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Well, I finally actually got 6 kids together to try and cube. It was honestly a gongshow because we didn't get #6 over until late so we only had maybe 2-3 hours to do it. The draft itself was a blast though. Pack one for me was kinda mediocre so I decided to commit to two colours right away and grab Lightning Helix. I just grabbed every single Boros 1/2 drop that came my way and P2P1 I lucksacked into a pack with Jitte. Ended up with a pretty monster aggro deck and smashed the two games I was able to play. So basically, yeah I'm hooked and no regrets about the couple $ I sunk into the cube in addition to all the cards already in my collection.
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Aug 4, 2013 14:45
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I forgot I had Meekstone in my cube, and the brand new player drafts it alongside Azorious Guildmage, Diabolic tutor, a bunch of Keyrunes and Travel Preparations.  I feel obligated to keep the power level as high as possible, but drat some cards sure are unfun.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:04
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boba fetacheese posted:Well, I finally actually got 6 kids together to try and cube. It was honestly a gongshow because we didn't get #6 over until late so we only had maybe 2-3 hours to do it. The draft itself was a blast though. Pack one for me was kinda mediocre so I decided to commit to two colours right away and grab Lightning Helix. I just grabbed every single Boros 1/2 drop that came my way and P2P1 I lucksacked into a pack with Jitte. Ended up with a pretty monster aggro deck and smashed the two games I was able to play. Boros aggro is one of the most commonly drafted decks in my cube.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:08
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WhiteWolf123 posted:Boros aggro is one of the most commonly drafted decks in my cube. Yeah, I've told everyone multiple times that aggro is A Thing but I suspect it will take a couple drafts before that sinks in. Of course though on the other end of the scale one of my buddies lived the dream and multiple times managed to Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus. I think that my playgroup is going to be firmly 6+players? Cube, otherwise EDH from now on. And that's a good thing. Although I still have enough packs for 2 more DGR drafts. Oh well cube is a lot more fun!
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Aug 4, 2013 15:47
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boba fetacheese posted:Yeah, I've told everyone multiple times that aggro is A Thing but I suspect it will take a couple drafts before that sinks in. This was what I found as well. Players that are stuck in the mindset of "this is cube, so I'll always be able to hardcast my fatties off land mana alone" were in for a rude awakening when 1/3 of the decks at the table run them over way before that can happen. Aggro is powerful, and important for keeping control in check in the cube, and players now respect (and expect) aggro to be competitive in each and every draft. It really changes the dynamic of the cube, and makes the environment much healthier when aggro goes from being a fringe deck with the possibility of being drafted to a powerhouse that is expected to win drafts. Not supporting aggro adequately is probably the most common pitfall that fledgling cube lists struggle with. That, and having too much multicolor and/or not enough fixing lands.
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Aug 5, 2013 18:32
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Has anyone here thought of a Ravnica/Return Cube? My initial inclination is focus on the guilds mostly, cutting the Planeswalkers and goofy unguilded limited bombs like Pack Rat.
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Aug 5, 2013 19:26
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Here's a Ravnica cube you could use as a base to work from if you're interested: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=461959
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Aug 5, 2013 19:30
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I don't know about designing Ravnica cubes or whatever, but I now have an urge to add googly eyes to every single card I could reasonable put them in in every deck that I have.
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Aug 5, 2013 20:16
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WhiteWolf123 posted:This was what I found as well. Players that are stuck in the mindset of "this is cube, so I'll always be able to hardcast my fatties off land mana alone" were in for a rude awakening when 1/3 of the decks at the table run them over way before that can happen. Aggro is powerful, and important for keeping control in check in the cube, and players now respect (and expect) aggro to be competitive in each and every draft. It really changes the dynamic of the cube, and makes the environment much healthier when aggro goes from being a fringe deck with the possibility of being drafted to a powerhouse that is expected to win drafts. I am 100% guilty of too many gold cards. But we'll see after a couple drafts what the impact is or if I'm going to have to make some painful cuts.
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Aug 5, 2013 20:56
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It's so hard, because gold cards are just so COOL and there's so many good ones! Ravnica and Alara gave us so much gold, but a cube with lots of gold is a cube that's hard to work with. It's a serious problem, I am thinking of taking out all tri-colored gold cards in my own cube, just as a rule.
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Aug 5, 2013 23:01
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boba fetacheese posted:I am 100% guilty of too many gold cards. But we'll see after a couple drafts what the impact is or if I'm going to have to make some painful cuts. Some of the cuts can be hard, because there's a few guilds that are really stacked deep. But even in those cases, having a few good gold cards riding the boards is better than clogging up drafts with cards that go late. gnome7 posted:It's so hard, because gold cards are just so COOL and there's so many good ones! Ravnica and Alara gave us so much gold, but a cube with lots of gold is a cube that's hard to work with. I don't cube any 3-color gold cards (except Nacatl). So I think that's a good plan. There are a lot of really cool and flavorful gold cards, but for the most part, they're easy to exclude because of the limited range of decks they can be played in.
