Episode 79— January 3rd, 2022

Power Cuts Both Ways

2:09
Introduction to topic
3:48
What even is “power” and the importance of context
7:48
Do’s and don’ts of thinking about power level as it applies to your cube
11:50
The wider variety of cards available to lower-power cubes
15:18
Why designing at a lower power level is so difficult
24:08
Getting to play with pet cards
27:54
Why you actually don’t need to worry about power level early on
29:08
Power level’s relatedness to speed, consistency, and interactivity
35:42
The correlation between complexity and power level
39:22
The importance of expectations and perceptions
40:42
The financial cost of power
48:22
Why is playing with more powerful cards more fun?
1:01:14
A revolutionary new naming paradigm that will finally rid the cube community of the “more powerful is better” fallacy forever

In an attempt to record a canonical episode about the concept of power level and how it applies to cube, our heroes are chatting about the advantages and disadvantages playing with the most powerful cards and effects. How is power level actually defined? How is it related to the speed and removal density of a format? What deck from Anthony’s Irregular Cube could possibly beat a deck from Andy’s Degenerate Micro Cube? Answers to all these questions and more within.

Discussed in this episode:

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You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited, your pronouns, a link to your cube if relevant. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

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Open Fire — Jason Kang