Using Little Pieces of Paper as a Supermassive Random Number Generator

Andy and Anthony talk about randomness in Magic, and specifically just how much randomness there is in a Cube draft. They talk about where randomness comes from and how different mechanics use the library or other sets of cards as a random source to make them work. They also go into their own preferences and how they thing about randomness in their Cube designs.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

• Bloomburrow and Bloomburrow Commander Surveys
• “Names of Large Numbers” on Wikipedia
• Episode 210: Raggadragga’s Lucky Paper Debut
• Crystalline Giant keyword tracking website
• The Oldest School Cube
• Jay’s Feature Match Moment
• Anthony on the Uber Cube podcast
• Blocked Party

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction and why you should cut your opponent’s deck

5:03 - Why randomness is maybe the most fundamental aspect of Magic: the Gathering

7:08 - