The Nature of Combo in Cube

Andy and Anthony talk about combos. What is a combo? Is it a spectrum? Almost certainly. How are they related to the aggro-midrange-control metagame? How do they affect the draft and gameplay of a given Cube? Does Anthony hate combos? Does Andy hate combos? Only one way to find out.

⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠

Discussed in this episode:

• Lucky Paper Radio — The ABCs of Aggro
• Lucky Paper Radio — The ABCs of Control
• Bosh n Roll on YouTube
• Lucky Paper Radio — Guest Episode with Ryan Saxe
• Anthony’s Personal Journey through Cube Design Article
• Andy’s broken Fastbond Roto deck on YouTube:
• Boonta Vista
• Well There’s Your Problem
• Til’ Death do us Blart
• The Worst Idea of All Time
• The Neighborhood Listen

Cubes Mentioned:

• Bun Magic Cube
• Regular Cube
• Degenerate Micro Cube
• Neoclassical Cube
• The Turbo Cube
• The Irregular Cube
• Lyserg’s Legacy Cube
• Ryan Saxe’s Buildaround Cube
• Ligma Cube
• “The Pube” a.k.a Rally The Peasants
• AiBretty’s Cube

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

0:58 - How good is Whitemane Lion plus Oketra’s Monument?

3:08 - Why is combo not Anthony’s favorite style of gameplay?

8:53 - What is a ‘combo’? What is a ‘combo deck’?

20:08 - The tension between heuristics and individual cards

24:09 - Does Andy hate combo?

31:10 - The impacts of combo on gameplay and sequencing

39:35 - How does the presence of combo affect the draft?

45:34 - Satisfying different desires with different cubes

49:01 - Balancing combo alongside fair decks

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 want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube submit it on our website. Send in questions to the show at [email protected]. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.