Art by Johannes VossI began really playing magic in 2003 when I was just 8 years old. I opened a couple packs of Onslaught and Scourge but the it wasn't until the holidays of 2005 that I received the genesis of my crippling addiction: A booster box of Ravnica: City of Guilds. Ever since I have loved the ecumonopical plane and the stories set on it. This cube is my love letter to the setting that hooked me on this wonderful game and laid the groundwork for the amazing job and life I have today. So I present to you: Idealized Ravnica Cube.
- All art must depict Ravnica and invoke the spirit of the setting!
this is the primary restriction! a lot of WAR cards get left out due to the "spirit of the setting" as they are offworlders or Amonkhet invaders! cards not printed in a Ravnica set are fine as long as the art is unambiguously Ravnica.
- 5-color soup must be bad!
Despite how it has often played in limited Ravnica is meant to be experienced in color pairs! The fixing is purposefully slow there are no sources that tap for any color; no mana producing artifacts exist either to avoid soup ladened drafts and easy acceleration.
- Carefully drafted splashes are risky but strong.
Sometimes guild team-ups happen, but they aren't the norm! there is a small amount of inefficient fixing that could allow you to play a powerful off-color bomb but is the lack of consistency worth the risk!
- As high power as is possible.
Ravnica is an ancient plane of powerful beings and magic! Problem with that vision: Ravnica came out in 2005 and... a lot of the OG cards are unplayably bad in contemporary Magic. The power level is designed to be as high as possible while operating within the design restrictions. Some compromises had to be made due to this, there are still bombs in the cube as if a flat power level was made then the overall power would be so low that it may feel a bit too durdley.
Azorious
Fliers
UW skies is a classic draft archetype! Soar above your foes with efficient evasive threats and enough interaction to stall your opponent until you can finish them off with a flurry of wings!
Control
Slow the game down and force your opponent to fall for your trap cards with a mix of life gain, efficient interaction, and defensive creatures before ending the game with an enormous threat.
Dimir
Mill
That's a nice deck you drafted there... would be a shame if something were to happen to it! Your opponents drafting skill will work against them as they lose hope seeing the bombs they pulled thrown into an undercity cistern.
Tempo
The best laid plans of any drafter are sure to fail when your mana goes further than theirs does. Two-for-one your opponent or pressure them with ahead of curve threats until they are out of resources and their life points drain away.
Rakdos
Spectacle Aggro
Cheating mana is fun! Why not cheat mana while smacking your opponent with some hasty and evasive threats. Drop creatures way ahead of curve and outvalue your opponents.
Sacrifice
Your own cards are simple fuel to be burned! Destroy your own property for value as you collect massive value and burn potential on the corpses of your once loyal minions.
Gruul
Stompy
Turn cardboard sideways, number go down. Small cardboard crushed beneath big cardboard.
Tricks
Your creature's power and toughness are merely illusions, they are actually much scarier! Your opponent will not be able to block safely ever as you pump your attackers repeatedly to swat down blockers.
Selesnya
Tokens
Will you go wide? Will you go tall? Why not both! Make big tokens and copy them repeatedly for massive value! Drown your enemies in 5/5 wurms and 3/3 centaurs until nature's beatdown brings them to heel.
Convoke
Go wide and cash in on your insane creature count for HUGE mana swings. Your opponent will be forced to inefficiently answer every threat you put in front of them for fear of the acceleration untapped creatures threaten.
Orzhov
Life Gain
Live forever as you count up from 20 towards your inevitable victory. Laugh in the face of burn players as your removal also restores your life total and provides inevitability against control decks
Card Advantage
Own more rectangles than your opponent. Win because you have more rectangles. Use your rectangles to gain more rectangles or make your opponents discard rectangles. Rectangles.
Izzet
Counterburn
Your opponents shouldn't be able to resolve spells. You are playing solitaire and it is frankly rude that they keep trying to interrupt you! Teach them respect.
Pings
Counting is hard, so count by ones to make it easy on yourself! Sling spells for value and card draw while getting incidental damage as a reward.
Golgari
Reanimator
Your graveyard is simply a second hand. Mill yourself, discard cards, then reanimate the big chonky lads way ahead of curve for massive value!
Value
Value is the only metric by which success should be measured. Life totals are for cowards! Your cards do more than your opponents do and if you do more the entire game you will drown the enemy in value!
Boros
Aggro Burn
Get on the board early and then cash your advantage in for damage. Follow that up with cheap and efficient burn spells to close our the game. Turn 5 is cringe and you shouldn't have to see it.
Mentor Midrange
Become ungovernable unblockable as you dump +1/+1 counters on all your creatures and force your opponents into getting three-for-one-d during the combat damage step.
Simic
+1/+1 Midrange
Your goopy little simic guys are ready to grow! Get the party going and enjoy the incremental value of passive counter generation.
Simic is a one-trick on ravnica they only get one mechanic.
It's always super unfortunate when stuff like this happens; I wonder if something like Elvish Warmaster could be a decent shout? Yes, it's a two drop, and it seems like you're looking for something more akin to the top end of the Selesnya tokens deck, but the card seems like it could be powerful in your environment. It's a great mana sink, has good synergy and is roughly $1. As an added bonus, the art fits the vibe of your cube. Love the Podcast.