/r/mtgcube

Photograph via snooOG

Welcome to MTGCube, the best place to talk about the best limited format for Magic: the Gathering

What is a Cube?

"It's like drafting hyperbole." - Evan Erwin

A Cube is a custom draft set, typically designed to showcase the "best" cards ever printed in Magic, but sometimes with other thematic restrictions.

General Resources

  • Advice for Building Your First Cube

Write-Up by Fleme Beginner Resource Hub

  • Cube Organization
    CubeCobra.com
    CubeTutor.com (no longer regularly updated)

  • Cube Storage
    EldraziLackey's Guide

  • Cube Philosophy/Initial Design

    Podcasts

    Blogs

    Discord

    Forums

    Statistics

    Related Subreddits

    Retired Resources

    /r/mtgcube

    27,365 Subscribers

    12

    Ornery Tumblewagg

    9 Comments
    2024/03/08
    20:57 UTC

    6

    [OTJ] Selvala, Eager Trailblazer

    3 Comments
    2024/03/08
    20:54 UTC

    5

    Fun Pick Friday

    Fringe Friday wasn't getting a lot of traction. Which isn't too surprising I suppose. So, I'm going to experiment with different things until something sticks. For today, I came up with Fun Pick Friday.

    It's somewhat similar to First Pick Friday, but instead you're looking at the 15 cards and picking your favorite one or which one seems the most fun to you today. Imagine that you'll be able to build an ideal deck in whichever archetype that card can play in.

    So, it's not really about drafting. It's just a random assortment of 15 cards. Maybe you like the artwork the most. Maybe you haven't had a chance to play with one of the cards yet. Or whatever. How you define fun is up to you. You're free to just treat it like a first pick and take what you think is best.

    Let me know how this idea can be improved. Or if you have different ideas for Fridays. Thanks!

    Here's the pack for today:

    https://cubecobra.com/cube/samplepackimage/ce34624e-8ee7-4090-a677-e6abe70a7453/1709923193110

    Visually, I'm drawn to Nahiri. But I think I'd have the most fun successfully building around Golos. I imagine a control deck that eventually has enough time to activate his ability and take over the game.

    8 Comments
    2024/03/08
    18:54 UTC

    5

    Feedback on 180 card vintage unpowered

    https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/anarky180

    Hello,

    I would love some feedback on my newest cube. It is a 180 card vintage power level but unpowered. If you see any cards that seem too weak or out of place I would love to hear about it.

    I have cut all power and fast mana, I cut combo and toned down reanimator. I cut a lot of counterspells. I want creature and planeswalkers games. I love initiative and monarch. I tried to reduce cards that are good in only 1 deck.

    My colors play out as the following: White: aggro and control Blue: midrange and control Black: midrange and control Red: aggro and midrange Green: aggro and midrange

    All cards in each color should be playable in the archetypes of that color and the few gold cards signpost the color.

    Let me know what you think and if you can suggest any cuts or adds!

    9 Comments
    2024/03/08
    16:57 UTC

    14

    P1P1 Friday

    Post your Cube and your pack!

    75 Comments
    2024/03/08
    13:01 UTC

    5

    Thoughts on my standard cube?

    The cube: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/308e697e-6938-43fd-b6ab-8c727af2f0dc

    Any cards I missed, and archetypes I should have but don’t?

    (Cards I’m considering adding in):

    The restoration of eiganjo Ruin-lurker bat Sky-blessed samurai Sunblade samurai Invasion of gobakhan Steel seraph

    Akal Pakal, first among equals Delver of secrets Disruption protocol Fajali archeologist Hullbreaker horror Hypnotic grifter Lodestone needle March of swirling mist Shore up Thirst for knowledge Trawler Drake Witness protection

    Anoint with affliction Blot out Defossilize Dockside chef Knight of dusk’s shadow Soulcoil viper Specter of mortality

    Bitter reunion Brotherhoods end Cemetery Gatekeeper Demand answers Goldhound Lizard blades Reckless impulse Reckless stormseeker

