#### Cube Overview • Designed with 2 player Magic as the focus. • The cube is low power level, lower than most Set Drafts. • This cube has ten 3-color archetypes. **ARCHETYPES** • Flying {w}{u}{b} • Spellslinger {w}{u}{r} • Blink {w}{u}{g} • Artifacts {w}{b}{r} • Weenies {w}{b}{g} • Auras {w}{r}{g} • Discard {u}{b}{r} • Graveyard {u}{b}{g} • +1/+1 Counters {u}{r}{g} • Aristocrats {b}{r}{g} -------------------------------------------- ## How To Draft • This cube includes conspiracies and draft cards ([[cogwork librarian]]). Play them as normal. • Except for Hidden Agenda cards. Reveal the card you name at the beginning of each game. • The draft is completely open information. You can see every card that players are choosing from, and every card that each player has already picked. • The cube is not singleton. 95% of the cards are, but certain cards, like [[Duress]] and [[Tormenting Voice]], are 2-ofs. • Draft 20 packs of three cards each for two players. • Draft 5 packs of nine cards each for four players. ##### IMPORTANT ##### • Whenever you draft a card that references another card by name, or another copy of itself, you automatically receive those cards. (EXAMPLE: When you draft [[Charmed Stray]], you then receive a second copy so that the card works as intended.) (EXAMPLE 2: When you draft [[Sun-Blessed Mount]], you then receive [[Huatli, Dinosaur Knight]]) Cards that you receive duplicates of are tagged as x2 or x3. • Coax From the Blind Eternities has special drafting rules surrounding it. When it is in a pack (before any players have picked a card from that pack), one of the four specially marked Eldrazi are selected at random to be drafted alongside Coax From the Blind Eternities (these Eldrazi are listed in the notes for Coax From the Blind Eternities). The Eldrazi selected is known by all players, and cannot be added in deck construction. Rather, it is a valid target for Coax From the Blind Eternities during the game. -------------------------------------------- ## Design Goals (aka What to Expect) • This cube was designed to be a limited environment where creatures matter. All strategies will generally be focused on creatures in some way, and making a creature bigger than a 2/2 or a 3/3 is one of the stronger things to be doing. • To facilitate this, removal in this cube is FAR below what would be considered playable in other formats. Removal will almost always fall into one of two categories: [[two mana for two damage|05659715-3002-4bd0-919e-664814c1ca57]], and [[five mana for murder|8f202f6b-710f-4376-a49c-e5f135b26eaf]]. • Almost every value engine in this cube is a creature, and there aren't many good ways to end the game outside of combat. (see above for the going rate for direct damage) • Life gain is very sparse. There are very few cards that allow you to gain large amounts of life. This means that players will rarely go above 20 life, and hitting your opponent with one or two creatures early should end up mattering later in the game. • The end result of all of this is that cards that are generally miserable in other environments really get to shine here. [[Oviya Pashri, Sage Lifecrafter]] is one of the strongest cards in the cube. Flipping a [[/Grizzled Angler]] usually ends the game fairly quickly. [[Whisper Squad]] is borderline broken. This cube gets to be a place for weird cards with janky mechanics; creatures that didn't pass the bolt test or die to doom blade. -------------------------------------------- ## Archetype Guide (If you want further explanation on generally how each archetype works) ### Esper Flying <<[[!Favorable Winds]] [[!Battle Screech|eacf7dd0-5855-4e7b-b75c-8119cc3d1460]] [[!Shadewing Laureate]]>> The plan here is simply to pick up a critical mass of fliers and anthems to go over the head of your opponent. Most of the payoff cards are in {U/W}, but there are enough fliers and go-wide payoffs in black that it's often your best choice for a third color. Be on the lookout especially for [[Skycat Sovereign]] and [[Tower Gargoyle]], as it's possible for a single large, evasive body to win games by itself. ### Jeskai Spellslinger <<[[!Young Pyromancer]] [[!Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart]] [[!Adeliz, the Cinder Wind]]>> This archetype is focused around making the most of the draw and removal spells you'd want to be picking up anyways. All strategies in this cube are creature focused, and this one is no different. Your payoffs for playing a large number of instants and sorceries usually either create a large board, or require a large board to really shine. Be on the lookout for cards that will maintain card advantage and board control into the long game, such as [[League Guildmage]], [[Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer]], and [[Hallowed Burial]]. ### Mardu Artifacts <<[[!Kemba, Kha Regent]] [[!Bleak Coven Vampires]] [[!Pia Nalaar]]>> This archetype is a general mash-up of cards that care about artifacts. If you play a critical mass of cards that say "artifact" somewhere on them, you'll probably do great. Equipment, even the vanilla {1} ones, are surprisingly good in limited, and will allow your dinky servos to trade up in combat. As this archetype shares {W/R} with Auras, those colors will have great creatures to buff up, like creatures with double strike. Or, you can go wide with the numerous ways to generate artifact creatures, and take some of the {w/b} cards and anthems from the Weenies archetype. [[Brass's Bounty]] is a combo card to watch out for that does very little on its own, but is brutal with cards like [[Ghirapur Aether Grid]] and [[Glaze Fiend]]. And if you happen to find a critical mass of equipment, [[Kemba, Kha Regent]] will very quickly bury your opponent in creatures. ### Bant Blink <<[[!Wall of Blossoms]] [[!Nephalia Smuggler]] [[!Distinguished Conjurer]]>> This archetype focuses on reusing ETB effects in all of the obvious ways. This cube doesn't have many one-time blink spells like [[Momentary Blink]], so it is crucial to find a card like [[Nephalia Smuggler]] or [[Temur Sabertooth]] before going all-in on this strategy. Every archetype in this cube uses ETB effects to generate value, and so it is fairly trivial to find something powerful to do with your engine. Be on the lookout for [[Meticulous Excavation]] and [[Species Gorger]], as not only can these cards reuse ETB effects, they can also reuse the numerous Adventures throughout the cube. ### Abzan Weenies <<[[!Glorious Anthem|17d154d3-7ae5-43ff-9978-d974285e2c89]] [[!Campaign of Vengeance]] [[!Bestial Menace]]>> This archetype is purely focused on going wide with tokens. Pretty much every archetype in the cube uses tokens to some extent, either as fuel, chump blocks, or payoff. This strategy simply uses them as a win condition. As it shares {B/G} with Aristocrats, the best token makers tend to be in those colors, and as it shares {W/B} with other go-wide archetypes, the best payoffs are usually in those colors. Combining the best token generators AND the best anthem effects in the cube makes this a very strong and very easy strategy to aim for. Look out for cards that scale with the number of creatures you have, like [[Geist-Honored Monk]] and [[/Hanweir Militia Captain]], as they tend to be the largest creatures on any given board. Anthem effects are very very strong, [[Goldnight Commander]] and [[Maw of the Obzedat]] being two of the strongest. ### Naya Auras <<[[!Gryff's Boon]] [[!Flaring Flame-Kin]] [[!Snake Umbra]]>> This strategy is the most overtly voltron strategy in the cube. Because removal in this cube is so unwieldy, you don't even necessarily need to worry about protecting your creature; just about finding a creature with strong keywords. And in a format where a 4/4 is impressive, even the most generic of auras can make your creatures into a credible threat. However, don't be pigeonholed into going voltron. Anthems for enchanted creatures, like [[Fencer's Magemark]], mean that spreading out your auras can be quite potent, and some of the best auras care about your other creatures, like [[Sigil of the Nayan Gods]]. Be on the lookout for [[Thran Golem|f01b98a6-5683-4b1b-a14c-d0b50fc26beb]] and [[Priests of Norn]] as some of the strongest creatures to enchant, and keep your eye on [[Conviction|4f805e97-c28b-4780-b204-74514c0c47d2]] as a repeatable way to trigger cards like [[Brood Keeper]] and [[Anax and Cymede]]. ### Grixis Discard <<[[!Gilt-Blade Prowler]] [[!Anje's Ravager]] [[!Drake Haven]]>> This archetype is all about generating value off of discarding cards. Looting effects mean that you'll find your best cards faster than your opponent, and creatures with madness mean that you'll be able to maintain a healthy board presence while digging. Since you draw a card every turn, this archetype does very well in the topdeck portion of the game, where every land drawn is a turn off for your opponent and more fuel for you. Be on the lookout for [[Harrier Strix]] as a repeatable way to loot, and for [[Lazotep Chancellor]] to create a body that will often win the game if allowed to grow. ### Sultai Graveyard <<[[!Nemesis of Mortals]] [[!