What is now call the “Legacy” cubelet started from the original Loading Ready Run list. There was only a small problem. It was originally built in 2014. There have been a lot of cards released since then, and an update was necessary. When deciding what to take out, it came honestly from playing it a couple times and identifying cards that were: problematic, too easy to abuse, or likewise, no longer interesting because newer cards were more interesting.
Of the recent sets of cards, there are a few mechanics/decisions to talk about. The rest were decisions were made knowing the theory of what comprises a Cubelet.
Vizier of Many Faces / Angel of Sanctions
The embalm mechanic seemed interesting as a way of rewarding someone for removing someone else’s creature. Vizier of Many Faces meant having a second Phantasmal Image that could be a third if necessary. Angel of Sanctions was another exile effect that was already popular and effective in the list (Fiend Hunter, Oblivion Ring, Hostage Taker were included)
Grim Flayer
Delirium also seemed like a natural fit, but not too overpowering as the deck is primarily instants, sorceries, and creatures. To get the fourth type often meant waiting. Grim Flayer was a natural to represent Delirium. As an added bonus, players can earn the reward to control the top of the library. Often just a grizzly bear, Grim Flayer is not that impressive in multi-player games and just another good aggressive creature when playing 1v1.
Nissa, Steward of Elements
Planeswalkers are painfully tricky to try and include because of how inherently powerful they are. Nissa, Steward of Elements felt the most safe. The scry mechanic is a powerful mechanic and is played very different in Cubelet because of the shared library. She does put an instant target on a player, and politics are a fun subgame. Being able to use the 0 ability is a reward if you were able to cast her for low mana value and worked to protect her. Her 0 ability is also a way to help close out long games when you cast her for a high mana value. An ultimate on a planeswalker is often game ending, if not immediately, over the course of the game. Worth noting, the lands have Shroud, there are no legal targets for her ultimate. She is a value engine and political machine. If you played primarily 1v1, take her out, but she is very reasonable in multiplayer.
Scrapheap Scrounger
Lastly, Scrapheap Scrounger was added. This was first thought of a fun subgame of who would control Scrapheap Scrounger, but the card provides a necessary balance. Scrapheap Scrounger can exile problematic creatures with strong enter the battlefield triggers if recurred or if the graveyard was to be shuffled back into the library. The graveyard is a resource to all players, and Scrapheap is one of the safer ones to help control it.
Of the recent sets of cards, there are a few mechanics/decisions to talk about. The rest were decisions were made knowing the theory of what comprises a Cubelet.
Vizier of Many Faces / Angel of Sanctions
The embalm mechanic seemed interesting as a way of rewarding someone for removing someone else’s creature. Vizier of Many Faces meant having a second Phantasmal Image that could be a third if necessary. Angel of Sanctions was another exile effect that was already popular and effective in the list (Fiend Hunter, Oblivion Ring, Hostage Taker were included)
Grim Flayer
Delirium also seemed like a natural fit, but not too overpowering as the deck is primarily instants, sorceries, and creatures. To get the fourth type often meant waiting. Grim Flayer was a natural to represent Delirium. As an added bonus, players can earn the reward to control the top of the library. Often just a grizzly bear, Grim Flayer is not that impressive in multi-player games and just another good aggressive creature when playing 1v1.
Nissa, Steward of Elements
Planeswalkers are painfully tricky to try and include because of how inherently powerful they are. Nissa, Steward of Elements felt the most safe. The scry mechanic is a powerful mechanic and is played very different in Cubelet because of the shared library. She does put an instant target on a player, and politics are a fun subgame. Being able to use the 0 ability is a reward if you were able to cast her for low mana value and worked to protect her. Her 0 ability is also a way to help close out long games when you cast her for a high mana value. An ultimate on a planeswalker is often game ending, if not immediately, over the course of the game. Worth noting, the lands have Shroud, there are no legal targets for her ultimate. She is a value engine and political machine. If you played primarily 1v1, take her out, but she is very reasonable in multiplayer.
Scrapheap Scrounger
Lastly, Scrapheap Scrounger was added. This was first thought of a fun subgame of who would control Scrapheap Scrounger, but the card provides a necessary balance. Scrapheap Scrounger can exile problematic creatures with strong enter the battlefield triggers if recurred or if the graveyard was to be shuffled back into the library. The graveyard is a resource to all players, and Scrapheap is one of the safer ones to help control it.
