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My clone of The Starter Cube.

Since 4/12/22, I've renamed this cube as is from "Antonio Parolisi Starter Cube". This change reflect the distance from "The Starter Cube" taken update after update. I will always thank the creator for the solid base provided.

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Table of Contents:

• How to pack (I've a little difference from classic draft)
• Archetypes guide
• My guide card

This is my first and only cube at the moment and my idea is to make it growth over time and increase his power level step by step by new release inclusions and some old cards inserts. The card number would not increase any more in the near future to don't break the current draft mode. Now I'm focusing on increase a little the power level, but having in mind to decrease the cards complexity.

How to pack

This cube is curated to be drafted from 4 to 8 persons.

! Each pack must be fully randomized, don't put x white, x red cards... I don't ensure that colors will be always divisible in each pack.

For 5+ players: make 4 packs of 12 cards per player and draft as usually.

For 4- players: make 8 packs of 12 cards per players and sealed as usually.

Like Hypercube propose, this permit more first pick and even distribution. Look at that cube if you are interested.

There are 12 cards to make one another pack for Lore Seeker, totally you should get 33 packs ((4 * 8 + 1) * 12 = 396).

My personal guide to cube archetypes

(I'm writing it, taking inspiration from The Spooty Cube Archetype description and from this awesome article for Primers).

Decks composed mostly of blue and white cards will typically revolve around evasive creatures - typically with flying. Many of the token-makers in white are slanted towards making spirit or bird tokens in order to support this theme like Harmonious Archon. Aggro decks and Tempo decks in these colors are supported by aggressive white one-drops, blue tempo staples like Man-o-War and Memory Lapse, and cheap white removal. Control decks in these color pairs can also flourish due to the large amount of counterspells and removal. White has an incidental lifegain theme to it that helps support control decks as well. Finally, a blink package that mostly consists of Ephemerate and Soulherder is included for players wanting to play for value. In future improvements, I'd like to focus more on an artifact theme for this color pair.

Those creature-focused decks will center around evasive creatures and "ninja" cards like Moonblade Shinobi and Ingenious Infiltrator that can give extra value to cards that have great enter the battlefield abilities like Ravenous Chupacabra and Cloudkin Seer.

Other decks could go for a more control gameplan with win-cons such as Damnation followed by a Rise from the Tides to create a swarm of zombies or win powerful bombs like Tasigur, the Golden Fang or Aetherling!

Every deck could access to the reanimator package to cards like Blood for Bones to surprise opponent with the return of an old removed menace like Myr Battlesphere.

Decks composed mostly of red and black cards also tend to fall into creature- or spell-focused decks, with a much higher percentage of decks centering around sacrificing creatures for value with cards like Goblin Bombardment, Zulaport Cutthroat, or [[Syr Konrad, the Grim]. There are some recurring 1-black drops like Cult Conscript, the decks can still function by relying on the reach provided by cards like Dreadhorde Invasion and burn spells. A dearth of solid black removal spells and board wipes like Languish and Slice and Dice allow creative drafters to build control decks in this color pair and to finish out games with a timely Gurmag Angler or Emissary of Grudges.

Decks composed mostly of red and green cards trend towards midrange close to 100% of the time. Oftentimes, you are looking to play turn-1 mana elves into turn-3 threats, but the decks can also settle into a more traditional 1, 2, 3 creature curve with red’s aggressive low-end. Green-heavy decks can skew towards active ramp decks that splash red for burn spells to take care of aggressive opponents. Finally, the RG section is the first - and the primary - color combination to support the Persist combo. This combo consists of having Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap on the battlefield with a free sac outlet such as Goblin Bombardment, and a card that places a +1/+1 counter on the creature when it persists, such as Renata, Called to the Hunt, or Grumgully, the Generous. This combo can allow for infinite life or infinite damage on the spot.

Decks composed of mostly green and white cards primarily focus on being a midrange deck that has a synergistic focus around +1/+1 counters, lifegain, or both. Cards like Verdurous Gearhulk and Sweet-Gum Recluse act as good bridge-gaps. Decks in these colors are primarily looking to go bigger than the aggro decks in the cube and mitigate their incoming damage. Many cards exist in these colors as “payoffs”, such as Basri's Lieutenant and Great Oak Guardian for counters, or Regal Caracal and Seeker of the Way for lifegain. Finally, there is potential to make the Persist combo work in GW with the addition of Good-Fortune Unicorn and a colorless sacrifice outlet such as Spawning Pit. In future improvements, I'd like to support better an Enchantments Matter archetype, since there are many useful enchantments in this color pair, like Oblivion Ring in white or Wolfwillow Haven in green or to a Humans theme.

