There exists many a ritual that surround the release of a new Magic set. The first spoilers unleashes a torrent of speculation, and as the number of cards known snowballs, there is the inevitable disappointment of people wondering, “Why is that one so expensive?” Standard grinders work to figure out what will top next week’s Grand Prix, while Modern and Legacy aficionados look for the most broken things possible. Speculators load up on investments, whereas Vorthos is able to savor new flavors. Cube curators, however, practice sacrificial rites.

Rather, I want to talk about the text on the cards. Keyword, abilities, and mechanics are often used as touchstones for discussing a new set and are designed for a specific Limited format (with some Constructed applications, of course). Cube, while a Limited format, pulls from multiple sources in the form of sets. Therefore, problems can arise when a new card looks like a sweet addition to a Cube—but in fact it requires a specific Limited format to shine. In some ways, this influences the reason some Cubes have so many similar cards—the iterative process has yielded a refined list. Pauper Cubes have more flexibility in this way since the power level of commons is relatively low. The catch is that these cards are crafted with Limited play in mind, so at times, they are the distilled zeitgeist of a Limited format. This boils down to a key question: What is the threshold for including a new mechanic in a Cube?

I am going to be using my Cube as a point of reference since it is my playground for testing out these ideas. There have been times when I was very aggressive with adding new mechanics en masse. After Rise of the Eldrazi and Avacyn Restored, I found a rather large number of creatures with level up and soulbond had found their way into the sleeves. At the time, my Cube was trending toward creature combat, and cards featuring these keywords often helped to improve the battle-relevant statistics of the troops. These creatures were longtime staples of my personal Draft environment because of their potential growth, but also because they provided an effective outlet for mana. This is something I look for in new mechanics. The ability to maximize the use of mana is one attractive attribute. Level up is one such mechanic, and bestow is another example. More recently, morph has also taken up this banner.

So let’s look at an instance when I may have been wrong. In the Fate Reforged two-pronged Pauper Cube review, Adam and I dissented on prowess. Adam was willing to give it a shot, while I declined. My stance was, “Prowess needs a critical mass of cards with the ability to function optimally.” Upon review, I realize that this did not hold up. Prowess is actually a mechanic that simply rewards you for playing games of Magic. While some of the cards are below the curve without serious support, the mass exclusion of these creatures was casting too wide a net. I was thinking about prowess as it operates in Khans of Tarkir Limited and not in the greater context of simply applying pressure. What is the net result of this? Jeskai Sage is on the short list for a mid-season promotion, probably at the expense of Alchemist's Apprentice.

So, how do new mechanics make their ways into Cubes? It is all about the existing environment. When putting a new card under the lens, you have to ask three very important questions:

1. What is the worst-case scenario with this card?
2. What is the average case?
3. What is a trip to Magical Christmas Land going to look like?

The closer together the first two answers are, the more likely I will be to completely ignore a mechanic. I try to keep a mental catalog of interactions in case new cards make old ones relevant again. It is the advent of Abzan lords like Longshot Squad and Ainok Bond-Kin that are making me reconsider Travel Preparations since those all work in concert.

I have formed a method for testing new cards before pushing an update live. What I like to do is to pull a suite of cards that should work well together and then a take a chunk of cards to bring the total to eighty-four. From there, I build three different decks. Now, sometimes, the support simply won’t be there for the cards I want to include, so it may take a few tries. The Sealed process helps to inform me about whether new cards are actually good enough to make decks. What I may do from now on, however, is run the cards through the first phase of Sealed Draft.

Sealed Draft is a format that debuted to the masses at the Super Sunday Series. The concept is simple: Take three packs of a set, and open them. Review their contents, and examine strengths and weaknesses. Once this review is done, take three different packs, and draft those as normal. It is from this Sealed-plus-Draft pool that a forty-card deck is constructed. The result is a Draft that is slightly more guided than normal, and the resulting deck is potentially more powerful since it comes from a seemingly solid foundation. This format excites me for Cube because it allows more cards to be in play at any given time.

Because I do not want to grow my Cube to accommodate this new format, I am going to run my first few Sealed Drafts with a thirty-card Sealed portion. Thirty cards should provide a solid enough base while still allowing for some flexibility in the Draft.

Let’s look at a potential Sealed pool to see its potential paths:

Sealed Pool ? Cube Sealed Draft | Alex Ullman

• White (9)
• 1 Akrasan Squire
• 1 Aven Liberator
• 1 Benevolent Bodyguard
• 1 Burrenton Bombardier
• 1 Kitsune Blademaster
• 1 Lone Missionary
• 1 Raise the Alarm
• 1 Razor Golem
• 1 Sandsteppe Outcast

• Blue (4)
• 1 Fathom Seer
• 1 Repeal
• 1 Voyage's End
• 1 Whisk Away

• Black (2)
• 1 Baleful Eidolon
• 1 Chittering Rats

• Red (4)
• 1 Fervent Cathar
• 1 Incinerate
• 1 Keldon Halberdier
• 1 Rouse the Mob

• Green (6)
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Giant Dustwasp
• 1 Hooting Mandrills
• 1 Nantuko Vigilante
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Symbiosis

• Gold (3)
• 1 Agony Warp
• 1 Harsh Sustenance
• 1 Soul Manipulation

• Land (2)
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Azorius Guildgate

Buy This Deck

A few things stand out to me about this pack of cards. First is that if we go white, we are going to have a very solid aggressive creature base. The cards present also allow white to play up its dominate-combat aspect through Kitsune Blademaster, Aven Liberator, and Burrenton Bombardier or its going-wide facet with Sandsteppe Outcast and Raise the Alarm.

Going wide gives two options: black and red. Black has fewer creatures, but Harsh Sustenance has the ability to end games without attacking. Red, however, has a premium removal spell in Incinerate and a team-boost effect in Rouse the Mob. This route is far more pack-dependant, as it is going to be based heavily on what is opened and which color can best support a token offense.

Finally, there is green. Green has two solid fixers and some serious threats in Giant Dustwasp and Hooting Mandrills. With an Incinerate already in the pool, the idea of going base-green-splash-multiple-colors is enticing. It is definitely possible to go Selesnya with this pool, but I think that does a poor job of maximizing the strengths of green and white.

How would you be looking to draft with this seeded Sealed? Are you excited to try Sealed Draft with your Cube?

A Few More Parting Thoughts about My Cube

• I may be replacing Rebuke with Sandblast. Sandblast can hit blocking creatures as well, and it is going to kill almost everything anyway at the same cost.
• I am torn regarding adding one card of each color and one of each gold pair to help with Sealed Draft numbers.
• I want to include manifest, but I feel that it is just downside. Has anyone out there included manifest cards in their Cubes to positive results?

Until next time, see you at the Draft tables.