MTG - Intermediate Cube Construction - A Guide For Developing Magic: The Gathering Cubes

[@MrKennethb83]

I am New to building cubes and I’m lucky to have found you a long time ago cause now I can look through your older videos and find gems like this. You truly are pillar in the Mtg community where would we all be without you prof?!?

[@timkellaway6183]

agreed. clearly the most wholesome wizard in the multiverse. :)

[@boardgamenerd]

I just finished my Modern Pauper cube and I'm super excited to start playing with it!!! I had the roleplaying group that I DM come over to test it, and I threw in a proxy black lotus. That was an interesting experience!

[@andrewcleary9952]

0:57 This is why I love TCC.

[@obeycelestia]

The great thing about cube is cube is great. It's a big pile of legos that everyone gets to build with-- and everyone gets a say in what goes in the lego pile! Cube is a journey not a destination, that's why it will be forever entertaining. :D

[@justatinyhalfling]

This video series is incredibly invaluable to building cubes, our cube profited greatly from the advice provided here. Thank you so much professor!

[@LifeBeginsAt20]

Himself and Milo inspired me to make a cube and create content. Their advice has been invaluable!

[@davidmerten-jones2862]

My favorite card that's only good (and, for that matter, legal to play) in cube is Booster Tutor. If you interpret "booster pack" as "cube pack," it's one of the most powerful cube cards, it leads to exciting "this is they only way I can win this game" situations, and in decks that can produce black mana, it's frequently a higher pick than power.

[@Pringlesman]

Favorite "Cube" card: Reasembling Skeleton. It does so much work in the format. Works great in pox/stax decks. Infinite blocker. Always available to swing in the red zone (and threatening if you have a sword), great for sac outlets. The card is good.

[@amdnable]

oh THANKS Prof, that's exactly the kind of content you make that I love. Using beaten up cards is a great idea!

[@jamesjohnson-brown2311]

NICE way of letting the prof know you're being sarcastic!

[@amdnable]

+James Johnson-Brown Actually no I love cube and I love the prof's tutorialistic videos

[@eric81757]

I love crystal shard and erratic portal. Glad they got a mention at the end

[@pikemand1410]

Honestly, I would never recommend it for anything else, but when it comes to cube I see nothing wrong with using actual counterfeit cards, it's functionally the same as using proxies but it doesn't look as jarring. Just make sure to irreversibly label them (permanent marker on the back works) and keep them separated from the rest of your collection.

[@Pringlesman]

+Goldenhand The Just Thats what I did with my Jace, Imperial Recruiter, and Ravages of War. The back of all three of them say proxy also.

[@AlessandrodAmito]

I love drafting cube! To keep the price of my cube low and on budget I started building a Pauper Cube and, since Theros, i started writing "articles" on which common I like the most for a general Pauper Cube. It ended to be a free Pauper Cube upgraded constantly with fun common cards and some of my friends followed my advice and started building their own. Its just great!

[@MiloDaGreat1]

Where can I read your articles? Would love to check them out!

[@AlessandrodAmito]

Milo: The Gathering I have a blog but I warn you, I'm Italian ;) I hope I'm not breaking any rule leaving the link ;) if so, I'm sorry Professor. fanatismi.blogspot.it/search/label/Magic%20the%20Gathering

[@markdugan7696]

I've been building a cube for khans recently. I had my friends help design it. the only stipulations I had for the design were, 1 all cards had to be from the khans block and 2 they had to be all common cards. so far the cube only needs 40 more cards, and it only cost me 12 $. with the games my friends and I have played we really enjoy it. because of the small size of the cube (360 cards) we each take 3 stacks of 14 cards and then 5 random rares, from those rares we discard 2 of them and then make our decks. thank you professor for the idea of cube.

[@cristalpowah]

As an alternate solution to proxy is to create your own cards and test it with your friends my cube has now 200 balanced custom card out of 700-800 cards. It took time and investment but now its probably one of the most fun and unique cube out there.