/Grizzled Angler]] [[!Rotwidow Pack]]>> This archetype cares about filling up your graveyard. Whether it's to turn on Delirium, Threshold, or to cast cards with Disturb and Flashback, you can get a lot of value out of self mill. As this archetype shares {u/b} with Discard, and {g/b} with Aristocrats, there are plenty of ways to fill your graveyard with goodies you want to pull back out again. This archetype typically ends the game the turn before it would deck itself, so don't expect to end the game fast. Use defensive creatures like [[Merfolk Secretkeeper]] and [[Armored Skaab]] to make it to the late game, so that the game can be decided by a single attack from a card like [[Kessig Cagebreakers]] or [[Splinterfright]]. ### Temur Counters <<[[!Sapphire Drake]] [[!Falkenrath Exterminator]] [[!Armorcraft Judge]]>> This archetype is all about +1/+1 counters, and typically using them to draw cards. This strategy typically has the strongest card draw out of any of the other strategies, but often runs the risk of twiddling its thumbs while the opponent wins the game. Sure, [[Sage of Fables]] paired with [[Benthic Biomancer]] is one of the best combos in the cube, but it doesn't actually contribute anything to the board. You'll most likely need a concrete plan to end the game, such as a [[Sapphire Drake]], or a massive [[Altered Ego]] off of a [[Gyre Sage]]. Look out for [[Etched Oracle]] and [[Fathom Mage]], as those are the easiest ways to draw massive amounts of cards. ### Jund Aristocrats <<[[!Vermin Gorger]] [[!Ravenous Squirrel]] [[!Skirsdag Cultist]]>> This archetype is all about sacrificing all the tokens you make for value. This strategy shares all the great {b/g} token generation with Weenies, but is better equipped to funnel them into sacrifice outlets than to swing with them. Don't get too greedy though; sacrificing your creatures can leave you sparse on defense. On the flip side, this archetype can be fantastic at breaking stalemates; being able to make one large creature, or simply flinging tokens directly at your opponent's face. Look out for [[Skirsdag High Priest]] and [[/Voldaren Pariah]] as extremely powerful payoffs for this strategy that will immediately dominate the game if given the right support. -------------------------------------------- ## Known Combos There are certain card pairings that are known to be incredibly strong when assembled. Look for them for yourself, or hate draft them away from opponents. <<[[!Benthic Biomancer]] [[!Sage of Fables]]>> Sage of fables can be replaced with [[Shapers of Nature]], but this is a very effective way to cycle through your entire deck with extra mana. <<[[!Etched Oracle]] [[!Altered Ego]]>> Altered Ego has been in several of these combos with cards that have since been taken out. It's worth noting that replacing Etched Oracle with [[Falkenrath Exterminator]] might be even better, but that particular combo hasn't come up yet. <<[[!Ghirapur Aether Grid]] [[!Brass's Bounty]]>> Brass's Bounty is the only card in this cube that I would consider to be a "combo card". It has crazy one-off synergies with a number of cards in the cube, yet it fairly useless on it's own. Ghirapur Aether Grid is probably the best of these synergies, usually creating an unbeatable board state. <<[[!The Princess Takes Flight]] [[!Meticulous Excavation]]>> Since both these cards are quite new in the cube, these two cards haven't had the chance to be in the same deck yet. However, this is a synergy I am keeping my eye on as potentially a problem, depending on how oppressive and consistent it actually ends up being. ## Banned Cards (because I think it's fun to see all the cards that were "too broken") <<[[!Roon of the Hidden Realm]] [[!Clocknapper]] [[!Dawnbringer Charioteers]] [[!Wildborn Preserver]] [[!Mistmeadow Witch]] [[!Marath, Will of the Wild]] [[!Viral Drake]] [[!Cleanup Crew]]>>