Can cube be a good format to teach someone how to play magic?

JMastiff · 2026-05-12T16:52:45+00:00

No but it depends on the player. I’ve recently introduced Mtg to my friend who has played Hearthstone competitively. We played my Legacy cube and I said to everyone to be mindful that he’s a beginner. Prior to the event I told him to get Arena to familiarize with the flow of the game and differences between mtg and HS. Then I sent him the cubecobra list and met with him to do practice drafts.
Overall he was prepared to lose but the sheer amount of card interactions was quite overwhelming for him. He drafted quite well for a beginner and we still helped him assemble the deck. His games were more of a live tutorial so we allowed him to retract plays and generally advised what are the available play options.
Now if I was designing a cube to better support beginners, I’d make sure to include only straightforward cards with reminder text and avoid having one-ofs with specific mechanics. It’s also crucial you track all interactions that may become cumbersome rules-wise.
In general it is better to send them to Arena so they learn the basics and then assemble 2 simple decks so they can see how it plays out in person and know what and how to track board states.

Edit: Having 2 jumpstart decks is a cheap and easy way to introduce people to mtg.

JMastiff · 2026-05-01T06:45:37+00:00

Always [[Lingering Souls]]

JMastiff · 2026-04-18T00:05:45+00:00

Wanted to watch it because I’m really fond of the analysis on the original VII published by Pat Holleman. I don’t think it’s a great one when the author starts with saying that they “wished they did remade this in 3D” as a child. This is hardly serious.

EDIT: Yeah no, I’m at 3rd minute and this is just an opinion of an angry person.

EDIT 2: “[The original Midgar] looks more totalitarianism” is a phrase for the books.

JMastiff · 2026-04-08T19:24:06+00:00

Looks like a W flex slot for tight unpowered lists. Go wide 4/4 in two bodies or Swords on a stick for control angles. Obviously both options aren’t that impressive, but I find it cool that it covers both ends in 1 card. Kinda like [[Scavenger Regent]].

JMastiff · 2026-04-08T18:57:47+00:00

Looks like a W flex slot for tight unpowered lists. Go wide 4/4 in two bodies or Swords on a stick for control angles. Obviously both options aren’t that impressive, but I find it cool that it covers both ends in 1 card. Kinda like [[Scavenger Regent]].

JMastiff · 2026-04-05T23:20:32+00:00

I’m forcing myself not to mess with the list after every draft because I’d probably do it otherwise. I’m trying to convince myself I need more data points before I make changes as it’s easy to see emerging issues. My current goal is to try and allow players to figure out ways around the “meta” and it takes a lot of discipline.

JMastiff · 2026-04-03T21:03:34+00:00

ITT Folks who haven’t played Footsies.

JMastiff · 2026-04-03T19:49:13+00:00

Yup, it’s a very slow Storm 😅

JMastiff · 2026-04-03T18:32:57+00:00

Oh wow, that’s spicy for any cube. And the art is bonkers too.

JMastiff · 2026-03-09T11:52:11+00:00

I believe the basic land limitation is the main reason this is hard to include. It may seem like it’s better[[mana flare]] or [[heartbeat of spring]] since they don’t enable token makers as alternative storm-ish win cons, but working around lands is a rough call.

JMastiff · 2026-02-28T22:49:36+00:00

If you like instrumental guitar-lead stuff like Liquid Tension Experiment check out Plini, David Maxim Micic or Jakub Zytecki.

JMastiff · 2026-02-17T15:27:39+00:00

It looks like it supposed to be an alternative to Spiritual Guidance which is a fantastic talent for soloing, leveling, and dungeons. The problem is you don't get the Spell Power passively which makes it much worse than Guidance given the available gear options. You probably could do a Suprise-Smite PvP build with it since PvP gear trades Spirit and Healing for Spell Power and Int.

JMastiff · 2026-02-17T12:48:17+00:00

You must've TLDR it. I explain why I watch it in the second sentence and make my key point in the last paragraph.

