Goal: To create a cube that's approachable and easy to draft a good deck, and minimize "groan test" cards like Griselbrand, Baneslayer Angel or Consecrated Sphinx. A big focus is placed on synergy for clear-cut archetypes that allow smart drafters to get an edge, while also having enough anchor cards to allow any deck to excel.
As a personal challenge, I like for there to be enough cross-pollination that each non-anchor card fits well into at least 2 archetypes.
I would like to proxy this entire cube and use specially-designed borders/set symbols to help drafters identify signposts, anchors, and archetypes to ease the drafting experience for newer players, without robbing more skilled players the opportunity to dig deep and draft clever combos.
Each color pair will have a primary identity, and at least one subtheme that cross-polinates with another pair's identity.
WU(bg) --- Flying
Watcher of the Spheres
.
WB(ug) --- Tokens
Call to the Feast
.
WG(ru) --- Enchantments Matter
Satyr Enchanter
.
WR(gb) --- Cycling
Savai Thundermane
//TODO: find more cycling support across all colors, and probably include Astral Slide and Lightning Rift
.
UB(wr) --- Artifacts
Contraband Kingpin
.
UR(bw) --- Spells Matter
Enigma Drake
.
UG(rw) --- +1/+1 Counters Matter
Zameck Guildmage
.
BR(wg) --- Aristocrats
Mayhem Devil
.
BG(ur) --- Reanimation
Acolyte of Affliction
.
GR(ub) --- Valuetown/4 power matters
Leafkin Avenger
Color identity --- Archetype --- Theatre --- Signposts
- WU --- Flying (anthems/voltron subthemes)
- WB --- Tokens (sacrifice/recursion subthemes)
- WG --- Enchantments Matter ([[Satyr Enchanter]])
- WR --- Cycling ([[Savai Thundermane]])
- UB --- Artifacts
- UR --- Spells Matter
- UG --- +1/+1 counters matter ([[Shapers of Nature]])
- BR --- Aristocrats ([[Mayhem Devil]])
- BG --- Reanimation
- GR --- Value/4 power matters
Playing with the idea of having a subtheme in some color of revealing cards for alternate costs. Current options like that are cards with Explore, cards with Amplify, Land Grant, Coldsnap's Martyr cycle, Urza's Destiny's Scents & Seers cycles, Liar's Pendulum (maybe do a gambling subtheme??), Shadows Over Innistrad's Shadow Lands cycle, Lorwyn's tribal reveal land cycle, Lorwyn's Revealers cycle, cards with Forecast, cards with Clash, etc.
(o:"reveal" o:"from your hand") OR (o:"Forecast") OR (o:"Clash") OR (-o:"Look at the top" -o:"from the top of your library" o:"you may reveal")
Archetypes I like:
Enchantments Matter
Exalted
*** Aristocrats (BR?)
*** Tokens
Fires of Yavimaya
Blink
*** Zombies
Lands matter?
Evolution (Eldritch Evolution Altar of Bone Birthing Pod Neoform Prime Speaker Vannifar Natural Order)
*** spells matter
