Art by Lindsey Look
Desert Rose is a condensed, thematic cube intended to be played by 2-4 people with a variant designed to accommodate a fifth (see "Playtest" tab for more info). Players will find themselves in a sparsely populated land of dunes full of scrap and automata; the hostile junkyards hide priceless treasures and where there is risk, there is reward -- will you take your chances in the Blasted Landscape of Desert Rose?
To draft Desert Rose, each player starts with 1 each of Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Tower. All other lands must be drafted. Resources are limited and should be respected as such. Housman draft is recommended for 2-3 players while four players will draft 4 packs of 13 cards.
This cube is intends to tell a story through drafting, the resulting decks, and gameplay. Players will gather spells and artifacts on their journey across the desert. Will you become a master of the sands or an excavating prodigy? Perhaps you will be a beast tamer or a factory foreman. Synergies and themes are littered across colors. Players should treat this draft environment like a sandbox, mixing and matching synergistic pieces alongside bits and bobs that fill in the gaps. Use your imagination.
Desert Rose is about what is lost and what can be saved. It is about knowing what to let go, and when to let go of it. It is about remembering history and learning to live in the present while preparing for the future. It is also about being resourceful and working through challenges. To represent these themes, Desert Rose employs the use of Cycling, Madness, Flashback, and Unearth mechanics as well as lands that must be sacrificed for powerful abilities.
Before the current age of industry and excavation, these lands were more diverse and bountiful. A burgeoning of factories and mines have lead to Cataclysmic Prospecting. The desiccation has proven to be too hostile for cephalids and now, the Cephalid Coliseum stands empty. Dwindling resources have led to a migration of the dwarves; Dwarven Ruins, once vibrant halls of merrymaking, now lie eerily still and the last desert dwarf has become a Digsite Engineer to escape the deafening silence. The once mighty centaurs have moved on as well, with only the Loaming Shaman left to tend the Centaur Garden.
Throughout the lands, explorers will find remnants of formerly thriving cultures.
Two young artificers were drawn to the dunes in search of ancient artifacts.
Throughout their journeys, they have met other legends of the desert.
In their quest for power, Urza and Mishra have opened factories and mines, leading to the acceleration of desertification.
The lands, drained of nutrients, have become hostile dunes. Excessive extraction has led to near Armageddon.
Littered amongst the ruins and deep in the mines, intrepid wanderers will find powerful tools to aid them on their expeditions.
The world does not sit idly by as her inhabitants wreak havoc. In the Llanowar Wastes the earth itself is becoming imbued with vigorous spirits to strike back at those who would defile it.
Navigation is key if you don't want to lose yourself in the shifting sands. Make sure to think ahead and pack accordingly.
Artificers and soldiers roam the scrapyards. Various constructs scour the slag heaps and junkyards for spare parts.
Adventureres are not alone; dangerous creatures have flourished in the absence of dense humanoid populations. The crags, canyons, and highlands are home to various cats, lizards, beasts and hounds.
Some have even integrated themselves with artificial components they've found littered across the landscape.
However, there are far greater dangers hidden in the sands. The Angel and Giant roam the vast plains, the Sphinx presides over the river delta and a Demon stalks the nights.
The dunes and highlands are home to subterranean Wurms and a slinking Hydra; the skies are dominated by a fire-breathing Dragon -- these terrors instill fear in those who walk the Desert.
Thank you for reading my overview. Hopefully you can see and enjoy the vision with me. Special thanks to @ChillMTG for the banner and don't forget, hydrate or die-drate.
I've been playing and enjoying a lot of premodern lately. UG madness is a PM deck that has cards already present in the cube, this update adds a few more. Obsessive Search is a relatively weak cantrip and is replaced by Frantic Search which should be much more impactful. Genesis is a grindy card in an already grindy & recursive cube. Arrogant Wurm is now in and compliments the rootwallas.