Set Prospective

Wilds of Eldraine

The community has spoken: in Cube, every new card can get a fairytale ending. Check out the results of our record-breaking community set review.

Set Prospective

Wilds of Eldraine Commander

From Monster Roles to Monarchs, from Food to Faeries, we've got the scoop on the hottest Cube cards from Wilds of Eldraine's commander decks – fresh from our survey of Cube owners.

Design

A Guided Tour of the Wizard’s Tower

A reintroduction to one of Magic’s classic sandbox formats: self-contained, zero setup, and fully customizable.

Set Prospective

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced a spectacular Cube draft, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.

Set Prospective

Tales of Middle-earth Commander

With the Lord of the Rings companion set, the power to command Mankind and Mordor is in your Cube!

Set Prospective

March of the Machine: The Aftermath

Don't judge a set by its size. This pint-sized set brings a bucket of options for Cube!

Set Prospective

March of the Machine

Your MOM's so contentious, we had to write a whole Cube article about it. Boom roasted!

Set Prospective

March of the Machine Commander

You're just lucky I didn't insert a MOC-related pun in this Cube article blurb.

Tools

Frequently Asked Questions About Cube

Is Cube the best way to play Magic? Of course! ... wait, you still have questions? Then check out this cube lightning round.

Design

Building a Cube from a Collection

The options for Cubes are practically infinite, but the best building materials for your favorite cube may already be at hand.

Design

Set Cubes & More

Set Cubes are one of the easiest entry points to Cube – the perfect opportunity to recapture bygone draft formats, reimagine a draft format, or dive deep into a plane or theme.

Set Prospective

Phyrexia: All Will Be One

One love, one heart. Let's get phyresis and feel all right.

Set Prospective

Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander

ONE's partner commander decks expand on the main set's themes, offering better support for new mechanics in singleton environments.

Community Voices

The History of The Cube Format

The first comprehensive history of the Cube format — an ever-evolving tapestry driven by creative Magic players shaping the game to their own desires.

Set Prospective

Jumpstart 2022

The latest edition of Jumpstart brings a substantial chunk of new cards tailored to headline flavorful and mechanical themes, including potential gems for Cubes aligned with any of the set's mechanics.

Community Voices

2022 — Cube in Review

2022 was a big year for Cube and for Magic more broadly. As always, we've reached out to some of our friends from across the Cube world to paint a picture of what 2022 meant for the format.

Set Prospective

The Brothers’ War

Armistice is out of the question. Find out what new Magic cards have cube curators drawing battle lines.

Set Prospective

The Brothers’ War Commander

Scholars and brawlers alike are piquing Cube interest on this set!

Set Prospective

Warhammer 40,000

With a novel aesthetic and powerful cards, Warhammer 40,000 may be one of the most appealing supplementary sets for Cube designers.

Set Prospective

Unfinity

While Un-sets aren't on the radar of many Cube designers, Unfinity blurs the lines (or at least borders) with unique cards.

Cube Retrospective

2022 Standard Rotation Cube Retrospective

We examine the Cube impact of sets from the last two years: Modern Horizons 2, Zendikar Rising, Strixhaven, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, and more.

Set Prospective

Dominaria United

Our biggest Cube community survey to date. Check out the results for our return to Dominaria!

Set Prospective

Dominaria United Commander

Vampires, Dragons, and Pirates, oh my!

Theory

How Many Lands Should You Include in Your Cube?

An examination of precedent from limited and constructed is paired with analysis of over 75,000 Cube draft decks to help answer one of the most universal questions in Cube design.

Tireless Tracker

An Introduction to the Commander Map

The Commander Map visualizes over two and a half million and a half Commander decks, showing the incredible depth of the Commander format in an interactive tool.

Tireless Tracker

Mapping the Magic Landscape

Learn the math behind how we made the Cube Map and Commander Map—interactive visualizations that celebrate the diversity of beloved Magic formats.

Set Prospective

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

You knock on Baldur's Gate to find... potential cards for Cube! Do you listen to the community, or will you just check out the data visualization?

Set Prospective

Streets of New Capenna

Find out what New Capenna cards have the Cube community ready to break the law to get their hands on.

Set Prospective

New Capenna Commander

New Capenna Commander is public enemy #1 among Commander releases, shattering our previous records for Cube community engagement.

Design

A Guide to Battle Box

Battle Box is a unique twist on Magic: a quick, self-contained format, without resource variance, great for pick up games between other activities.

Theory

Cube Power Level: A User’s Guide

An in depth exploration of one of a Cube designer’s most important tools — power level.

Set Prospective

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

With a combination of novelty and nostalgia, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is an exciting set for a huge range of Cubes. See what the community thinks in our set review.

Set Prospective

Neon Dynasty Commander

One standout has the Cube community excited, but maybe there's even more to this set.

Cube Retrospective

2021 Standard Rotation Cube Retrospective

We look back on Eldraine, Ikoria, Core Set 2021, and related supplementary sets, using a data-driven approach to explore Cube trends of the last two years.

Community Voices

2021 — Cube in Review

With 2021 winding down, we've once again invited friends from across the Cube landscape to reminisce about this year's offerings for the best Magic format.