    Cemetery prowler Defiler of vigor Duel for dominance Kami of transience prizefight

    10 Comments
    2024/03/08
    06:52 UTC

    7

    New to cubing, asking for feedback

    Hi, so I've played Magic for a while and decided that I should finally make a cube. I haven't bought any cards, so these were just what I had not in decks, but I've drafted it a couple of times and it's pretty fun. I would love some feedback though, because I want to add more archetype synergies, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. Anyway, if you have a minute please take a look!

    link:https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/25fadbab-0745-487b-b5ee-6f790ba0b992

    7 Comments
    2024/03/08
    06:29 UTC

    31

    Sacred Cow Thursday: Oracle of Mul Daya

    Welcome back to the series where we challenge the inclusion of long time cube classics. Last week we discussed Flametongue Kavu:

    https://old.reddit.com/r/mtgcube/comments/1b35svb/sacred_cow_thursday_flametongue_kavu/

    This week, we are looking at:

    [[Oracle of Mul Daya]]

    {3}{G} Creature — Elf Shaman

    You may play an additional land on each of your turns.

    Play with the top card of your library revealed.

    You may play lands from the top of your library.

    2/2

    This is the first entry of this series that's going to sting. I still love this card, but I'm bringing it up because I know some people have soured on it. It does provide card advantage and ramp. And obviously gets better with shuffle effects, like fetch lands.

    But it costs 4 mana for a meager 2/2 body and might do nothing if played on curve after it's taken out by a 1-2 mana removal spell. Some cubes aren't looking for resource advantage with 4 mana, they're looking to try and end the game. Like many cards, I expect the discourse to be highly environment dependent.

    With that all said, what's your take on Oracle?

    31 Comments
    2024/03/07
    17:58 UTC

    32

    Cutting My Gold Cards: Rip Apart

    People love signpost cards in cube. I love mono-colored cards. There is no guarantee each guild will be drafted. I usually see gold cards being late picks or last picks, so I have been trying to cut all but the most broken gold cards. I replaced my Rip Apart with Abrade. Abrade goes in more decks. Usually the mono red or mono white have to splash a second color to put in Rip Apart. Maybe you have a Mardu or Jeski control. In any of these Abrade still works and it doesn't require amazing mana. All you lose is the ability to hit planeswalkers and enchantments. You gain instant speed. I will stick with a card desired in more decks!

    45 Comments
    2024/03/07
    02:06 UTC

    1

    Which method of drafting commanders do you prefer?

    Hey everyone,

    After experiencing how fun cube is for the first time with a friend’s Legacy+ cube, I’ve decided to try to turn my commander decks into a commander cube. I intend to follow the standard rules for commander draft, however I’m having trouble deciding on a system for drafting commanders and I thought people here might have some insight into what works best in your experience.

    View Poll

    11 Comments
    2024/03/06
    22:12 UTC

    0

    “Name Sticker Goblin” isn’t a Magic card and doesn’t even remotely function like the paper version of the card, so why do people play it?

    Title says it all, mostly. I just find it a bit surprising how many cubes play 539 actual paper Magic cards and this thing, which functions nothing at all like the paper card and really feels like lazy programming. I find it odd that cubes that play this thing generally don’t play any other silver bordered, playtest, or other made up cards that don’t actually exist in paper.

    My cube is in paper, and I’m finally at the point where I’m ready to include [[_____ Goblin]] and the 10 stickers. It’s a great card, and unlike the weird made up one that feels like an alchemy card, it plays fantastically with my beloved [[Unearth]], something that has finally cemented a slot given how insanely pushed 3 drops have gotten in the last couple years. It’s so annoying that you can’t Unearth the silly online version or play it from exile with the ever-increasing number of powerful red cards that play things from exile. [[“Name Sticker Goblin”]] doesn’t do so many things it should be able to.

