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Originally established as a cube crafted from the bargain-bin-bulk-box at my LGS, this cube has been steadily expanded and reiterated on as I have refined my vision and sunk more and more money into new cards for upgrades over the past years. Today, this cube stands as a more lean and focused environment, with low-curving and efficient threats and answers.

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A draft can be run with each player starting with a Cogwork Librarian.

When drafting with less than 8 players, depending on the amount, either 4 packs of 11 or 5 packs of 9 work well. Generally, fewer people with more packs of fewer cards is more fun.

Note, this cube is singleton apart from the lands. I run multiple copies of fetches and shocklands, with 2 and 3 of each respectively.

I am also trying to curate a small version meant to be grid drafted by two people. See that here (Very WIP).

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I started playing Magic between 2014-2017 with kitchen-table-constructed matches at the library with friends, and a little later, at the dinner table with family. I brandished decks like 'Mono-green dogwater commons' or 'Dragon Fodder-tribal' built from bargain-bin hauls. In the end, I held my own and got pubstomped in circa equal measure, but eventually laid my meager collection to rest in a cardboard box when I started high school. Then, during Covid-19 I picked up the hobby again (like many others), and got really into commander, bringing my family back into the fold during that time. For the past couple of years I have been returning to my "competitive" roots, gaining an increased interest and renewed appreciation for 1-v-1 constructed formats, as well as both retail limited and, especially, cube formats. This cube represents in many ways the confluence of these histories, and is an attempt to follow the vibes and aesthetics of what I like about magic.

Gameplay goals

My curation of the Helgen Cube is, more than anything, player experience and vibes-based. However, four main principles guide my curation of this cube. In point-form, gameplay should feel:

• Lean: This principle is largely taken from Sam Black's concept of "small games" in which the net-total of resources available to players (threats on board, mana available, cards in hand) is generally small. Large, sprawling board states full of tokens are difficult to obtain and maintain, and anything that meaningfully sticks to the board should be considered a real threat, no matter how scrappy. In small games, decisions have real implications, and the quality over quantity of decisions are encouraged.
• Interactive: In each game as well as the draft, players should be faced with meaningful decisions from early on. Decks should be non-linear, and constant adjusting of strategy and sequencing in response to your opponent is necessary to win. The tempo of the game and the impact of decicions are a result of the interplay between decks, not the consequence of two parallel solitaire games that end in one player presenting a win.
• Fair: Similarly, decks and games should feel "fair" in so far as every topdeck and well-implented decision could swing the advantage bar the other way. Every loss and win should feel, in its own way, rewarding, deserved, or at the least, well-fought. Losing is hard to make fun, but it should never feel like the result of "not having it".
• Diverse: Decks are not prescriptive. Players are encouraged to find creative, novel, or unexpected ways of combining cards and strategies.

Design patterns

My gameplay goals are implemented during design process in a variety of different ways, such as:

• A high density of interactive spells: Removal, hand-disruption and permission spells abound in this cube. These are by their nature interactive, and force both players to evaluate what is and isn't important in each instance. They also promote smaller games by limiting board complexity and resources. For each threat there should be several answers.
• A high density of mana-fixing: Getting stuck on mana sucks and I want to facilitate good 2-3 color manabases. To emulate a more constructed feel of decks, I therefore break singleton on fetch- and shocklands, with 2 and 3 of each, respectively. (but be careful, damage adds up quick).
• A high density of card selection and cantrips: A high density of cheap card selection minimizes variance, allows players to dig for answers and adjust on the fly
• A low mana curve: Decks should never be lacking for things to do, and a low mana curve helps facilitate always having plays throughout a match. Having a variety of possible plays forces players to make decisions and think about sequencing.
• Aggresively statted creatures: Having Rimrock Knights over Walls of Omen lead to shorter matches, smaller board states and more resource trading.
• A lack of game-prolonging effects: Few effects like lifelink that 'needlessly' prolong the game are mostly omitted, which work to draw the game towards a decisive conclusion, not draw it out.
• Few non-interactive threats: While there can "mini-combos" like Young Pyromancer + Cabal Therapy, there are no linear combos or threats.
• A variety of top-end: A variety of different top-end threats contributes to different deck- and playstyles.

Restrictions

For budget reasons some cards are proxied, including the fetches and shocks, but I am in the process of buying the real cards. With a few exceptions, where possible, I buy the other cards real. The goal is to own the entire cube unproxied in paper. Apart from the lands, this cube is singleton. Beyond this, I have no restrictions.

Notes

The cube is double-sleeved and stored in an Arkhive 800+.