C/Ube Revamp (pics)

Last year I blogged a lot about "Cube: Legacy" which was a form of cube that involved progressively adding errata to cards in a "level up" fashion. It was based on Risk: Legacy and the idea came about from past Magic designer Gregory Marques. You can read about it from my earlier blog posts but I've since dropped the idea. It was a great idea and fun while it lasted but there were too many obstacles to continue it (primarily the upkeep and barriers to entry for a lot of players).

One of the reasons I liked the idea was because my cube is only commons and uncommons so it added an aspect that deepened the format when it otherwise might be considered dull. But the design of my cube has come a long way since then. I've only just revamped it so there hasn't been much play with it but if functions pretty similarly to Modern Masters draft and it isn't dull in my opinion.

I'm also undertaking another cube project in Boozecube (which I'll post about soon). It's not hard to come up with ways to drink while playing Magic but the idea of designing a format around it was enticing so I took Jay Boosh's idea of Boozecube and made it my own. I'm still working on it and, of course, there's lots of playtesting (read: drinking) to be done so it's a work in progress.

The new C/Ube list was influenced by Eric Klug's cube which he tweets about and has written about. The new list can be viewed here on cubetutor.com, which is an amazing website for cubers by the way. I shaved it down to 510 (or so) cards in order to better support specific archetypes including the following:

• Wx Aggro/Rebels
• Rx Aggro
• Azorius Control
• W, R, and/or G Tokens
• B, G, and/or U Dredge
• Rakdos (+g/w) Aristocrats
• UB Reanimator
• Gxxx Ramp.

There are still a few oddball rules in the cube. Primarily, white 2 and 3-drops have rebel errata. Otherwise, white would be a pretty awful color. Squadron Hawk is also in the cube and it comes with three additional Hawks that you can wish for rather than fill your library with. And damage goes on the stack like in the old days.

Here are some sample decks that I drafted on cubetutor.com:

Orzhov Aristocrats/Tokens

Azorius Control with a black splash

Golgari "Aristocrats"

Red Aggro with a green splash

RTR Cube and C:L Rules Updates

It's been a while since I've made a cube update and with Ravnica around the corner there's no better time. The changelog is pretty long so I'll just talk about the ones that stand out.

     Unearth -> Consume Spirit
     Murder -> Diabolic Edict
     Remove Soul -> Stealer of Secrets
     Dross Golem -> Dead Reveler
     Village Ironsmith -> Splatter Thug
     Penumbra Bobcat -> Korazda Monitor
     Cabal Pit -> Cabal Coffers
     Nacatl War-Pride -> Stampeding Serow
     Sengir Vampire -> Throat Slitter
     Demonic Taskmaster -> Nezumi Graverobber
     Lust for War -> Street Spasm
     Lava Hounds -> Slith Firewalker
     Krosan Verge -> Azorius Keyrune
     Dreadship Reef -> Izzet Keyrune
     Barbarion Ring -> Dimir Keyrune (Gatecrash)
     Kiss of Amesha -> Azorius Charm
     Spawning Pit -> Izzet Charm
     Crystal Ball -> Selesnya Charm
     Contagion Clasp -> Golgari Charm

     Armillery Sphere -> Relic of Progenitus

Cutting Armillery Sphere was a difficult choice but I decided I had to make a few sacrifices to make way for the Guildgates.

     Armadillo Cloak -> Sundering Growth
     Recoil -> Hussar Patrol
     Henchfiend of Ukor -> Vassal Soul

Some of the gold card switches made to accommodate Ravnica.

     Azorius Signet -> Azorius Guildgate
     Izzet Signet -> Izzet Guildgate
     Dimir Signet -> Rakdos Guildgate
     Rupture Spire -> Golgari Guildgate
     Shimmering Grotto -> Selesnya Guildgate

From the start I have been wary about having Signets in the cube. I resolved to just have the suitable three but now that there are other forms of basic fixing (in addition to the Keyrunes as replacements) I am fine with cutting the Signets. As for the five-color lands, I prefer it not to be possible to draft 4-5 color decks without any worries of color issues. There is still tons of fixing but now it doesn't apply to all five colors at once.

     Tectonic Rift -> Avalanche Riders

I've been afraid to include too many good LD spells because they aren't particularly fun and also punish people for playing bouncelands. I will probably come to regret this one once Avalanche Riders is given Persist or something like that but I don't consider the Cube: Legacy rules when making additions to the cube.

