NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CUBE, BUT RATHER A CORE SET, MEANT FOR CONSTRUCTED DECKS.

I've attempted to create a "Core" Core set for Magic the Gathering for a while now, and this is what I consider my successful attempt at it. What I mean by this is that Magic sets vary by how much they contain concepts and cards that are most integral to the game of Magic. Some sets include many experimental mechanics and are farther from it. Some others, such as the Core sets, include only/mostly evergreen mechanics and many reprints, and I consider those to be closer to the core of the game. I wanted to algorithmically (to avoid any bias, and because I haven't played the game much) create a set of cards closer to that core.

The process was approximately as follows.

• Give each main (originally printed in Standard) set a value, which is the number the set came out as, in publishing order. This gives a set more weight the newer it is. This is because what is "Core" is a shifting concept as the game evolves.
• Give each card a value, by summing up the set values of all the sets the card was printed in. This gives us a measure of how often the card has been printed, with more weight on the newest sets.
• Give each set a score that evaluates how core that set is, based on its cards' values.
• Order the sets based on this "coreness" score (unexpectedly all the core sets rank highest, since they have the most reprints)
• Pick all the cards that have been printed twice or more in the first N sets. Pick N to get the amount of cards you want. I chose the amount of cards to be approximately the size of an average core set.