Play the funnest Magic: The Gathering draft format ever!
Loading ...By Evan on May 9, 2012 in Cube Updates | 5 Comments
Oh man it’s been too long! We got ourselves two sets to add this time, and there is plenty of movers and shakers included.
View the Updated Google Doc (newly designed!)
Dozens of cards replaced, the cube got bigger by 30 cards or so, and all sorts of surprises are inside. Let’s talk cube!
By Evan on Apr 26, 2012 in Draft Strategy, MTGO Cube, Submission | 4 Comments
There aren’t too many things that get me to squeal in excitement like a four-year old. The seconds preceding new Game of Thrones episodes, the intro to “This Charming Man,” and any announcement indicating that I’m gonna get to do some cube drafting. So when Wizards announced that there’d be MTGO cube queues, on the first weekend of my spring break, the joyful, high-pitched noises may have alarmed some nearby neighbors and roommates. I bused home on Friday morning and in the midst of matzos and family, I crammed a respectable 14 drafts into the cube preview weekend, often barely noticing as the sun slithered through my windows and cast a glare on my glowing monitor.
Below, I’ve provided the fourteen decklists and brief descriptions of the tournaments I entered. I feel that, by the end, I had a good grip on how to draft this cube and some insights on what works and what doesn’t in the format. I’ve done this so that readers can compare notes, perhaps gain some perspective, and inevitably refute my claims. I also feel obliged to add to the literature concerning cube drafting, as I’ve enjoyed the work of Evan Erwin, Aintrazi and Parnell, Thea Steele, and others so thoroughly. Additionally, I figure long declarations of near-spiritual allegiance to the sub-game of cube can only help foster supports from Wizards.
Anyway, here are my reports from 14 draft queues.
Read the rest
By Evan on Oct 9, 2011 in Cube Design, Cube Updates | 12 Comments
Oh yes! It’s so good to be back! I’ve been working my tail off at SCG, and that cuts into my cubing. But I’ve taken a look at my cube, shaken off some chaff, kept it the same size while adding a total of 39 new cards!
Ready to see what’s changed? Let’s go!
By Evan on Sep 21, 2011 in Cube Design, Submission | 1 Comment
Submitted & Written by Dan Cunningham
Do you like Magic? Of course you do. Cube drafting? Probably – I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t. How about Sci-Fi? It’s not a far-fetched to say that sci-fi fans and magic fans have a bit of overlap.
What cards did we redesign?
As a starting point we focused on the cards in wtwlf123′s cube, on mtgsalvation.com. We’re trying to update our cube as he updates his. Once we finished that, now we’re also recreating other cards. The Photoshop template is available so that you can make your own cards, and cube.
Will the Space Cube be sold or otherwise available?
NO. The Space cube will only be available as digital renders as long as we receive no takedown notices. It falls upon you to print your spacecube yourself for personal use.
By Evan on Sep 20, 2011 in Cube Design, Submission | 0 Comments
This is a guest post written by James Lennox-Gordon who you can find on twitter. If you’d like to contribute to cubedrafting.com, contact evan dot erwin at starcitygames dot com.
With Innistrad on the horizon, Magic 2012 is fast settling into its role as the core set that will oversee Standard for the next year. The mythic titans return once again alongside a bunch of new Planeswalkers and various other format defining cards like Solemn Simulacrum and Skinshifter . We here at The Peasant Cube however concern ourselves not with mythic bombs and spikey rares, but with the strong – if not necessarily sexy – workhorses of the set. And while the set if full of good, fascinating and staple cards with black and silver expansion symbols, below are a selection of some of our favourites along with other peasant-legal cards that we think are among the most interesting. Both old and new are present and we’ve provided a brief commentary on the card along with a suggestion or two for alternatives.
By Evan on Jun 6, 2011 in Cube Updates | 16 Comments
The biggest cube change in years. I know I say that often, but this time, let’s get some stats:
Over 100 cards dropped!
EVERY color now 10 cards smaller!
HUGE sea changes in multiple colors, strategies abandoned, strategies reborn!
Let’s go!
By Thea on May 15, 2011 in Cube Design | 18 Comments
As I’ve written about before (or as is obvious from a look at my list), I only run one planeswalker per color. The reason for that is that I, and the people I draft with, don’t like how game-dominating they can be. Planeswalkers are powerful in constructed, and can be even more so in highlander limited, where you can’t have four Maelstrom Pulse or Vindicate.
We’d rather see one, two, or none per draft, and certainly not more than two in a deck, and that’s what leads us to limit the number that can be the in cube as a whole. However, I find it kind of soul-crushing (I know, rough life) to realize that Gideon Jura doesn’t get a spot, and that likely no blue planeswalker ever will get a chance, no matter how cool. It also bothers me philosophically, because I like the power level of the cube and run other broken cards – Umezawa’s Jitte, Sol Ring – but I just don’t love the games that occur with tons of planeswalkers.
One possible solution I’ve been thinking about lately is to group all planeswalkers into a section, and then to add a number of cards from that section to the draft pool to suit your tastes. Of course, this doesn’t work for cubes that use the entire card pool in each draft (as in 360-card cubes supporting 8 drafters), but for larger cubes or smaller groups, it’s a possibility. For example, we might end up with around 20 cards in the section, and then could add 3 from that section to a Winston draft pool.
This method is really just a way of assigning certain cards a higher rarity than others, and you could use it for any card type you found overpowered or stifling- equipment, fast mana, or color-fixing lands. I haven’t tried it out yet, and I’m not sure I will. But I wanted to throw the idea out there, and ask if other people have done this, or if you use any other method of making certain cards rarer than others.
By Evan on May 6, 2011 in Cube Design, HowTo, Submission | 3 Comments
This is a guest post written by Glenn Jones, courtesy of his new blog. If you’d like to contribute to cubedrafting.com, contact evan dot erwin at starcitygames dot com.
So here’s my first post on one of my favorite hobbies: cube design.
I like to design different cubes for pure entertainment, although I rarely build them after designing them because the fun of the exercise was in the design. Plus, it’s a lot of work to put physical cubes together! Among the ones I’ve designed in the past are an all-creature cube, a Spirit-themed cube (think Kamigawa plus other interactions/Spirits throughout Magic), and a mono-blue cube (with artifacts of course).
By Thea on Apr 14, 2011 in First Four Picks | 26 Comments
Click Read More to see the pack & vote in our poll! Read the rest
By Thea on Apr 14, 2011 in Draft Strategy, Submission | 6 Comments
This is a guest post written by Doug Lambert. If you’d like to contribute to cubedrafting.com, contact evan dot erwin at starcitygames dot com.
I’ve been playing cube drafts for about three years and it constitutes about 90 percent of my time playing Magic. I draft on a regular basis with a group of about twelve players from my local store ranging from low to high skill levels. I also draft with new players and out-of-state friends at pre-releases and PTQs. With such experience, I’d like to share a few of my thoughts about the keys to success in this format. The value of my advice will vary based upon the cards contained in each cube and player preferences, but these insights should be fairly universal and of use to any cube enthusiasts. Read the rest
