### **A Legacy+ cube of cards to emulate the best parts of when Nate & Friends played competitive magic.** Glory Days started as a 4-player Modern cube in 2020 and has since grown! Ever changing and evolving, yet always aiming to highlight the history and diversity of MtG. Expect to see low-curving aggro and midrange, with a select few high-end bombs. At the end of the day, it is meant for me and my group to have fun with all magic has to offer. Updated frequently with new hotness from recent sets and cuts of underperformers. Preference for older cards when feasible! For some more in-depth design philosophy, jump to the bottom of this overview. ### **Decks** As an unpowered cube that lies somewhere in the realm of 2010's legacy power-level, this cube does not have super specific archetypes. There are some A+B combos and purposeful synergies. Mostly though, I just include cards and let the players discover decks. Some fan favorites can be seen below: ------------------------ >>> **{R/G} AncientTomb Stompy {R/G}** <<< >>> << [[!Ancient Tomb]] [[!Tireless Tracker|7d12eb1d-1027-436a-86a3-455128cc0641]] [[!Ignoble Hierarch|9417f14c-a853-42c6-a992-29139484260a]] >> <<< Ancient Tomb is one of the most powerful cards in the cube, breaking away from what is typically considered fair in the environment. While good in any deck with pip-light 3's and 4's, it is especially powerful in conjunction with the 1-mana dorks to provide a huge mana advantage. Ramping out the big RG payoffs in [[Bloodbraid Elf]], [[Mawloc]], and [[Glorybringer]] on turn two or three can be almost unbeatable. My group affectionately refers to this style of deck as "RG Reids" for my buddy Reid's ability to draft any pile of mid-sized creatures and smoke you with it. ---------------- >>> **{G/R} Lands {W/U}** <<< >>> << [[!Wrenn and Six]] [[!Knight of the Reliquary|648da53a-5cce-4133-9779-62d18783dd67]] [[!Primeval Titan]] >> <<< A fan favorite in many other cubes, like the MTGO Vintage Cube, lands slowly made its way into my own based on player feedback. It started with W6 and [[Ramunap Excavator]] to recur value from [[Urza's Saga]] and horizon lands. Now, it has a much wider range of possibilities, all the way up to combo decks with [[Dark Depths]], [[Thespian's Stage]], and [[Field of the Dead]]. ---------------- >>> **{W/B} Battle Bots {W/G}** <<< >>> << [[!Karn, Scion of Urza]] [[!Urza's Saga]] [[!Stoneforge Mystic]] >> <<< This deck is a personal favorite of mine. White aggro decks in the cube can leverage the raw power of Karn and Saga to make huge [[Construct|4ad1fd1a-9c1e-4b01-974e-84f18d325cfc]] tokens to close out games. Stoneforge can fetch Swords to break through board stalls or just to tutor utility equipment creatures in [[Glimmer Lens]] and [[Lion Sash]]. Staples of the aggro decks like [[Porcelain Legionnaire]] and [[Smuggler's Copter]] help in growing constructs as well. The deck sometimes pairs a second color; often green to recur Urza's Saga or black for removal. ---------------- >>> **{U/G} Turns Combo {U/B}** <<< >>> << [[!Time Warp|6e70332c-de0b-45ce-bbd1-5de4314c08db]] [[!Jace, the Mind Sculptor]] [[!God-Eternal Kefnet]] >> <<< I did not include the three cards above to be a combo intentionally, but someone in the MTG CubeTalk discord pointed it out. I love it and it is now a main-stay in the cube! The {U}{G} version of the deck looks to play mana-dorks, [[Eternal Witness]] type cards, and planeswalkers to take big advantage of Time Warp, with the combo being a back-door option. The {U}{B} version looks to play a more controlling game where counters and kill spells slow down the game, with [[Dig Through Time]] and friends letting you sift for the combo to end it. ---------------- >>> **{U/R} Jeskai Combo {U/W}** <<< >>> << [[!Saheeli Rai]] [[!Felidar Guardian]] [[!Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker]] >> <<< As threats in magic begin to overwhelm how they can be answered by reactive spells, it felt like control decks needed a way to overcome creature decks besides [[Wrath of God]]. Jeskai Combos have felt very good for that! Saheeli-Cat combo has been in the cube since its original form as a nostalgia piece that has yet to feel overpowered. As the cube expanded, it felt right to add the other [[Splinter Twin]]-esque combos. While Twin itself has been cut for being very singular, Kiki-Jiki has remained as a unique card that: is much more intractable than Twin, has a big restriction in its mana cost, and gets played non-combo decks. ---------------- >>> **{G/B} Golgari Graveyard {G/B}** <<< >>> << [[!Wight of the Reliquary]] [[!Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis]] [[!Bloodghast]] >> <<< Say Hello-gaak to the archetype that has made pure Golgari more playable in my cube. Many synergistic pieces of this deck go around the table late ([[Gravecrawler]], [[Carrion Feeder]], [[Satyr Wayfinder]], etc.) allowing players to pick up powerful removal and lands ahead of the threats/enablers that make this deck tick. Wight of the Reliquary allows the deck to fight as a lands-combo deck or a beaters deck with landfall creatures like [[Bristly Bill, Spine Sower]]. If you like to grind, draft some Gaak. ---------------- ### **Bombs** Like most cubes, this one has some power-outliers. Here are some of the cards my group has identified as cards you need to be prepared to beat during each draft: >>> << [[!Elspeth, Sun's Champion|96f1d11a-084d-4de7-9ed4-33158113520c]][[!Fable of the Mirror-Breaker]] [[! Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath]] >> <<< >>> << [[!Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]] [[!Grave Titan]] [[!Dark Depths]] >> <<< >>> << [[!Archon of Emeria]] [[!Wrenn and Six]] [[!Retrofitter Foundry]] >> <<< ---------------- ### **The 6 Pillars** The design philosophy of this cube falls into six categories, with each card meaning to invoke some sort of excitement amongst players. The six pillars are: - **Classic Art or Artists:** Cards with art that players immediately recognize. I want players to see old classics, like the beauty of Rebecca Guay's [[Path to Exile|30233158-01b4-4f14-b7d2-d0377273f6c3]] or reminisce in seeing the original [[Vendilion Clique|d141d5bb-6437-4353-bec9-63d59f5d8207]] done by Michael Sutfin. - **Unique Printings:** Cards players recognize but may not have seen with my version's frame or art. Think back to when you first started playing; ever get that feeling of "Woah, that card has a promo version?" That's the aim here! From FNM classics in [[Qasali Pridemage|e669f0d0-30a2-488a-98a2-d9cfcbe9fc01]] to new editions like [[Shark Typhoon|89df04da-741b-4f98-8c49-f7f0bc13df31]]. - **Powerful Effects:** Cards that players think are strong and can win them games on their own if left unchecked. While all the cube cards are meant to be powerful and viable, these cards are meant to give the feeling of opening a bomb in retail limited. You should feel excited to slam a card that will give you an edge. Don't skimp on removal, lest you get bested by the likes of Ragavan or a Grave Titan. - **Variable Gameplay:** Cards that lead to interesting decisions and do not cause too much repetition in the cubing experience. ~~I would like to note that Recurring Nightmare is an obvious offender to this rule and is always being evaluated as a potential cut/downgrade.~~ A card like Recurring Nightmare is a great example of a card that left the cube due to this. - **Nostalgia Factor:** Cards that may not be the most powerful, but remind players of days-of-old in the MTG timeline. For my play group, the golden years fell between Innistrad and Kaladesh. You may notice some outliers from that time frame. Nostalgia can also come in the form of stories; some cards are included because the physical copies have meaning to me or my friends. Ask me about damaged Ugin, Christmas Lili, or feature-match Mawloc. :) - **Novelty:** Cards that players may not ever get to experience outside of cube. This includes silver border, test cards, commander cards, Universe Beyond, and more. Where else is someone going to assemble Trigger Happy plus Dark Depths? Or get to use strictly-better Expedition Map via [[Park Map]]. ~~Or feel the exhilaration of going Bob, Snap, Bob with Gavin Verhey's Incubob test card.~~ (RIP Incubob, you were sweet but got cut for being awful). ---------------- ### Tags - **Uncuttable**: Cards that will not come out of the cube ever! They have sentimental value to me; some are gifts from my wife, some are alters from friends and professionals, and some just have meaningful stories to my group. Uncuttable cards also set a great base for the power level of the cube! Since something like [[Huntmaster of the Fells]] cannot come out, I need to make sure it is never unplayable (we're getting close to that point but *shrug*). - **Chopping Block**: Cards that I have been considering cutting in recent updates. It can be because they are too powerful (like [[Orcish Bowmasters]]) or too weak, and sometimes just because of bad vibes. It is usually pretty easy to tell which end of the spectrum it is on, but if you're curious, hit me up on discord! - **Cube Champ**: I hold monthly cube drafts with my local group where the winner gets a dated copy of [[Huntmaster of the Fells]], and gets to select a card to add to the cube! Cards tagged this way indicate what was added by the winner. >The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.