Art by Phil FoglioThis cube leans hard on aggressive/tempo focused play with an emphasis on low curves and the intention of providing players the opportunity to be able to act and react. A back-and-forth if you will. It’s going to be a war of attrition and consequential decisions… but in a fun way, ya know?
What I really mean by the above is that this cube is fundamentally focused on Magic at its most distilled form: casting spells and turning creatures sideways.
In a similar vein, a recent fixation has been trying to emphasize clean/clear cards and design. Reading the card should readily explain the card and thinking should be primarily reserved for the games being played and not sussing out sixteen abilities on a one-drop. What this really means is that the cube kind of shies away from one-off mechanics and features a lot of classic well known “boomer” era cards.
I break singleton for the mana base by featuring two sets of fetch and three sets of shock lands. I want players to have a mana base that enables their deck to do its thing and enjoy the tension created by painful lands.
All cards featured come from sets that were Type II (Standard) legal. No cards printed exclusively in supplemental products. No cards featured/printed on special bonus draft sheets from a set. No gods. No masters.
Major inspiration and credit are due to @andymangold's Bun Magic Cube, @dinrovahorror's Atomic Cube, @couchlife's Couch Cube, and @snowtorch's Mini Cube. All of them have written more, and more eloquently, on design and gameplay goals that I ape in varying degrees.
I went on a podcast and talked about creative expression for the sake of one's self and how this--whatever this is--was a medium or venue in which I felt particularly comfortable engaging in that expression and, in doing so, doomed the fragile balance or illusion that allowed me to write freely in the first place. Whoops.
Or, maybe, that isn't it. Maybe it is not necessarily writer's block or some sort of paralysis that I am feeling but something closer to indifference. Exhaustion. I have written, I think, a bit about feeling exhausted within this space, this hobby. I still feel that way along with feeling like everything, broadly, generally, is grinding me, us, down. "Fantasy BaseballCard Game At the End of the World" if you will.
Am I over "this"? I don't think so. But I am over overthinking about it. Or thinking about it much as much at all.
Anyway, here are some changes and while I am sure I will probably fiddle with the cards I have in my collection and it is silly to make such self-important statements as "no changes until [X]" I don't see myself buying any new cards for the foreseeable future. I don't see myself buying any old cards either and by putting that in writing I am, hopefully, denying myself the loophole that it going unstated permits.
In adding Hellrider and Skinrender each color has a (foil) four-drop that has some sort of emotional resonance, or pull, from playing the game ~thirteen years ago. Is that important? Not really but it was a gesture and process that gave me comfort for a little while and now I am living with the results. Student of Warfare returns because I would rather have a one-off not great mechanic on a card with art I adore and, similarly, have some strange affinity for. A member of the local playgroup had multiple copies of Cori-Steel Cutter so now I have one. The card is "tempo" and that is a word that has been a guiding star for this cube for so long.
There isn't really much to say about the cuts beyond maybe Darkstar Augur is a bat and not Bob--the others are all cards that have previously been cut.
Okay. I'm all done and going to bed.