Ravnica Additions:

     Gore-house Chainwalker
     Gatecreeper Vine
     Rakdos Shred-Freak
     Fencing Ace
     Thrill-kill Assassin
     Bloodfray Giant
     Dreg Mangler
     Hellhole Flayer
     Skymark Roc
     Dryad Militant
     Rakdos Cackler
     Lyev Skyknight

Moving on, I've decided to make a few changes to the rules of Cube: Legacy to accommodate for new players who have not used the cube before. It is not incredibly fun when half of the cubers have a considerable amount of edge over you, whether it be numerous named cards or knowing exactly what every card does. There's no way to fix this issue completely, but I want to take steps so that it is lessened.

The change I'm making to help with this problem is abandoning the achievements part of the game. It had a few of its own flaws (difficult to keep track of while battling) but barrier to entry is the real problem, so instead the reward sheet will now be used for winners of the cube. The winner of a cube draft will now get to roll a die to earn one of the achievements.

I think this is a big step forward for the game. There are less rules over all, less things to keep track of during gameplay, and less of a barrier to entry. That means more fun!


As always, if you are curious about something or think I missed something feel free to post below or on twitter.

C:L Comprehensive Ability Sheet

Updated 9/27

I figured it would be a better idea to just list the comprehensive ability sheet rather than list the abilities that are currently on the rotating sheet. I keep the following amount on each successive tier on the active list at a time: 2, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Fifth Tier abilities (1 pt):

• Reach
• Wither
• Trample
• Vigilance
• Scry 1 or ETB scry 1
• Basic land type-walk

Fourth Tier abilities (3 pts):

• Flash
• Haste
• Flying
• Breath
• Exalted
• Shadow
• Populate or ETB Populate
• First Strike
• +1 toughness
• Regenerate for C
• Protection from a color
• Gain 2 life or ETB gain 2 life
• Cycling equal to C or 2 (+1 if the card was printed with madness)
• Draw a card then discard a card or ETB draw a card then discard a card
• Ninjutsu equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Madness equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Morph equal to C if CMC is <4, 1C if CMC is 4-5, 3C if CMC is 6, and 3CC if CMC is 7+ (you may pay an additional point to change ETB abilities to "turned face up" ones; put only on creatures)

Third Tier abilities (6 pts, 7 pts if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 1
• Shroud
• Unleash
• +1 power
• Defender
• Protection from a card type
• Scavenge XCC where X is 1 less than the creature's power
• Deal 2 damage to target player or ETB deal 2 damage to target player
• Miracle equal to C if CMC is <6, 1C if CMC is 6-7, and 2C if CMC is 8+
• Unearth equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Switch a keyword ability with one worth the same amount of points or less that appears on the comprehensive ability sheet
• Glass-spin (whenever this permanent becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time in a turn, counter that spell or ability)

Second Tier abilities (9 pts, 10 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Persist
• Dredge 3
• Hexproof
• Recover 2C
• Echo equal to mana cost
• Draw a card or ETB draw a card
• Increase or decrease a numeral in a textbox by 1
• When this card deals damage to a player draw a card
• Suspend 2 equal to up to 2C less than CMC, but not less than C
• When this card deals damage to a player that player discards a card at random
• Change colored mana symbols in a card's mana cost or text box to phyrexian mana symbols

First Tier abilities (12 pts, 14 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 2
• Undying
• Cascade
• Rebound
• Flashback
• Indestructible
• Double Strike
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 (put on only permanents)

Ability Reset (4 pts): Remove all ability stickers from a card. This option is usable on any card but not after the card has become a part of a cube in progress.

When buying an ability for a card that has one or more counterparts (double faced cards, Squadron Hawks, etc.), for each counterpart you may pay 1 more to give it the same ability.

The winner of each cube draft gets to roll a die to obtain one of the following rewards to be used at the appropriate time:

• Obtain a random first or second tier ability sticker.

• At a time when you could normally buy a sticker, move a sticker on a card in your pool to a different card that has no stickers. Repeat this process.

• The current cube is now a 3v3 team cube. You pick the teams. Use after drafting is completed (winning team members each win a reward).

• Everyone reveals their first picks. You choose one of them for yourself, the rest are randomly redistributed. Use only after P1P1.

• Choose either the drafter to your left or your right. Look at that player’s picks and exchange one card from their picks with a card from yours. Use between packs during the draft.

• Challenge a player to a heads up best of 5 sealed deck match. Wager an amount of points of your choosing.

• Add a rare of your choice to the Cube. Make it count because the cube owner may veto ridiculous suggestions and you only have two chances to get it right.

• Name a card in your pool in your honor. That card costs 1 less for you to cast and 1 more for your opponents.

Custom Planeswalkers For My Cube

I like doing neat things with my cube and since it's a nonrare cube there are no Planewalkers in it. I wanted that to change so I designed a cycle of Walkers that I thought would be fair and fun. This is the third iteration of them and I'd like to know your thoughts! Some were designed with certain aspects of the cube in mind. Be aware that the power level is intended to be that of uncommons and that they are being played with other nonrares.