The combo cube was born from mine and a friend's knowledge of niche combos from throughout magic's history and across formats, and is designed to basically be a vintage cube where you can't play fair magic. My goal for the cube is for players to need to win via combos, so you can't really draft aggro or midrange (because there aren't enough efficient threats), and even the control decks are just slower combo decks with more removal.

• This cube is designed to be drafted with 3 packs of 18, with one additional 18-card Lore Seeker pack, in order to increase the total number of cards each player ends up with. For smaller player counts, I recommend doing 4x13 or 5x11. For larger player counts, 3x16 + 18 for lore seeker or 2x15 + 1x14 + 10 for lore seeker works.
• Each player starts the draft with a copy of Cogwork Librarian
• Players drafting this cube have access to snow basics for cards that care about unique card names (specifically Field of the Dead and Tainted Pact).
• Learn cards are wishes and can fetch any card from your sideboard, including basic lands.
• I've included some alchemy cards with modified wording so as to allow them to easily be played in paper.
• I've also included some playtest and un-set cards that fit my goals and didn't feel too wacky.
• Having been inspired by my success with custom cards in my uncommon cube, i've decided to include some custom cards, including some lifted more or less straight from the powered synergy cube.
• I've modified some cards to strengthen (or weaken) them in order to adjust gameplay towards what i'm looking for.
• Each player can only utilize 1 conspiracy card at a time, due to their overall power level and lack of deckbuilding consideration.
• And finally, I've included a handful of cards that I'm choosing to run as originally printed instead of working like their current oracle text so that they can essentially function as rituals (Mox Diamond, Lotus Vale, Lake of the Dead, and Scorched Ruins).

Because there are so many ways to instantly win the game, the cube doesn't really rely on archetypes so much as general game plans, overlapping pockets of synergy, and specific combinations of cards.

Most decks will end up roughly mapping to a more normal midrange cube deck but with combos instead of beating down with creatures as a win condition. Aggro would then mean more all-in combo decks, trying to win the game quickly, whereas control would mean decks running more interaction and ways to get ahead on cards, winning after stopping the opponent from doing so.

There are, however, a handful of deck types that need different amounts of cards from specific categories in order to function:

Play permanents and spells that prevent your opponent from executing their game plan, allowing you to win with random creatures or combos of your own.

Important card types:

• Stax pieces / mana denial (cheap creatures and other permanents that limit what your opponent can do, make spells cost more, destroy their lands, etc)
• Removal spells
• Ways to win the game while the opponent is on the backfoot (cheap creatures and/or fast mana + big creatures)
• Reach / Other ways to win on stalled boards
• Protection spells for your creatures and stax pieces

Play as many spells as you can in one big turn in order to win the game immediately, or create a board that will allow you to win in the next turn or two, ideally very early in the game.

Important card types:

• Storm and/or magecraft payoffs to actually win the game with
• For more magecraft focused lists: spells that copy themselves, or ways to copy spells repeatedly
• Either/both of:
  • A combo that involves casting the same spell infinite times in one turn
  • Ways to have enough mana to play many spells in one turn (fast mana, rituals, cost reducers, land untappers)
• Ways to be able to play lots of spells in one turn (card draw, free spells, flashback, suspend, ways to play cards from your graveyard/library, etc)

Get one or more big creatures into your graveyard, then return those creatures to play as early in the game as you can.

Important card types:

• Ways to return creatures from your graveyard to play
• Ways to get creatures into your graveyard from your deck/hand (known in our local group as milkshakes because they bring boys to your yard)
• Creatures that will win the game quickly once they're in play
• For worldgorger type lists:
  • Animate Dead effects instead of other types of reanimation
  • For Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward: Ways to give your creatures haste
  • For Leonin Relic-Warder: Cards that trigger on creatures entering the battlefield and/or dying, Last Voyage of the _____
  • For Worldgorger Dragon: Ways to stop the loop or win during it (sacrifice outlets, ways to get other creatures into the graveyard, instant speed infinite mana outlets)

Either use a single card to put a big creature or permanent onto the battlefield from your deck or hand, or play a bunch of ramp and/or fast mana to cast a big creature or other spell early in the game.

Important card types:

• Big creatures and other spells to win the game with
• Any/all of:
  • Ways to cast your payoffs for free or put them directly onto the battlefield
  • Lots of fast mana and other ramp
  • Infinite mana combos

Assemble a combo to return to play or cast the same creature infinite times in one turn, winning with etb triggers, storm, or the effects of a sac outlet. Creature loops are split into two main types: persist and non-persist.

Important card types:

• Persist:
  • Creatures with persist
  • Cards that repeatedly give creatures +1/+1 counters or prevent -1/-1 counters from being placed on them
  • Sac outlets
  • ETB triggers or death triggers to win the game if your sac outlet or persist creature doesn't do so on its own
• Other loops:
  • Ways to loop the creature (creatures that can be cast repeatedly, cards that return creatures to your hand repeatedly, sac outlets for loops that need creatures to die)
  • Ways to make the creature you're looping free (creatures that make mana when they ETB or die, land untappers, cost reducers, creatures that tap for mana + ways to give them haste, etc)
  • Payoffs (ETB triggers, death triggers, storm cards, ways to use infinite mana if the loop nets you mana, etc)