[@namelessfire]

I cannot recommend using proxies enough. I use proxies for my mama base mostly (dual lands, shock lands, fetch lands). I will say, although I generally stick with singleton, the best decision I made was running two copies of each fetch. It greatly improved the drafting and gameplay environment.

[@jetcell4517]

mama base

[@pierceblokhine9487]

I would make a cube IF i had some people to play with...FeelsBadMan

[@MiloDaGreat1]

+Pierce Blokhine I'm coming over. :P

[@pierceblokhine9487]

how? got school sorry

[@MiloDaGreat1]

+Pierce Blokhine just kidding! :P

[@nicholascallis]

+Pierce Blokhine Same boat over here.

[@pierceblokhine9487]

ok good XD

[@danieltincknell7614]

That KZbin award looks great in your office!

[@PIZZLEdeTWIZZLE]

2 cube videos in one day ! Oh my ! :D

[@PIZZLEdeTWIZZLE]

Lol ... I should change that avatar picture, ALL I get are The Room quotes when I post something :P

[@stormcry0]

Don't change it man! +PIZZLEdeTWIZZLE unless , anyway, how is your sex life? btw, do you want me to order a pizza?

[@PIZZLEdeTWIZZLE]

hahaha, sound like you are the Expert Will !

[@DeKay1471]

Oh, hi mark. ;)

[@WindyDelcarlo]

Thank you for this XD It's not a goal, but a process. The process of creating a fun cube.

[@spizzerspunk]

Just noticed the gold play button on your shelf! Congrats!

[@romeocasido5723]

Using the Pro Player cards that use to be in Magic packs is a great proxy in place of invitation card staples. A Bob Maher pro player card would be way cooler than a dark confidant

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

OMG Got distracted by some of your books. The Magicians and Magician King to be exact. Nice taste Prof!

[@undeaddueler13]

speaking of altered cards, for my commander deck i bought a sensei's divining top with topman (megaman) for $10 cheaper.

[@izmazix2148]

Love it prof, thanks for the hard work. Everyone should check out "is it worth it to buh a starter cube"

[@nurgle0171]

great video prof. I am glad your continuing the cube series on your channel. also great to see you working with with milo the gathering, his channel is great. anyway keep up the great work, and thanks for the videos.

[@xXNoFateXx]

im a fan of the 3 color cube. not sure if anyone else has tried this but my Cube is a Junk colors only cube... and its awesome.

[@gilbertdarisse8524]

I love my CUBE. Built one a while ago, and it's in desparate need of tweaking and upgrades. Might actually use the Proxy idea. Hm... could be fun to include cards that I will never ever be able to afford.

[@dannyzep92]

Great video professor. Thank you for the other release with Milo the Gathering. Glad to see proxies are okay in cube

[@2DNoodles]

A strange cube question. With so many cards, what is the best (most effective and efficient) way to shuffle and randomize your cube?

[@JsnowTTV]

Sweet been wanting a video like this

[@br41nc3ll]

Please do more cube videos! Also, I've been curious on how to play conspiracy 2 the sealed way, rather than draft. I like the cards, but I'm conflicted between keeping the set together as a whole and ripping out the multiplayer oriented cards along with the basis of this set. I've assumed the best alternative is to make a set cube, but only use it for drafting and not sealed. Is that a good assumption? Note: I prefer playing 1v1 with friends, and making a sealed deck from 6 packs worth of cards, rather than drafting the cards.

[@LifeBeginsAt20]

A conspiracy cube works really nicely and there are a lot of 1v1 drafting formats that'll enable to use the cube in a way which I'm sure you'd enjoy playing. I've covered a fair few in my Cube For Two series, with more still to come. I loved playing conspiracy 2, it was a shame that the set wasn't really out long before the next set came. Hope you're still enjoying playing it.

[@NachozMan]

Professor have you/ do you think you will ever make a Video talking about the Economy in MTG? Focally after events like the OGWPT that just happened last weekend? Or possibly an analysis of the tour just getting out your general thoughts? Maybe I just love hearing you talk but I think it'd be an interesting subject at least.

