<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doubling Cube" href="#" target="_blank">Doubling Cube</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://marktedin.com/14doubcube.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Tedin</a></em></p>
<p><em>Magic: The Gathering</em> is in a strange place right now. It seems like every week a new controversy or argument pops up online over new products, tie-ins, or formats breaking under the weight of modern design and release schedules. Meanwhile a massive influx of players are enjoying and discovering the hobby for the first time.</p>
<p>It can be a little exhausting dealing with the constant flux between bouts of negativity and record breaking numbers of sales and sets per year and everything else in between. I've seen a good few people online who just feel disconnected from what used to be their favorite hobby in the entire world.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dreadful Apathy"></div></div>
<p>But I'm not here to add to the bonfire this week. There's enough negativity circling around. My question is: What does a player in this position do to heal their relationship with <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>? How do you reignite your passions for the game when the regular routes aren't doing it for you anymore?</p>
<p>If you're feeling down, if <em>Magic </em>just doesn't feel like it's for you anymore, then let me tell you about an alternate way of playing that might have all the answers to your problems Cube.</p>
<h2>What Is Cube?</h2>
<p>Cube is both a format of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> and also an environment that can contain other formats and games within it. At its heart it's a curated, limited Draft environment. You play just like any regular Draft, but instead of grabbing booster packs from the shop you'll be receiving 15 card piles from a pre-selected pool that someone has made.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doubling Cube"></div></div>
<p>For the players it's usually just a regular draft but without as much useless chaff. Most cubes tend to be filled with super powerful and synergistic cards that function well together. There are usually high functioning decks that already exist inside the card pools, waiting for you to pull them out and assemble them.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Black Lotus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Loose Lips"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gobland"></div></div>
<p>But for the cube designer, there exists a deck builder's paradise. Cubes can take any count of cards, from any set ever printed. Whether it's one of the most powerful cards ever printed, a lovable but forgotten piece of tech from an older set, or even silver-bordered or playtest cards from Un-sets and <em>Mystery Boosters</em>.</p>
<h2>Choice Is at the Heart of Cube</h2>
<p>Not too dissimilar from building a Commander deck, when designing a cube the whole world of <em>Magic</em> is at your fingertips. But forget about ban lists, power creep, and local metas. As a cube designer, you aren't just in charge of building your own deck, but instead you build the entire meta.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Riku of Many Paths"></div></div>
<p>Include cards you love and veto cards you hate. Set restrictions to your selection pool like only allowing commons and uncommons or cards that fit under a certain budget. See how good a deck your friends can build when they've only got bad cards to pick from and all the staples are unavailable. Or even just replicate your favorite draft format by making a set or block cube.</p>
<p>This can of course be a collaborative experience as well. A group of friends or local players can all contribute to one cube or, more likely, a few different individuals will build their own cubes that players can rotate between for each game night.</p>
<h2>You Don’t Own <em>Magic</em>, but You Do Own Your Cube</h2>
<p>No matter what happens to the game, your cube will always exist. You could of course say the same about all the cards you own. Any Commander decks or bulk piles sitting around your house will also stand the test of time if you treat them carefully enough. But <em>Magic </em>games need opponents. Tournaments need organizers and prizing.</p>
<p>For players of any official <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> format, there exists a relationship between themselves and <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> that's ultimately unbalanced. Any card you deeply love is always in a state of danger. It's just a banning, rotation, or power creep away from slipping through your hands.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Look at Me, I&#039;m the DCI"></div></div>
<p>Whenever players espouse the benefits of playing a format like Commander, it's always mentioned that you can play with cards from anywhere in <em>Magic's</em> history. It's one of the only formats that's both eternal and casual enough that a card never becomes truly unplayable. If it fits in your deck, you're good to go.</p>
<p>But even Commander is subject to bans. And even casual games are subject to power creep. Ask anyone you know that owns a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeweled Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Jeweled Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<h2>The Players Are in Control</h2>
<p>Cube is a format where you're the judge, jury, and executioner for every card in <em>Magic</em>'s history. If you want a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in your list, then go ahead! Miss <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? You're welcome to have it in your cube.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vivi Ornitier"></div></div>
<p>But maybe you absolutely despise a card that came out in a recent set. Maybe you've been forced to play against more <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivi Ornitier" href="#" target="_blank">Vivi Ornitier</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks on <em>Arena </em>than you can stomach and you'd ban it in a heartbeat if you were in charge of the Standard card pool. Well with your cube, you are. And you can!</p>
<p>But exclusion isn't really the point. Cube is all about what you <em>do</em> include. All your pets cards and synergies from all your favorite memories of <em>Magic</em>. Building around a certain theme or Standard environment. You can even mess with the rules of <em>Magic</em> itself!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Desert"></div></div>
