What Size Should YOUR Cube Be? MTG Cube Building Tips
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- What size should my mtg cube be? This is a question I've head a lot since starting the channel. With so many different drafting types and sealed options, Magic: the Gathering cube sizes can differ massively! So in this video we talk about how you can decide how big you want to make your cube and why your playgroup and gameplay choices help to make this decision.
Steps to play a Sight Draft
• Each player gets 5 packs of 18 random cube cards each.
• Open the first cube pack.
• Pick 1 card from the pack to add to your pool.
• Then "Burn" 1 card from the pack (remove them from the draft pool completely).
• Pass the pack to the next drafter at the table.
• Repeat the process until you've picked 9 cards and "burned" 9 cards from the pack.
• Complete the same process for each pack in the draft, alternating the direction the pack is passed.
• Each player should have a pool of 45 cards to build from, just like a traditional booster draft.
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I always learn new things for my cube with ur videos. Thank u! My cube have 540 now. It started at 360 for a draft for 8 players. But it started increasing in number beacause the number of friends coming to play in my house. While more people keeps coming ill make my cube bigger.
Awesome stuff - really good to hear you have an expanding playgroup too! What power level of cube do you have?
I decided to build a cube when I heard about those resealable boosters on Kickstater. Since I ordered 50 of the things, I decided to build something that would have the same amount of cards as a regular booster. Long story short, my cube ended up being 800 cards.
I still haven't really played with it, but this video gave me a lot of options.
Awesome. Best of luck with the cube build and glad this video could help you out.
Hey! You're back! Now is a time for you to be back! We needed your positivity in this negative week in the MTG community! It's like a breath of fresh air!
Thanks! I'm cutting back to 1 video a week and maybe the odd surprise one here and there, but content will be continuing. As for this week, I almost left and stopped the game because of it. The drama continues to roll on and on, but I'm just taking myself off social media except to respond to interactions and promote videos. Seems safer that way. I didn't want my community to suffer for what's going on in the greater community, as everyone that I've spoken to and my viewers have been nothing but welcoming since day one.
Life Begins At 20 I'm glad to hear you didn't leave. Because I was about to message you this week, to beg you for a video, because your content is a good distraction and positive vibes. To be honest, My world of Magic changed this week because of the events that unfolded. My brain struggling with the thoughts of people leaving the game because of other people's mis-treatment really gets under my skin. I know you have been handling your own demons, and I applaud your streangth and efforts to do what you do.
I'm glad my videos have been helping and thank you for the thoughts. As for your world of magic changing I can totally understand that. I'm very disappointed with what has been going on and to be honest, without going on twitter I'd probably have missed most of it. That's why I've really cut back on who I follow. Not because I don't want to talk to them, but more not to see. When it's all died down I may well end up re-following a lot of people again, but the amount of issues and drama that seems to come with this game is more than I ever imagined.. I guess that's that problem with social media is anyone can say anything (to a point). At the end of the day, everyone should be treated the same as everyone else, no special groups or privileges or anything else, just as one human being to another human being. Treat people the way you want to be treated and everything will be fine. I hope that you can continue to enjoy the game with your friends and family, but we do have to remember it is just a game.
that happen when people notice people who doesn't deserve to be.
Life Begins At 20 The reality is that there is not a lot of quality MTG channels I follow. So when when Two of the channels I did follow, got mixed up in this stuff. Several to all channels I do watch talk about the same stuff to no resolve, it changes a person's perspective of that channel. My issue with my own channel is me trying to produce new content with out repeating myself several times. So I have stopped for a bit myself, waiting for a good solid idea and motivation. The news coming out this last week and so on, would of been an easy jump on. In the end I want non drama content, and I will improve on that eventually. You have what seems like fresh eye's to this media and We all who watch your content appreciate your style, your take and charisma on the game while working your magic. So in a long winded way... Thank you for what you do! Nudge-nudge, take a bow! You deserve it.
I have a 360 Theros Block Cube. I wouldn't recommend going higher than this for a theme type cube as the card quality gets poor. I'm building a 360 Frontier cube, currently focusing enemy colour pairs and the Tarkir wedge colours, but this might grow in the future.
My play group is normally 4 players (from 8 or so) , so I really appreciate the suggested various ways to use a cube for less than 8.
Good to see you back, and well done for all the effort on the statistical side... My brain would probably have melted. 😁
Theme cube's I can agree with being smaller for the consistency, although it really does depend on how you build the block cube. Did you use the 4/2/1/1 breakdown or a singleton variation?
Frontier cube sounds pretty fun, it's a format I do need to look a little more at. The stat's weren't too bad in the end, but I thought giving actual statistics would allow the viewer to make their minds up with facts rather than opinions. It's also good that mobile phones have calculators on them :P
Life Begins At 20 Thanks for your reply. I did singletons in the Theros cube. Keep up the good work!