[@liperuf]

I loved those fractals

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

I'm building a "Classic Cube" (only cards from 6th ed. or older / Arabian Nights - Urza block). What are good mana-fixing lands on a budget? Also, it's meant to be 'peasant' rarities only: no rares allowed. It's mostly going to be built from the bulk commons and uncommons I've accumulated since the 90s.

[@maelstrom197]

Professor, what's your opinion on the recent PTOGW Top 8?

[@Locustnism]

I'm very keen to hear Prof's take on this too.

[@En_Djinn]

I own a 720+ card Powered Cube and use proxies for just under half of it. They are high quality but obviously not real when taken out of a sleeve and it allows people at my LGS to play with all the old cards and combos without the need for me to spend $30,000 (the TCG low price of my cube).

[@jacobschwartz4940]

Professor, would you mind doing an EDH guide to Jor Kadeen, The Prevailer? I'd be interested to see how you would approach building around him.

[@adwins1257]

For the mana fixing thing, I've been thinking of having an extra "land pack" to draft after each pack is finished, so players can focus on getting the cards they want without having to worry about passing the rest of a pack for a fixer or being left with a fixer you can't/won't use. Making this work would need multiples, yes, but I think it could be worth it without resorting to letting players simply handpick their mana base. What do you think?

[@MiloDaGreat1]

I have played Cubes like that and it works really well!

[@stormcry0]

+Adwins sounds like a good idea, gonna try that next time we play cube! :) ty (I always build my cubes with multiples so no a problem there :P)

[@bubsman5918]

Love that new silver play button...keep up the great work! :P

[@Carbon762]

My favorite card that isn't played outside cube is Isochron Scepter!

[@sennanieto6952]

great video again! (btw there is a typo in the titel :)

[@JoopBananenbuiger]

Hey, cool mandelcube backgrounds!

[@kenbaker2111]

Hey professor can you do a video on rogue/budget deck building for the modern and legacy formats. I've found myself really wanting to play different decks at my locals but I find myself steering clear of most of those decks either because they are out of my price range and I am unable to find a budget version, or the deck just doesn't work well in the format in its current state and I don't know enough about the format/card pool to adjust it properly. I am just unsure of how I can go about making the deck that I want to play work in the format too a point where I can do well at my locals despite there being a large quantity of top tier decks in the format. My best example is my modern vampire tribal deck that I have been working on since Zendikar left standard. I just wanna play it at my locals and not do horribly because it is not top tier. Thanks :)

[@jimvanchiere5147]

Professor, will you be making a video about creating a competitive, budget standard deck?

[@kynandesouza]

yay CUBE! the best mtg format

[@Silhouette0827]

Mr. Lewis (forgive me if spelled the other way) what is your favorite tarkir clan and dragon

[@christopheracea5835]

How would you go about testing fantasy cards in Cube? For example me and a couple of my friends tried drafting a Star Wars MTG set that was made by someone online and liked it. So I've been considering adding some to the cube as well as making some of our own cards. What's your opinion on this?

[@JamesTaylor-bo8cv]

If I find a bunch of players that like one type of strategy I.E aggro, control, midrange or combo, should I design the cube for only one of those archetypes? What about a mono coloured cube or a cube missing a colour? Is that going to far in the design?

[@KL-oj2my]

Great video, question though: how many copies of a card should be in a single cube?

[@Arghore]

Hiya Professor, would you say that building a pauper cube might well be the best place to start if one is on a budget? ... or wouldn't that be possible due to not having dual-lands as a option in pauper? ... or say, pheasant (which includes uncommens), mainly because there is mana fixing through lands at the uncommon level...

[@greengrapejelly]

Your Gaea's Cradle makes mine look like it's in mint condition.

[@jimmerfaust5044]

I love the idea of cube. Players at my LGS are interested in drafting but never seem to have the money or the card shop doesnt have the product to draft with. Nor do I think I have the energy or patience to make up my own cube (maybe down the road). Is it frowned upon to copy another persons cube?

