<<[[!/6757e07f-fb3e-42a2-9684-d4f53030255d]] [[!/29b15ab8-c117-42b9-8177-df96153d6a38]] [[!/5e18bd43-6cee-40a3-88f5-c775fb705172]] [[!/9ca6d92a-45d3-4d67-8ae9-f25dd4a86739]]>> --- >>> # Pandora Cube <<< --- <<[[!/aae598eb-871d-45af-b12c-346c344ae74b]] [[!/6754d6cf-3506-48b5-a0ef-8a90b8dd2701]] [[!/9c1f44d0-7fb2-40f5-93a9-1a465372dd82]] [[!/7f7c9b54-0b40-4007-8d24-bc3945be319f]]>> ***DISCLAIMER:*** *this is a fork of Ezuba's Peasantish Cube @ezuba, so I give credit to him for having developed the core structure of this cube.* The cube began as a common and uncommon only environment that has slowly relaxed this restriction to a select pool of rare cards. The rare cards included help [[define|27691efa-052d-4afe-b9ef-159858ca660f]]-[[archetypes|96d8b133-6431-4dd8-bb41-60f0e2cb67d6]], offer [[exciting|6adb7d73-4482-4930-8497-cffd169b57e2]]-[[build|c5924430-1904-47b9-bcf0-3379babd395c]]-[[arounds|1fa48620-4c3d-4f75-be1f-c12c4aa59f51]], [[fill|80a53ed7-a7b7-40d8-9239-cf6f205dbc59]]-[[holes|d3593efa-0a05-4061-9f6e-edd0a5ca9a1f]] unavailable at lower rarity, and strengthen mana bases to allow for creative deck building while still maintaining complexity and powerlevel just slightly above that of a typical unrestricted peasant cube. The goal of the environment is relatively fast, creature-centric gameplay with synergistic strategies that cross pollinate well with one another. The open-ended archetypes and strategies should allow flexibility while drafting and, to encourage this, the bulk of the cards in the cube are chosen because they can fill multiple roles in different strategies. The most aggressive strategies supported in red, white, and black can close out a game as early as turn 4 or 5 if left unchecked so slower strategies need to have early game interaction and a plan to slow down the advance. Combo strategies are only lightly supported but include [[reanimator|d27c6aaa-289e-451e-8fde-97a044c53fc4]] and [[persist|acadf575-2076-4f0c-b66e-994898adf375]]-[[creature|49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]]-[[combo|e262f55e-9239-4a97-a19e-9b08fb34502e]]. --- >>> ## Archetype Breakdown <<< --- {W} ***White's*** themes include [[white|24e58478-c6a8-4f86-854a-a489c99bd777]]-[[weenies|a3f82012-5c33-47bc-a3c8-56ae2eea1fb9]], [[blink|2da5f3f8-5eef-498f-ba2c-2f3fbc3745aa]], [[tokens|010bd0f4-994c-4793-99b3-f64f6f87fe67]], [[flyers|35d9da1d-8678-4252-b0f8-9960795642f0]], [[+1/+1 counters|22d2a844-17fc-4628-9591-684555e98f7b]], and [[humans|fe162594-2332-4816-a9e1-57eb19b12651]]. The color's primary theaters are aggro and midrange but it has access to some of the most [[versatile|bff31eba-8ab3-403e-8d82-37a18b279bec]]-[[removal|e75192ef-5087-43ed-88bc-2dcd17793483]] and [[board|15ce585a-67fc-4e7a-92ff-a27292179dfa]]-[[wipes|80a53ed7-a7b7-40d8-9239-cf6f205dbc59]] making it a great support color for control decks. <<[[!/5f0ed8ee-d6ea-469c-a575-6643d3995f54]][[!/eacf7dd0-5855-4e7b-b75c-8119cc3d1460]][[!/21ee4f3c-dc94-4156-b0ed-60fe6310451a]][[!