Decks composed of mostly black and white cards tend to focus on clogging up the board, removing the opponent’s threats, and then winning either via attrition or with mass sacrifice and various Cruel Celebrant effects. Many of the most efficient sacrifice-based decks are made using a combination of white’s token makers and black’s great sacrifice outlets. On the other hand, black and white are the colors with the strongest removal options. This, combined with incidental lifegain, means that BW is a combination that can look to play a control deck.

Decks composed of mostly blue and red cards are almost always spell-centric, with multiple payoffs for playing a large amount of instants and sorceries. Some examples of these payoffs include Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, Young Pyromancer, and Murmuring Mystic. Having access to plentiful amounts of spot removal and counterspells, these decks almost always tend to act as control decks. However, an aggressive slant is supported with cards like Burning Prophet, Pteramander and tempo by Fire // Ice.

Decks composed of mostly green and black cards trend towards midrange builds that win via attrition, much like BW decks. However, the difference is that while white cards allow the deck to go wide and combo out, green cards provide more value in replaying them with cards like Regrowth and Nullpriest of Oblivion. Getting repeat value off creatures like Reclamation Sage and Thragtusk can allow a GB deck to win the long game. Payoff cards such as these can allow the player to turn inevitable victory into a decisive one. Lastly, both traditional “go big” Reanimator and the aforementioned Persist Combo decks can be built in this color pair - Pelakka Wurm is one hell of a card to bring back.

Decks composed of mostly red and white cards are the quintessential aggro decks that are needed to keep the rest of the decks in check. You are the fun police, and you’re looking to curve out early and end the game quickly. This color pair brings the highest number of low to the ground aggressive creatures and can back them up with cheap white removal and red burn spells for reach. Furthermore, these decks can utilize cards like Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, Basri's Lieutenant, Usher of the Fallen and Figure of Destiny to increase the already potent board presence that equipment cards can provide. Finally, cards like Intangible Virtue and Heroic Reinforcements can quickly spell doom for opponents once a wide enough board is established.

Decks composed of mostly blue and green cards are probably the least “deep” of the color pairs, but don’t let that fool you. UG decks can be some of the scariest midrange or ramp builds that come out the cube due to their access to card selection and advantage, counterspells, and viable top-end ramp targets like End-Raze Forerunners and Voracious Greatshark. On top of that, cards like Thorn Mammoth and Sagu Mauler can quickly turn a scary game into an unbeatable one for opponent’s once they start having to face down multiple Pelakka Wurm or Hornet Queen.

Notable Combos

These combos can close the game in the same turn each necessary combo piece is available, so watch out carefully from them, picking them in the draft to break them or dealing with them in the game when you think your opponent could run that combo in his deck.

Persist Combo

The Sacrifice: Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap are the only reasonably cheap persist creatures with enters-the-battlefield abilities that will end the game. Fortunately, one is green and both are multicolored. With them, you can gain infinite life or deal infinite damage when you complete the combo.

The Sacrifice Outlet: the combo needs cards that allow a creature to be sacrificed repeatedly for free. The least expensive outlets are Carrion Feeder and Viscera Seer, each at only 1cc. The cheapest red outlet is Goblin Bombardment.

The Engine: to make this combo work the sacrifice needs to gain a +1/+1 counter or lose a -1/-1 counter when it comes back from the graveyard. Renata, Called to the Hunt and Vizier of Remedies both do this for cheap.
Finally, you need a card that remove the -1/-1 token on the persistent creature like those:

How it works: you need on the battlefield one of each combo pieces and do the following actions:

1. Sacrifice a persistent creature with a sac-outlet to active any effect
2. Return the persistent creature on the battlefield with a -1/-1 token
3. Put a +1/+1 token on the persistent creature, removing by rules both +1/+1 and -1/-1 token
4. Repeat from 1.

My guide card

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Old Description (from The Starter Cube)

The Starter Cube is a $120 budget cube designed as a balanced entry-point into cubing. The entire list was purchasable from TCGPlayer on 8/1/2021 for just under $120 total. Prices fluctuate with time and the budget cubes are not updated on a regular schedule. The price increasing by up to 20% is expected between updates.

Audio primer for the cube: Solely Singleton Season 13 Episode 3