this is a fully powered, strix 10, Vintage cube. it is combo friendly, biased towards novel interactions and story cards. it is intentionally not powermaxed. it favors diversity and variance more than optimized, finite macro archetypes. card knowledge and evaluation is highly rewarded but the cube does not cater to the spike psycographic. known unfair and power outlier strategies are intentionally thinner than powermax cubes to introduce risk rather than reward hyperfocus, but not so thin as to be unplayable. occasionally cards are added or removed to weaken certain archetypes.

this cube is very old, as discussed in history, starting in 2005. it was created before MTGO Vintage cube existed (2012). it does not echo it. nor sync with it. you will find familiar archetypes from other Vintage cubes here but not always with the cards you’re used to.

the cube does not focus broadly on identities for each color or combination, more on loose archtypes with broad intersections. the cube eschews spreadsheet aesthetics and many (now) traditional design elements.

it is heavily signed and altered by the original artists. this is an ongoing quest as the content of the cube changes every few weeks, frequently introducing new cards. if you happen to have a “better” version of a card in my cube, please reach out to me about it. i’d likely be interested in trading or purchasing it.

table of contents

• design philosophy
• design notes
• archtypes and themes
• special cards
• lines
• draft
• history
• featured events
• footnotes

design design philosophy

high power cards and high-risk, high-reward play is embraced. strong, often redundant, combos are plentiful as are cheap answers. everything should matter, from mulligans to tapping out.

cards should support multiple roles and shells. parasitism should be minimized. Scheming Fence is in over Voltaic Key or Pithing Needle as it both answers various threats while being a Time Vault enabler. Altar of Dementia is in over Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar to enable both self-mill strats (Thassa's Oracle, Underworld Breach, etc) and mill as a wincon (alongside Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Ashiok, Dream Render), not just ramp.

as micro-archetypes and themes rise and fall, cards may be cut to manage dominance and viability, or answers may be provided. at times entire themes may be cut or added, eg proliferate, infect, persist.

design notes

• singleton except lands
• no custom cards or special rules for cards
• no dexterity matters or ante cards
• no silver bordered, holiday, HotR, or playtest cards
• no alchemy or other digital-only cards
• no budget, rarity, expansion, plane, or other theme restrictions
• draft matters cards are ok
• limited commercially released cards are ok (Secret Lair, Jumpstart)
• non-vintage cards (eg conspiracies) can be cut for power level reasons
• underperforming or under-included cards are reviewed and typically cut
• cards are not added until released

archetypes and themes

i used to curate a long list of micro-archetypes and themes in the cube. it was rarely kept up to date and made editing difficult so i’ve cut it from the overview.

current supported macro-archtypes: Wx aggro-control, Ux fractal, Bx reanimator, UR spells, Gx ramp, RDW.

special cards

there are several cards in this cube that you may not be familiar with, as they are unique to specific formats and events.

conspiracy cards

Conspiracy is a card type. they are colorless cards. they are not part of your 40 card deck. they are treated like emblems and start the game in the Command Zone. they modify the rules of the game for you.

there are two Conspiracy cards in this cube. first is Emissary's Ploy. before each game (yes, you may switch between games) you choose 1, 2, or 3. you may cast creature spells with the chosen mana value spending mana as though it were mana of any color.

if you have Emissary's Ploy, you can cast Kroxa spending any 2 mana. you can escape Kroxa spending any 4 mana, as you are still casting a creature spell, and the creature spell's mana value is 2, regardless of what you pay. you can cast Mawloc spending any 2 mana only if x=0. if you want x to be non-zero, you must pay .

the second conspiracy is Unexpected Potential. it lets you cast any spell you drafted spending mana as though it were mana of any color. please make a note of the chosen card using an Infinitoken or similar.

hero cards

Hero is a card type, not to be confused with Heroes of the Realm (eg Inzerva, Master of Insights) or creatures with type Hero (eg. Storm, Force of Nature). they were part of the "Face the Hydra" event in the original Theros block. they are colorless cards. they are not part of your 40 card deck. Hero cards are permanents that start the game on the battlefield. they have a mana value of 0 and can be interacted with like any other permanent.

there is only one Hero card in the cube, The Protector. it taps to prevent 1 damage to any target. note that this has other uses such as crime, Nadu, Winged Wisdom, or killing a Phantasmal Image.

draft matters cards

there are two "draft matters" cards in the cube. draft matters cards were from the Conspiracy and Conspiracy: Take the Crown sets. they are not an explicit card type, just a logical grouping. when you draft a "draft matters" card you draft it face up and announce it.

there are two "draft matters" cards in the cube. there is only one copy of each. the first is Cogwork Librarian. you draft Cogwork Librarian like any other card, just face up and announce it. in a later pack, you may announce you are using the Cogwork Librarian to draft a second card from that pack, putting Cogwork Librarian back into the pack in place of your second pick.

the second is Lore Seeker. you draft Lore Seeker like any other card, just face up and announce it. when you draft it, an extra pack is added to the draft. this "Lore Seeker pack" is not seeded in any way; it's just 16 cards not named Lore Seeker. the "Lore Seeker pack" will be handed to you and you will draft from it before looking at any more packs. there will now be 9 packs circling the table.

lines

there are a number of combos that tend to swiftly end the game. this list is nowhere near complete, but provided as examples. please inform me if any of this is out of date.

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Lotus Petal could be any 0 mana or mana-positive artifact.
Teferi’s -3 returns Lotus Petal to Hand. Lotus Petal is recast, triggering Displacer Kitten targeting Teferi.

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Lotus Petal could also be Black Lotus or LED.
Casting Lotus Petal triggers Displacer Kitten targeting Lurrus. Sacrifice Lotus Petal for mana. Since Lurrus was flickered, its ability can be used again.

