The Standard Cube
“Good, clean Magic” - NPR’s James Mastromarino 😅
This cube is designed to replicate my interpretation of the archetypal "Standard" gameplay experience — while providing a template for an exciting, well-balanced Standard format in general. For more information about where I'm coming from and why (based on my experiences as a lead game designer of Magic who was in charge of Standard for years), check out my two-part Hipsters of the Coast series on the cube's design:
https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2023/11/the-standard-cube-part-1-the-standard-format/
https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2023/11/the-standard-cube-part-2-the-cube/
More specifically, the goal is for gameplay to mirror the question, "What if the gameplay you get playing a well-developed Standard format were approximated by a Cube Draft experience?”
The players who win more will figure out how to maximize the value they get from the cards they draft — not by having a deck overtly built around those cards, but rather by combining clusters of cards that happen to have positive interactions with each other. Every card you see is intended to be 'good enough' to play on rate. Conversely, almost no cards in the cube are intended to spawn a 'linearized deck' centered on one particular 'thing'.
RULES ADJUSTMENT: All face-down creatures, not just those with Disguise, have Ward 2.