Introduction

This cube will be drafted by novice and expert Magic players alike. Individual cards will be simple to read and easy to understand; if you know the basics of Magic, you can play this cube without having to look up rules on your phone. There are very few flip cards. Narrow mechanics will have reminder text. Counters are exclusively +1/+1 for creatures. Cards have one or two effects at most.

Goals

• I want emergent synergy driven by cards with lenticular potential. In other words, I want simple cards to combine together and create complex interactions.
• I want easy-to-parse packs. Reading multiple lines of text per card becomes exhausting over the course of a draft.
• I want a good balance of cards that everyone knows and loves, and cards they've never seen before (or have forgotten.)
• I want answers to "cost" something, be narrow, or meet a condition. Threats will be sticky and combat will be challenging. Every deck will be able to "do its thing" without constantly fighting removal.
• I want games to be decided by good deckbuilding and accurate play rather than individual, blowout bombs.
• I want a nice balance between engines and payoffs that incentivize creative drafting and play patterns.

Archetypes

Signpost gold cards indicate the ten, two-color macro archetypes. They are:

• Ramp / Lands – Coiling Oracle
• Tokens / Aristocrats – Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• Fliers / ETB – Abuelo, Ancestral Echo
• Artifact / Equipment – Caparocti Sunborn
• Haste / Smash Face – Goblin Anarchomancer
• Sacrifice / Delirium - Baba Lysaga, Night Witch
• Flash / Control – Ertai Resurrected
• Discard / Soft Reanimator – Lightning Skelemental
• Counters / Soft Lifegain - Sigardian Paladin
• Spells / Prowess - Enigma Drake

Lands and Fixing

Each color pair has a unique land that supports the colors' main archetype. For example, Black-Red has Immersturm Skullcairn to continue with the discard theme, while Blue-White can turn dead creatures into Spirits with Moorland Haunt. The dual lands are not distributed uniformly across each color pair. Instead, they match the speed of their respective archetype: Red-White has access to fast mana with Inspiring Vantage, Black-Green benefits from Surveil with Underground Mortuary, and Blue-Black can Scry to smooth draws with Temple of Deceit.

Splashing a third color is reinforced by the presence of Triomes. Wedges synergize better than Shards. I can imagine a high-functioning Mardu Tokens deck with the likes of Lingering Souls and Young Pyromancer, or a graveyard-focused Sultai deck with Stitcher's Supplier and Organ Hoarder fueling Ishkanah, Grafwidow.

Planeswalkers

Planeswalkers have minimal text and straightforward effects. Jace Beleren and Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants are included, while Kaito, Dancing Shadow and Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator are not. There is elegance in brevity.

Artifacts

The cube is full of low-cost, techy artifacts that deliver a toolbox feel to the draft. Recent retail sets like The Brothers' War and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty offered complex and dynamic gameplay with cards like Mishra's Research Desk and Experimental Synthesizer, and this cube seeks to recreate some of those fun decision trees.

Graveyard

The graveyard is an important zone for every color. Rather than include complete hosers like Tormod's Crypt, I have seeded targeted graveyard hate at different mana values and card types throughout the cube. Cards like Diregraf Horde and Turn the Earth will keep players in check without punishing entire strategies.

Feedback Welcome

Please take a look at the list and pass on your suggestions!