
  

  

  

Sacrifice / Treasures :

• Rewards sacrificing permanents or creating treasures for explosive plays.
  
  

  

  

Counters / Landfall :

• Combines +1/+1 counter strategies with landfall mechanics for scaling threats.
  
  

  

  

Delirium / Spells :

• Focuses on achieving a variety of card types in the graveyard for powerful effects.
  
  

  

  

Ramp / Tempo :

• Balances resource acceleration with efficient tempo plays.
  
  

  

  

Legends / Heroic :

• Highlights legendary creatures and heroic mechanics to create impactful boards.
  
  

  

  

Artifacts

• Builds on artifacts synergy to create overwhelming value in a number of different aspects