>>> ## "Drafting the hard way" meets "living the dream"<<< --- #### Welcome to The Hella Cube: A cube that pushes the limits of the lower-medium power level. [[Peasant all-stars|584dfb52-4a6c-4a33-9ae1-12227b938f9a]] and [[classic staples|9e5b279e-4670-4a1e-87d0-3cab7e4f9e58]] co-exist with [[fun build-arounds|ad5ea98a-e36e-4ab9-b4da-cc572f3777db]]. Designed from a love of retail booster draft, the Hella Cube centers itself around the combat focused core gameplay we fell in love with, while striving to explore the limits of its power band: more depth, higher ceilings, and more dreams to chase. This cube is actively drafted locally, resulting in rapid changes that keep the cube on the cutting edge. <<[[!Mangara of Corondor|db5686b7-4b7b-4127-9330-9282f36bd70b]][[!Dakra Mystic|8e5f71ca-e7d9-4f9a-adf1-40353693deea]][[!Blood Scrivener|9ea8179a-d3c9-4cdc-a5b5-68cc73279050]][[!Brindle Shoat|0a005933-e206-4b14-9a0f-755fae6c5a2a]]>> >>> ### Hella Cube Principles <<< - **Inspired by Booster Draft** — This cube is NOT about recreating constructed play patterns, but about showcasing the best parts of the retail limited experience. Your draft will have you bouncing between drafting the "hard" way, and trying to live the dream. You're rewarded in the draft for reading signals and making responsible picks, but at the same time you will be asked "What kind of deck do you want to play today?" - **Magic as Richard Garfield Intended™** — As with retail limited, creature based combat is the center around which most gameplay occurs in the Hella Cube. While classic concepts of control/aggro/midrange/tempo are at play here, games come down more often to the age-old "Who's the beatdown?" - **Decks, Not Cards** — The ceilings in this cube can be found in decks that have a defined gameplan. Decks that rely on individual overperformers typically struggle against decks with a more cohesive strategy. - **There is No Such Thing as Too Flat** — Many cube designers speak about the pitfalls of environments with overly flat power levels. The Hella Cube exists in defiance to that sentiment. A scarcity of power outliers/bombs runs the risk of making the draft feel directionless, but that has yet to be the case here. There are plenty of build arounds and strategies for the drafter to explore, and the result is tighter gameplay. The texture of the environment has yet to be hammered flat, despite heavy scrutiny on power outliers. - **Anything goes** — There are no rarity restrictions, but DFC cards have been excluded* due to the cube using Dragonshield Clear Matte sleeves to better evoke that kitchen table feel. Some alchemy rebalanced cards find their way in the list when they seem reasonable - custom proxies are used to help discern them. <<[[!Goblin Welder|6171e136-1167-4329-acb2-6853d3a814e5]][[!Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]][[!Birthing Pod|b768efa2-e56b-4a7e-ace8-d673f10e0714]][[!Smokestack|6a37ab2d-094f-431e-878f-93aef0360413]]>> --- ### Land Density The Hella Cube runs on a basis of 57/360 land fixing density. Lands are counted beforehand to ensure during pack creation that it matches that density, regardless of player count. Even when the list goes beyond 360, the land density does not change. 8 Players: 57 Lands 6 Players: 43 lands (14 lands excluded) 4 Players: 28 lands (29 lands excluded) --- ### Archtypes for New Players Each color supports several macro strategies, and each two color combination can be built in multiple ways. Included are some of the most common themes across color pairs. This list should is best viewed as a guidepost for newer drafters. {U}{W}: Flyers / Flicker / Control {U}{B}: Discard / Graveyard Matters / Ninjas / Tempo {B}{R}: Discard / Artifact Sacrifice {R}{G}: Beatdown / Lands {G}{W}: Populate / Go Wide {W}{B}: Sacrifice / Token / Control {U}{R}: Spells Matter / Discard / Graveyard {G}{B}: Graveyard / Token Value {W}{R}: Equipment Aggro / Artifact Grind {U}{G}: Graveyard / Lands / Self-mill ##### Tricolor Macro Archetypes {U}{B}{R}: Discard {W}{B}{R}: Artifacts {R}{W}{G}: Modified {G}{W}{B}: Tokens {G}{U}{B}: Graveyard Matters {U}{G}{R}: Lands Matter {U}{B}{W}: Control {W}{U}{G}: Blink