Design Goals

This cube has three primary design goals:

1. Create a high power level environment through multi-card synergies rather than individual high-powered cards.
2. Maximize interactivity between players & zones.
3. When in doubt: maximize Fun at the expense of 1 & 2.

Gameplay

My primary design goal for this cube is to curate a madhouse of synergistic game pieces that can be mashed together to construct diverse, highly interactive (and sometimes silly) decks. A long-term goal is for the environment is to strike a balance between rewarding players for leaning hard into building high synergy Rube Goldberg Machines, while also supporting the full spectrum of aggro, midrange, and control. To put it plainly: decks in this environment should be able to win through a variety of strategies, and games shouldn't be decided by whose solitaire engine gets built first. Drafters who "live the dream" should also need to think about interaction and protecting their key gamepieces, and drafters who focus more on disruption should also need proactive strategies to close out the game.

Design

My approach to designing this cube has been to mostly focus on small core sets of cards that mesh well together and branch organically out from there until I get bored & move to a different set of cards. My focus has primarily been around mechanics I think are fun and work well together, and trying to get as much of them into the cube so the "theme is at common". I haven't given too much thought to designing for specific archetypes or color pairs, instead I've tried to focus on core mechanics and let the color pie sort itself out. My hypothesis is that taking this approach gives players more options for discovery and creativity during the draft. We'll see.

Speaking of The Draft...

A real concern of mine is players "scrubbing out" in a draft hoping to put together a combo engine and failing to find the pieces to make it work. Drafters should be able to feel confident that drafting a synergy piece can pay off in multiple ways, if they keep their eyes peeled. Where possible, I have tried to ensure that more commital draft picks have multiple outlets across colors so players who speculate on a pick like Second Sunrise have several ways to get value from it (Greater Gargadon, Lithatog, Titania, Protector of Argoth, Juri, maybe even Tinker, to name a few). Cards that only go in one deck should probably not exist in the cube.

And now, a word from our sponsors about removal: In pursuit of these goals, the removal density of the cube is relatively high (as of this writing, players are expected to see ~6 "removal" spells per draft--loosley defined), and is curated to hit a wide variety of synergistic gamepieces. Drafters can't just grab all the removal spells they see, they need to think carefully about which strategies they are weak against, and draft accordingly. That being said, I am carefully watching the removal density. Too low and "engine" decks will be too linear, too high and synergy decks will disappear. I have started on what I believe to be a bit high, but tried to counterbalance this by carefully curating the removal types. For example, most creature removal in and is tuned to hit power 2 or less, and more powerful spells require a bit of commitment, like Murderous Cut or Galvanic Blast. I am also running things like Murder, Path to Exile, and Solitude, and there might be too many boardwipes. We'll see how it goes and adjust as needed. My hope is that removal, countermagic, etc. is abundant enough for drafters to have answers, but that it is scarce enough that it needs to be deployed at the right time, against the right threat.

Speaking of threat assesment, another aspirational goal of this cube is for drafters to have mostly playable sideboards. One of my favorite aspects of Magic is threat assesment against hidden information. Figuring out an opponent's strategy in game 1 and adjusting your own in response feels very satisfying to pull off, and gives players more agency. I hope that during the draft, players can more often than not find an "almost maindeckable" card instead of having to grab an off-strategy card that might be someone else's synergy piece they're looking to wheel. Of course drafters will always have "dead cards" in their pool, but my hope is the density of conditional removal and other interaction is such that players pick and choose what is appropriate for a given matchup, and that there's enough to go around for everyone.

Practically, I expect to draft this most often in pods of 3 or 4 players for now. With a pod of 4, I'm testing drafting 3 or 4 packs of 15, with 2 picks per pack. For an 8 pod, 3x15 like normal, but optionally starting everyone with a Cogwork Librarian in their pool.

Maintenance & design constraints

I'm trying to avoid single cards that take over the game or win on their own. To that end, I am watching things like Grave Titan, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and a few others. I also want to minimize 2 card win the game combos, but I put a few things like Kikki-Jikki + Pestermite / Splinter Twin in hoping the pieces get drafted for other synergy decks and that the busted combo gets assembled as a "sometimes food".

Since we're talking about power level, I am very willing to cut from the top to let jankier cards shine. I want the environment to be a place for powerful cards but not power optimized.

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Draft Primer

While design treatises are great, I prefer to show rather than tell. Here are a few examples of what I hope the cube allows to happen:

Engines

The cube is designed to have several modular engines and payoffs that can be mashed together to do silly things. I'll highlight a few of them here in broad strokes, but this list is non-exhaustive.

Artifacts matter

This isn't really an "engine" per se, but there are several payoffs for artifact strategies. Tinker, Goblin welder, Urza, Lord High Artificer, KCI the list goes on. As a reminder, Food, Clue, and Treasure tokens are also artifacts, and these can really power up artifact-matters decks.

Persist combo

The persist combo line works by creating value from infinite, or near-infinite recursion of enter-the-battlefield effects from a creature with Persist ("When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a -1/-1 counter on it."). It usually works by using a sacrifice outlet to sac the persist creature, while also having a way to prevent adding the -1/-1 counter on it when it re-enters the battlefield.

