>>> ### Design philosophy <<< This cube was inspired by the Premodern format so it is primarily designed around old border cards from Ice Age up to 7th Edition. The environment is designed to make older cards feel as powerful as they were when they were first printed and to bring some nostalgia for the early days of the game. To hone in more on the nostalgia, I have tried to showcase some of magic’s cornerstone archetypes. I started working on this cube in 2019 but gave it a big power boost in Spring of 2020. I mostly made minor changes based on theory but have done limited testing after that. Towards the end of 2022 I made a bit update to the cube following the printing of a lot of cards in old border. Timeshifted cards have been added to increase consistentancy for micro-archetypes and to try to get to desired densitites of effects but I am trying to avoid generically good new cards as much as possible. >>> ### Archetypes and themes <<< In this section, I will discuss micro and macro archetypes of the cube and highlight some key cards to the strategies. A summary of these archetypes is: {W} White weenie {R} Goblins {G} Ramp/midrange {W}{U} Blink/draw-go control {U}{B} Mill control {B}{W} Reanimator {W}{G} Lands Ramp {G}{B} The Rock {B}{R} Recursive aggro {R}{G} Earthquake Midrange {G}{U} Ramp {U}{R} Pingers {W}{R} Land destruction #### Artifacts Artifacts is inheritantly flexible for what colours it works with but it is most supported in {R}{W}. Red allows for [[Goblin welder]] and [[Goblin engineer]] to set up loops with artifacts that can be reset like [[thopter squadron]]. White has [[enlightened tutor]] to find key pieces and [[Armaggedon]] to capitalise on the ramp. It's worth noting that a high density of big artifacts are not included in the list as the options in old border do not give a good enough pay-off for the investment of going so deep in synergy. This is also the reason that [[Tinker]] is not in the cube. >>> <<[[!Metalworker]] [[!Karn, Silver golem]]>> <<< #### Blink/Flicker Blink is made possible by the timeshifted versions of [[Restoration Angel]] and [[Flickerwisp]]. This archetype is intended to be {W}{U} but realistically could be {W}X as the most important factor is a high density of ETB effects with some support to give them extra triggers. The flicker effects are either instant speed (e.g. [[liberate]]) or repeatable (e.g. [[Equilibrium]]. This gives the cards utility outside of the archetype in the form of creature protection or control, respectively. >>> <<[[!Soulherder]]>> <<< #### Control There is not too much to say about control that is not obvious by looking through the list. {W} has access to a selection of board wipes, {U} has counter spells and cantrips, and {B} & {R} have targeted removal. >>> <<[[!Wrath of God]][[!Counterspell]][[!Slaughter]][[!Lightning Bolt]]>> <<< #### Goblins Goblins is a mono-red, creature heavy aggro deck that wants to beat face and use burn to either keep the board clear or use the last points of damage. A high density of 1 drops helps this strategy along with a potential Goblin Lackey to get out the gate quickly. To press the advantage goblins will rely on synergistic cards like [[Goblin Piledriver]], [[Sparksmith]] and [[Goblin King]]. >>> [[!Goblin Lackey]] <<< #### Ramp Any {G}X deck can focus on ramp as long as it has a critical number of ramp effects. Combining with the other colours gives access to control elements to ensure the game lasts long enough for you to deploy a fatty. This strategy needs to be fairly focused which can make it a glass canon. To avoid this, the top end creatures are chosen to be resilient or replace themselves in death like [[Silvos, Rogue Elemental]] and [[Hornet Queen]]. The glass Canon is also avoided with strong midrange cards like [[Ravenous baloth]] and [[Argothian Wurm]] as the deck can ramp these into play early without needing lots of ramp effects in play at one time. >>> <<[[!Birds of Paradise]][[!Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary]][[!Rampant Growth]]>> <<< #### Reanimator Reanimator is designed to be a {W}{B} deck although it is possible to build a reanimator deck with just one of those colours. Both colours have self-discard and big fatties to cheat into play like [[Reya Dawnbringer]] and [[Scion of Darkness]]. They also both have reanimation effects. The reanimation effects are currently in the 3 to 4 cmc range to avoid the deck being too fast for other decks to deal with. However, this may change with testing. >>> <<[[!Breath of Life]][[!Necromancy]]>> <<< The difficulty in building this deck is finding the right ratio of self-discard, reanimation effects and creatures to reanimate. The density of these effects will be adjusted over time to ensure none of them are over or under represented within the environment. #### Recursive aggro The {B}{R} deck is an aggressive deck that is slower than goblins but has more staying power if the game goes long. The core of this deck is cards that bring creatures back from your graveyard [[Oath of Ghouls]], [[Oversold Cemetery]], and [[Squee, Goblin Nabob]]. These recursive cards provide advantage when paired with discard effects like [[Oppression]]; and sacrifice outlets like [[Goblin Bombardment]] and [[Phyrexian Plaguelord]] which are very strong when combined with [[Tombstone stairwell]]. >>> <<[[!Death Spark]][[!Zombie infestation]]>> <<< #### Pingers Pingers is the {U}{R} deck which is a control deck that tries to build an engine to gain long-term advantage. The pingers package involves cards like [[Prodigal sorcerer]] combined with [[curiosity]] or [[sigil of sleep]]. The deck should be supplemented with one-for-one removal spells to keep the board stable enough for the pingers to become effective. >>> <<[[!Razorfin hunter]][[!Quicksilver Dagger]]>> <<< #### White Weenie Typical aggro should have a high density of one drops. However, the old border restriction makes this difficult. Instead this cube's white weenie deck uses a high densit of WW 2 power creatures that are evasive and hard to deal with like [[White Knight]] and [[Soltari Priest]]. The deck should focus on keeping the board clear to press the advantage with a suite of efficient removal spells and using flicker/protection effects to ensure their creatures stick. Anthems can be used to increase the power of the creatures which means more damage per turn and creatures are more likely to survive combat. >>> <<[[!Armageddon]][[!Mother of Runes]]>> <<< #### Single card archetypes (SCA) There are some build around cards that add additional archetypes to the cube. One of these is Oath of Druids which is a deck that controls the board and only contains big and resilient threats. This is best paired with blue for cantrips and control spells. [[Defense of the Heart]] can add redundancy to this deck. >>> <<[[!Oath of Druids]]>> <<< The last note-worthy SCA is Standstill. Standstill gives your opponent a difficult decision to make: don't play their spells or let you draw 3 cards? This deck fits into a generic control shell where you should break the symmetry of not being able to play spells by having cards that win without needing to be cast like creature lands and cycling [[Decree of Justice]]. >>> <<[[!Standstill]]>> <<<