pie chart

Aidan's Essentials Cube

Limited*

Skoodly

Have (234)

Need (100)


Maybeboard

Other (79)


Intro

This is a cube I designed based on the style of the mtgo vintage cube, with some of my own themes and favorite cards. The cube has a heavy focus on color pairs; each pair is strongly linked to a draft archetype, and an equal amount of monocolor and multicolor cards appear

The size of the cube is static, at 360 cards it is perfectly divisible into 24 groups of 15 cards for an 8 player draft

The cube has 46 lands, composed of 5 Zendikar fetches, 5 allied shocks, 5 enemy pain lands, 5 odyssey filter lands, all 10 dual color manlands, ten lands loosely associated with the ten archetypes, UBRG cycling lands and Karakas, and a Strip Mine

Of the 24 artifacts, 10 are guild signets, and 10 fit loosely with the draft archetypes, leaving Sol Ring, Solemn, Relic of Progenitus and Sword of Fire and Ice

For each mono color, there are 6 cards for each of its 4 color pairings' themes, and 10 that don't fit any particular theme, totaling 34 per color

Within the 12 cards in each color pair, 7 are reserved specifically for that pair's theme and 5 are chosen by personal preference, 4 of that color and one 3-color card, adding one card of each wedge and shard to the cube

The rules aren't rigid (Thraben Inspector is counted towards the boros archetype and Omnath, Locus of Creation was my Temur card of choice), but they form the design philosophy behind the cube

Archetypes: There are 10 draft archetypes that each have a color built around them, although the archetypes aren't always strongly linked to a specific theme or ability. The mono-colored cards work to link archetypes together, often synergizing with multiple themes per card. Below are the archetypes that have direct support from each color pair

Archetype: Control

This theme is characterized by its permission and removal options, as well as slow, powerful win conditions

Archetype: Taxes

Tax decks focus on sneaking in low cost creatures early, then maintaining their advantage with removal, hand attack, and cost increasing effects

Archetype: Aggro

In this cube, the Aggro archetype seeks to put cheap creatures on the board, then pump them up with buff spells and equipment to take a quick win

Archetype: Tokens

Token decks look to put as many creatures into play as possible, then boost all of them and flatten the opponent

Archetype: Reanimator

The classic combo strategy, the main goal is to put something large in the graveyard and reanimate it at a discount

Archetype: Prowess

Prowess plays creatures that reward you for casting spells, and spells to create attack opportunities for those creatures

Archetype: Landfall

This archetype's cards are all about putting lands into play and generating value from those lands coming down

Archetype: Discard

The goal here is to empty hands, either yours or your opponent's, then generate value from discard triggers and cards that can be used again from the 'yard

Archetype: Graveyard

Graveyard is a less focused theme than the others; the goal is to put as much as possible into the discard pile, and see what can be brought back

Theme: Punishment

The most unique theme in the cube, these cards make players (sometimes just your opponents) pay for taking certain actions, either by damage or by giving you value

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Hopefully this cube is an enjoyable experience to draft. I'm open to any replacement suggestions if it seems like another card might fill some card's role better in the cube. Planning to build this in paper with a small number of cards to rotate in and out to keep it fresh

Suggestions

Updates Add

Comments