/fe162594-2332-4816-a9e1-57eb19b12651]]>> --- {U} ***Blue's*** themes include [[flyers|7acbd812-b994-4e68-8f95-04222796e994]], [[ninjas|da3f683e-5a28-4ae7-b53b-851b957123ba]], [[self-mill|726e8b29-13e9-4138-b6a9-d2a0d8188d1c]], and [[spell-slinger|85e32c7f-830b-41a3-9f7e-9b6016335cf1]]. The aggressive decks tend to be tempo based relying on early creatures backed up by [[counterspell|1920dae4-fb92-4f19-ae4b-eb3276b8dac7]] protection and cheap [[interaction|899540b0-c17a-4a73-912c-9b8925203de1]]. Blue provides [[card|9cee2eb1-f60e-4626-ba4a-b543142ca950]]-[[filtering|1453f92e-df2d-4789-aa1b-a5b5c51567d4]], [[card|98291778-2ec2-47e2-ac99-5f8cfbb3cf24]]-[[draw|55d51a2b-450c-4e6d-a660-67d58d1dd4ba]], and a [[wide|dc595c63-af05-4c05-80e8-e1a90df26b0f]]-[[array|30202613-d05f-4f47-af97-d0b75ccac293]] of [[counterspells|97a6c6c9-dd26-4ce7-850f-0b3fc49245bd]] that when paired with another color for removal and board wipes can form a potent control deck. <<[[!/fd79c9cc-0a8c-4d88-96e2-cb177134a18d]][[!/d765221d-9718-47eb-aa49-9c0719337139]][[!/5fc6adff-dcb3-456d-a8c2-0e77b784ff89]][[!/c7e90849-ca7a-4f66-871e-1cb4b59aefcf]]>> --- {B} ***Black's*** themes include [[aristocrats|7f9a6d22-2e87-410c-b42a-6b54d83a7d30]], [[recursion|75c219bc-a140-4ecd-953a-eef2cc552d58]], [[reanimation|7b83536a-efa4-41f3-9424-75b0efc0aea5]], and [[graveyard matters|330cc452-4382-401d-9432-ac27ae6e27ad]]. Black supports aggro, midrange, control, and combo all of which primarily revolve around using the graveyard as a resource. It also has a variety of forms of [[hand|b281a308-ab6b-47b6-bec7-632c9aaecede]]-[[hate|e7dd9fad-d8e3-4e46-b4d7-792d029736de]], [[creature|02551196-ecea-472f-9547-3c9658d0489e]]-[[removal|17824929-f131-4b8d-addb-66c25323155e]], and [[board|d3593efa-0a05-4061-9f6e-edd0a5ca9a1f]]-[[wipes|fe1e8a62-5b8c-432a-bb8f-c09048c51e0b]]. <<[[!/27691efa-052d-4afe-b9ef-159858ca660f]][[!/4f0582b4-d951-4450-b158-4a34109e48cd]][[!/2b737126-50b5-4678-91bf-197b64086fe4]][[!/b86825b2-5b03-4311-b7d9-f8131b17249d]]>> --- {R} ***Red's*** themes include [[aggro|b54da7ba-d596-4c2c-bb4e-a85d2f789102]]-[[burn|e3285e6b-3e79-4d7c-bf96-d920f973b122]], [[sacrifice|e262f55e-9239-4a97-a19e-9b08fb34502e]], [[spell-slinger|bbc0f3e7-a287-4624-8266-ca617448fcaa]], & [[Wildfire|c5924430-1904-47b9-bcf0-3379babd395c]]. Aggro, midrange, and control are supported but, with the exception of wildfire decks or as a support color, red is primarily aggressive slanting. The color has a [[wide|32c00c59-7cf7-4957-83f7-d571a259a40b]]-[[array|a0e47d11-cb21-402b-a39e-588a94cc57b4]] of [[burn|1d94c000-52e0-4215-83af-6351dc43e636]]-[[spells|5dd980d5-c6d1-4834-977b-22e80f0b449d]] at its disposal as either creature kill or finishers. <<[[!/256a861a-c488-4834-a419-5bd1eeba6873]][[!/d1a8afef-fa50-4aeb-94de-a4d90b1e5631]][[!/b81c6c8b-a9cf-4866-89ba-7f8ad077b836]][[!/cbb60f03-7bcf-46a3-9310-c2067d9c5396]]>> --- {G} ***Green's*** themes include [[ramp|04a81975-5f0e-4593-a2da-b9689f9a985f]], [[+1/+1 counters|84b689cc-35ef-4a23-bb1e-4d81b9fb8455]], [[graveyard|1bdd1243-1d14-496a-9b7a-0c5b34461361]]-[[matters|004e1457-d951-4029-8bb6-17a290793e79]], [[multi|aba51852-af8f-49d8-8fb6-22d52a1742b8]]-[[color|fdfeeb64-0f86-45e9-97e3-dcec72683164]], and [[tokens|b0f3b68e-f616-4687-bc2d-075165162cd1]]. Green operates primarily in midrange but can support, both, more [[aggressive|c4de778a-4419-49a5-9dcf-5d0095c873fa]]-[[creature|9321d75e-6ae8-48ff-876d-4efa50d1b1c6]] decks and full [[Llanowar Elves|9a9da45b-54ae-49c1-af50-8b88912c5bcd]] style [[ramp|5c05a60f-660a-42d3-82b3-06984366afb4]] decks with the ability to splash [[two|eda757a0-067b-4eb9-badc-d86da5b40305]] or [[more|1fa48620-4c3d-4f75-be1f-c12c4aa59f51]] colors for [[powerful|84abfc59-10a7-4cb5-9cdd-81797116c810]]-[[effects|c8318f40-ecd5-429e-8fe2-febf31f64841]]. <<[[!/15625580-3cbd-459c-a667-87efdcdaf2b2]][[!/e1722a55-850c-4924-be98-45539f4676a2]][[!