Art by Dominik MayerMarch of the Machine (MOM) was the first set I played when I got back into Magic in 2023. Its deep mechanics and addictively-replayable synergies will always hold a special place in my heart.
This cube is my attempt to tweak this set into a more cube-like experience, with better support for set archetypes and a narrower power range.
Cube Structure
No Mythic Rares - Collecting MOM's mythics was prohibitively expensive when they were still in Standard - feel free to add them. I left them out, and found it smooths out card quality and encourages lower-to-the-ground play.
No Multiverse Legends - MUL is March Of The Machine's bonus sheet, and features powerful creatures reprinted from past sets. But for me, they're often better commanders than draft picks. Many are more suited for Constructed, or aren't supported with the set's color archetypes.
One Rare and Battle Per Pack - MOM introduced the Battle type and had great, synergistic rares. To capture the vibe of retail draft, I seed draft packs with one of each.
More Hybrid Lands - Not cube without fixing.
2:1 Commons:Uncommons - One of each uncommon and two of each common show off the set's range without being too repetitive. Each color also gets an additional copy of three bonus commons, to reinforce set mechanics and the two-color archetypes.
Altogether, this plays like a 360-card cube supporting 8 players:
- 40 commons in each color
- 10 uncommons in each color
- 12 artifacts
- 18 bonus commons (3 per color + artifacts)
- 2 of each gold signpost uncommon
- 3 of each hybrid land
- 15 random rares (non-battle)
- 15 random battles (non-mythic)
I've used the Colorless column for rares, and the Lands column for battles.
Bonus Commons
I've curated bonus copies of each color's three best commons. This is based on 17lands analytics, popular opinion, and my own personal preferences, subject to change.
In particular, my goals are to:
- Provide ample removal, tricks, and interaction to answer bomb rares and break up standoffs.
- Reinforce set mechanics like
incubate,backup, andconvoke. - Put more quality creatures in the draft pool.
- Amplify each color's traditional identity.
There are so many great commons, these choices were tough!
White
- Aerial Boost - An evasive premium combat trick with
convoke. - Attentive Skywarden - A Wind Drake that flips
incubatetokens. - Realmbreaker's Grasp - White's best removal.
Runners Up: Bola Slinger, Knight of the New Coalition, Angelic Intervention, Swordsworn Cavalier, Cut Short
Blue
- Preening Champion - The best common in
MOM? - Ephara's Dispersal - A versatile bounce, shaped like a combat trick.
- Saiba Cryptomancer - Flash
backup,hexproof, and a body.
Runners Up: Assimilate Essence, Temporal Cleansing, Meeting of Minds, Eyes of Gitaxias
Black
- Deadly Derision - The most primo of removals in
MOM, with a one-mana refund. - Nezumi Informant - Quick card advantage and a body to support a sacrifice or
convokegameplan. - Unseal the Necropolis - Every Black deck wants a copy of this.
Runners Up: Aetherblade Agent, Final Flourish, Ichor Drinker, Vanquish The Weak
Red
- Volcanic Spite - Lightning Bolt with rummage.
- Beamtown Beatstick - A big scary crowbar, and when you hit people with it, money falls out.
- Ral's Reinforcements - Two bodies on curve. Hand them a beatstick and jam.
Runners Up: Shatter The Source, Marauding Dreadship, Hangar Scrounger
Green
- Cosmic Hunger - Bite that can target battles for a sneaky flip.
- Blighted Burgeoning - Versatile ramp with
incubate. Add Portent Tracker for 7 mana on turn 4! - Arachnoid Adaptation - Green's best trick to answer the format's many flyers.
Runners Up: Wary Thespian, Overgrown Pest, Portent Tracker.
Artifacts
- Halo Hopper - An early-curve
convokefavorite. Dogs and frogs! - Skittering Surveyor - Everyone loves this card, but I don't get it. Strong performer, though.
- Flywheel Racer - A 3/2 dork with vigilance, but with extra steps.
Set Archetypes Azorius
- Knights
Knights are generally considered the most reliably-strong color pair in the format. Marshal of Zhalfir buffs Knight of the New Coalition, Preening Champion, Swordsworn Cavalier and more, with ample access to high-quality tricks and card draw to keep the pressure up.
Plenty of instant-speed interaction like Saiba Cryptomancer, Cut Short, and Angelic Intervention are a must here to maintain creature advantage.
Dimir
- Graveyard
Premium removal like Deadly Derision, disposable creatures like Ichor Drinker, and Blue's instant-speed interaction make Dimir an effective control strategy.
