>>># Intro/Manifesto<<< **The experience®** this cube aims to cultivate is defined by: * **Fast paced games**, with lots of decision points and few board stalls. * **Good decks** outperform **good cards**. * Aggro, Midrange and Control all being able to 3:0. * **Good** mana bases. Breaking singleton on **Fetches and Shocks** * 70% power level. This is a [[Dragon's Rage Channeler]] format, not a [[Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer]] format. * Narrow power band. Limiting losses/wins due to single card quality outliers à la retail limited or Vintage Cube. * Colourless is the 6th colour. >>><<[[!Esper Sentinel]][[!Emry, Lurker of the Loch]][[!Dark Confidant]]>><<< **Design Considerations to Achieve The experience®:** * Mana fixing lands are plentiful and good - I want drafters to be able to draft decks with reliable access to 2 colours on turn 1. * Interaction - Lines up appropriately with threats. *(More detailed thoughts on my design considerations [here](https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/agile#further-detail))* * Flexible cards are prioritized for inclusion - leading to more draft decisions and opportunity for play expression. Notable Exclusions: * No planeswalkers - Planeswalkers provide too much impact and re-shape games in such a significant way that they are at odds with the “Good decks outperform good cards” goal. * No infinite or instant-win combo - Combo seeks to ignore tempo and resource balancing that I find so enjoyable in most drafted magic. >>><<[[!Hellrider]][[!Ignoble Hierarch]][[!Arcbound Ravager]]>><<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>># Archetype breakdown **Macro:** *Aggro*:- Primary: {R}, Secondary {W},{B},{C}, Tertiary: {U},{G} *Midrange*:- Primary: {G}, Secondary: {B},{W},{r},{c}, Tertiary: {U} *Control*:- Primary: {U},{B}, Secondary: {R},{W}, Tertiary: {x} **Micro:** *Blink*:- Primary: {w}, Secondary: {u}, Tertiary: {g} *Spellslinger*:- Primary: {u}{r}, Secondary: {w} Tertiary: {b} *+1/+1 Counters*:- Primary: {x}, Secondary: {g}, Tertiary: {w},{c} *Equipment*:- Primary: {x}, Secondary: {W}, Tertiary: {R} *Artifacts matter*:- Primary: {u}, secondary {w},{r}, Tertiary: {b} *Aristocrats*:- Primary: {x}, Secondary: {b},{r}, Tertiary: {x} ------------------------------------------------------ >>># Further detail<<< **Lands** - My current land balance of double fetches, triple shocks + a couple extras is carefully considered. So carefully in fact that I’ve written a whole article about nonbasic lands in cube. You can find it [here](https://cubecobra.com/content/article/62752a44f666d5100891f74e) if you want to dive deep on mana math for cube. **Front leaning creatures** - One of the dials available to turn to keep a format aggressive and reduce board stalls is to provide creatures with toughness lower than their power. This results in more boardstates where it’s advantageous to attack, as you’re more likely to trade. **Few DFCs** - While DFCs add modality and options which can be beneficial to an environment, I’ve chosen to limit this affect as the added complexity cost while drafting and playing typically isn’t worth it to me. **Removal baseline** - at instant speed 1MV spells should deal with 2 toughness or MV, 2MV spells should deal with 3 toughness, 3MV spells should deal with anything. Improving on these rates should require additional cost or downsides. E.g. [[Feed the Swarm]] has 2 downsides: it’s sorcery speed & it causes life loss. The density of removal in the cube is tuned so that players have access to enough interaction, but that the quality doesn’t invalidate playing larger threats. Committing 4-5 mana and a full turn to a large creature only to have it [[Swords to Plowshares]]’d is not gameplay I’m interested in. Similarly, the threats need to line up with removal, typically cards in this cube at 4+ MV will have high enough toughness that they don’t fold to 1-2MV removal without providing some upside. -------------------------- ## __Occasionals:__ Alongside the main cube, I curate a [second list of “occasional cards”](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/occasional) . 24 cards are selected at random from this list before drafting the Agile cube, and 1 added to each booster pack. These cards aim to provide some variety in the cube, allowing for inclusion of more narrow cards without taking up cube real estate. Occasional cards are added to the packs on top of the typical draft amount, increasing pack size and avoiding replacing important cards. The beauty of this system is that people have the opportunity to draft with some variety without losing the cohesive baseline of a fully drafted cube. ---- >>> # Scattered Thoughts and Miscellaneous Stuff <<< ## __Typical Draft Methods:__ x packs of y (draft pool)(cards drafted) | Players | Primary Method | Alternate Method | |---------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------| | 8 | 3 packs of 16 (48)(384) | | | 6 | 4 packs of 16, burn last 4 (48)(384) | 4 packs of 12 (48)(288) | | 4 | 6 packs of 16, burn last 8 (48)(384) | 5 packs of 9 (45)(180) **or** 16 pack of 15 grid| | 2 | [Hausmann draft](https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgcube/comments/pudb45/my_new_favorite_way_to_draft_with_2_players/) or 100 card Winston draft or [Minneapolis draft](https://articles.starcitygames.com/magic-the-gathering/premium/the-proper-way-to-do-two-player-cube-drafts/#:~:text=it%20Minneapolis%20Draft.