Andy and Anthony talk about disenchant control decks in Andy's 100 Ornithopters Cube - again. They review their continued overperformance, why that conflicts with Andy's goals, and what's he's going to do about it.
Andy, Anthony, and Parker talk about Parker and Andy's respective "simple" cubes, Atavus and Sacred Geometry, and what it means to design a clean, approachable cube.
Andy and Anthony are joined by Jane and Arlo to talk about taste in Cube design. What is 'taste' in Magic? Can it be intentionally cultivated? Exactly what does Rothko have in common with Spirit of the Night?
Andy and Anthony talk about the specific challenge in cube design trying to play a counter point to others, but finding them supporting each other instead.
In the afterglow of the second annual Boston Cube Party, Andy and Anthony recap their experience at the tournament, paying special attention to reviewing the deckslists from the first few drafts of Andy's new cube, Sacred Geometry.
Andy and Anthony talk all things combo including their personal history with a sometimes divisive deck strategy and how they approach it in Cubes they design.
Andy and Anthony talk with Carmen Klomparens, lead designer of the Foundations Starter Collection, about the set and how it could be used as a Cube starting point.
Andy and Anthony review the decklists from drafts of their cubes at CubeCon 2023, discussing what they can learn from the decks and potential future directions for their cubes.
Andy and Anthony talk about the cards Cube Cobra's analytic tools recommend they cut from their main Cubes, and about the limitations of, and necessary context to understand, these tools.
Andy and Anthony talk about Cube restrictions. Designers impose all kinds of restrictions on the cards they put into a Cube to help them push boundaries, meet budges, or found a clear identity for an environment.
Andy and Anthony talk about "Xerox Theory", a strategic Magic concept. Andy explains the history and origins of the idea and how it applies different to early and contemporary Magic.
Andy and Anthony follow up on their discussion with Sam Black on 'big' and 'small' games considering community feedback and attempting to quantitatively analyze their own Cubes.
Andy and Anthony talk about testing their Cubes. How do you create a feedback loop and assess whether or not your design decisions are having their intended effect?
Andy and Anthony respond to an episode of The Eternal Glory Podcast and discuss reasons and motivations to ban cards in formats. They compare the creative process of banning cards to Cube design.
Andy and Anthony discuss building a Cube from your existing collection, including the pros and cons of working with what you have and a process for shaping a Cube.
Andy and Anthony talk about the role and importance of one mana spells — how the first play of a deck is the foundation of a plan, and mana costs dictate the sequence of gameplay.
Andy and Anthony are discussing the nuanced differences in their approaches to Cube design, taking a few cards as case studies to help them articulate their goals.
Andy and Anthony are discussing power level and its impacts on designing a cube. How do big outliers affect an environment? Is a truly flat power level possible, or even desirable?
Cube Design
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