/f1d81cfc-cff8-4478-92b6-efbfc5084165]][[!/736e498e-1245-40c1-96a4-c9bcfd1cfe1f]]>> --- ##### {W/U} *Blink, Flyers* <<[[!/ea23111b-ccc1-4d5c-a9d2-9db14c728820]][[!/2a02121b-725b-4b1f-aee4-df5f9c4bbed7]][[!/ac555709-c7cc-4c64-8a6f-8fe2bc149fcd]][[!/d2e40b14-48a2-4b9e-b767-e914cab04b30]]>> --- ##### {U/B} *Ninjas, Reanimator* <<[[!/5f305027-dfd2-4b17-a6af-6b0576389623]][[!/c6e466d1-943d-41e6-a47d-c9d951ca4262]][[!/e449f985-d149-49eb-87d9-7a325215f82d]][[!/bbeef9ef-487c-400b-bcee-1c0e8ec94b6a]]>> --- ##### {B/R} *Sacrifice, Recursion* <<[[!/21e1161f-bd2c-45a7-a86b-3b2e5210f148]][[!/ed268699-e1cc-4742-b19f-7f0ceaed2733]][[!/15b0f214-8668-4921-88ba-7ccf38c9f770]][[!/233e4774-e701-42d9-aa25-e7e06c14e43d]]>> --- ##### {R/G} *Stompy, Ramp* <<[[!/07cc6971-e9e2-4a0c-a752-c0f53ec939c4]][[!/59a118d1-30b8-42c0-ac42-6fba0778200a]][[!/d5222448-95d1-4b63-ab76-d5060febcf38]][[!/6411d177-45fd-4193-8414-0f7e7846d2b9]]>> --- ##### {G/W} *+1/+1 Counters, Tokens* <<[[!/7ce1c2a8-688b-4f63-8d58-e325efc6052a]][[!/49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]][[!/6dfaa74a-0ef0-44bb-b8b5-6d121278b5a2]][[!/eda757a0-067b-4eb9-badc-d86da5b40305]]>> --- ##### {W/B} *Aristocrats, Tokens* <<[[!/8b45117b-8369-48fc-8e5d-8986e662d123]][[!/8d2176a5-66f8-4a21-bbe2-969c82ca36bd]][[!/bcf1288a-8e2c-4a69-afcf-af293f66d007]][[!/f82aec21-441b-4fcd-b666-61723bd79531]]>> --- ##### {U/R} *Spell-Slinger* <<[[!/281f6118-adb8-4a7d-9c77-5570f3399e6e]][[!/5a10b543-d5d4-42a8-9ee8-dada59a2ad7e]][[!/8c89e7c4-7864-4031-a9e5-38b5d47290ff]][[!/b7dda3bf-08a9-42f7-bc64-4a41f6f210fa]]>> --- ##### {B/G} *Graveyard Matters, Ramp Reanimator* <<[[!/a2b50751-7f65-4321-86da-eef735bf8b67]][[!/a59f4e5c-fdc7-485f-aadb-2a71b3701dcc]][[!/28d42d6a-e9a0-449e-9b31-436c09b7c1ba]][[!/100855e6-ac3e-481f-a462-afb5fcb5d476]]>> --- ##### {G/U} *Tempo, Ramp* <<[[!/0394c8df-2e8a-4477-93b7-569934d7b936]][[!/1a2b228d-db4d-44a3-b208-6cf7a9f57da6]][[!/ff3986d7-9b3d-4082-8d72-ce59c9fcd5d5]][[!/7a61b1a6-a75f-47b0-b215-de9708b6d773]]>> --- ##### {R/W} *Go-Wide Aggro* <<[[!/76e939ab-9d0c-4685-805c-c8bc4e6af163]][[!/33c35bf8-ae43-41aa-aae9-4d7513f9058c]][[!/104503a6-bca5-48d7-88b1-424f98985d75]][[!/f59ff087-97e7-4946-871f-1833abb2558a]]>> --- >>> ## Advanced Archetype Guide <<< --- #### Persist Combo How this infinite combo works is not entirely intuitive if you have not seen it so I want to highlight how it works and the cards involved. Persist is a keyword that reads: >>> *When this creature is put into a graveyard from* *play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return* *it to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.* <<< When combined with a card that gives the creature a +1/+1 counter when entering the battlefield the 2 counters cancel and the creature then has no counters on it. Here's how it works.. >>> <<[[!/0a19da90-880e-4eca-8cf7-6d7baf090d53]]+[[!/acadf575-2076-4f0c-b66e-994898adf375]]+[[!/49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]]>> <<< The [[Murderous Redcap|acadf575-2076-4f0c-b66e-994898adf375]] is sacrificed by the [[Carrion Feeder|0a19da90-880e-4eca-8cf7-6d7baf090d53]] which then returns to the battlefield from the persist trigger but the -1/-1 counter from persist is cancelled by [[Good-Fortune Unicorn's|49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]] +1/+1 counter effect and then you can repeat the process infinitely dealing damage each time to your opponent. [[Redcap|acadf575-2076-4f0c-b66e-994898adf375]] can be replaced with [[Kitchen Finks|a844d537-df73-422d-a154-f1c6b92d0469]] to create infinite life, Renata can be replaced by [[Good-Fortune Unicorn|49d68905-e13e-4751-b028-90c795c11cd5]], and Feeder can be replaced by [[Goblin Bombardment|e262f55e-9239-4a97-a19e-9b08fb34502e]] or [[Nantuko Husk|3915c0be-7e9c-45bc-9c83-80beba469a81]]. --- #### Birthing Pod >>> <<[[!