[@klobbson]

+Jimmer Faust As far as I know, hell no. Copy someone elses cube how much you want! You may want to give credit if anyone asks, but otherwise I think it's fair game. I even think that was one of the tips the professor gave in the beginner's guide for building a cube.

[@Brad980]

Professor, are there changes you would make besides the size for a cube that would be mostly used for 4 people drafts?

[@ethanfraser1]

I love your vids! 😀

[@Horatiuy]

Now that is official they will not release any Clash packs and Event decks the only formats you can play as collector casual are only the casual ones. I recommend cube and commander and draft. Other formats like modern and standard are pay to win 100% from 2016. Have fun with magic guys, this is the most important!

[@TheGreatMillz]

What is your opinion on the discontinuation of event decks and clash packs?

[@DMB00085]

Professor, I first got into Magic when Kaladesh and Aether Revolt came out. So I started to build a Set Cube consisting of all KLD and AER cards. I went and gathered (1) of every card in KLD and AER just to realize that most people follow a format of (4) of every Common (2) of every Uncommon (1) of every Rare and (1) of every Mythic. I thought my Cube was finished and now I have so far to go. Do I have to follow this 4/2/1/1 format? Thanks!

[@haroldedinjiklian6267]

welcome to the 110 club

[@Hagdar83]

Are none basic lands nesesery for a cube? I have enough cards for a cube but 30+ lands are going to be tricky. If I only use mono color cards, could I use less none basic lands?

[@Goblikin]

I have an idea but I dont know where to post it so I will leave it here. You said you wrote some novels throughout middle and highschool. What if someone donated a certain amount and paid the printing fees? Would you allow people to start receiving your novels?

[@joshuadargan5935]

1/3 of my cube are proxies. Whenever someone wins, I let them design 1 or 2 cards to add for my cube.

[@andimoscoso3183]

Thanks prof...

[@jonathanbirsby]

professor would it be advisable/possible to build a cube without blue and blue inspired card of other colors to answer or show the blue is necessary and important to Magic

[@metalsabatico]

opinions on what's next for modern after what just happened at the pro tour, pls

[@loganxd117]

Proffesor i need help, i want to do a 4 player cube, i think this would be best since i prefer portability and quick games but, other than ratio and size, what should i focus on to keep it fun?

[@bmatth06]

if I was considering one of those wooden cube box's you reviewd but double sleeved my cards and wanted to do a 540 cube how much extra room would I need because the double sleeves???

[@GunsofSummer628]

Wonder if a hybrid set cube of Old Ravnica and New Ravnica would be any good... :o

[@reelstuka6162]

@tolarian community college I run about thirty multicolor lands in my new 540 card cube. I think I should run more, what do you think?

[@jms1545]

Let's give that spell check button a click, English major :)

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Jordan Sadler, sometimes I wonder if those are deliberate for comedic effect.

[@vladimirvlaskov9881]

The link for "What is a Cube" doesn't work

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

+Vladimir Vlaskov kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH-nc4eIfJuem68

[@vladimirvlaskov9881]

+Tolarian Community College Thanks!

[@EclipseWhites]

When do the best cards in Standard hit their lowest price? In addition to tournament playables, when do cards like the newest Planeswalkers hit their lowest price?

[@LifeBeginsAt20]

I tend to pick mine up once they're rotated out of standard or when their deck isn't top tier anymore at pro-tour. Normally the cost then plummets.

[@flashflayer6465]

I always for the new set I add 5 new cards from each color and colorless and duel colored

[@heirkaiba]

I made a cube of the worst rares/mythics in Magic History! It usually has to do in price so most of the cards are around $5 or less. It's really fun but it does feel somewhat overbearing sometimes...

[@ozmond]

5 years ago it would’ve been a REALLY good idea to be buying actual dual lands

[@Zack-fk1td]

where can I find some blank proxies?

[@ArcKayNine]

I'm pretty sure cube is sanctioned, you can host cube events for FNM.