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Mirage Mirror could also be Scheming Fence or Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner.
Activate Mirage Mirror to copy Time Vault until end of turn. It can be tapped to take another turn. Since Mirage Mirror is no longer Time Vault, it will untap as normal.

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Black Lotus could also be LED. Pyrite Spellbomb could also be Soul-Guide Lantern.
sacrifice Black Lotus to add . activate Auriok Salvagers spending to return Black Lotus to your hand and recast it. Repeat for infinite . then repeat for infinite of other colors. cast Pyrite Spellbomb, sacrificing it and returning it with Auriok Salvagers, to either do infinite damage or draw infinite cards.

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activate Heliod targeting Walking Ballista. active Ballista to do 1 damage. gain life, triggering Heliod to put a +1/+1 counter on Ballista. repeat for infinite damage.

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Pestermite could be Restoration Angel or in some cases Fear of Missing Out.
activate Kiki-Jiki targeting Pestermite. the token Pestermite untapped Kiki-Jiki. repeat for infinite attackers.

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Kinnan Could be Zirda. Basalt Monolith could be Grim Monolith with Zirda.
Basalt taps for with Kinnan. it costs to untap it. repeatedly activate it for infinite mana.

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Thespian's Stage could also be Mirage Mirror or Mutated Cultist.
Activate Thespian’s Stage targeting Dark Depths. sac the one with counters due to the Legend Rule. sacrifice the Stage copy without counters for Marit Lage.

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attack with Laelia. if unblocked, repeatedly activate Necropotence to exile a card triggering Laelia until Laelia is lethal.

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draft

players draft 2 packs of 14, 2 packs of 12, and the Lore Seeker pack (2 cards per player) for a total of 54 cards.

why 4 packs? i feel it increases agency. why the huge card pool? i want players to be able to pivot, make risky picks, or make sideboard picks during the draft.

the 14 card packs are seeded WUBRGCLxxxxxxx. the 12 card packs are seeded MCLxxxxxxxxx. the Lore Seeker pack is just 16 cards not named Lore Seeker.

the land station includes some Snow-Covered lands and Wastes for edge cases that come in and out of the cube such as Tainted Pact or Prismatic Vista and Eldrazi Displacer.

history

i started building this cube in 2005. it was erratically drafted the first few years. it’s been continuously drafted and curated since 2008. considerable history was kept on CubeTutor until a glitch on the site deleted the history. the cube has grown and shrunk in size over the years (360-540+). design philosophy has changed several times over.

the original cube was just a collection of powerful, broken things, as most cubes were in that era. Channel + Fireball wins were popular but most games were slower, defined more by Timmy-style haymaker plays than careful construction and curves. over time it shifted more and more to synergy and the curve kept coming down.

around the start of the COVID pandemic the cube had its most significant redesign, a short lived v2. there was considerable exploration during this time and careful consideration of what was and wasn’t viable in powered environments. archetypes such as aristocrats fell to the wayside. spreadsheet aesthetics, type parity across color, etc were shed, unneeded. v2 was not well documented but was necessary to get to where the cube is now.

eventually the cube rose anew, built from scratch based on discovery in v2. it grew to its current size, originally to make room for more fixing. since then some fixing slots have been cut after careful deliberation and review of deck pics from multiple events.

featured events

i'm honored to have my cube featured at a few events now.

• Trans Lifeline Fundraiser, Las Vegas 2023
• California Cube Championship 2023 selection
• CubeCon 2023 Rotisserie Draft event
• Washington Cube Championship 2024 selection
• Washington Cube Championship 2024 top 8 cube (popular vote)
• California Cube Championship 2024 selection
• California Cube Championship 2024 top 8 cube
• LDXP Los Angeles 2024 special events
• CubeCon 2024 special events
• MagiKids Fundraiser, Las Vegas 2024
• Boston Cube Party 2025 selection
• LDXP Santa Clara 2025 special events

i also bring my cube to as many major events as i can attend (MagicCons, LDXP, PAX, etc) running casual and private drafts. follow me on BlueSky for more information.

footnotes dexterity matters

i love Chaos Orb but i won’t play it in here. i don’t want physical disability to be a barrier to people enjoying my cube.

silver bordered

silver-bordered cards have been tested. they have either been insignificant or broken, with no explicit need for inclusion. Booster Tutor especially was degenerate combined with Isochron Scepter and other recursion and copy effects.

Heroes of the Realm

i find most HotR cards horribly unbalanced and unfun. there’s also no affordable means of acquiring them.

Unknown

i have a fair number of Unknown event cards. they are often fun but broadly unbalanced. being glued paper to other cards, without illustration, they do not match aesthetics. they also are notably thicker than other cards. this disqualifies their inclusion.

Alchemy

i love some Alchemy designs. some could easily be adapted to paper. however, the absence of physical cards would mean i’d be running a proxy and it feels against the aesthetics. perhaps this could change in the future but i’m not ready yet.

mystery booster 2 reprints of Alchemy and Unknown event cards present a unique possibility, being a physical card with art that could be signed and altered by the artist. however i have not yet felt compelled for the inclusion of any specific card.

draft matters cards

i feel draft matters cards create decisions and opportunities during the draft. they embrace risk. they create stories. more may come and go at times. Canal Dredger is known to be far too strong and will never be included here.

conspiracies

some Conspiracy cards proved too powerful. Backup Plan and Double Stroke are the most notable. Summoner’s Pact made A+B creature combos too easy. Sovereign’s Realm with Fastbond and similar effects created non-games. Power Play was one of the last to be cut for power-level reasons. some conspiracies have been in and out, eg Worldknit. some colored conspiracies have been considered but feel underwhelming without breaking singleton. Hymn of the Wilds has finally been accepted as too good and cut from the list; i apologize for leaving it in too long.