I´ve unfortunately got only a very small playgroup so i built a 180 cards cube (all commons of 9E + the common gold cards of the ravnica block) but i updated it to 270 cards for more variants (i added all uncommons of 9E). Thank you for your nice cube videos!
Thank you for sharing and I'm glad you enjoy the content. Nothing wrong with having a smaller play group - that's half the reason I made the cube for 2 videos is because I was in the same boat. Now I'm just looking for a new one where I live after moving. As long as you're happy with how your cube is playing, that is all that matters :)
Sounds interesting! I should try a smaller cube!
I'm in the same boat as you! I'll be mainly glimpse drafting with my wife. Right now I'm wondering how many basics will be necessary (I'm thinking 20 of each colour), how many do you use? Also I'm on the hunt for a box that's easily stored in a backpack for drafting on the go and still haven't found an ideal box. Any ideas?
my cube is 555 cards. There is always a chance of more than 8 players. I have an extra 15 cards (from 540) since I have a Lorekeeper in my cube.
Also 540 is very flexible when it comes to different ways to draft. All the examples you showed allows 540 cards.
Thank you for sharing. Sounds like a fun cube you have there, care to share a link?
540 cards is very flexible for sure, but at the same time in an 8 player draft it does reduce the consistency of building archetypes and so on (again as discussed that is dependent on how the player builds their cube). As long as you're happy that is all that matters!
I was very happy at 540, although the pauper cube may well be a little smaller, but I can always increase if I see the need.
Lasse Mathisen lol my cube is at 555 as well! Lol I just added cards to my cube, 6 new slots for the basic colors! Funny how that happenes
www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/9905
Warning of long read ahead.
Right now the cube is at 544, so I am lacking 11 cards for my goal. (I might add in a land cycle + 1 colorless card.)
My cube is very much about build your own deck. I find in many cubes the predetermined strategies are the only ways to draft. (Reanimator, Ramp, Aggro, spells matter) however I felt like if those are the only ways to draft a cube, it would feel like weak constructed decks you can play in other formats. I didn't like that, so I made sure you can figure out yourself what you want to do.
I also like cards that aren't played in other formats, either because they can't be played or they aren't good enough. They are often very fun. (Examples are Mark of Eviction, Triskaidekaphobia, Demonic Pact, Hatred, Goblin Kaboomist, Birthing Pod, Mitotic Slime, Oviya Pashiri, Prophetic Bolt etc.)
I also play cards from the conspiracy sets, Conspiracies that doesn't make you write something down, Volatile Chimera, Caller of the Untamed and Arcane Savant.)
All of them make for super interesting drafts. Especially if you firstpick Worldknight, Sovereign's Realm, Weight Advantage and Hymn of the Wilds.
Slivers are also a deck you can draft. In constructed, sliver decks are just keep stacking +1/+1 effects with few exceptions. However in my cube, slivers have a large amount of different effects to share. It's also an easy archetype to draft for players new to drafting. Up to 2 players can draft Slivers with no problems.
My cube is aimed at being new player friendly, so I avoid cards that doesn't explain their effects. I am currently trying to replace non evergreen mechanics that doesn't explain their keywords, either by replacing the card entirely or finding one with reminder text. Right now it means replacing cards with Protection and Regenerate with no reminder text.
I am also hoping for 2 cycles to coexist together with the Fate Reforged 1 color with opposing hybrid activated abilities. (Alesha, Tasigur, Soulfire Grand Master etc) since I am somewhat a perfectionist and feel weird about having 2 cycles of Wedges and no cycle of Shards. However those cards make for too interesting decisions to remove and they also can be played in shard decks, so I am fine with them for now.
Lorekeeper ?
Ah, I miswrote the name. It's supposed to be Lore Seeker.
Excellent guide--I'm an mtg player from about 15 years ago, and these cube videos have made me excited to get back in the game. I'm in the process of making my first cube with bulk cards left out of my old constructed decks. I've settled on 540 as a size that provides variance and allows multiple draft formats, yet also is easier to balance. Keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you, that really means a lot. Glad to hear that cube is getting you back into the game, it really is the best format in magic. Hope it works out for you and I'd love to see what you end up with (send me a cubetutor link and I'll definitely give it a draft)
Finally completed the cube. It's currently at 565 instead of 540. I welcome any feedback from all. Thanks! www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/94427
This is an excellent video, I love the angle you approached the topic with!
Thank you, I felt that a lot of cube players tend to be quite analytical and it's a subject I've struggled to answer often without going into a lot of detail. So this was the best of both worlds. Hopefully it can really help answer the question for newer players.