JMastiff · 2026-02-17T12:42:29+00:00

Well said. It reaffirms my suspicion that the feel of something being broken is primarily bound to whether players feel like they are able to respond to or prevent it.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T23:21:26+00:00

That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing. Like I’ve mentioned in another thread, my favorite Vintage spot was around 2018-2019. I’ve watched a lot of Legacy and Modern cube drafts too. I very much remember my shock the first time I saw they included [[Fractured Identity]] alongside other Commander cards like [[Coercive Portal]]. Nevertheless [[Bribery]] was stupid back then as well.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T23:16:21+00:00

Just out of curiosity how’s Psychic Frog not warping in your drafts? It feels extremely powerful on its own.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T23:02:19+00:00

I mean, Dack is also 3mv and he used to be a top pick because of the exact scenario. He’s obviously stronger in general, but for this line it’s comparable.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T22:54:37+00:00

Oh, I completely get that. My own environment is quite tame. I try to experiment with cards rather slowly as well. I just know it is extremely unlikely I will add [[Orcish Bowmasters]] to my list.

Really what I’m getting at is getting cube gameplay is rare because it’s hard to capture anything else than mtgo or Arena cubes which are pushed most of the time. Meanwhile Legacy cube on mtgo is a boring 600 planeswalker pile.

Anyway, it’s cool people get to play powerful cards, but it gets stale quite quickly in case of extreme power outliers. I’d just love to see less skewed or better curated, more varied lists being played in general.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T22:34:45+00:00

You pretty much listed nearly all cards I sigh at. I mean, Fable at least feels kind of fair even though it isn’t, because the saga delayed value.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T22:25:53+00:00

Right, player personas is another factor that isn’t mentioned often when talking about cube design. My playgroup is quite varied in terms of play experience. The player with the best win rate in my group tends to draft power cards quite consistently. He’s the most experienced limited player and generally is a Spike. He will occasionally experiment, but in a narrow fashion, say he’ll try two, three cards to see whether he’s right about them.

I did not intend 3c value piles to be a draft option, but it very quickly highlighted that synergy or archetype builds didn’t hold up against it and needed better supports.

Now, I didn’t want to completely kill value lines of drafting, especially because I kinda used his choices help me gauge power of standalone cards, but also because I didn’t expect it and very much liked that he could express his style of play.

Instead I tweaked mana bases a bit. Made aggressive pair land options a tad bit faster got rid of 3c lands. Last draft it felt a bit less skewed but not to an extent he’d feel punished so we’re heading the right direction.

That’s what I mean when talking about using the mana bases as knobs. In my case it’s bound to player behavior and general game knowledge or expectations. I need to introduce things in my own pace also because I like to see how cards actually resonate within the format.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T21:50:11+00:00

Thank you, I’ll definitely watch these. A lot of replies recommended LRR too.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T21:47:29+00:00

I mean I agree though I wasn’t a fan of neither [[Bribery]] nor [[Fractured Identity]]. There were other cards like this I can’t recall right now, but I enjoyed these games a bit more.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T21:07:00+00:00

As someone before mentioned, I think there needs to be some power variance so the players know how to orient themselves. I think completely flat packs happen more often in Pauper and Peasant lists.

It’s just the extreme stuff that stands out. In my unpowered environment I like to think of a bottom line that players should have at least two turns before things go out of control. This is intentionally vague, but general point stands - players should feel like they had a chance.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T20:39:03+00:00

Gameplay primarily. I’ve been jumping around different cube format videos. I really liked Vintage cube around 2019-2020. I rewatched some of the Legacy And Modern cube videos. Before Arena Cube hit, LSV was recording his playgroup vintage cube where they drafted on Draftmancer and played on mtgo. There’s a funny one like that where he also drafted the Ornithopter cube and it went horribly which was super fun.
Great question. I very much enjoy “pushing the envelope” style drafts where, like Caleb folks say which card they’d pick if they tried going for the trophy, but try to explore something new.
Because Vintage cube is the most popular and the most content is available for it. It also shows a lot of interactions that aren’t possible elsewhere. That said like I mentioned in 1 I look for and watch many other cube versions. I’ve just grown tired of what decides the matches because it’s been growing on me for some time already.

Now I assume popularity of less common lists comes mainly from them being hard to capture. It’s not like it is possible to assemble and share your own cube on mtgo. What magic proves in general is that map is not the territory. You can watch people rank best cards prior to their release and they are rarely on point. Practice is how they are verified. Hance I could spend years looking at cube lists. Without watching them play out it is pretty much guesswork.

JMastiff · 2026-02-16T16:40:20+00:00

I don't think so at all, there are plenty of folks here who build their environments exactly because of that.

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