Intro

A midrange-ish synergy cube with broad themes.

This cube is usually drafted with two to four players, but supports up to eight. Themes are generally spread across three colours in an attempt to ensure that they're always at least a little bit present, even when drafting with less than a full pod.

A small handful of cards have been modified to change creature types, as well as mechanics such as entering the battlefield untapped.

Themes

• Early aggression
• Big creatures
• +/- Counters
• Graveyard
• Artifacts

Goals

• Promote memorable moments in every game — For me, the best part of Magic is seeing several triggers firing, or assembling some form of value synergy. The effectiveness of the payoff can vary, but each player having a memorable moment in each game is desirable.

• Enable aggro as a viable strategy — Coming from casual EDH land, turn one aggro is a side of Magic that my playgroup doesn't usually see. Most decks are often quite midrange-y, but I'd still like to have aggro as a possible path to victory.

• Stalled boards should be rare — Moving to combat, looking around, and simply passing every turn is not much fun. Though this goal might not yet be reached, I try to keep it in mind when each card is added or removed.

• Minimize complexity when possible — I try evaluate cards with cognitive load in mind. My playgroup has limited free time, is less invested in the game than previous years, and is generally less familiar with drafting than other formats. Therefore, selecting cards that are easily understood during draft, deckbuilding, and gameplay is important, while also maintaining a level of complexity enjoyable to more advanced players.

Design Restrictions

• Colour keywords — "Protection from white" and "target non-black creature" trips players up often enough for me to be annoyed by them. Stonecoil Serpent is begrudgingly included until a replacement is found.

• Tribal cards — References to creature types are avoided, with the notable exceptions being Blade Splicer and artifact creatures. This restriction includes cards specifying non-types, such as Wildwood Scourge and Restoration Angel.

• Planeswalkers — In most cases, Planeswalkers drastically shift the focus of the game when in play. I find uncommon "downtick only" planeswalkers with static effects which behave as an "attackable enchantment" much more palatable. Saheeli, Sublime Artificer was previously acceptable, but has since been replaced with Third Path Iconoclast.

• Counters — Maintaining a readable board state is important. Multiple counter types requires unique accessories, and I've already made the decision that +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters are the focus. However, I do consider including non-creature cards with self contained counters such as Founding the Third Path, Invigorating Hot Spring, and Incubation Sac.

• Fetchlands — I won't dispute their power or flexibility, but I simply dislike the excessive shuffling that occurs when these are common in a format.

• Double-faced cards — I don't want to deal with placeholder cards, or the physical nature of reading two sides during the draft and unsleeving during play.

• Tokens — I try very hard to limit the number of different tokens which can be created. Aside from arguably unnecessary tokens created by cards such as Champion of Wits and Heat Shimmer, allowed tokens are:

  • 3/3 colorless Golem artifact creature
  • 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature
  • 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature with flying
  • Treasure and Clues

Storage

The cube is stored in a combination of Ultimate Guard boulders and a Nanuk 910 hard case. More details and photos here.