- Introduction -

This cube aims to capture a high-ish level of casual commander play (definitely higher than pre-cons, though lower than any cEDH style decks). Players should expect to draft focused decks, often around three colors, that eventually win with value and synergy-based interactions. Few infinite combos exist but are not encouraged.

This Cube is built for one pod of four to draft then play together or one pod of eight to draft together then play in two separate groups of four. A pod of four players that are drafting together should draft with one extra pack per person to compensate for a smaller drafting pod.

Any card in my cube's list with the tag "Chopping Block" is a card I am about to cut for whatever reason.

                                    - Rules -

• Players draft sixty card decks, including your commander(s).
• Players draft from five, fifteen-card packs each.
• Players draft by taking two cards from a pack at a time.
• Players get one free mulligan.
• Similar to brawl, planeswalkers may be used as commanders.
• Legendary creatures and planeswalkers with a green sticker on their inner sleeve are treated as if they have "Partner" (you may have two commanders if both have the ability "Partner"); these cards are labeled here, on Cube Cobra, with the green "Partner Promotion" tag.
• Cards with the ability "Companion" have that ability ignored and they instead read as though they have "Partner" (you may have two commanders if both have the ability "Partner"). For example, both Lutri, the Spellchaser and Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools may be your commander at the same time.
• For spells, the Commander color-identity rule is ignored, However, it is not ignored for lands. For example, you may play Enchanted Evening in a Ghen, Arcanum Weaver deck and Unburial Rites in a Muldrotha, the Gravetide deck. You may not put in a Plains in a Muldrotha, the Gravetide deck to flashback Unburial Rites.
• A player may use up to two copies of The Prismatic Piper as their commanders; they are not drafted, but instead given to a player's draft pool upon request.
• Players start with 40 life in multiplayer games and 25 life in one-on-one games.
• In multiplayer games, the starting player draws a card. In single-player games, starting player skips their first draw step.
• Temple of Aclazotz and Spitfire Bastion have their front side ignored and is played instead pre-flipped as any other utility land.

Players are given a starter pack of staple cards to include in their deck before the draft. Each starter pack includes exactly:

1 x Arcane Signet
1 x Commander's Sphere
1 x Command Tower
1 x Exotic Orchard
1 x Evolving Wilds
1 x Myriad Landscape

                                    - Archetypes -

Unlike most cubes, archetypes are not limited to guild colors or shard/wedge colors. An archetype is mostly rooted in one or two colors and supported in a couple of others. There are major archetypes that usually center around a card type or a broad play pattern; there are minor archetypes that usually center around more niche play patterns.

White has Enchantments-Matter as a major archetype centered in its color. Lifegain, Blink and Equipment are minor archetypes centered in white. White has supporting cards for Lands-Matter and Artifacts-Matter.

Blue has Artifacts-Matter as a major archetype centered in its color. Blink is a minor archetype centered in blue. Blue has supporting cards for Enchantress, Equipment, Spell-Slinging/Storm and Graveyard-Matters.

Black has Graveyard-Matters as a major archetype centered in its color. Lifegain is a minor archetype centered in black. Black has supporting cards for Blink and Spell-Slinging/Storm.

Red has Spell-Slinging/Storm as a major archetype centered in its color. Red has supporting cards for Artifacts-Matter, Equipment and Lands-Matter.

Green has Lands-Matter as a major archetype centered in its color. Green has supporting cards for Enchantments-Matter, Graveyard-Matters, Spell-Slinging/Storm, Lifegain and Blink.

                                      - Draft -

Each player is given five fifteen-card packs to draft with. Normal drafting conventions apply, but the packs are structured: one card in each pack is a pushed commander (marked with the "commander slot" tag). The rest of the Fourteen cards are random.

The Cube contains forty-two of the mentioned lands and main commanders to make up forty-two packs. forty of the packs are there to support up to eight players (each player gets five packs), the last two packs are made for Booster Tutor and Summon the Pack.

