THE BLUE CUBE

"It is not that you will go mad. It is that you will beg for madness."--Altar of Dementia flavor text

This is a powered cube where every card can be cast and fully utilized with only basic Island, full of powerful and bizarre blue
spells and artifacts. It was built for four to six players drafting three 15-card packs, but it would work fine with more.

Play this cube if you're looking for:
--an drafting experience more skill-testing than "draft the cards in your color"--a format where you can draft game-ending combos
and still have tense, interactive games
--a place to play the iconic alongside the offbeat, from Upheaval and Black Lotus to Arcane Adaptation and [[Jester's
Cap]]--a cube where all the power can be interacted with, and puts you ahead on resources if you successfully interact with it--
no Ancestral Recall, yes Black Lotus
--a cube where you never get color screwed!--games with tough choices, calculation around counterspells, and tricky stack
interaction.

ARCHETYPES

"Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight."--John Ruskin

This cube is designed so that archetypes aren't the be-all and end-all. Unlike Vintage cube, you can put all 45 cards you drafted
in your deck without worrying about mana, and thus the opportunity cost of speculative picks is low. That being said, here are
some of the archetypes in cube:
--Tempo is well-enabled in the format. Grab small, agile, hard-hitting creatures like Dandan, Spectral Sailor, and
Tempest Djinn, and help them reach their potential with cards like Curiosity. Remember to draft bounce and counterspells
to deal with pesky cards like Ensnaring Bridge and Show and Tell!
--Artifact "KCI" Combo is one of the most well-represented combos. Use cards like Emry, Lurker of the Loch and [[Whir of
Invention]] to assemble game-ending combos with pieces like Sai, Master Thopterist, Krark-Clan Ironworks, [[Scrap
Trawler]], and Sword of the Meek. Make sure you don't die to an onslaught of creatures!
--Show and Tell is a well-known combo: use cards like Show and Tell and Braids, Conjurer Adept to cheat out [[Emrakul, the
Aeons Torn]], Blightsteel Colossus, and friends. Just remember that anyone could have a counterspell!
--Two-Card Combos abound. Among the many are Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir + Knowledge Pool, Painter's Servant +
Grindstone, and Retraction Helix + Freed from the Real, and you'll discover new combos often.
--Midrange is a wide sea of possibilities in a format where every pick can go in your deck. You can draft big flyers like [[Thryx,
Sudden Storm]] and but perhaps you can find room for a combo?
--Storm can be difficult to draft-- sometimes you'll get High Tide, or sometimes you'll have to compromise with a [[Caged
Sun]]. If you can assemble the base, though, you'll get rewarded with a win condition like Brain Freeze, [[Aetherflux
Reservoir]], or even Crow Storm!
--and more... I haven't even talked about Arcane Adaptation, Wizard tribal, draw-go, or Lantern control. But at this point,
nothing I tell you could be more informative about the cube than firing up a playtest draft. See you there!