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Aug 6, 2013 13:26
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WhiteWolf123 posted:I don't cube any 3-color gold cards (except Nacatl). So I think that's a good plan. Always Nico Bolas, Planeswalker! One day I'll pull this off: http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/11834 In our inaugural draft one of my buddies actually did a GU ramp+tinker deck and managed to every game either manage to tinker our or just hard cast Blightsteel.
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Aug 7, 2013 01:03
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I tried running 3-color cards but all it did was clog up the 15th picks. Anywho, I'm adding the filterlands because I love having heavy manafixing in my cube.
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Aug 7, 2013 02:14
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I agree about 3-color cards clogging up drafts. Nicol Bolas was a fun achievement to unlock while he was in there, but it was easily the least used card in the cube. An easy cut. Filter lands are solid budget choices if you don't have the more expensive fixers available. But I'm not a fan of how they play out in most decks, because they can't split mana between turns and phases or tap for colored mana on turn one. Meaning that neither my aggressive decks or my reactive decks really want them.
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Aug 7, 2013 14:02
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I am editing my cube and coming to the conclusion I am going to need to proxy some Aggro cards. What are good aggro staples in white? It would also be nice to know Red or Green as well but my cube's White could use some aggro boosting the most.
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Aug 12, 2013 22:34
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2-power 1-drops (Isamaru, Student, Lynx, etc), disruptive and/or evasive 2-drops (Thalia, Sovereign, Soltaris, etc), and closing spells (Armageddon/Ravages, Elspeth, etc).
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Aug 12, 2013 22:37
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My girlfriend got me 600 cards off of some website (she won't tell me which one) for my birthday. The description says no basic lands, cards from Dark Ascension to Beta (which is excellent because I started playing during Avacyn Restored), and cards from all rarities, with a "large amount" of mythics. It also says there's some duplicates, but no more than 4 of any one card, which makes me think it's some dudes personal collection that probably has some neat playsets. What are the chances I'll be able to make a cube out of it? I also have maybe 500ish cards I've bought from late-Innistrad through M14, and a few boxes of old cards (i think just from homelands, the dark, ice age, and mirage) from when my dad used to play, if that helps.
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Aug 13, 2013 07:45
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dangerburrd posted:My girlfriend got me 600 cards off of some website (she won't tell me which one) for my birthday. The description says no basic lands, cards from Dark Ascension to Beta (which is excellent because I started playing during Avacyn Restored), and cards from all rarities, with a "large amount" of mythics. It also says there's some duplicates, but no more than 4 of any one card, which makes me think it's some dudes personal collection that probably has some neat playsets. What are the chances I'll be able to make a cube out of it? I also have maybe 500ish cards I've bought from late-Innistrad through M14, and a few boxes of old cards (i think just from homelands, the dark, ice age, and mirage) from when my dad used to play, if that helps. You can make a cube from almost anything. You can use what you get there as a starting point and grow it over time, or just stick with that. A cube is just a pre-made selection of cards (typically singleton) which you draft. The only thing I consider reasonably necessary for a cube is no absolutely unplayable cards (for example I cut Uncovered Clues from my Return to Ravnica block peasant cube, since that is useless in draft). Wazzu fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Aug 13, 2013 |
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Aug 13, 2013 09:49
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WhiteWolf123 posted:I agree about 3-color cards clogging up drafts. Nicol Bolas was a fun achievement to unlock while he was in there, but it was easily the least used card in the cube. An easy cut. If you have to add Bouncelands or Filterlands what do you do? I lean towards Filter but I can be convinced.
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Aug 13, 2013 19:30
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I believe what WhiteWolf will say is that you should try to give each color pair the lands it wants the most instead of forcing complete cycles. You can build really good cube manabases for pretty cheap these days. The loss of ABU duals and fetchlands obviously hurts, but giving each guild the best combination of pain, fast, buddy, bounce, and filterlands should leave you pretty comfortable. Every guild can use shocklands and they're as cheap as they're likely ever going to get, so that'd be a great place to spend your cash if you want to improve your mana base.
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Aug 13, 2013 19:41
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weekly font posted:If you have to add Bouncelands or Filterlands what do you do? I lean towards Filter but I can be convinced. Like whydirt said, I'd build my own cycles. Painlands/Fastlands for aggro, Checklands/Filterlands for midrange, Bouncelands for control.
