Cube Feelbads: Breaking Zero-Sum Fun in Magic

Our Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Cube survey is open! Please take a few minutes to let us know what you’re testing in your cube from the new set.

Andy and Anthony talk about the ‘feelbad’ moments in Magic and the cards that are more likely to create them. This seemingly narrow topic turns out to be one of the most critical and easy to take for granted aspects of Cube design: how do we make it fun? They pick out some of the most likely cards they play that can lead to negative experiences, why those experiences create the emotional responses they do, and where that risk is worthwhile.

Our listener submitted pack 1, pick 1 this week comes from Nick’s Noob Cube, a Cube designed to be approachable for new players including uncommons and doubled up commons. Nick created the amazing MTG Multiverse project, cataloging cards from the planes of Magic. Invaluable to designers building set themed cubes.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 — Official Cube banlist update
• 4:18 — Listener submitted pack 1, pick 1
• 10:20 — What is a "feelbad"
• 12:51 — Cards people think have feelbad potential in Andy's Bun Magic Cube
• 15:06 — Is Magic a Zero Fun game?
• 19:09 — Cards Andy himself thinks are feelbads in his Bun Magic Cube
• 27:43 — Combat tricks, Force Spikes, and feelbads in Anthony’s Regular Cube
• 40:17 — The agony and the ecstasy of Whitemane Lion and cards it feels bad to win with
• 46:30 — Effect density
• 48:43 — Repetitive play patterns
• 50:02 — Inheriting impressions from other formats and exceptions to the rules
• 53:17 — Esper Sentinel vs Thalia and perceived choices
• 55:05 — The inherent feelbad of variance
• 55:58 — Is there a way to make natural power outliers not feelbads?
• 59:51 — Summary — TLDL;

Discussed in this episode:

• The restaurant has a rule about not eating all the fully loaded nachos
• No rubbing linseed oil into the school cormorant
• The Multiverse Project, cataloging cards set on Magic’s Planes
• Fuschia Dunlop’s The Food of Sichuan
• The Mala Market (originally Land of Plenty)

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

• Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
• Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

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.