The Red Cube

This is a color-restricted cube highlighting archetypal diversity within one color’s identity. If you’ve come here just expecting a bunch of Lightning Bolts and Goblin Guides, then get ready for some surprises.

Design Philosophy:

My intention with every edit and iteration is to get closer and closer to the “definitive mono-red cube” and to put a spotlight on all of the incredible cards, characters, combos, archetypes, and history that this color has to offer.

This cube contains only cards that are within Red’s color identity or cards that have a hybrid mana cost that can be paid for with red mana.

This is a high-powered competitive environment meant to challenge players to think outside the box. You’ll find iconic and powerful cards from throughout Red’s competitive history, and find both old and new ways to combine them into winning strategies.

Fast mana is present in small amounts but you won’t find Mox Ruby or Sol Ring here, these two cards were too unbalanced without the rest of the Vintage power package.

There are answers a-plenty to your opponents quick threats but you’ll have to manage your life-total carefully as there are only two sources of life-gain in the entire cube.

Designing under the conditions of Red’s color identity creates two major limiting factors:

Indestructible:

Red’s removal is largely damage based, making an indestructible creature incredibly problematic. The only indestructible creature present is Hazoret the Fervent due to her iconic status in Red’s competitive history. Besides chump-blocking with Goblin tokens forever, there are a couple of ways you can deal with an indestructible creature. (i.e. Soul-Scar Mage or Soul Sear)

Enchantments:

Red has no clean Enchantment removal besides Chaos Warp effects and therefore they can become problematic when there aren’t plenty of removal options for them. Because of this, the enchantments present in the cube are those that don’t stick around indefinitely: Enchantment Creatures, Auras, Sagas, and corner cases like Seal of Fire or Underworld Breach. The only exception to this rule is Sulfuric Vortex which gets a pass due to its symmetrical effect and historical pedigree.

Two more quick notes!
-This is a singleton environment, except for 3 copies of Arclight Phoenix.
-The player who drafts Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar will get a copy of The Underworld Cookbook at the end of the draft.

Archetypes:

Aggro

We’ll start with what folks might expect from The Red Cube. True to Red’s identity, the aggressive decks here are very fast and very strong. Cheap, efficient threats and burn to back it up is a winning combination here.

Arclight Phoenix

As stated above, the cube contains 3 copies of everyone’s favorite hot chicken to support this archetype. Get your phoenixes in the graveyard and find spells that cast multiple instants/sorceries in one go for maximum efficiency.

Artifacts

Red loves artifacts! Ranging from Welder strategies to flooding the board with rectangles, there are numerous ways to build exciting artifact-based decks.

Combo

These are more of a sub-theme, however there are a few infinite combos scattered throughout the cube. They’re harder to assemble without support from the other colors, but they are just as powerful if assembled.

Control/Midrange

If your opponents are going faster, just go bigger! You'll find a wide selection of powerful mid- to late-game threats and answers that can help stabilize you and carry you across the finish line.

Goblins

They’re ready to PARTAY! Goblins are one of Red’s most iconic creature types and they serve an excellent role here at the mid-point between aggro, tokens, and combo.

Madness/Discard

Much of Red’s card draw involves discarding in exchange so why not take advantage of that? Pitch cards for value, fill your graveyard with re-usable spells, and cast madness cards for cheap.

Spells

Adjacent to the Arclight Phoenix deck, there are lots of other ways to accrue value from your instants and sorceries.

Storm

One of my favorite archetypes to see someone draft at the table. There are so many unexpected interlocking pieces here and the end result can be very powerful. Let ‘em cook!

Tokens

Whether on the aggro spectrum or accruing incremental value with game pieces, there are tons of ways to make tokens and put them to good use.

…and more!

There are so many interesting cards and strategies to explore, the cube is your oyster! Get out there and start racking up those Red Deck Wins!