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Aug 13, 2013 20:41
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To go back to aggro-chat, one thing that I think often gets overlooked is that aggro decks usually need a few more playable creatures and spells than their midrange and control counterparts since they often curve out lower and can often get away with 14-15 lands compared to the 16-18 for slower decks. Additionally, slower decks are more able and likely to splash extra colors and thus have access to a larger pool to draft from. Basically I think that you should almost always err on the side of using aggressive cards.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:53
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This guy seems pretty solid for the cube: Green isn't super deep on 4cc creatures, and this guy can swing as an 8/8 on T5 after casting an Arc Lightning on your opponent's board.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:57
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WhiteWolf123 posted:This guy seems pretty solid for the cube: It's certainly a beater. The four drop slot for Green is pretty tight in my cube though iirc (granted my list isn't next to me). Also, if you guys want a good laugh or maybe want to stab your eyes out, check out MTGSalvation's Cube Forum thread about running an extra set of fetchlands. I've never seen a group of people be so willfully obtuse on the internet and that is saying a whole hell of a lot. weekly font fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Aug 16, 2013 |
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Aug 16, 2013 17:26
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WhiteWolf123 posted:This guy seems pretty solid for the cube: Well here's hoping this is the actual creature, especially with the artist name being "Mockup"
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Aug 16, 2013 18:01
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Ya, I'm hoping it's real too. Rumor has it (now, it has changed again just this morning) that the cost is XXG, and that the damage is divided. If that's the case, it hurts it in a big way. WhiteWolf123 fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Aug 16, 2013 |
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Aug 16, 2013 18:53
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Ya, so sorry for the double post, but the wording on that hydra is confirmed to be XXG instead of XGG, so it got a lot worse.
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Aug 19, 2013 13:36
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Sorry if this has been asked before but, I am putting together my first cube, and was just wondering what sleeves I should order and from where if they are being shipped to Canada. Also where should I go to buy bulk foil lands?
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Aug 20, 2013 09:00
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Your local card shop probably sells dragon shields, those are what you're going to want for your cube since they'll be played quite often and shuffled by a variety of people. For bulk foils I'd just do scg, looks like they sell for a dollar apiece which isn't too bad. I wouldn't pimp the mana base for your first cube though, rather spend that money on the cube itself. Just my two cents
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Aug 20, 2013 10:26
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TheAbortionator posted:Sorry if this has been asked before but, I am putting together my first cube, and was just wondering what sleeves I should order and from where if they are being shipped to Canada. If Potomac Distribution ships to Canada, their prices are unbeatable. I'd get a case of KMC perfect fits and a case of KMC matte sleeves and double-sleeve the cube. Seriously, I've been using that company for all my sleeves on all my cubes over the years, and the prices are super low. Edit: For real, you can get a case (800 sleeves) in matte black for $54. And you can get a case (1000 sleeves) of perfect fits for an additional $33. If you only want to single-sleeve the cube, you can get a case (1000 shields) of Dragon Shields for $68. WhiteWolf123 fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Aug 20, 2013 |
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Aug 20, 2013 14:12
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I went with a cheap option a while back and bought a bunch of clear Ultra Pro Deck Protectors off Ebay. Cost $25 per 500.
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Aug 20, 2013 14:18
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Zero_Grade posted:I went with a cheap option a while back and bought a bunch of clear Ultra Pro Deck Protectors off Ebay. Cost $25 per 500. Ultra Pros break like nobody's business though. Personally I love KMC's and then Dragon Shields.
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Aug 20, 2013 15:01
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WhiteWolf123 posted:If Potomac Distribution ships to Canada, their prices are unbeatable. I'd get a case of KMC perfect fits and a case of KMC matte sleeves and double-sleeve the cube. Seriously, I've been using that company for all my sleeves on all my cubes over the years, and the prices are super low. So this, http://www.potomacdist.com/detail.asp?itemid=kmcpssb and this http://www.potomacdist.com/detail.asp?itemid=kmcspidpb Will fit together so I can double sleeve?
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Aug 20, 2013 16:06
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TheAbortionator posted:So this, http://www.potomacdist.com/detail.asp?itemid=kmcpssb Correct. I prefer the KMC Matte sleeves, as they shuffle a bit more easily. Also, I've got a few double-faced cards in my cube, so I can't run light colored sleeves like that. Although there are some new KMC Hyper Matte sleeves, has anyone tried those out yet? I'm tempted to resleeve the cube early to give them a shot.
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Aug 20, 2013 16:54
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Oh man a double sleeved cube would be huge though. I guess it depends what kind of cards are in it and how paranoid you are.
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Aug 20, 2013 17:37
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KasaiAisu posted:Oh man a double sleeved cube would be huge though. I guess it depends what kind of cards are in it and how paranoid you are. I've got a 540 card cube (+200 lands, and tokens) and it all fit in a holiday box with some extra space before, but that thing can really pack the cards in. Unfortunately, the top started falling apart a few months into using that, so I've gone back to a wooden wine box to hold it, but I need to ultimately get something sturdier. My cube is also foiled out at this point, so the paranoia more than offsets the size inconvenience.
