French Vanilla Cube

Cube ID
Art by Chase StoneArt by Chase Stone

540 Card Cube

82 followers
Designed by noobcubedudeRSSQR Code

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Noob Cubes (#1-#4 are singleton across cubes, and are intended to be drafted in order with new players.)

  1. Vanilla Cube — Vanilla and flying creatures. Main phase Magic = sorceries, auras, and equipment. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5e9ca415963b2910832b781e
  2. French Vanilla Cube — Creatures with evergreen abilities (and reminder text), virtual vanillas with ETB triggers, tapping and untapping. Spells boiled down to the basics. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5e9ca7047d4dfc10896be661
  3. Evergreen Cube — Evergreen abilities (without reminder text), flash, card draw, converted mana cost, tapping, and sacrifice matter. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5ea91799730881583941caa5
  4. Deciduous Cube — Cycling, Kicker, Morph, Flashback, card draw and discard, modal spells. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5ea9181f730881583941cd11
  5. Wide and Tall Cube — Tokens and +1/+1 counters. https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5ea923d6730881583942722f

This cube started off as the simple idea of compiling a list of all of Magic's vanilla creatures (creatures without abilities). Later I thought it would be fun to include all the french vanilla creatures (creatures with only evergreen keyword abilities). I found that the number of white and green creatures that fit this criteria was far greater than the number of blue, black, or red, so I decided to think about what would constitute a "french vanilla" noncreature spell. Cards that dealt damage, gained life, destroyed permanents, drew/discarded cards, etc., in a simple, concise, and understandable manner seemed to fit the bill. At some point the cube had become too large, and I realized that what I actually wanted was to teach my friends how to play Magic with this Cube. With that realization, I set out to limit the Cube to cards that had reminder text and were beginner-friendly. I cut many interesting cards that didn't explain how they worked (The exception to the reminderless-ability purge was Flying, which is often unaccompanied by reminder text, as Wizards considers it to be the most intuitive keyworded ability).

As I have continued to retool the Cube, it has been interesting for me to think about what I consider to be the building blocks of Magic, and whether a mechanic is worthy of inclusion in the French Vanilla Cube. For example, two big parts of Magic are +1/+1 counters and token creatures, but you won't find either of them in this cube because they are a bit more advanced, in my opinion (But I did build a cube around those mechanics: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5ea923d6730881583942722f). On a more personal level, I tend to look at spoiler season with new eyes, as I get excited about new cards that have a single evergreen ability (Boggart Brute, anyone?). It will be fun to watch this Cube evolve alongside Magic itself.

Loose rules for the Cube:
-With the exception of flying, keyword abilities should have reminder text.
-No functional reprints. When choosing a card to fill a slot that has multiple functional printings, I tried to choose the most well-known or first printed card. Cards whose names are used to explain other cards (Savannah Lions, Goblin Piker, Grizzly Bears, etc.) have higher priority (and are hopefully foil, too!).
-Try to include cards that help explain what each color gets to do. Cards that bend or break the color pie (the entire Planar Chaos set, Hornet Sting, Harmonize, etc.) should be left out.
-Powerful cards are not as important as cards that are fun, accessible, and teach something to new players. This cube is on the opposite end of the spectrum from a powered cube.
Edit 9/13/2017: Power is fun! That's why the "Timmy/Tammy" psychographic profile exists. As such, I've included some big, splashy spells, like Insurrection. Additionally, I swapped Ur-Golem's Eye for Sol Ring. The experienced player may balk at this addition, but its innocuous nature in the the eye of a new player leads to a teachable moment.
-Sometimes playing with new players and vanilla decks leads to stalemates. I want to foster a more aggressive environment with quick games. As such, I'm trending towards creatures with greater power than toughness, as well as cards with evasion, strong removal, and good combat tricks.
-Old evergreen abilities that are unlikely to come back (like landwalk, intimidate, fear, and shroud) don't make the cut. EXCEPTION: I'm going to allow some of these abilities a "shoutout" or two.
-Keep complexity low. This cube is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Future Sight. Players should be able to grok the cards in their packs while drafting as well as the cards in their hand while playing. Not understanding a card is unfun.
Edit 9/13/2017: The complexity of the cube has gone up since I first assembled it, as I have cut most of the true Vanilla creatures for French Vanilla creatures, included exile, triggered abilities, untap step, and graveyard interaction, among other additions.
Edit: 12/15/2021: The complexity creep is real. My playgroup has advanced and so has the cube. More walkers, vanilla creatures are nearly extinct, and a few complex cards that lean into the theme of the cube, like Thunderous Orator.
-Diversify each color's abilities! The cube has limited space, so multiple cards for the same effect may mean another effect won't make the cut.

540 Cards
80 Per Color
50 Multicolor (5 per guild)
90 Colorless (45 Artifact, 45 Land)

Evergreen Keyword Abilities:
Deathtouch
Defender
Double Strike
Enchant
Equip
First Strike
Flash
Flying
Haste
Hexproof
Indestructible
Lifelink
Menace
Prowess
Reach
Trample
Vigilance
<Firebreathing>

Shoutouts:
Protection
Landwalk

Evergreen Keyword Actions:
Activate
Attach
Cast
Counter
Create
Destroy
Discard
Exchange
Exile
Fight
Play
Regenerate
Reveal
Sacrifice
Scry
Search
Shuffle
Tap
Untap

Maybeboard Changelist
+1, -0