<p>You could play a <a href="https://youtu.be/S1TzcivSUZE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Party Box</a> style cube in which every card in your deck can be played face down as a five color land and mana colors don't matter. Or you could take the complete opposite direction and build a super punishing desert cube in which you can only play lands that you draft.</p>
<p>Sharpie cards to make them broken or finally fix them. Build a cube where there are no creatures or only creatures. Do whatever your heart desires and then play these busted or janky decks on a completely even playing field where all players at the table are playing by the same rules with the same card pool available to them.</p>
<h2>But What About Commander?</h2>
<p>Now I know what you're thinking. This isn't Cube Cobra. This is EDHREC, and this is a Commander website! What if you just want to play Commander?</p>
<p>Well, Commander cubes are not only available, but incredibly popular. Imagine all the coolest staple cards in Commander's history and all the most popular commanders draftable whenever you like, with interesting and peculiar decks not only encouraged but existing by necessity due to the fact that you're in a limited format instead of a constructed one.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chatterfang, Squirrel General"></div></div>
<p>If you have a regular four-player pod that always play similar decks against each other, you're not very far away from combining all of your collective favorite cards from those decks into a draftable environment.</p>
<p>In Commander Cube you'll be building wacky Commander decks on the fly, either by grabbing a legendary creature to focus on right at the start or by hoping you see one that matches your theme in a later pack.</p>
<p>If that sounds a little too stressful, there's ways to ensure every player gets access to a legend that fits each archetype. Or you can even do a sub draft of Commanders before or after your regular draft to separate out the commanders and make it easier to grab one that you need.</p>
<h2>A Healthier Way To Play <em>Magic</em></h2>
<p>The main benefit of Cube as a format for me and the friends I often play with is the way it gives us a healthier way to engage with our favorite game. Every year <em>Magic </em>gets more expensive. More sets release with more must-have cards and more crazy art treatments.</p>
<p>It's a game of excess at times that can leave you reeling after a long stint of being plugged into every <em>Magic </em>news source. Cube has a knack for pulling you out of that cycle that honestly can get a bit exhausting.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Memory Deluge"></div></div>
<p>Your nostalgic memories of Standard rotations or Commander environments of years gone by stop being frustrating examples of a version of the game that doesn't exist anymore, and instead become inspiration points for you to build from.</p>
<p>"I miss when <em>Magic </em>used to look like... feel like... play like this..." turns into, "I'm going to make a cube that looks, feels, and plays like this!"</p>
<h2>A Cheaper Way To Play <em>Magic</em></h2>
<p>Once your cube is built, your cost to engage in the game significantly decreases. Drafting is super fun, but it's very expensive to take part in regularly. To get an equivalent drafting experience to a Commander cube, you and your friends would need to grab three packs of something like <em>Commander Masters</em>, which would be an incredibly expensive game night, believe me.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smothering Tithe"></div></div>
<p>If you're the type to deckbuild a lot, then you know it can start to rack up in price as well if you're always chasing cool new cards. For me, there's less of an obsession over new cardboard once my cube is in a really good place. I don't need to upset the balance of an already well built environment.</p>
<p>Not to mention that cube is a very proxy friendly experience, especially when you're only playing with close friends. There's no need to drop the deposit for a house on a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. A nice looking print out is fine. Or hell, even a basic Mountain scrawled over with a sharpie.</p>
<h2>Where To Start</h2>
<p>If this tickles your fancy, then I promise this article is only scratching the surface of what Cube has to offer. Looking for somewhere to start? I'd recommend asking at your friendly local game store if anyone is drafting a cube any time soon.</p>
<p>If you're looking to assemble your own, there's plenty of resources provided by <a href="https://luckypaper.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lucky Paper Radio</a>. They're predominantly a podcast with hot takes on cube design and introductions to certain cubing concepts, but they also provide articles that help explain the format and help you get started. Not to mention a phenomenal series of pre-built cubes they have listed online that you can try for yourself.</p>
<p>I heartily recommend the <a href="https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/100-ornithopters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100 Ornithopters cube</a>!</p>
<p>You can also check out <a href="https://cubecobra.com/landing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our friends at CubeCobra</a> for excellent Cube content.</p>
<h3>Read More:</h3>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="aEMiTfOGfY"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/do-we-still-need-the-legend-rule-in-magic-the-gathering/">Do We Still Need the Legend Rule In Magic: The Gathering?</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Do We Still Need the Legend Rule In Magic: The Gathering?&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/do-we-still-need-the-legend-rule-in-magic-the-gathering/embed/#?secret=d6lY3cYScG#?secret=aEMiTfOGfY" data-secret="aEMiTfOGfY" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="mvGEMtidxQ"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/can-you-play-an-eggs-deck-in-commander/">Can You Play An Eggs Deck In Commander?</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Can You Play An Eggs Deck In Commander?&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/can-you-play-an-eggs-deck-in-commander/embed/#?secret=ERZke8KTG0#?secret=mvGEMtidxQ" data-secret="mvGEMtidxQ" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2uMRPPSZXj"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/theres-way-too-many-legendary-creatures-in-recent-magic-sets/">There's Way Too Many Legendary Creatures in Recent Magic Sets</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;There&#039;s Way Too Many Legendary Creatures in Recent Magic Sets&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/theres-way-too-many-legendary-creatures-in-recent-magic-sets/embed/#?secret=EoMoJIgVtG#?secret=2uMRPPSZXj" data-secret="2uMRPPSZXj" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