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Aug 20, 2013 17:58
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Tonde Mo Nai posted:Correct. I prefer the KMC Matte sleeves, as they shuffle a bit more easily. Also, I've got a few double-faced cards in my cube, so I can't run light colored sleeves like that. Alrighty, thank you. The shipping on this is gonna be 45 dollars, I've been looking around and it seems its still cheaper then buying anywhere else. So unless someone can tell me a better place to order from that ships to canada, I'm gonna do this.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:01
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TheAbortionator posted:The shipping on this is gonna be 45 dollars, I've been looking around and it seems its still cheaper then buying anywhere else. So unless someone can tell me a better place to order from that ships to canada, I'm gonna do this. It might not make a difference in the end, but it's probably worth a look.
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Aug 20, 2013 19:22
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Tonde Mo Nai posted:Correct. I prefer the KMC Matte sleeves, as they shuffle a bit more easily. Also, I've got a few double-faced cards in my cube, so I can't run light colored sleeves like that. A judge at my store picked some up at SCG Baltimore over the weekend, he's a big fan of them and was randomly telling people how much more he liked them over the regular KMC mattes. I fooled around with them for a little bit, they seem sturdy like regular KMC mattes but have a more textured feel on the back, very similar to the ultrapro pro mattes, maybe a little bit more textured than those. They shuffled very smoothly, overall pretty nice.
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Aug 28, 2013 14:12
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Nice, a cube thread  , easily 95% of my M:TG effort, please excuse this GIANT POST, since I'm JUST SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT CUBE--------------- My list is up over at cubetutor: http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/161 with a whole lot of sample draft decks: http://www.cubetutor.com/decks/161 and I've done most of my cube posting over at riptidelab.com including my cube's primer and full explanation of what I'm going for if you like that sort of thing: http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/robs-unpowered-cube-with-primer.222/ the extremely high-level description is that it's a 525 unpowered list that breaks singleton where appropriate to improve the draft/play experience. (bolded since a brief skim of the thread shows that I'm alone right now, I'd be happy to talk about it if anyone is interested) Just had a 10 man draft at my place in Reston, Virginia that went really well and gave me a lot of confidence that the list is playing out the way I hoped. Any northern Virginia or closeby folks would be welcome when we run it back. --------------- I'm also a software dev and have two cube-related projects I've been working on: "lambic" http://rdennis463.github.io/lambic/ https://github.com/rdennis463/lambic/wiki/Mockups http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/how-do-you-want-to-enter-a-cube-list-into-a-computer.97/ I feel like we can be doing better (than some bare textarea on something like tappedout or "add one at a time to some giant unsorted list" like cube tutor) for deck/cube editing and I've gotten to the point where I'm already more comfortable using lambic than a lot of other options. "cuesbey" This one is "done" but could be overhauled with all the lessons-learned from lambic http://cuesbey.com/ <- compare two lists graphically by copy+pasting a list on the left or right and hitting "diff". for example: here's my big overhaul from a singleton ~425 list to "current": http://cuesbey.com/#/118c3e67-f3e0-423e-93e9-dad0aac4ebd8 (green is added in the new cube, red was removed, and blue cards are in both) http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/cuesbey-com-purpose-built-site-for-cube-comparison.28/ --------------- I do a lot of two-man grid drafts and I definitely recommend it over winchester and winston. But if you're find that it's not quite as an interesting draft experience I highly recommend banning colors before the draft: Randomly ban 2 of the 5 colors as you're laying out, skip over: - a mono-colored card in a banned color - a gold card in with at least one banned color - a hybrid card that's both the banned colors - a dual-color mana (e.g. not 5 color fixing) that produces either of the banned colors - a fetch-land that can't fetch a land producing an unbanned color lay out everything else as normal. First time, G and B were banned and we ended up with UWR control versus a "Big Boros" deck with a lot of interactive play to it Second time, R and B were banned and we ended up with UGw pod against mono-White control (sweepers, point removal, ramp, strong 5 drops and elesh norn/angel of serenity) I've been very happy with how it's changed the draft portion away from people settling into "their" two colors, the 5 color wastes space, and people's decks just play the best stuff that was turned over in their respective colors. The fixing here ends up being a bit different in that there's a lot more unbanned fetches relative to fetchable dual lands, but all the decks ended up with enough fixing to make it interesting. Also, since we got really solid 2 color decks, there's less of a need to get fixing just to play enough good cards. A+++ would not grid draft another way Lurchington fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Sep 4, 2013 |
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