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.
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 Krosan Archer 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.
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.
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 added Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath, and Wooded Foothills to the cube around the time I added more shocks. I wanted to see how they would perform in this environment where there were relatively few targets for them.
What I found was that in decks where they were good, they were too strong while in decks where they weren't great in, they would frequently fail to find. This made games feel more swingy than I like while also adding a layer of complexity to an already challenging draft environment.
With that in consideration, I'm bringing back Horizon Canopy, Karplusan Forest, and Underground River.