My father taught me to play using his old cards (mostly from Revised to Urza's Destiny). I wanted to recreate the experience of playing with those cards, using all the busted and not-so-busted cards from back then. So that all those old goodies in our collection, like Shivan Dragon, Serra Angel and Juzám Djinn, could find a home again.

I primarily want to create a fun gaming experience, using a mix of the old archetypes and strategies we used to play. I am not strict about historicity and exact time frames however, and have included some newer old bordered cards if they fit nicely (both thematically and functionally) with some existing strategies. For example, Tourach, Dread Cantor has been added because it is a cool riff on one of my favorite cards, Hymn to Tourach, and supports the discard strategy.

The cube mostly consists of cards from the collection my father and I have built up over the years. I am not averse to buying cards to better support some synergies, but do prioritize including older cards already in our collection over more streamlined cards not in our collection. That is not to say that the overall power level of the cards in this cube is low, however.

I want this cube to both support 'fair' Magic and allow for some occasional swingy plays. You should be able to win with Serra Angel, but also occasionally be able to pull of a turn 2 Show and Tell. This is quite a difficult balance that I'm still trying to figure out. I have refrained from including too many tutors, and kept the power level of the top-end creatures somewhat at bay. But if it turns out the mana-cheating strategies are too consistent, I might have to pull them out.

I'm always looking for feedback, so please send me a message if you have questions or suggestions. At the bottom of this page, I have included some thinking points of my own. But first, an overview of the cube's archetypes:

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I have a soft spot for discard, since it was the very first strategy I built my own deck around and would like to see it well-supported. As such, I have also included repeatable discard effects Botomless Pit and finisher cards like Megrim and Tourach, Dread Cantor. The theme is mostly , although there is some fringe and support as well, with cards like Amnesia and Gerrard's Verdict. Mind Rot is in there mostly because of sentimental value.

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Another archetype I have a soft spot for is goblins. This is perhaps the most 'linear' of all the draft archetypes, with many cards that only work if you are all-in on the goblin strategy (like Goblin Grenade and Gempalm Incinerator. So in order to make it work, I heavily favored Goblins over general aggressive creatures (e.g. Raging Goblins and Goblin Goon). Since the first iteration of this cube, cards like Goblin Rabblemaster and Krenko, Mob Boss have been released. This means Goblins is now quite well-supported and should have less problems with the late game.

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The goal of aggro is to be as efficient as possible. I include a lot of first strike and flanking creatures, which makes early blocks for the opponent significantly more difficult. Some later threats also help you break through your opponent's board, like Sidar Jabari. Of course, since goblins also had an aggressive play style, many of the cards that work well there, like Goblin Guide and Lightning Bolt(!), also work well in this archetype.

To complement this strategy, I also made sure that has a very strong removal package, with efficient single target spells like Swords to Plowshares and his newer brother, but also plenty of board wipes, like Armageddon. This makes also an important color to splash for other colors that have much worse removal, like and .

I am currently re-evaluating the role of this archetype. Since it's been underperforming somewhat.

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Control is well-supported in all colors, but naturally is its main home. You should strive to always have an answer to your opponents threats, either by countering them, bouncing them or stealing them (using Control Magic, Treachery and Bribery). Many cards untap your lands after you've played them so that you can keep your hand open and still counter your opponents stuff (e.g. Frantic Search, Great Whale and Palinchron). These cards also work well in storm and blink.

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Just as you would expect, includes a lot of ramp and a lot of big creatures. In order to spice things up, however, I have also included a Squirrel subtheme. Most squirrels are quite good on their own however. Deranged Hermit and Nut Collector are engines of themselves. (I have decided to remove Deep Forest Hermit since it was too strong.) And Chatterfang, Squirrel General is also really good in go-wide. So you don't need to be completely all-in to gain some value. (Although if you do want to go all the way to Squirrel-town , Squirrel Sovereign is there for you.)

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This strategy speaks for itself: Make a lot of creatures – preferably tokens – and make them big with anthem effects and overruns spells. It works well with either both aggro and squirrels, as both bring a critical mass of creatures to the battlefield. There's also some token support in goblins (e.g. Mogg War Marshall and Siege-Gang Commander), but no red anthem effects. Tip: Mirari's Wake is an all-star in this deck.

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Cast a lot of spells in one turn and win the game. The main color for this strategy is , as it has a lot of cheap draw spells and spells that untap your lands (and cards that do both). I do think support is currently quite weak for this strategy.

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Flicker your own creatures, to get some sweet repeatable enter to battlefield abilities. Who doesn't like some extra Karmic Guide triggers or a repeatable Mulldifter? You could also splash in order to flicker your Nekrataal or Mesmeric Fiend or to flicker a Deranged Hermit.
This strategy uses a few 'modern' cards, which goes a bit against the spirit of the cube. But I personally really enjoy blink and it fits together very well with classic control strategies.

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Dump some big creatures in the graveyard, either by discarding them or tutoring for them directly and then cheat them into play with a reanimating spell. This strategy could be played mono but performs best when combined with another color. White has some excellent big creatures to reanimate, like Akroma, Angel of Wrath, and also has some reanimating spells of its own, like Miraculous Discover. Another good color to combine it with is green, which has a lot of great reanimation targets.

This strategy is currently very well supported and quite strong. It also pairs well with:

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Don't like reanimation, but still want to cheat in big creatures? Then these few build-around cards are for you.

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There aren't a ton of combo's in this cube. I did include the Channel-Fireball combo, because it is just so iconic. There are also some accidental combo's, like Worldgorger Dragon+Animate Dead and probably many I have not discovered yet.

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Some thoughts

• Some expensive cards I would like to include, but don't currently own: Time Spiral, Crucible of Worlds and Living Plane.

• I am thinking of replacing the diamond cycle with the Dan Frazier Talismans. Both because they are pretty, and because they might make multicolor support a bit better. (I have added them in in addition to the diamonds.)

• I am planning on including the Ravnica Remastered old bordered shocks. (I have put them in.) I also don't currently include the allied fetchlands, because I don't have any old-bordered Onslaught fetches left to spare. Hopefully MH3 includes a new printing of the old bordered allied fetches that brings the price down. As a temporary replacement, I have included the Mirage slow fetches.

• I think storm is a bit too weak. A card I'm debating putting in is Aetherflux Resevoir (it feels a bit too 'modern' but would be a good finisher). Also, Mind's Desire is on my wish-list, but very hard to get currently with the recent legacy unbanning.

• I fear as a color is a bit stronger than the others. I am not sure if this is really the case, so I am still waiting to see what happens.