Very helpful video for everybody who loves playing cube, I like that you always take a balanced view of things instead of most cube experts who force down their knowledge on you lol
+MrTacticalApproach I think that's probably because I'm not an expert :P I'm glad you think it's useful and it's a topic that I haven't seen explained in detail when I was looking into the format myself. Hopefully it can help people for plenty of time to come!
And here I am having my personal cube grow beyond 720 cards just because I want it to be a mashpot of most of my favorite standard cards from kaladesh onwards :D let chaos rule you ! But for people that really want to control the play experience this video is great good job Mark :) !
Nothing wrong with going over 720 at all bud - it really is down to you - I just left it up to that number as it's a common top end, plus it was already a wall of numbers :P
Thanks so much for this video! My cube is 360 mimicking the standard environment of M15 through Origins. My play group is 4 to 8 players with a max of 12. I like the idea of adding cards 45 at a time. I’ve only played it a few times, but similar to the limited environment of KTK we have a lot of board stalls. Adding higher power level cards in 45 card increments then later removing the lower powered/unplayed ones in 45 card increments will allow me to keep the experience fresh.
This is the best video you have done ..I was transfixed ....I have never seen the draft numbers before and how small my options are for my 450 cube to be utilised to the maximum ( not that they have to be ) but you have done wizards a big favour because I am now planning to.up my cube... I still want to thicken my 450 but I'm going to save some of my rejects and not give them to my son too willingly ....thank you
Thank you, I'm glad to hear you found the video useful! What power level of cube have you got? Well I'm sure your son will be happy when playing the cube though ^^
My cube is around 670ish, on its way to 720. We normally draft with 4-6 so the larger card pool definitely creates more variance which is what I prefer. I try to keep the colors close in number as well as color pairings but it’s not that big of a deal. If green is 81 and white is 79 I’m not worried about it. Likewise, w/r might have 6 while u/g could have 5...I don’t feel a need to be exact, but some might.
Great vid though. Keep up the high quality content.
My OCD will say that I have to keep colour pairings the exact same number, but in a larger pool size, 1 or 2 off doesn't affect the percentages too much at all. Have you found that those colours get drafted more at all? At the end of the day, as long as you are having a great time playing the cube, then that's all that matters!
i can't believe how few subscribers you have , the production is great, you know what you're talking about and i've learnt so much from your videos!
Thank you so much! TH-cam is a hard game, especially with the number of creators out there. I'm glad you found me and that my videos were useful for you. Slowly but surely the channel continues to grow so I can't complain!
Are you in the process of building a cube or already have one? By the way, If you have any questions do let me know and I'd be happy to answer them for you.
If you do know anyone else that would find them useful or enjoy the newest gameplay please do share it with them. Every little helps :)
thanks! i discovered the cube format a few months ago and am currently working on one, i decided to make one containing cards solely from shadows over innistrad and eldritch moon (i really liked the lovecraft vibe and i thought trying to make a "set" cube would be an easier exercise for a first cube).
I narrowed down the cards different cards to 360 .
At first i was unsure about how balanced such a cube might be since you would have a "equal" chance of pulling a rare or a common for each slot of your pack so i decided it might be a better idea to "replicate" booster odds (10 C 4 U 1R/M) by not making the cube singleton. I opted for 3 of each common , 2 of each uncommon and 1 or each rare/mythic.
But now i'm thinking of just keeping it singleton, it doesn't matter if the cube doesn't replicate a normal SOI/EM draft , i just want it to have the fun mechanics (madness, emerge, investigate,...).
So yeah, have you ever had these kind of decision problems making a cube?
I'll let you know how it plays once its done!
In all honesty, a set cube works well like you had it with replicating your booster draft. Ie 3/2/1/1 ratio. I'd say this would give you a better experience. but you could always expand it up to original innistrad for some extra options if you wanted to have a singleton cube (minus the super expensive cards - you can always proxy!)
Its completely down to you and you'll find out from playtesting what works and what doesn't. That and the people you play with will end up giving feedback too.
I'd say every cube builder will end up having difficult decisions to make - even with my budget cube build a long series it was tough to decide whether to have a pauper, peasant or unpowered cube and limit the cost of cards. In the end you just end up experimenting to see what you do and don't like. Looking at lists on cubetutor always help too - I'm sure you could find an innistrad themed cube on there that might give you inspiration.
But at the end of the day, you'll continue to evolve the cube and that's the beauty of it :)
thanks for the advice ! :) i think i'll give the 360 version a try since it'll be less hastle and more budget friendly (sleeve costs mainly ) if it doesn't work well i'll probably extend to original innistrad as you said but that would mean going further away from the mechanics i like ( emerge, investigate ) since they didn't exist back then.
So I've just built my first cube. I actually went with a 180 card cube, designed for 4 people to draft the entire thing. 30 of each color, 20 artifact, and 10 two colored cards (one of each guild). I want to use it teach my niece and nephew how to play, so I think I've got good color synergy all around (one advantage of making it so small is for me it was easier to achieve balance) while also having a couple of weirdo cards thrown in so their imaginations will run wild thinking about what other cards might exist out there.