-,Minneapolis%20Draft,-is%20a%20two) | 18 packs of 9 grid | ## __Wedge/Shard drafts:__ Use the below links to filter the cube by wedge or shard before exporting to draft with lower player count without needing to burn. [Bant](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cgwu+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cgwu%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Abr%29), [Esper](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cwub+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cwub%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Arg%29), [Grixis](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cubr+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cubr%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Agw%29), [Jund](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cbrg+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cbrg%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Awu%29), [Naya](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Crgw+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Crgw%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Aub%29) [Abzan](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cwbg+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cwbg%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Aur%29), [Jeskai](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cwur+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cwur%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Abg%29), [Sultai](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cbgu+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cbgu%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Arw%29), [Mardu](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Crwb+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Crwb%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Aug%29), [Temur](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=%28c%3Cgur+-is%3Afetchland+-is%3Ashockland%29+or+%28is%3Ashockland+id%3Cgur%29+or+%28is%3Afetchland+-id%3Awb%29) ------ ## __Tagging Threats & Removal:__ Inspired by [lucky paper radio episode 127](https://luckypaper.co/podcast/127/), I've decided to rank the threats in my cube by resilience against removal. Using a 1-4 scale from "Baneslayer" to "Mulldrifter". Cards on this scale have been tagged BM1 through BM4 depending on the below subjective criteria. Click on the headings to be taken to the corresponding filter of the cube. **[BM1:](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Abm1)** "Baneslayers". A BM1 card will need more than the turn it's played to utilise its intrinsic value. Ward - 1 Life. Examples: [[Usher of the Fallen]] / [[Woodland Wanderer]] **[BM2:](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Abm2)** Some value against removal. Value typically added before sorcery speed interaction. e.g. [[luminarch aspirant]] / [[Feldon, Ronom Excavator]] / [[Soulherder]]. Cards which can be sequenced to provide immediate separate value e.g. [[young Pyromancer]] -> [[Shock]] on turn 3. Flashable blockers Lower impact adventures Slightly punishing to remove: Ward {1} or 2-3 life. **[BM3:](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Abm3)** Substantial value against removal ([[Mulldrifter]]s of all sorts) Value typically added before instant speed interaction. Higher impact adventures Harder to remove: Ward {2}, 4+ life, higher costed hexproof or indestructible **[BM4:](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Abm4)** Resistant to removal or actively bad to remove (great death triggers, trivially recurred threats) Hardest to remove: Ward {3}+ / free or low costed hexproof or indestructible *Note: Cards which remove cards from graveyards (like [[Scavenging Ooze]]) are ranked as BM1 here. In a cube with much stronger graveyard support and/or reanimator I'd bump these up to BM2.* **[Removal](https://luckypaper.co/podcast/111/)** Similarly, I've decided to rank the removal in my cube by effectiveness and condition requirement. Using some made-up buckets, cards on this scale have been tagged depending on the below subjective criteria. Click on the headings to be taken to the corresponding filter of the cube. **[RU](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Aru&view=curve) - Unconditional Removal:** Removes a creature all the time (excl. hexproof/protection etc.) e.g. [[murder]] / [[vindicate]] / [[Vraska's Contempt]] **[RD](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Ard&view=curve) - Removal with downside:** Removes a thing all the time, but has a downside. e.g. [[fateful absence]] / [[pacifism]] / [[pongify]] Opponent has control over the downside element. **[RA](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Ara&view=curve) - Removal with additional costs:** e.g. [[Ulcerate]] / [[Bone Shards]] / [[Lightning Axe]] You have control over this additional cost as a downside. **[RT](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Art&view=curve) - Removal that can be undone (temporary):** Removes unconditionally but can be rolled back by Opp. e.g. [[Oblivion Ring]] / [[Skyclave apparition]] / [[Dungeon Geists]] **[RS](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Ars&view=curve)- Soft removal:** Doesn't actually remove the threat, but does temporarily neutralise it. e.g. [[Flickerwisp]] / [[unsummon]] / [[Earthshaker Khenra]] **[RCM](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Arcm&view=curve) - Conditional - Main Attributes:** MV, power, toughness, important keywords e.g. [[Fatal Push]] / [[Shock]] / [[Plummet]] **[RCP](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Arcp&view=curve) - Conditional - Parallel Attributes:** Colour, creature type, etc. e.g. [[Terror]] / [[Walk the Plank]] **[RCB](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/agile?f=tag%3Arcb&view=curve) - Conditional - Board State:** Fight spells, attacking/blocking, edicts, combat tricks, Flashable blockers with 2+ power. e.g. [[Ram Through]] / [[Settle the Wreckage]] / [[Diabolic Edict]] / [[Bannerhide Krushok]] / [[Cathar Commando]]