**Pink Sleeves** strives for exciting, inviting play, even if it's the only way you play Magic. - **Eternal**: cards from throughout the history of Magic, with no legality or rarity restrictions - **Deciduous**: focused on mechanics that Magic has returned to frequently over the years, with room for exceptions - **Singleton**: no more than one copy of each card - **Normal Limited Rules**: 1v1 games, 40 card minimum deck size, 20 starting life, basic lands available post-draft *Draft reports at [zoydraft.tumblr.com](https://zoydraft.tumblr.com/tagged/pink%20sleeves)* --- >>> # For Drafters <<< --- ## Quick advice from players - The power level is much higher than retail limited, but not close to Vintage - Decks with 1, 2, or 3 colours all do well, just draft your lands! - Make the most of your early turns - Strong {2}-drops are often the deciding factor, even if it's {4}+ drops than lock down the game - The best decks are synergistic, but it's tough to win without generically powerful cards - The graveyard matters in a lot of games - You can see some winning decks [here](https://zoydraft.tumblr.com/tagged/trophy) --- ## A few ways to combine colours *This list is intended to orient new drafters to some strategies available in the cube. It is not exhaustive. Many strategies cross-pollinate, spill into other colours, and can be built multiple ways.* #### {W/U} Flicker >>><<[[!e5434026-a606-41df-8dfd-23694040b488]][[!c83c7429-751e-4103-b09a-f78a9617020d]][[!ea86b5bf-c38f-4168-a4dd-96859948423c]][[!c08dabd1-c043-4bcf-afa8-271225a099e1]]>><<< Temporarily exile cards to re-trigger enters the battlefield effects #### {U/B} Reanimator >>><<[[!7ab75cdb-93a1-4f78-b404-37566295c321]][[!0049e68d-0caf-474f-9523-dad343f1250a]][[!1904db14-6df7-424f-afa5-e3dfab31300a]][[!902e75fd-f5d6-4102-9e9b-d8d05a97be86]]>><<< Discard creatures into your graveyard, then bring them back to life for cheaper than you could cast them #### {B/R} Sacrifice >>><<[[!17416926-168b-49b3-9231-acbb8f8a1d13]][[!5587191b-b56a-452d-8a18-1622df83c267]][[!179e954f-1d90-4ef4-b800-25845cc338e2]][[!528c4e3a-fdeb-4080-b2b7-82faa07a3383]]>><<< Sacrifice your own creatures (especially if you can get them back!) to get death triggers #### {R/G}{G/W}{R/W} Zoo >>><<[[!1c4968e7-c656-419d-980b-5384de02bc8e]][[!b1b44194-fed5-491c-a791-80b986dd66d6]][[!49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]][[!24ee5320-a19b-4798-b1fb-125b738bd3b9]]>><<< Attack with creatures! That's the game plan. #### {W/B} Recursion >>><<[[!5ad36fb2-c44e-4085-ba0d-54277841ad3a]][[!216a8e4e-ea7b-41c7-a982-b5751025ff25]][[!656127b7-21c4-40ce-8fff-5cc3d38398f8]][[!b7e857aa-955e-4afa-9afe-a572fe27765a]]>><<< Keep bringing your little friends back #### {B/G} Graveyard Lands >>><<[[!70496f16-c4c0-4c03-beef-454eb4824cd1]][[!6563f790-862c-465a-b963-7a61f2385516]][[!8870ef0b-cb1f-463b-8509-fece4743d3d4]][[!ae42941c-3f01-4bf4-9528-7b3dc485320f]]>><<< Dump lands from your library into your graveyard for value #### {G/U} Value >>><<[[!98291778-2ec2-47e2-ac99-5f8cfbb3cf24]][[!a1f8954f-e6c0-4448-8a33-337f02f6fdea]][[!45de923f-fdab-460c-96f4-f62aefa9ad73]][[!65010991-2097-4769-be96-f24b4bf9276f]]>><<< Draw more cards + spend more mana = win more games #### {U/R} Spells >>><<[[!3c9899a8-f5b0-427f-ac87-09fc8afe0f23]][[!9e5b279e-4670-4a1e-87d0-3cab7e4f9e58]][[!5a10b543-d5d4-42a8-9ee8-dada59a2ad7e]][[!1f415b37-c4fd-4d45-94fb-913f7e4c315b]]>><<< Cast non-creature spells to trigger abilities #### {W} Humans >>><<[[!7f910495-8bd7-4134-a281-c16fd666d5cc]][[!f7314414-c2d2-48ed-af2c-764cf0207c62]][[!d786f05d-78a2-41b6-a185-111e8c1b216b]][[!6bbf8881-0e23-4745-95cd-cec18084e4b1]]>><<< Folks supporting each other and building each other up --- ### Rules Clarifications #### Companions >>><<[[!4a0116c9-ee0f-435a-a599-96cc04a994b3]][[!51b8d3a9-2b2b-4b14-8886-459cd83ae4e6]][[!4b32771b-d89f-46b1-8c70-95a4f058ef05]]>><<< Companion allows you to choose one creature outside your deck as a companion if the restriction on the card is met. You may pay {3} to put it into you hand once during the game any time you could cast a sorcery. #### "CARDNAME" >>><<[[!How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy]][[!Zyym, Mesmeric Lord]]>><<< Cards that say "CARDNAME" are referring to themselves - [[How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy]] returns itself to your hand - [[Zyym, Mesmeric Lord]] triggers when it enters the battlefield --- ### Pack Sizes, etc. >>><<[[!Cogwork Librarian]][[!Cogwork Librarian]][[!Cogwork Librarian]][[!Cogwork Librarian]]>><<< [[Cogwork Librarians|Cogwork Librarian]] are available if everyone wants to