--- ## Live by the Loam, Die by the Loam {U}{B}{R}{G} --- #### Brief Every player starts with a copy of [[Life from the Loam]] in their graveyard every game. You must draft all your lands, there is no land station. There are no white cards in the cube. --- #### Getting in the Mud Loam Cube is a novel environment where every deck is trying to play around their graveyard. There is no graveyard hate that can answer a [[Life from the Loam]], which means everyone will always have access to it, unless they decide to [[exile it|treasure cruise]] themselves. This format can be grindy, and have insanely complicated decision trees. The decks themselves can overlap significantly, leading to less well defined archetypes in favor of various flavors of soup. Always having access to [[Life from the Loam]] has several ramifications. Not only is everybody playing green, but as long as you have a green source in your opening hand it's almost impossible to miss land drops. Having near free availability of lands means that cards with landfall become much more reliable. <<[[!tireless tracker]][[!plated geopede]][[!Bristly Bill, spine sower]][[!dread presence]]>> Cards that ask you to discard cards become extremely powerful value engines, as the lands you're discarding are so easy to get back. <<[[!Zombie Infestation]][[!trade routes]][[!nostalgic dreams]][[!scuttletide]]>> Cards that play out of your graveyard also gain a lot of value solely because milling them over is effectively drawing them. <<[[!worm harvest]][[!molten gatekeeper]][[!anger]][[!vengeful regrowth]]>> <<[[!bridge from below]][[!Haakon, Stromgald Scourge]][[!Vengevine]][[!road // ruin]]>> You will be dredging, or at least you should be dredging, a lot. Many cards greatly benefit from having so many cards and card types in your graveyard. <<[[!Tarmogoyf]][[!Dragon's Rage Channeler]][[!Deluge of Doom]][[!Mizzix's Mastery]]>> Keep an eye out for cards that can define your entire deck, allowing you to craft your deck into taking advantage of niche effects. <<[[!Laboratory Maniac]][[!Valakut, the molten pinnacle]][[!Arclight Phoenix]][[!Risen Reef]]>> The quality of lands varies by an enormous margin. What your manabase looks like will heavily depend on how you value fixing. Will your manabase be a well oiled machine, or borderline unplayable? <<[[!Verdant Catacombs]][[!Ketria Triome]][[!Tropical Island]][[!Blood Crypt]]>> <<[[!Seething Landscape]][[!Fetid Pools]][[!Mossfire Valley]][[!Captivating Cave]]>> --- #### Boogeymen of Loam Cube Look, I never claimed to have a balanced cube. Some cards are simply better than others - and that's part of the joy (or disappointment) of opening a fresh pack of Loam Cube. <<[[!Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis]][[!Ayula's Influence]][[!Seismic Assault]][[!Field of the Dead]]>> If you're reading this to prepare for your loam draft, good luck - and remember to stay hydrated. ---