Cube Could Fix Your Relationship With Magic: The Gathering

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doubling Cube" href="#" target="_blank">Doubling Cube</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Illustrated by <a href="http://www.marktedin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Tedin</a></em></p>
<p>Yesterday, we covered <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edge-of-eternities-two-new-commander-formats-announced/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Commander Box League</a>, an event that <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> is spearheading for <em>Edge of Eternities</em>. Many players seem to find some issues with it.</p>
<p>Because it's a sanctioned event format, there's not a lot that players can do to change the policies of this event series. However, with this article, I'd like to introduce a way to augment your next Sealed Box league for Commander play that may revolutionize the way you play it.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>For a few years, I've tried to make the Commander Boxing League work. I started my first foray into it with <em>Zendikar Rising</em>, and that ended rather poorly with no actual games conducted. The idea simply petered out amongst my playgroup.</p>
<p>The next booster Commander Boxing League saw me with a booster box of <em>Bloomburrow</em>. This posed its own set of distinct issues despite games firing with more ease. My playgroup had great commanders but not necessarily the needed tools to make a deck work smoothly.</p>
<p>I mulled this idea over for the better part of a year, and, with <em>Final Fantasy</em>, finally got to enact a means to make a Commander Booster Box League fire on all cylinders for myself and two other eager playtesters.</p>
<p>Enter: The Booster Box Buffer Kit.</p>
<h2>What Is the Booster Box Buffer Kit?</h2>
<p>Simply put, this kit is a 70-strong singleton kit of cards that each player in your Commander Sealed Box event should have ready and open access to that augments one of the most major aspects of any Commander deck: mana smoothing. The kit contains 13 artifacts and 57 lands, in its current iteration.</p>
<p>Furthermore, these cards assist with mana production, fixing, land fetching, and even a little bit of card advantage.</p>
<p>Notably, all of the cards in the Buffer Kit are easy to fit in many single players' given budgets, at about $41 for the full kit. They're all geared towards generic usefulness in Commander and augment your experience for a much smoother game. In turn, this allows you to focus on putting more of your cool cards from your booster box proper into the deck.</p>
<h2>Positives to the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>According to one player who playtested this with me during the <em>Final Fantasy</em> prerelease:</p>
<blockquote><p>The supplemental material is very helpful at helping players feel like they can still play on curve even when their box cards aren’t “ready” to go in an opening hand. Having something to play every turn helps keep games competitive through midgame. The question is in picking the right dual lands or staples. Maybe some decks really want a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="City of Brass" href="#" target="_blank">City of Brass</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-like card instead of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Command Tower" href="#" target="_blank">Command Tower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for instance. It adds a selection mini-game to break up the initial overwhelming excitement for new, unplayed cards.</p></blockquote>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="City of Brass"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Command Tower"></div></div>
<p>As my playtester points out, the potential for mutability from set to set is one positive aspect of this kit. What works in a lands-matter set like <em>Zendikar Rising</em> won't always work for a set like <em>Edge of Eternities</em> or <em>Bloomburrow</em>. As such, cards can be added or removed to shore up any glaring issues with a given set, be they mana fixing, land fetching, or pretty much any other general aspect of the Commander play experience.</p>
<p>Fortunately, my other playtester noted how smoothly the games we played went. Mana fixing was so easy to draw into. Because of this, we all had an easy experience getting to our needed land drops. In turn, this allowed us all to secure mana on time for our more impactful plays to be made in an even measure.</p>
