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Cube origin
Framework
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Build-arounds

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During the pandemic I started designing new peasant cubes. But every time my enthusiasm faded after the first couple batch searches because of the fact that I wasn't sure what or who I was building this for. Before the pandemic we mostly played with 2 players and there was a very slim chance that we would be play with more after, let alone during. Why would I spend so much time and -inevitably- money for something I wouldn't able to play with.

I decided to build a travel sized peasant cube that at least featured the cards and archetypes I was sure we loved.

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180 cards: This makes for a lean, easy to curate environment that's easy to pick up and travel with. With 180 cards, you can draft with 2-4 players max.

Modern frame common/uncommonon printing: To set the cube enough apart from my Old Frame Peasant cube, we decided to go with only modern frame peasant printings. This also gives us iconic older cards that have been reprinted, like Reanimate and Lightning Bolt.

Re-playability: The cube needs to cater to different kinds of moods and play-styles. Therefor, we want cards to be flexible and playable in different kinds of decks and/or scenarios.

High power level: We want cards to be powerful on their own. We also want cards to be competitive between each other. Preferably nothing in the cube will always be picked last or first. We chose to go with the higher end on the power spectrum, with the top cut off. That's why you won't find Skullclamp in this list, it's just too good.

Agressive midrange/tempo: We felt too many aggro-only alongside control-only cards wouldn't help with the flexibility goal. Our power level, and the peasant card pool lends itself more towards more aggressive and tempo playstyles than hard creatureless control decks. We also (more or less) want every card in a mono-colored section to be playable in a deck with each other. Because small creatures and sweepers don't really go together, this means cards like Pyroclasm are out. This doesn't mean you can't draft control, but it might look somewhat different than in other cubes.

Small multicolor section: Recently, we went from 1 to 2 cards per guild. The single card per guild was to make sure there are as few non-picks in the packs. The current setup balances slightly more room for wheeling powerful gold cards with having as many options per drafter per pack. Where possible, the guild cards are powerful and interesting and draw a drafter into its direction.

Archetypes: Because we find flexibility important, we don't have room for archetypes that are too narrow. However, we don't want only good-stuff piles to exist and want to promote looking for small synergies. Usually, this happens automatically when putting a cube together and fits the high power band very well. For example, a lot of creatures with etb effects are already amongst the higher powered options because they're natural 2-for-1s and can be abused. This makes Soulherder an easy include that's both powerful and gives your deck direction. Same goes for Young Pyromancer being good on its own, but gets insane when you build a little towards it.

1-card buildarounds: To further make sure not every deck will look the same, we allowed ourselves to include a handful of cards that function as single-card archetypes. Soulherder is a good example again, as well as Mayhem Devil, Essence Reliquary and Cyberman Patrol. There are a low number of slightly more narrow cards, like Isochron Scepter and Cranial Plating. These are our favorites that give the cube a little personal touch.

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In a small cube, there's not much room for colors to have a very wide array of different roles. Ideally, every card in the mono color sections can go into the same deck while being different enough that the cards aren't interchangeable.