start with one (recommended). #### 2 or 3 Drafters 6 packs of 15 Pick 1, pass Pick 2, discard 2, pass Pick 2, discard 2, pass Pick 2, discard 4 #### 4 Drafters 5 packs of 15 Discard the last 7 cards of each pack #### 5 or 6 Drafters 4 packs of 15 Discard the last 4 cards of each pack Team draft recommended for 6 players #### 7 or 8 Drafters 3 packs of 15 #### 9 Drafters 3 packs of 14 *(just add 3 cards it doesn't matter that much what they are)* #### 10 Drafters 3 packs of 12 *The main motivation for these instructions is to keep the ratio of cards picked to cards seen relatively consistent* --- ## Hall of Salt *Cards that* were *in the list, but were cut because players hated them* >>><<[[!Gideon Blackblade]][[!Mimic Vat]][[!Mist-Syndicate Naga]][[!Yorion, Sky Nomad]][[!Thousand-Year Storm]]>><<< --- >>> # Design Notes <<< --- ### History Initially assembled Autumn 2019 from draft chaff (*GRN* through *ELD*) as a way to host drafts without buying packs. Then COVID happened and cube became my main hobby... ## Vision My design choices are guided by two questions: >>> *What if this is the only way I get to play Magic? What if this is the only way my friends play Magic?* <<< The first question speaks to a kind of completeness: how can I include as much of what I love about this game as possible? How do I keep it fresh and interesting draft after draft? The second adds in a greater need for accessibility: how can I lower the barriers to entry as much as possible? If I assume someone knows how to play the game, but won't know all the cards, how do I create the best possible experience for them? ### Gameplay & Power Level I'm striving for a Spikey Jenny environment: efficient spells, but with room for cute synergies to shine. - **Lands** including Shocklands and other duals that can come in untapped, but only in singleton, and without fetches to supercharge them. - **Mana** doesn't get faster than [[Mind Stone]] or [[Birds of Paradise]] - **Interaction** is near the peak of power, but all of it needs mana (e.g. no [[Fireblast]], no [[Force of Will]]). - **Effect Density** is closer to retail ASFAN than hypergeometric-style redundancy - **Aggro** can win on turn 4 if left unopposed - **Cheat** *can* go off on turn two, but it takes stars aligning: [[Death|Life // Death]] is the premiere cheat spell, but there's no [[Entomb]] to help out. - **Combo** doesn't exist in game-winning/infinite form, since Persist combos were cut. - **Power Outliers** are allowed until they prove they're not fun. #### Accessibility The play group includes less enfranchised players (including me, tbh), and I want to design a good experience for them. On top of that, designing for accessibility tends to benefit all players, even if it narrows the design space. The main accessibility trap in cube design I see is hidden information that hasn't been purposefully designed in. That is: not knowing what's in your opponents' hand is fun and important to Magic, not knowing what a card does is not. Some specific examples: - No **double-faced cards** - Reduce **memory issues**: the board state should be self-explanatory, and without an excess of special counters. - Aversion to **unexplained keywords**. *Special aesthetic cards tend to be the exception, but too many have snuck in for my tastes. - Avoid **additive distraction**. Don't make players parse bad/irrelevant abilities. - Make sure **complexity** is justified. Sometimes complexity is fun, sometimes a card is just inelegant. I think it's okay to have an essay in a pack, as long as almost every other card can be grokked a lot quicker. - Avoiding setting **traps**: payoffs should only exist for strategies that are supported, even if they'd be justified on their own. When a card says, "whenever [[this|Drannith Stinger]] or [[that|d75546a5-81fd-41c1-a081-d8980f6bd60a]] happens," there better be a density of those effects. - **Limiting tokens**. While there are still many tokens, I have aggressively cut cards that make unique or confusing tokens, where I don't feel the game play suffers for it. ## Previous Snapshots |Date|Compare|Notes| |---|---|---| |[October 2020](/c/xpink)|[to January 2023](/cube/compare/xpink/to/pink2301) or [to current](/cube/compare/xpink/to/pink)|Early version, which experienced a bug| |[January 2023](/c/pink2301)|[to July 2024](/cube/compare/pink2301/to/pink2407) or [to current](/cube/compare/pink2301/to/pink)|Last version with extensive use of **Ninjustu** and **Adventure**| |[July 2024](/c/pink2407)|[to current](/cube/compare/pink2407/to/pink)|Last version prior to aggressive move toward atomic effects|