/96d8b133-6431-4dd8-bb41-60f0e2cb67d6]][[!/84abfc59-10a7-4cb5-9cdd-81797116c810]]>> <<< Birthing Pod and Prime Speaker Vannifar are build around effects for a base green deck that each have an ability that reads: >>> {T} *Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a creature* *card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed* *creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield,* *then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery.* <<< A deck built around Birthing Pod hopes to take advantage of a [[toolbox|798a3874-8e19-417f-b8f9-9fd05fdb7761]]-[[arsenal|65d36326-897e-4207-909a-8d1323d6c8e7]] of [[creatures|c862a2f7-673e-44bd-b8ee-e4295da1e0d5]] with [[enter|4b0f478c-54f8-4087-ad52-d089e2049dda]] the [[battlefield|7735ecda-9bb0-4ef9-86b2-16e5b6592e61]] or [[exit|33823e16-810e-4138-950b-e18ef1204438]] the [[battlefield|defaeb68-3f8a-4740-b13f-8c71c7e9c8b4]] abilities that can be searched up at will. Turn by turn the deck can [[accrue|d4448f49-ebe8-43f1-958f-308c4c20a01f]]-[[value|d2e40b14-48a2-4b9e-b767-e914cab04b30]] while [[addressing|02551196-ecea-472f-9547-3c9658d0489e]]-[[oncoming|fd79c9cc-0a8c-4d88-96e2-cb177134a18d]]-[[threats|1bdb0b15-d651-4730-8be9-d0e01145311b]] and [[building|0feb66d2-c50f-4296-af2f-b374c57443b0]] up an [[army|100855e6-ac3e-481f-a462-afb5fcb5d476]] of its [[own|eda757a0-067b-4eb9-badc-d86da5b40305]]. When building around Birthing Pod the deck must be drafted with a particular mana curve in mind. The goal is that multiple chains of creature upgrades are possible without running out of things to search for all along the mana curve. Assuming a deck size of 40 with 16-17 lands and 23-24 spells a deck might have a mana curve something like this: **Creatures:** *18-22 Total* * **1** Mana = *4-5* * **2** Mana = *4-5* * **3** Mana = *4-5* * **4** Mana = *2-4* * **5** Mana = *2-3* * **6** Mana = *0-2* * **7** Mana = *0-1* **Non-Creatures:** *2-5 Total* **Example Decklists:** [Blink Pod](https://cubecobra.com/cube/deck/60a39cf1170c5d1061d5c627) The deck's ability to trigger ETB effects and sacrifice creatures means it cross-pollinates well with Blink strategies, in white or blue, or graveyard-matters strategies in black. The tutor toolbox nature of Birthing Pod also makes it a great place to fit in a Persist Combo. An additional note is that token creatures are zero mana value so can be sacrificed to search for a one mana creature. This makes [[token|eb8434fd-5ee5-4be9-a28d-9e04b1b94327]]-[[creators|43e1e3f3-a9b8-4185-9be9-798fe3cddd5c]] great in the deck to refresh new pod chains. The deck can be a challenge to draft and pilot but quite rewarding if executed well. The logistics of searching for another card each turn can take some time in practice. There is no shame in and I would fully recommend anyone playing a deck based around Birthing Pod to take a snapshot of their decklist before play starts so you have a reference for what you could be searching to help alleviate some of the time constraints of making this work. --- >>> END <<< ---