` ` ` ` **** ` ` ` ` >>> # {R} ***Drought*** {R} <<< >>>*"When in [drought](https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/drought), [[fire|930745eb-b038-4b55-97f3-bf8d99b54d32]] it out!" - Anonymous Goblin*<<< ` ` ` ` **** ` ` ` ` >>> # *The Short Version in 4 points:* <<< >>>*A Desert Cube challenge for drafter*<<< 1. *The draft: Either 3x packs of 18 for a true Desert cube experience or 4x packs of 15 (the latter is recommended for less experienced playgroups).* 2. *There are no basic land stations available after the draft, ALL lands for your deck have to be drafted during the draft. Resource denial is a viable strategy (AKA land destruction strategy)* There are 29x basic Mountains and 10x of each of the other basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Forest) 3. *Non-singleton. 11x [[Kindle]], 12x [[Desert|fb89de70-d0e6-49ec-8aa9-1d31d3df1646]], 4x of each creatures that search for themselves [[Avarax]]/[[Squadron Hawk]], some other cards have 2x-3x copies but most of the remainder is singleton.* 4. *'Protection' as a keyword exists in the cube, therefore make sure to not pigeonhole yourself in only one colour unless you believe you can go wide, go above, go past or go fast.* >>> Keep reading if this is peeking your interest.<<< ` ` ` ` **** ` ` ` ` >>> # *Where it all started* <<< >>>*A tribute to the [[best planeswalker ever printed|5ddb3936-8f5a-498d-a46c-27eb9546c76c]] and my love for more old school magic play.*<<< ` ` The cube started with inspiration from the original desert cube, more so as far as some of the desertic vibes, the heavy red emphasis and the part about having to draft all "[[fixing|c35b5aa9-0d84-45df-99da-21535f9d45c5]]". After trying a draft of the original desert cube, the tension in having to draft your mana base took me over and I proceeded to dismantle my 5 year od legacy+ cube for a greater purpose. I was also loving drafting old school, pre-modern, old border cubes for nostalgia reasons and took a lot of inspiration from those types of cubes. Older art bring so much to the vibe of the cube making it a darker mood, which makes the harsh environment resonate much deeper. ` ` ` ` **** ` ` ` ` >>> # *Roles of the colour pie* <<< ` ` >>> {W} **Plains** {W} <<< - Hate (bears) but there are no bears cards; - Damage prevention; - Some amount of flying sprinkled through; - Fair amount of removal; - Fairly well stated creatures for creature based strategies. ` ` >>> {U} **Island** {U} <<< - Drakes (Flavour) they also fly aka if paired with {W} some {U/W} action could occur; - Card advantage is easier to get in {U} than with other colours; - Counter/bounce; - Strong tempo cards are typically base {U}. ` ` >>> {B} **Swamp** {B} <<< - Aggro/Midrange/Control; - Removal; - Recursion. ` ` >>> {R} **Mountain** {R} <<< - kindle burn; - Aggro [[Avarax]]; - midrange/control. ` ` >>> {G} **Forest** {G} <<< - Ramp/buying back lands; - Midrange and large creatures. ` ` ` ` **** ` ` ` ` >>> # *Deck Archetypes* <<< ` ` >>> **Midrange** <<< In cube, every deck is a midrange deck that leans either toward the aggro side or the control side sometimes staying somewhere in the middle, for exceptions, see Aggro and Control breakdown. ` ` >>> **Aggro** <<< Being heavily skewed in the {r} colour with 11 [[Kindle]]s, Aggro or outright *'Burn'* as a deck is prevalent in the environment and should not be taken lightly, sometimes it can stay as low as it can go and be swift however do not underestimate the power of an aggro deck that curves into [[Avarax]]s's as the top of their curve. Be wary of when and where you see [[Kindle]]'s going through the draft as it could indicate whether one player ends up with a large portion of them. ` ` >>> **Control** <<< Control can be found in a lot of varied colour combination depending on how you want to approach it, {w} brings some strong hate card and holds the better part of cards with *'Protection From Colour X'*. {b} and {r} have the most robust removal with {r} granting access to [[Kindle]]s. {u} can provide tremendous card advantage and {g} can bring in some of the largest creatures in the cube although {r} also has some solid curve topper. ` ` >>> {r}{c} **Land destruction** {b/r} <<< {R} is acting as Primary, red has the majority of land destruction and range anywhere from a [[Stone rain|57f84a13-d7dc-491b-a77c-1b99b6797d7e]] to a [[Wildfire]], it does have nice support with some of the strongest colourless effects such as [[dust bowl]] and [[wasteland]]. {w} Secondary with a card like [[Armageddon|9591f2ab-e09c-48d5-9c87-d27368e60750]] pulling it's weight like no other. {u}/{b} all sit back whether it be with cards like [[Boomerang|ef3c7465-6534-4fa9-a772-8859b7210fdf]], [[Sinkhole|485cef94-d7aa-4bb3-b2e6-61d0ccf8007e]]. {G} dragging it's heels as it typically only destroy it's own lands [[Harrow|ed0f633e-7238-4d02-ad8b-06dd20453030]], [[Crop Rotation|6563f790-862c-465a-b963-7a61f2385516]]. Land destruction is found primarily in aggressive decks wand tempo decks but is also seen in more controlling decks with cards like Wildfire. ` ` >>> {u}{r}{g} **Land matters** {r/g}{u/r}{u/g} <<< {g}and{r} primarily, cards like [[Ruination Rioter]] and [[Living Twister]] along side [[Mulch|52a1dabd-82df-4814-9d64-bf7bf9c1018d]], [[Thundering Wurm]]s, [[Groundskeeper]] and such can create interesting lines of play. Pair with {b} to accelerate into such lines with [[Squandered Resources]] and [[Worm Harvest]]. Or pair with {u} for some more reach into the *landfall* shenanigans with [[Roil Elemental]], [[Trade Route|eeaba189-b215-4d1c-9135-a86ce5ec955d]]. Land matter is typically more of a midrange deck although some more aggressive and control deck also can take advantage of the role players. ` ` >>> {b}{r}{g} **Madness** {r/g}{b/g}{b/r} <<< Although a small easter egg, there are a few madness cards accross the {b}{r}{g} colour. Definitely a midrange archetype, the [[rootwallas]] of this world can also support aggro. ` ` >>> {u}{b}{R} **Steal your stuff** {u/b}{u/r}{b/r} <<< Also a small theme some of it pairs well with the land destruction such as with [[Annex]]/[[Conquer]] although the rest targets creatures for the most part with cards such as [[Enslave]]. Played more so in tempo and control shell. ` ` ` ` ****