I first-picked Goblin Guide in my very first cube draft, and the only deck I couldn’t defeat with that mono-red build was the one that had basically all the combos in it (from Emrakul + Sneak Attack to Splinter Twin + Pestermite). Though the games against that deck were over so quickly that we just kept playing while waiting for the others to finish, and the balance began to tip in my favour, as the opponent noted. It was just unfortunate for me that the first three games with that matchup ended 2:1 against me.
There is no "red problem" there is only "your cube" problem. ...as outside your cube red can do things other than ponza and burn. It has extreme strong artifact synergies with kuldotha rebirth, gleeful demo, shrapnel blast ...etc. It has strong graveyard options up to mono red living end. And it even has 2 card infinite combos in color
Stop making red an exclusively aggro color in cube. There are good midrange and control oriented red cards, and those deserve attention as well. When one color is only aggro and other colors are never aggro you never get interesting interplay between archetypes and you instead just get forcing a single route.
That sounds good on paper, but in a high-powered cube, red midrange and red control just isn't competitive with what for example blue can do. Though in a not so high powered cube, I agree.
@@lightworker2956If your goal is to cram all the most powerful cards ever printed into a single box, then yeah, everyone's going to want to play blue no matter what. If your goal is to make a balanced cube with cool stuff in every color, even at high power levels, there's stuff like Fable of the Mirror Breaker, Torch of Defiance, Goldspan Dragon, all of which do pretty well in powerful environments.
Drafting monored is like paying 70 bucks for the new CoD then slapping a wallhack/aimbot on it. On one hand you're winning the match, on the other you're paying 70 bucks to not play the actual game, which kinda misses the point of playing a game to begin with.
From some of the example cards you gave maybe you shoehorned red to hard? Perhaps swap out some cards for more genericly good cards like faithless looting or interesting support like overmaster.
I mean, I get that, but then what should red do, other than storm? People don't really like the rush-face-burn-burn deck. Blood Moon apparently isn't fun. And random mono-red midrange / control sounds quirky but just isn't competitive with the other colors (in a high-powered cube). If the other people are casting Ancestral Recall and Oath of Druids and storming off and reanimating fatties in the first turns of the game, you're not going to win with a red "control" deck that aims to cast a big dragon on turn 5 or so.
Put thought into your mana bases before you sit down at the table. Deckbuilding is part of the game, and blood moon is one of the only cards that has it's effects not when it's on the battlefield, but when the opponent is deckbuilding. If you're not having fun when blood moon shows up, consider playing 3 colors instead of 4, or don't worry so much about every single drawn land being a fetch.
2:43 I think you may have misread acquisitions expert. They only ever discard one card. The number of cards you choose from is what scales based on the party size.
I think this idea of drafting a mono anything deck is maybe the issue. Would you really stop splashing a secondary color just to have less options when push comes to shove. Not saying your cube is terrible, in fact it has lots of options for going multiple colors like talismans and multicolor spells. I think you are missing the bigger picture of why should anyone pick mono red. The only card in the whole list that would force them into a mostly red deck is Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker because its triple red, but they could just as easy go red and black pitch the kiki and reanimate it. You also have other synergies that are stronger in the cube because its vintage. To complain about mono red not having a showing is to complain about other 'fair list' or 'fair archetypes' not having a showing. I don't see a list of humans, goblins, elves, death and taxes or zoo being spawn from much without splashing another archetype so why would anyone do the same for a mono red list? As someone who loves red and has played it in legacy for years, It exist when deck types that can't beat it are around or people are greedy with their life points. If you want mono red to be relevant you have to add a griselbrand or effects like it to make them vulnerable to mono red. You also should consider stuff like mono red prison as an archetype in the cube. I only skimmed it, but you have lots of artifact fixing so things like shenanigans can really help beat up on multicolor options trying to fight out under bloodmoon or magus of the moon.
I guess it kinda falls back to what people used to say about Burn in Modern it kinda needs to be relevant in the meta to keep people in line and not to get overly creative but it cannot be out shadowing everything else and make the environment a hodgepodge of sameness since Burn is all about 2 power creatures and 3 damage burn spells so I suppose your cube does have enough variety people want to try something different and still have Red Deck Wins as a back up for whoever is not that good at drafting to have some sort of a fighting chance
I had the same crisis so I cut back rdw only cards and fleshed out artifacts a little. Goblin wealder instead of goblin you have. Combustible gearhulk. Scrapwork mutt. Something like triplicate titan in artifacts. I also cut the red rituals because red isn't really a storm finisher. Soul scar got cut. 😢 Along with eidolon Maybe that gives you some space. I didn't red build spells matter. Seems parasitic or weaker. There's a good r/g r/g elf that adds 2 mana on entry. That plays into storm and gives rdw a boost.
Honestly, it depends more on the other archetypes than anything, if your whole cube is about big, splashy plays, combos, hard synergies, this is gonna be the overall vibe and red aggro will fall put of place. My cube is heavily tempo based, with other colors picking archetypes like death and taxes, red based aggro like gruul and rakdos aggro are the most contested decks.
