In the early days, things were simple. Cards came in six types and were printed on one side of the magic card. They all had a text box in the same place. Alternate Timeline explores what magic might look like today if those things were still true for all cards.
I made this cube to play with friends who had not played magic in many years, and I wanted things to be easy for them to pick back up. So, if a card has a type, subtype (mostly just equipment here), or frame/layout that was not part of magic from the beginning, it is not allowed in this cube. It turns out that playing this kind of magic can be a lot of fun, even if you are a player who is familiar with all of the complexities of modern magic.
What would magic be like if extra types and subtypes, double-faced cards, and other things like that weren't invented? You won't find any planeswalkers, sagas, transforming cards, actual transformers, equipment, or any of that "newfangled" stuff in this cube. I've made an effort to include cards whose printed text matches their oracle text, and the idea is that anyone should be able to shuffle up and have some fun games with this cube (instead of needing a draft or two to figure out how the cube really works).
To really get down to specifics, these kinds of cards are excluded:
In other words, if you haven't played magic in about 15 or 20 years, all of the cards should still look like magic cards to you, and you should be able to play the cube without much trouble. If you are familiar with all the modern card designs you might enjoy playing in an environment where cards that often feel like duds can feel like bombs again.
OK, thats what isn't allowed, but what do the cards in here DO?
What are decks like? What themes are present? What should I expect?
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
+1/+1 counters
Ramp
If you prefer numerical data, this is what the curve looks like (excluding lands; updated in November 2024).
Maybe you are looking for a different sort of graph? This graph includes a variety of cubes plots them based on their average mana value and word count per card. I think the takeaway is that Alternate Timeline includes more small mana value cards with few words than most of these others. That is great because it is what I have been aiming for.
The groupings in this graph are:
If you prefer a more esoteric, vibes-forward description with some vague connections to science, read on:
A seed crystal of Ancient Times was exposed to the liquid mass of the modern card pool and behold: new crystal faces grew upon the old and weathered material. Alternate Timeline is that new material.
crystal graphic from Crystals 2020, 10(5), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10050376
Thats right, 2 cards are coming in from Foundations.