                              - Keywords & Mechanics -

To limit confusion, I try my best to limit the number of non-evergreen keywords used in this Cube.

• Partner: You may have two commanders in your command zone if both of them have the ability "Partner". Commander Tax is counted separately. Your deck must contain exactly sixty cards, including its two commanders. Both commanders begin the game in the command zone. A rule or effect that refers to your commander’s color identity refers to the combined color identities of your two commanders. If an effect refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to either one. If an effect causes you to perform an action on your commander and it could affect both, you choose which it refers to at the time the effect is applied. Cards with "Partner" include Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools and Thrasios, Triton Hero.

• The Monarch: A designation a player can have. Some effects instruct a player to become the monarch. The monarch draws a card at the beginning of their end step. Dealing combat damage to the monarch steals the title from that player. The player who controls the monarchy is designated by The Monarch Token. Cards that give you the monarch include Court of Bounty and Archon of Coronation.

• Extort: Extort is a mechanic that makes your opponents a means to your ends. It allows you to pay additional or for spells you cast and create a small life-draining effect. Extort cards include: Basilica Screecher and Syndic of Tithes.

• Storm: Storm is a keyword ability on instants and sorceries that creates a copy of the spell for each spell cast before it in the current turn. "Storm" is a triggered ability that functions on the stack. “Storm” means “When you cast this spell, copy it for each other spell that was cast before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any of the copies.” If a spell has multiple instances of storm, each triggers separately. The storm copies are put directly onto the stack—they aren't cast. That means the copies don't generate storm copies themselves, and they aren't counted by other storm spells cast later during the turn. Each storm spell with a target allows you to change the target for each copy of that spell. You make that choice for each copy individually. When counting spells cast in a turn, you do count spells that were cast face down, spells cast from zones other than a hand, and spells that were countered. A copy of a spell can be countered, just like any other spell, but each copy has to be countered individually. Countering a storm spell won't counter the copies of it. Examples of "Storm" cards are: Grapeshot and Crow Storm.

• Dredge: Dredge reads "if you would draw a card, instead you may put exactly N cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, draw a card." Dredge lets you replace any card draw, not just the one during your draw step. Once you decide to replace a draw using a card's dredge ability, that card can't be removed from your graveyard "in response" (replacement effects don't use the stack). You can't use dredge unless you're going to draw a card and the card with dredge is already in your graveyard. Cards with dredge include Golgari Grave-Troll and Golgari Thug

• Landfall: "Landfall is an ability word which signals triggered abilities that respond to a Land entering the Battlefield under the control of the player with the Landfall card." Cards with landfall include Omnath, Locus of Creation and Felidar Retreat

• Devotion: "Devotion is a mechanic introduced in Theros, where it was connected to the god theme of the set. It appears as "devotion to (color)" or "devotion to (color 1) and (color 2)", where color is any of white, blue, black, red, or green. A player’s devotion to [color] is equal to the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents that player controls. A player’s devotion to (color 1) and (color 2) is equal to the number of mana symbols among the mana costs of permanents that player controls that are (color 1), (color 2), or both colors." Cards with devotion include Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded, Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Nyx Lotus

• Transform: "Transform is a keyword action introduced in Innistrad and means to turn a double-faced card on the backside, changing the card face that is visible." Cards with transform include Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, The Sunken Ruin and Golden Guardian // Gold-Forge Garrison

• Modal-Double-Faced Cards (MDFCs): "Like previously released double-faced cards, modal double-faced cards have two card faces, one on each side of the card. But these cards don't transform. When you play a modal double-faced card, you choose which face you're playing. The front side of the card has a single triangle in the upper left-hand corner. The backside has two triangles and a different card frame with white font." MDFC cards include Sea Gate Restoration and Esika, God of the Tree

• Constellation: "An enchantment's constellation ability triggers every time it or another enchantment enters the battlefield under the player's control." Cards with constellation include Eidolon of Blossoms and Archon of Sun's Grace