Glad to see this video! If I were to make a cube it'd probably be around 540 cards. Doesn't seem too big or too small. What are your thoughts on a Conspiracy/Unset cube?
Conspiracy and un cube's are great fun, they really are. I'm all for having a typical cube with a conspiracy block to add in when you want to play those kinds of games, whereas I'd make an uncube standalone for a fun and crazy time. Still there is nothing stopping you from mixing everything up and making it your own :)
Mine is now 405. I had been at 360 to begin with, then went up to 450 for variety's sake, and have now cut down to 405 to increase power level slightly and make the mana more consistent. We'll see if it sticks.
I'm certainly thinking that is a great size and I've seen a few others doing the same thing (going to that number) - let me know how you get on with the size. Would love to know!
around 800-900, but was build completely centered on building 100 card 2 or 3 color commanders decks, around 120 per color + 15 of each pair combination + 130 colorless + a a selection of commanders that are drafted or distributed separately.
I've always been interested in a commander cube - how have you found it?
quite fun I must say, the commander selection is relatively low powered, a good number of cards are versatile to fit in as many strategies as possible (guildmages, charms, commands) and there are some subthemes per color and pair colors to support certain commanders. Since the commander is usually chosen before the boosters it streamlines the drafting part a lot.
Awesome stuff - that is certainly something I might take a greater look into in the future
My cube is 465 based on the fact that my house and playgroup seems to fit 10 drafters at the very largest, plus we run one copy of Lore Seeker, requiring an extra pack. We have two six foot folding tables we can set up for the draft, and then a kitchen table to add so we have 5 playing areas.
That sounds awesome! I'm glad to hear that you've got such a good playgroup - that makes magic so much more fun!
Life Begins At 20 we alternate between several cubes to keep things fresh. My main cube is going to have its 4th birthday celebration soon.
Excellent video! Thanks!
You're welcome, glad you found it useful!
Lol thanks? I remember just asking you this question recently ;)
You're welcome then bud :P
I’m at 420 because I’m juvenile and it’s a funny number to stick at, I usually have 6 players with a possible 8, and I’m using Booster Tutor.
Nothing wrong with being at 420 - you don't have to be at 45 card increments, especially once you're past the 360 mark. Booster Tutor is a really fun card, certainly can see why it's in there!
PewPew_McPewster My playgroup is 4-6 players and I'm also at 420. Just bumped it up from 375
PewPew_McPewster 6
I first got into Magic when Kaladesh and Aether Revolt came out. So I started to build a Set Cube consisting of all KLD and AER cards. I went and gathered (1) of every card in KLD and AER just to realize that most people follow a format of (4) of every Common (2) of every Uncommon (1) of every Rare and (1) of every Mythic. I thought my Cube was finished and now I have so far to go. Do I have to follow this 4/2/1/1 format? (I do want the most balanced and authentic KLD/AER drafting experience)
+Brad Bell I'd say if you wanted an authentic experience the 4/2/1/1 method does work really well and I would recommend it, but you don't have to follow this guide at all. Give your cube a go as is, doing sample hands on cubetutor and so on to see how it plays. You can always add more cards in later.
Mine is 1000 cards. That is 10 'cubed'. It is not a throw every thing in it cube, having a hard ceiling stops me from just throwing cards in, but the large number gives this cube flexibility and change with every release. www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/1124
Fair enough, it's always nice to see things that are different and that no matter the size you're enjoying the cube :)
my first ever cube is intended to be 270 singleton cards, Innistrad-themed (both old and new set) intended to be drafted by 6 players, because realistically, I cant ever get 8 people gathered. packs are drafted with 5 packs per person, with 9 cards per pack (to make picks more urgent, less chance of just relying on cards wheeling over and over again). I dont want more cards, since I think it is rough enough already to support the archetypes if I add more cards than what will be drafted. what do you think?
I think if you're happy with what you've planned, then go for it! Like I said in the video, there is no right or wrong way to build a cube. What I might suggest is to move away from that theme, just for a mana base to make the decks work better. Non-basic Lands are always a big priority in my eyes for smoother gameplay. As for the theme itself, go for that and you can always add more cards as you see fit - cubes are always evolving :)
My cube #number is at 555, complete accidental! Lol just added cards, did not pay attention to numbers.
Haha, fair enough! Seems to around a very common cube size of 540 so it's all good. Noone has to be exactly the numbers I stated in the video, it just made sense being in 45 card increments for traditional drafting. Is there anything from the new un set that you might put in?
is 360 okay for only 2 players? I could slowly add to it over time of course.
More than enough 👍
The size of my cube is none of your business