    Im just curious why this is the one card people play online that operates not even remotely the way it was intended to function and is nothing like its actual paper counterpart at all.

    Do those of you who do play the weird version online play the real one in paper, or do you proxy out the bad online version into paper form. And why aren’t there any other cards where y’all play the online only version instead of the real card the way it’s intended to be played?

    Maybe this is a bit of a rant, but as someone shocked that most of the truly interesting Unfinity cards ended up being non acorn cards, it’s a bit sad to see that the only one that gets cube play isn’t even getting cube play in a version even close to the actual functionality of the card.

    36 Comments
    2024/03/06
    19:48 UTC

    33

    Why you should give [[Vraan, Executioner Thane]] a try if you run aristocrats in a higher powered cube

    I've been playing some games with my Legacy+ Cube and have had a couple of drafts to play with and against Vraan, Executioner Thane.

    This card is GREAT for an aristocrats and/or aggressive deck.

    I know, know... "or more", "other creature", "you control" and "once each turn" are all accounted for on the card. What if these restrictions are here for a reason?

    Let's compare it to the cube darling [[Zulaport Cutthroat]] and ask yourself these two questions:

    "How many times am I sacrificing three or more creatures per turn?"

    "How many times am I sacrificing five or more creatures per turn cycle?"

    and then ask yourself the same questions but switch "three" and "five" for "one" and "two".

    Because that's the rate that you need for Zulaport Cutthroat to be better than Vraan per turn or turn cycle.

    Now add in that Vraan is a 2/2, that doesn't die to a stiff breeze like Cutthroat and can actually brawl in an aggro deck and block 1/1 for days, and you have yourself a hell of a card.

    He has consistently overperformed in my cube and I would even go as far as to say that it's a better card than Blood Artist in 90% of scenarios. He might not be as explosive but he's helped tremendously in making aristocrats a viable strategy in my cube (an archetype that has notably struggled from the get go in my drafts).

    I was inspired to add him to my cube because of Justin Parnell's recommendation on Lucky Paper Radio (where he talked about how underrated he is as a cube card) and I've not looked backed since. I encourage you to give Vraan a try!

    30 Comments
    2024/03/06
    19:44 UTC

    1

    Alchemy cards that are playable in paper and good for cube?

    I am curious which alchemy cards are playable in paper, with minor tracking or additional copies of cards, like say [[agent of raffine]] or [[oracle of the alpha]]. I imagine no seeking or perpetual, but conjuring and spellbooks seem easy enough.

    11 Comments
    2024/03/06
    19:13 UTC

    3

    Thoughts on my 4-color cube

    https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/1ygsu

    Big theme is Graveyard Matters but put space for artifacts / standard aggro and control / fatty-cheatesque tactics and other archetypes i find fun.

    Has Some other archetypes like:

    UR Spells matter , U/UB Self mill , UG Simic flash , RG Hasty Midrange

    Main goals are to have fun drafted relatively powerful decks that allow for interactivity, or to just allows the players to do some cool shit and have fun. Would like to keep it relatively balanced around decks turning on their first bombs at turn 4, and for all genre of decks to be playable (I feel like control may be underpowered)

    Any tips would be appreciated!

    7 Comments
    2024/03/06
    18:18 UTC

    13

    This or That Wednesday: Treasure Cruise vs. Dig Through Time

    This week, it's a duel between the 2 most prevalent Delve cards in blue. Let's meet our fighters:

    [[Treasure Cruise]] - a build your own [[Ancestral Recall]] (at sorcery speed). If you can make it work, one mana for three cards is ridiculous. Enough said.

    [[Dig Through Time]] - two mana for two cards is still stellar. But the selection is what you're really after. This helps dig for gas or a combo piece. And it's an instant!

    Assuming your environment is good enough at supporting these Delve cards, which one would you go with if you only had room for one?