[@Kira0vs0L]

"What set am I talking about?" Imagine if someone told you we'd be back through kamigawa by now

[@compoundingcompliance5905]

The vids @ 52 aren't linked.

[@SeraphimKnight]

Some of the world championship cards are still quite expensive, sadly. Not nearly as expensive as the original, valid copies, but still. 40-50$ for what is essentially a proxy is just not something I'm willing to pay...

[@xChikyx]

Proxys? fuck yeah, i'm planning to build my cube 110% proxy :D Also planning to make a proxy with custom cards :)

[@Fakeromon]

i have a playset of those gold-bordered force of wills. but i've searched everywhere for their prices and can't seem to encounter them. can someone please tell me?

[@stormcry0]

+Fakeromon link: www.trollandtoad.com/p1044418.html

[@Liewie]

I am planning/searching for a 60 Card Deck with Sideboard. But I want a 2in1 Deck. What I mean? Your Main-Deck will not be the same, if you switching ALL cards from your Sideboard into your Deck. For example: Your Main-Deck is a Storm-Deck and after sideboarding, you'll have a Scapeshift-Combo-Deck or something like that. Have anyone some ideas or Decklists for something like that? :3

[@quintencrook6068]

the only thing I can think of is oops all spells into Raging Belcher in Legacy.

[@wavingatfat9650]

You can play Jeskai Ascendancy, and then Sideboard into Mill (or the Other way around), since the Cards currently have mostly the same Cards.

[@johndemos1180]

what music does he use?

[@alanyuan8565]

BUILD A CUBE. It is SO FUN

[@DalmatinacIDwaPole]

I don't mean to be an annoyance but Developing is misspelled in the title of the video. Just a heads up. Good video like always!

[@hernanalonzorodriguez5768]

can a planeswalker be a comander

[@hydra66]

problem I have is that I'm a paranoid person. Have built up a collection over the yrs. Worried about putting expensive cards in and playing with strangers.

[@MiloDaGreat1]

NOOB CUBE! Or proxies?

[@SamuelKioEDH]

Or you could include original duals, fetches and shocks.... and actually have an interesting cube.

[@lambchopsmtl]

I don't agree with you on the land fixing needing to be an auto include. Styborski for example really restricts how much land is in his pauper cube. He has said that he doesn't want to support multicolour. His cube focuses on 2 colour strategies. I would argue that you don't need fixing at all.

[@lambchopsmtl]

*providing the cube is focused on 2 colour pairings of course ;)

[@benjaminfraley5540]

Step One to make a better cube: Add true-name nemesis. (it won't go wrong I promise)

[@sQuibleable]

Cube is where my conspiracy cards see use

[@AFunkyFresh1]

Has anyone cubed the Star Wars set? If so, thoughts?

[@quintencrook6068]

I only did it once, and it was a deck that someone else drafted (long story), but it was still very fun and interesting.

[@mtgguy4825]

What is a proxy

[@mtgguy4825]

Now I know

[@hexacomb4946]

7:25 m21

[@88Hyo]

Me and a friend designed (but didn't built) The REAL MEN'S CUBE: 100 lighning bolts, 100 goblin guides, no limit for how many of a card you can have in your deck.

[@Scribblescrabbly]

:)

[@Spyderfarmman]

I want to make a cube with 4 copies of commons and uncommons 2 of the rares and 1 mythic of an entire set call it "Epic (insert set name here)"

[@Spyderfarmman]

*there was a 3 next to uncommons

[@jort93z]

+Jose Gonzalez you can do that. there is even sites that sell whole sets.

[@jort93z]

not that i know anything about cube lol.

[@Spyderfarmman]

Yup gonna buy origins hopefully have a good 4p game

[@jort93z]

Jose Gonzalez i like the pain lands from origins. i play them in my aggro warrior deck.

[@StarDoesntUpload]

I just proxy my cubes. After all, only me and my friends will draft it, so who cares?

[@88Hyo]

Professor, seeing the thumbnail for your older cube videos, I have a request for you: Don't get a haircut ever again. At least notone that extreme XD You look so weird.