• Ninjutsu/Commander Ninjutsu: "Ninjutsu represents the stealth of the Ninjas by allowing a creature that attacks and isn't blocked to be exchanged with a Ninja in the controlling player's hand, such that the Ninja is attacking and unblocked instead of the original creature, which is returned to the owner's hand. Commander ninjutsu is a variant of ninjutsu that works from both the hand and the command zone." Cards with ninjutsu include Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow and Sakashima's Student

• Evoke: "Evoke is a keyword ability that allows a player to pay an alternative cost for a creature spell that possesses this ability; however, if the evoke cost is paid, the creature is sacrificed when it enters the battlefield." Cards with evoke include Mulldrifter and Reveillark

• Magecraft: "Magecraft is an ability word introduced in Strixhaven: School of Mages that causes an effect whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell." Cards with magecraft include Veyran, Voice of Duality and Professor Onyx

• Cycling or sometimes (type)cycling: "Cycling is a keyword ability that allows a player to pay a cost that includes discarding the card. When the activated ability resolves, that player draws a card. A variant of the ability - typecycling - allows the player to search their library for a card of a certain subtype instead of drawing the top card of their library." Cards with cycling include Migration Path and Ruin Grinder

• Kicker: "Kicker is a keyword ability that allows the player to pay an optional cost when casting a spell to achieve an additional effect." Cards with kicker include Jace, Mirror Mage and Thieving Skydiver

• Flashback: "Flashback is a keyword ability on instants and sorceries that allows the player to pay an alternative cost to cast the spell directly from their graveyard. The spell card is exiled when the spell leaves the stack." Cards with flashback include Deep Analysis and Past in Flames

• Regenerate: "Regeneration is a replacement effect which means: "The next time this permanent would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead: tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat." Cards with regenerate include Golgari Grave-Troll and Welding Jar

                              - One-Off Mechanics -

While I try to limit the amount of mechanics put into the cube, there are cards I'd rather keep in the cube even if they contain mechanics otherwise not used in this cube. Some are pet cards, some were added so early on that the cube is built around them. This list is in descending order of how awkwardly the card's mechanic sticks out to me.

• Madness & Buyback: These are two different mechanics, but I'm writing them up in the same entry because they show up in the same card: Blast from the Past. This card is fun and it's a pun since it's the only card with the old border in the whole cube (at least with the copies I own in paper). Madness reads "Madness [cost] (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)" Buyback Reads "Buyback [cost] (You may pay an additional [cost] as you cast this spell. If the buyback cost was paid, put this spell into its owner’s hand instead of into that player’s graveyard as it resolves.)"

• Phasing: this is a mechanic seen on two cards so far: Teferi's Protection and Teferi, Master of Time. Phasing reads "While it’s phased out, it’s treated as though it doesn’t exist. It phases in before its controller untaps during their next untap step."

• Fear: This mechanic is attached to Shriekmaw, a fantastic card with another mechanic I needed more of for the cube: evoke. Fear reads "This creature can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures." Edit: Profane Command is a recently added card that also kind of has "Fear" on it

• Shroud: I consider this one less damning than Affinity or Fear because the shroud card in the cube is Lightning Greaves, a card that every commander player should know about. It would feel weird making a commander-themed cube without adding Lightning Greaves. Shroud reads "This permanent or player can’t be the target of spells or abilities." Similar to hexproof.

• Annihilator: the only card in the cube with annihilator as of right now is Pathrazer of Ulamog. Why is annihilator so low on the list? Easy, I wanna put a whole bunch more annihilator cards in, but Eldrazi are EXPENSIVE so it'll be slow. Annihilator reads "Annihilator N (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices N permanents.)"

• Prowess: Prowess is so low because it was recently an evergreen mechanic and Elsha of the Infinite was added in so early that there's no way they can be taken out. Prowess reads "Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn."

• Landwalk: Landwalk is the absolute lowest on the list because it's only on Lord Windgrace's tokens that only spawn when he ultimates. An ultimate that will never ever trigger. Bite me. LandWalk reads "[Type] Landwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a [type].)"