    For me, it's Treasure Cruise. I don't run a very combo heavy environment. Raw card advantage is preferred over digging. Plus I find it more exciting to draw blind personally. But what's your take? Remember, the goal of this thread is to pick only one! And let us know why. Thanks :)

    32 Comments
    2024/03/06
    16:41 UTC

    3

    Help me decide land cycles for my Pioneer cube!

    So I'm in the process of turning my cube into a Pioneer cube that has all the most played cards in Pioneer constructed. There's many decks that might be too hard to pull off but this is a starting point. I've settled on 400 cards, I like some variance but not too much, and I want to include 5 dual lands in each guild. I'd like them to be the same five cycles now and when I play the cube I'm open to breaking the cycles, but as a starting point I want the same types of duals in each guild.

    Note that I'm not having ten equal archetypes, I work more with "packages" of cards that mostly fit into two or three colors.

    So shocklands is a given I think, and I adore the play patterns of Pathways so those will be in as well. But the other cycles I'm considering for the three open slots are:

    Slowlands [[Deserted Beach]]

    Fastlands [[Seachrome Coast]]

    Surveil lands [[Meticulous Archive]]

    Painlands [[Adarkar Wastes]]

    Restless lands [[Restless Anchorage]]

    "Unless you control a" lands (Do they have a nickname?) [[Glacial Fortress]]

    Triomes [[Raffine's Tower]]

    For other fixing I have [[Fable Passage]], [[Mana Confluence]] and to some extent [[Lotus Field]].

    What are your three picks for land cycles?

    Link to cube: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/0d2694b6-e390-412e-903c-d1f3634b2902

    edit: Added triomes as it was suggested by a comment.

    15 Comments
    2024/03/06
    14:23 UTC

    14

    Cube designed as a Set

    Hey - are you aware of any cube designed close to a standard set? Like, with a limited pool of cards, multiple copies of cards, and each card with different frequencies of appearance to mimic rarities. Cheers!

    24 Comments
    2024/03/06
    11:41 UTC

    4

    Black Carddraw

    What black cards that generate card advantage are you running?

    I only run [[village rites]] and [[wretched confluence]] as draw spells and [[Transmogrant's Crown]] and [[morbid opportunist]] for aristocrats support.

    I cut [[night‘s whisper]] for [[ransack the lab]] to support grave shenanigans and [[midnight reaper]] for morbid opportunist for all the tokens floating around.

    I never played with [[dark confidant]] since I have a budget cube(under 7€) but now it’s achievable and he’s on my mind. What’s your opinion on him? And I also never played with [[phyrexian arena]] is it too slow nowadays?

    Here’s my cube for reverence: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/76c6f36e-cce0-4a39-91b4-a12340c6c3fd

    30 Comments
    2024/03/06
    10:30 UTC

    5

    What do you think of my cube?

    https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/729598db-f041-45b7-8591-89950cb0aa28

    Are there any changes you would make to the list?

    Obs.: I really want to stick to a 300 card cube for a more consistent and fast draft. I managed to cut Reanimator/Splinter Twin/Lands package (and therefore some graveyard interaction), which are the least attractive archetypes for me, to get rid of some too specific cards. Then I filled the black slots with more midrange cards that fit in a large range of archetypes. So I would also like to do without these archetypes in my cube, even though I know they could be a lot of fun in a powered enviroment.

    6 Comments
    2024/03/05
    23:07 UTC

    5

    Can someone smart explain card ID?

    I’m trying to do the thing with my cube where you’ve got cards in the overview that are symbolic of their archetype, so (as an example) I want the spell pierce to be from neon dynasty in the description like it appears in the cube. However, I’ve read everything I can find and can’t figure out how to change it without the “card id” that they have hidden pretty well I’d say. If someone could explain how I find a “card id” I’d be grateful. Thanks!

    2 Comments
    2024/03/05
    17:18 UTC

    29

    Last Pick Tuesday: What is the last pick of this pack?

    76 Comments
    2024/03/05
    16:29 UTC

    16

    Twin Cities, MN Cube Drafting

    Hi all, I'm Logan and want to share info about our Magic the Gathering cube group(s) in the Twin Cities, MN.