Constructing your first Cubelet
Much like a cube, Brian Demars’s “Danger Room”, Riley Knight’s most recently introduced “Common Cuboid”, and all of the other Magic: The Gathering casual variants, the Cubelet’s construction and customization is a personal journey. There are thousands and thousands of cards available, and we are narrowing it down to 100 cards.
Knowing the theory behind the design and play style of the Cubelet is important, but here are some specific notes to consider when constructing a cubelet of your own.
It should be more creatures than spells. We are looking to end up with ~60% creatures, ~40% spells. If you have more spells than creatures, either you run out of creatures and no one dies, or you continually shuffle the graveyard into the library and the game takes forever.
For every major threat that you want to introduce, have at least 2 ways (not necessarily cards) to answer the threat. If you want to explore more planeswalkers, you need many ways to answer those planeswalkers. If you want to explore artifacts, then disenchant spells will need to be in the deck as well.
Take mechanics into account, and do not go heavy on one specific mechanic. A good rule of thumb is each card should offer something to the Cubelet. Only after playing can you find cards that do not excite your friends and ones that really excite your friends. Once you find that, you can add/remove more of one type of card.
You do not have to color balance. While it is a decent starting place (Suggested 14 of each mono color and 3 from each guild), Cubelet is about gameplay experience, not necessarily about making sure each color is equally represented.
Have at least 2-3 wrath effects. Board stalls can occur if players are not as experienced with combat and attrition, so having outlets to just empty the board are very important to consider.
Curve and average CMC is important to consider. Too low of a curve, and you play very quickly and too high, games can take a while to develop. Overall, try to have the curve stop at 5 CMC. You can go above 5 CMC, but you will want to limit the number of cards above 5 CMC. Overall, a Cubelet should have an average CMC between 2 and 3. It means you have a balance of early plays and later investments.
Do you want to add any restrictions to your Cubelet construction? If you choose to put restrictions on your Cubelet, special attention will need to be taken into consideration. A pauper Cubelet (commons only) means there are no board wipe effects unless you play with creatures with only 3 toughness or less. A Unglued, Unhinged, and Unstable Cubelet means that games are going to take longer because of some of the goofy mechanics. Building a Cubelet with cards from only a specific Set/Block can create a whole new experience with the cards, but limited bombs are exploited even further in Cubelet.
Nothing is banned. If you do not want to play a particular card, do not put it in the Cubelet. This is important to note when we talk about ideas for building a Cubelet.
Knowing the theory behind the design and play style of the Cubelet is important, but here are some specific notes to consider when constructing a cubelet of your own.
It should be more creatures than spells. We are looking to end up with ~60% creatures, ~40% spells. If you have more spells than creatures, either you run out of creatures and no one dies, or you continually shuffle the graveyard into the library and the game takes forever.
For every major threat that you want to introduce, have at least 2 ways (not necessarily cards) to answer the threat. If you want to explore more planeswalkers, you need many ways to answer those planeswalkers. If you want to explore artifacts, then disenchant spells will need to be in the deck as well.
Take mechanics into account, and do not go heavy on one specific mechanic. A good rule of thumb is each card should offer something to the Cubelet. Only after playing can you find cards that do not excite your friends and ones that really excite your friends. Once you find that, you can add/remove more of one type of card.
You do not have to color balance. While it is a decent starting place (Suggested 14 of each mono color and 3 from each guild), Cubelet is about gameplay experience, not necessarily about making sure each color is equally represented.
Have at least 2-3 wrath effects. Board stalls can occur if players are not as experienced with combat and attrition, so having outlets to just empty the board are very important to consider.
Curve and average CMC is important to consider. Too low of a curve, and you play very quickly and too high, games can take a while to develop. Overall, try to have the curve stop at 5 CMC. You can go above 5 CMC, but you will want to limit the number of cards above 5 CMC. Overall, a Cubelet should have an average CMC between 2 and 3. It means you have a balance of early plays and later investments.
Do you want to add any restrictions to your Cubelet construction? If you choose to put restrictions on your Cubelet, special attention will need to be taken into consideration. A pauper Cubelet (commons only) means there are no board wipe effects unless you play with creatures with only 3 toughness or less. A Unglued, Unhinged, and Unstable Cubelet means that games are going to take longer because of some of the goofy mechanics. Building a Cubelet with cards from only a specific Set/Block can create a whole new experience with the cards, but limited bombs are exploited even further in Cubelet.
Nothing is banned. If you do not want to play a particular card, do not put it in the Cubelet. This is important to note when we talk about ideas for building a Cubelet.