Set Prospective

Innistrad: Crimson Vow

Vampire weddings, Blood tokens, and more — see what the Cube community thinks of Crimson Vow!

Set Prospective

Crimson Vow Commander

Vampires, Spirits, and a surprising hit on our Cube survey.

Set Prospective

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt

A return to one of Magic's most iconic planes brings a bevy of new cards for Cube consideration. See what the community thinks!

Set Prospective

Midnight Hunt Commander

See our survey results for the companion set to one of the most popular Cube sets to date!

Tools

Searching with Scryfall: Magic at your Fingertips

Finding every relevant card for your deck or cube can be a challenge. Scryfall's simple, but powerful search syntax let's you find everything you're looking for from the vast history of Magic in moments.

Set Prospective

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

How does Magic's first property crossover fare for Cube designers? Do the D&D-inspired cards cut the mustard? Find out in the results of our Cube survey!

Set Prospective

Forgotten Realms Commander

What do you get when you mix D&D and Commander in a single Magic set? Find out in the results of our Cube survey!

Set Prospective

Modern Horizons 2

Modern Horizons 2 may be the best set for Cube of all time. Check out what cards interest the community!

Set Prospective

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Strixhaven is bending Magic’s color pie, but what does it offer for Cube designers? Find out what the Cube community thinks!

Set Prospective

Commander 2021

Despite its intended audience, Commander 2021 has some powerful Cube additions. We explore what the community is testing from this surprising set!

Tools

Cube in the Time of Covid with Rotisserie Draft

Rotisserie drafting a cube is the perfect option for asynchronous, remote Magic. Our template makes keeping your draft organized a breeze.

Set Prospective

Kaldheim

Kaldheim is upon us and is forcing Cube designers to ask themselves difficult questions, like whether they should use Snow basics and if modal-double-face-cards are worth the complexity they introduce. Find out how players are answering these questions in the results of our Cube survey!

Community Voices

2020 — Cube in Review

If you’re reading this, congratulations, you officially made it through 2020. While this was a challenging year for many of us, and for our favorite way to play Magic, that's even more reason to gather our friends from around the community and reminisce about the highlights of 2020 for Cube.

Design

An Introduction to the Degenerate Micro Cube

A primer on a cube with a 15 card minimum deck size that pushes the most powerful strategies in Magic’s history to their limits — a drafted format that plays like constructed Vintage.

Set Prospective

Commander Legends

Commander Legends offers a wealth of cards for EDH players, but what does it offer the Cube community? How do Cube designers feel about Monarch? Find out in the results of our CMR survey.

Theory

The First Four Questions Cube Designers Should Ask

We propose four basic questions that can help you communicate your Cube design goals to yourself and others.

Set Prospective

Zendikar Rising

Many are touting Zendikar Rising as the single best set of all time for Cube, but does the less vocal majority agree with these enthusiastic designers? Find out in the analysis of our survey results.

Tools

Regular Expressions: Powerful Magic Card Searching

Finding all cards that fit a particular effect or mechanical theme can be a challenge. Simple Regular Expressions enable powerful, nuanced searching.

Set Prospective

Core Set 2021

Core Set 2021 represents a return to a lower power level, but what does the Cube community think are its standout cards?

Set Prospective

Jumpstart

A new kind of supplemental product means new, non-standard legal design space, but does it bring new Cube cards?

Set Prospective

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Ikoria brings exciting new mechanics and a return to well-loved existing ones, but which cards are cube designers actually sleeving up from the new set?

Set Prospective

Commander 2020

We look at the cards cube designers are testing from Commander 2020 and analyze why so few of them made the cut.

Theory

An Ode to Scalable Threats

If you’re interested in making your cube faster, more powerful, and more skill testing you ought to consider an often overlooked category of cards: scalable threats.

Set Prospective

Theros Beyond Death

What does the Cube community think are the best cards from Theros Beyond Death? Which cards are the most contentious? Find out here!

Community Voices

2019 — Cube in Review

With 2019 in the rear-view mirror, we reached out to some of our friends to get their takes on the brightest moments from the past year for our favorite format — Cube.

Set Prospective

Throne of Eldraine

We take a look at what the Cube community thinks of Throne of Eldraine. Which cards are people testing, and which cards do they think will do well? Is Gingerbrute really what every aggro section needs?

Tireless Tracker

Analyzing Your Own Cube Drafts

An introduction to tracking and analyzing data from your own Cube drafts. We examine my dataset of 400 Cube decklists and analyze archetype balance, individual card strength, and color distributions. I also prove definitively that Jackal Pup one of the top ten cards in Cube.

Theory

The Vindicate Test

Our primer on the Vindicate Test — one of the most ubiquitous card-evaluation heuristics. What does it mean? How can you apply it to your game? Does your opponent have that removal spell? We’ll tell you once and for all.

Lucky Paper Newsletter

Our infrequent, text-only newsletter is a friendly way to stay up-to-date with what we’re doing at Lucky Paper. See past newsletters

Doran, the Siege Tower — Mark Zug