    There's Discord for us, where we organize regular (weekly and monthly) as well as one off drafts. It's grown quite a bit this year as new people have joined and separate cube groups have learned about each other!

    This week we have the weekly Wednesday night draft at Steamship Games (rotating cubes) and a monthly draft of this eternal cube at Dreamers in Minneapolis on Saturday.

    The discord is the best place to get involved, but if that's not your thing I run an email list for those who don't use discord. You can email me here for more on that.

    We have a wide variety of experience and age levels in the group and our big rule is being joyous and patient. If that's you, whether you're new to cube or not, you'll fit right in.

    2 Comments
    2024/03/05
    15:24 UTC

    4

    Is it possible to export a deck from cubecobra which specifies the printings?

    I spent some time picking out all my favorite printings for specific cards, and have discovered that when exporting to moxfield after drafting that it doesn’t specify which printing it is. Which is especially unfortunate since I have one or two border matters or art matters cards. Is there a workaround to this (maybe exporting to something else and then exporting to moxfield?) or is cubecobra just not able to do it?

    1 Comment
    2024/03/05
    14:39 UTC

    1

    Check Out Some Old School Magic! Unstable Efreets vs. Karakas Tabernacle Living Planes!

    0 Comments
    2024/03/05
    00:16 UTC

    5

    Meager Monday: Winged Boots

    Last week for the inaugural edition of Meager Monday, we discussed [[Eruth, Tormented Prophet]]:

    https://old.reddit.com/r/mtgcube/comments/1b0wxus/meager_monday_eruth_tormented_prophet/

    This week, upon request, we are discussing [[Winged Boots]]:

    Winged Boots

    {1}{U} Artifact — Equipment

    Equipped creature has flying and ward {4}. (Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {4}.)

    Equip {1}

    Releasing in 2021, this card never really caught on in cubes, boasting a 0.59% inclusion rate on Cube Cobra. It is a blue equipment after all, not something commonly used in that color. After paying 2 mana, it grants flying and ward 4 for 1 generic mana, which is generally strong. But I'm not sure that's serving a purpose in most cubes.

    /u/cooperativism62 wanted this card featured, so hopefully they have more good things to say about it than I do! It's not a bad card by any means, but not something I'd want to use a slot for in cube and probably wouldn't be excited to draft or main deck it.

    But how does the community feel? And let me know how this thread is doing and if it can be improved! Thank you.

    19 Comments
    2024/03/05
    00:00 UTC

    5

    Pauper set cube

    Hi everyone, I would start cubing and I got the idea to start with a pauper set cube. I was thinking to get some set from 2-set block, maybe Amonkhet because I love the egypt flavour. In this way I would have a big expansion with 100 common in double copy and a small expansion with 70 common in single copy. It will be playable? I'm looking forward to draft it in 4 people. Thanks for any suggestion.

    4 Comments
    2024/03/04
    21:59 UTC

    9

    Best cube for a school club

    I run a DnD club at my school, and a bunch of the students are wanting to get into Magic. Some have decks that they've actually built, some bought precons, some proxied absolutely insane decks (all edh). It's just not fair to the kids who can't afford to buy the insanely competitive decks, so I've decided to build a cube. I'd like to do a 60 card singleton commander style. My idea has been to use Fate Reforged, Kahns and Dragons of Tarkir to draw from. I'd take all 5 of the dragon lords, put them in different coloured sleeves from the rest of the cards, and use them as commanders, since they are roughly balanced. Basically, everybody picks a commander at random, gets 4 packs and builds a deck like normal. I'd include all of the dual lands from the set, but no fetch lands since I don't want to spend the money.

    Am I on a right track? Or should I be gong in a completely different direction? I haven't spend anything on cards yet, only the sleeves and reusable packs, and the actual case itself, so I'm fine switching things up if need be.

    16 Comments
    2024/03/04
    17:30 UTC

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