<p>Furthermore, this kind of buffer to a booster box's Sealed pool enables players to more easily use their cards in a manner more befitting the actual rules of Commander. Singleton decks with 100 total cards are much easier to make with this kit. They'll also be able to adhere well to color identity rules as Commander as a format dictates.</p>
<h2>Potential Shortcomings of the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>My other playtester for the Booster Box Buffer Kit praised it highly. That said, they pointed out one possible issue with it. Being a 70-card list, it may be a bit too much for the average player to amass four times over. Shortening the list may be a necessity for some playgroups.</p>
<p>However, my colleague also remarked that doing so may limit options too much. As such, adding or replacing options will almost always feel better than simply removing them.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Azorius Chancery"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tranquil Cove"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thriving Heath"></div></div>
<p>To this end, I can agree with my colleague. If you want to cut some amount of cards from this list, I would advise you cut one to two full cycles of dual lands, such as the Ravnica Karoo cycle (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Azorius Chancery" href="#" target="_blank">Azorius Chancery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and friends) the lifegain duals (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tranquil Cove" href="#" target="_blank">Tranquil Cove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, etc.), or the "Thriving" land cycle (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thriving Heath" href="#" target="_blank">Thriving Heath</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, etc.).</p>
<p>This in turn will cut down on some options while keeping similar options open, if you cut no more than two of these aforementioned cycles. Remember, your playgroup will want equal treatment here so you'll want three or four of each card in the Kit as you see fit to add them.</p>
<h2>Buffer Kit List</h2>
<p>This list focuses on my personal iteration of the Buffer Kit. Feel free to make your own additions and subtractions from it to enhance your experience.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Booster Box Buffer Kit" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Lands]
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Azorius Chancery
*1 Bloodfell Caves
*1 Blossoming Sands
*1 Boros Garrison
*1 Bountiful Landscape
*1 Command Tower
*1 Contaminated Landscape
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Deceptive Landscape
*1 Dimir Aqueduct
*1 Dismal Backwater
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Foreboding Landscape
*1 Frontier Bivouac
*1 Golgari Rot Farm
*1 Gruul Turf
*1 Izzet Boilerworks
*1 Jungle Hollow
*1 Jungle Shrine
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Mystic Monastery
*1 Nomad Outpost
*1 Opal Palace
*1 Opulent Palace
*1 Orzhov Basilica
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Perilous Landscape
*1 Rakdos Carnarium
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rugged Highlands
*1 Rupture Spire
*1 Sandsteppe Citadel
*1 Savage Lands
*1 Scoured Barrens
*1 Seaside Citadel
*1 Seething Landscape
*1 Selesnya Sanctuary
*1 Shattered Landscape
*1 Sheltering Landscape
*1 Shimmering Grotto
*1 Simic Growth Chamber
*1 Swiftwater Cliffs
*1 Temple of the False God
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Thornwood Falls
*1 Thriving Bluff
*1 Thriving Grove
*1 Thriving Heath
*1 Thriving Isle
*1 Thriving Moor
*1 Tranquil Cove
*1 Tranquil Landscape
*1 Twisted Landscape
*1 Wind-Scarred Crag
[/Lands]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Chromatic Star
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Prismatic Lens
*1 Prophetic Prism
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
*1 World Map
[/Artifacts]"></span></div>
<h2>The Future of the Buffer Kit</h2>
<p>I'm sure I'll make adjustments to the experience. As sets come out and their themes are made more apparent, I may remove certain cards from the Kit list. Even so, I'll work to retain a majority of the core of this experience. Feel free to try this out at your next Sealed Commander Booster Box event!</p>
<p>And now, I'd really like to hear from the readership of this article. Do you think this idea will make Sealed Commander Box Leagues better for players? What do you think about the possibility of using this kit in the future? Finally, does it appeal to you more than the previously-announced Commander Box League, for example? Sound off below!</p>


cube

Cube Could Fix Your Relationship With Magic: The Gathering

Adding Buffers to a Commander Booster Box League

Using EDHREC to Build a Commander Cube

Turning Data to Decks - Creating an EDH Cube