Expect to trade heavily and grind down your opponent's board state. Halo-Charged Skaab, Unseal the Necropolis, and strong blue draw effects like Meeting of Minds help maintain card advantage.
Rakdos
- Sacrifice
Early-game removal like Final Flourish, Volcanic Spite, cheap equipment like Bladed Battle-Fan, and efficient sacrifice tools like Corrupted Conviction and Dreg Recycler make for super-fast aggro.
Marauding Dreadship is an overperformer here, bringing a 4-power threat out of nowhere on turn 3.
Gruul
- Battles
This pair has lots of tools for flipping battles like Volcanic Spite, Portent Tracker, and War Historian, but these have traditionally underperformed in a draft environment against faster decks.
But - if you can survive to mid-game and drop threats like Timberland Ancient, Furnace Host Charger, and Onakke Javelineer, flipped battles provide big upside to help close out victories.
Selesnya
- Counters
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire, Norn's Inquisitor, and Botanical Brawler exemplify this pair, buttressed with strong backup creatures like Bola Slinger, Streetwise Negotiator, and Golden-Scale Aeronaut.
Be careful against Blue decks - Ephara's Dispersal and Temporal Cleansing are your greatest weakness.
Orzhov
- Phyrexians
If it says Phyrexian, like Ichor Drinker, Tarkir Duneshaper, or Blightreaper Thallid, it fits in this deck. Phyrexian Censor, Sculpted Perfection, and Norn's Inquisitor set these off, providing an oppressive end-game lockout.
But this reliance on synergy often means sacrificing card quality, making this one of the most historically unperforming archetypes in Limited.
Izzet
- Convoke/Spells
Cheap creatures on curve from Ral's Reinforcements and Preening Champion, cheap removal like Volcanic Spite and Assimilate Essence, and cheap upgrades like Beamtown Beatstick and Zhalfirin Shapecraft make for quick and decisive beatdowns.
After you're up and running, convoke staples like Thunderhead Squadron and Shatter the Source help you close out the endgame.
Golgari
- Incubate
This pair is the basis for many splash-heavy decks, with ramp tools like Blighted Burgeoning and Fertilid's Favor from Green and top removal like Deadly Derision and Final Flourish from Black giving you time to stabilize and drop bombs in every color.
Blue is the most commonly-splashed color with this pair, adding payoffs like Halo Forager, Artistic Refusal, and Oracle of Tragedy to find a win condition.
Boros
- Backup
This pair, unsurprisingly, turns on early-curve power, combining cheap backup creatures like Hangar Scrounger and Enduring Bondwarden with cheap equipment like Kitesail and Kor Halberd for quick aggression. Mirror-Shield Hoplite can push your backup abilities over the top.
While bigger creatures like Redcap Heelslasher and Golden-Scale Aeronaut can help applying pressure in the endgame, this deck usually aims for quick wins before their opponent can stabilize.
Simic
- Transform
This is a higher-skill pair, performing well for top players, but being near the bottom for weaker players. Its stated theme of "Transform" usually comes second to Blue's high-quality interaction and Green's ramp and big creatures.
However, Corruption of Towashi makes a standout build-around, should you land it. Cards like Eyes of Gitaxias, Converter Beast, and Assimilate Essence provide cheap Incubator tokens to fuel reliable card draw every turn.
Shuffling Procedure
Finally, in order to simplify shuffling hundreds of cards, smooth out color distribution, and improve signal reading, I use /u/moak0's Novel Method for Shuffling a Cube. This procedure minimizes packs entirely missing a color, while still prioritizing unpredictability.
The full details are available at the link above, but for quick reference:
- Make 6 piles - for each mono color, and one for Everything Else. Shuffle each mono color pile.
- White (53 cards)
- Blue (53 cards)
- Black (53 cards)
- Red (53 cards)
- Green (53 cards)
- Everything Else - artifacts, gainlands, gold uncommons (65 cards)
- Move 20 cards from each mono color pile into the Everything Else pile, then shuffle it.
- White (33 cards)
- Blue (33 cards)
- Black (33 cards)
- Red (33 cards)
- Green (33 cards)
- Everything Else (165 cards)
- Distribute 33 cards into each mono color pile from the Everything Else pile, then shuffle them.
- White+ (66 cards)
- Blue+ (66 cards)
- Black+ (66 cards)
- Red+ (66 cards)
- Green+ (66 cards)
- Create packs by dealing 2 or 3 cards from each pile, then add a rare and a battle to each pack.
You're ready to go!