Art by Rebecca GuayThis cube started out as semi-cohesive bulk I could sleeve up quickly before CubeCon. After playing the Mono Red Cube, I decided it was an idea that I wanted to fully flesh out. Devotion as a mechanic feels black thematically, and I wanted an environment that made colored mana a resource to fight over. This cube is meant to feel somewhat punishing, both during the draft and in gameplay. Lands are not free, and there are several intentionally bad lands (not Badlands). There are "mean" cards that can lead to potentially unfun games. Mana costs can already make double spelling restrictive, and Hymn to Tourachs and Sinkholes running amok only make things more difficult.
Black is an incredibly deep color, and I wanted to explore its options while keeping the list at 384 to support the more "A+B" decks. Power level is not a concern, and the only real safety valve is Lore Seeker. Dark Ritual, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and some other auto-include cards were moved to this pack to avoid one drafter highrolling all of their packs. While this cube's identity hinges on being monoblack, there are activated abilities of other colors with supporting lands for pseudo-multicolor decks. I have also made concessions for a handful of hybrid cards that are interesting enough to bend some rules.
Some examples for deck archetypes include:
Storm
Fasten your seatbelt, fire up your dopamine receptors, and play a bunch of spells. Aggro
The coolest mono-color aggro deck finally has an appropriate home. Play creatures and turn them sideways. Dredge
The Gaak is back. Dump your library and turn your graveyard into a second hand. Lands
You're drafting all your lands anyway, might as well draft the cool ones. MONOBLACK
Pick more swamps than everyone else and play the deck this cube was built for. Sacrifice
Send your creatures to a nice farm upstate and reap the profits like a true American. Pox
Use up all the resources then blow up the land like a true American. Affinity
Artifacts are functionally hexproof in this cube, and untouchable value pieces are generally pretty good.