Most of the classic persist combo enablers are here: Solemnity, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Metallic Mimic enable the combo, while instant speed sacrifice outlets like Viscera seer, Carrion Feeder, or Mons's Goblin Waiters kick it off. Outside of the obvious combos (infinite life with Kitchen Finks, infinitely large Carrion Feeder or Arcbound Ravagers), you may have to work to assemble most persist combo payoffs. Lesser Masticore brings infinite creature damage with Krark-Clan Ironworks, or creates an infinitely large Arcbound Ravager or Lithatog. Bridge from Below will make infinite zombies off persist. If you want to go deep, Solemnity plus Luminous Broodmoth effectively grants every creature persist; do busted things with Flash, drain them with Vampire Spawn, the world is your oyster. Preston, the Vanisher is an absolute monster persist combo payoff in white. Red has Pyre-sledge arsonist. Fling can be strong here, too.

Land destruction for value

Isn't it boring to accumulate lands slowly over the course of a game only to not blow them up for value? Worry no more. There are plenty of ways to sacrifice your own lands for good, or ill-advised reasons: Mon's Goblin Waiters, Greater Gargadon, Lithatog, Zuran Orb. Finishers like Pyre-Sledge Arsonist (be sure to float a mana first...), Juri could be fun here, or make tons of elemental tokens with Titania. Or, why not get your lands back with Second Sunrise, tap for more mana, then sac them again (and maybe dome your opponent with Valakut Exploration)?

Food Chain

Food Chain + Squee the immortal or Misthollow Griffen produces infinite mana to cast creature spells (some good ones include Craterhoof behemoth, Genesis Hydra, Thrasta, Tempest's Roar). Aside from the infinite combo lines, there's a smattering of evoke creatures (Ingot Chewer, Mulldrifter, Wave sifter) that net extra mana when fed to food chain. For example, evoke Ingot Chewer for , exile with food chain to produce 6 (or whatever color). If you're feeling extra bold, you could do this with Flash. Cheeky versions of this deck play Orcish Librarian. (Oh, bonus points for pitching Misthollow Griffen to Force of Will to enable the combo)

Decks or combos I would love to see drafted

In no particular order, here are some decks and combos that might exist:

/ Exile Nonsense

This deck casts cards from exile for value. Payoffs include Faldorn, dread wolf herald or Prosper, Tome Bound. Enablers could look like Hell Mongrel, Containment construct, or Galia of the endless dance. Some versions of the deck could use Food chain + Squee the immortal (or even just Squee alone), and may have some success with Biotransference, too.

/ Artifact Reanimator

has cards like Teshar and Auriok Salvagers that can recur artifacts. Combine those with Junk Diver, Scrap Trawler, or Myr Retriever for a nice little value engine. But if you go deeper, cards like Preston, the Vanisher, Disciple of the Vault, Tameshi, and Dance of the Manse can give you some extra gas. If you want to get really crazy, Magical Hacker, which makes ulting planeswalkers "free", enables a neat esper artifact reanimator line with Dakkon, Shadow Slayer. Things get extra spicy with Biotransference.

Modular Intruder Alarm

Goblin Welder + Intruder Alarm + Any modular creature + another artifact creature (something evasive like Ornithopter or Gingerbrute). This deck combos by infinitely recurring a modular creature (like Arcbound Ravager) to put counters on another artifact creature, then either winning by combat or Fling. Also works with Goblin Engineer and Ornithopter of Paradise if you can't find the welder. This deck may want some of the abundant Copy Artifact effects, as well as discard-based card draw (Tolarian Winds, Bazaar of Baghdad) and other mill effects like Sarinth Steelseeker or Emry, Lurker of the Loch to rip through the deck to find the combo pieces.

Ninja's

Ninja's are fun and pretty easy to draft. This deck wants cheap creature removal and bounce spells to remove blockers so you can ninjutsu in Fallen Shinobi, Mist-Syndicate Naga, and friends. Grab a Satoru Umezawa for extra fun and profit (Hullbreaker Horror + Ninjutsu!?).

/ Tokens Aggro

The core of this deck are cards like Gallia of the Endless Dance, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, or Chatterfang, Squirrel General. These three set up a card draw + token generating engine that is very powerful for aggressive strategies. Keep the mana curve below 3 and grab things like Skullclamp, Sticky Fingers, Nettlecyst, Myr Sire, Academy Manufactor, and Seasoned Pyromancer to generate tokens and keep the card draw going. Some versions of this deck could also splash for effects like Repudiate // Replicate, Copy Artifact, and Hard Evidence. Goblin Engineer / Goblin Welder generate value from discard if the deck has enough artifacts.

Mill

I haven't thought too much about this but Dauthi Voidwalker + Fractured Sanity or Brain Freeze seems like a powerful engine.

Dredge / Delve / Self-Mill Shenanigans

There's tons of ways to fill your graveyard: Tasigur, Darkblast, Stitcher's Supplier, Sarinth Steelseeker, Life from the Loam, and ways across several colors to use it as a resource. To name just a few: Restoration Angel & Lion Sash in , Murktide Regent & Treasure Cruise in , Exhume & Yawgmoth's Will in , Past in Flames & Anger in , Splendid Reclamation & Traverse the Ulvenwald in . You can slot these into lots of decks as incidental synergies, or lean in for more value.

Unset Wombo Combo

Yet another aether vortex + Split Screen + Sensei's Divining Top (and maybe The Reality Chip). I can't imagine this will actually work how I imagine it, but... Please. Please draft this. Live the dream. If you travel all the way back in time in the cube blog, you'll see that these were some of the first cards in the cube; it would make me so happy.

But Wait, There's More!

There's all sorts of other things going on here, and there's no way I could list (or know) them all. If you enjoy the list, or notice something that looks cool, I'd love to hear about it.

(No Refunds, Ask your doctor if Fun Cube is right for you!)