I was gonna say the same thing. It seems more a problem with what's available to play, than with the color itself. Red generally isn't about combo, or flashy plays. Its about consistency. If your players don't value that, then its THEIR fault, and not the color's problem.
Hey, question about a first cube: I'm looking into building a cube using the draft matters cards from the conspiracy block, do you have any suggestions as to how the list should be changed from the basic template to offset the large number of conspiracy cards that don't really fall into any normal categories? Just looking for advice on the best way to go about it, thanks.
The problem with that imo is not every deck even wants a crypt. It’s just going to kill a control deck eventually, but EVERY deck for the most part wants ring and lotus. In a super aggressive build I can see prioritizing mana crypt though
Good list. Although I've never played with Glimpse of Nature or Kataki, their utility seems very narrow on paper. Glimpse's value comes from playing a ton of low mana creatures in a row, which makes it a build-around card. In my cube at least (vintage) it would be very risky to achieve. Kataki is good against artifacts, but he probably only works if you draw him early. In the late game, I don't see him being a problem. I love OG Kamigawa and think the perceived low power was due to it following the ultra-powerful Mirrodin block and having plenty of wallpaper cards for limited. Nowadays, I think it's the second block in Modern with most banned cards, behind the aforementioned Mirrodin. Other great cards from Kamigawa that I have in my cube: Sakura Tribe Elder, Isamaru, Kodama's Reach. I used to run Azusa and Meloku as well, but there are better alternatives now.
glimpse is NUTTY in the right deck. glimpse + enduring renewal and a sacrifice outlet lets your draw your library in a turn, which is narrow but its so powerful in the decks where it's good. and I agree I love original Kamigawa so much. tribe elder and isamaru are both great as well
It’s definitely a close call! Haha I respect the clamp and I can see the argument for either. Clamp is definitely better in commander, but I’ve definitely won more cube matches with jitte than clamp
It is great to see another video out. There just is NOT enough Cube content out there. ??? I love 'Through the Breach' , it is great in a red/blk. Aristocrats build. : )
Dude, congratulations because this was awesome! You definitely have a talent for telling stories and I'll watch everything you release. The only early Magic lore I knew something about was the Brother's War (read the first 2 books but gave up on the series because the 2nd is poorly written) and Tempest (Rath and Storm is a very good Anthology). This was quite good and the lore seems very diverse, unlike the current generic "Justice League of Planeswalkers" schtick or the barely developed planes they have going. Also, Richard Kane Ferguson's art kicks ass.
Actually wizards pretty clearly officially states that they’re cool with proxies in casual settings (like cube.) If I print a photo of the Mona Lisa I haven’t stolen the Mona Lisa. Proxies don’t take an existing card from anyone so I really don’t see what you’re getting at.
@@danacoleman4007 for sure “Wizards of the Coast has no desire to police playtest cards made for personal, non-commercial use, even if that usage takes place in a store. What we really care about is that DCI-sanctioned events use only authentic Magic cards, and that we stop counterfeits.” magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/proxies-policy-and-communication-2016-01-14
I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, just a bit more enjoyable for me to make to break things up. Definitely still planning on doing regular cube related content as well
Ante was also in some of the few cards banned in my favorite card game, Vampire the Eternal Struggle, also by Richard Garfield, also initially published by Wizards. It probably was a normal thing in the infancy of CCGs. Tremendous game, you would like it.
I love the video, I also have this type of deck and it works in a similar way but my focus is the mill strategy. I use similar combos but I use things like Dauthi Voidwalker, Leyline of the Void,Rest in piece, and Planar void to keep the graveyards empty I use cards in combination like Energy Field, Web of inertia and Solitary Confinement to keep my life total high. A card I like to use a lot is Crumbling Sanctuary, it helps me to keep my life high and to mill my opponents and hold on until I have a mill combo. Good video tho
This was fascinating! I stumbled across your video while looking to build Arcum as a commander and I ended up watching the whole thing. I love how you use the cards to tell the lore and I hope you continue making more content like this
Dude, I love your channel and thank you very much for the content you upload! I have a cube that is Legacy/Modern power level, and I am happy with it, but am a little riddled with how many redundant effects should I have on it... Cube being a singleton format is great, but sometimes a certain effect works for different archetypes and is good to have several of them (like regrowth). What are your thoughts on this? Most importantly, what is your experience with this being a problem in your cube(s)? Much love from Germany!
Thanks so much for the kind words. It’s a really delicate balance for me. The effects I want to be a little more common or accessible, I’ll try to include multiple instances of that ability. (Timeless witness, and eternal witness along with regrowth for example) and other abilities I maybe want to feel a little more special that aren’t like pillars of an archetype I’ll try to keep more narrow. Also in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with running multiples of just a few cards here and there if your playgroup has more fun that way! I make one off tweaks between drafts like that all the time just to see what works
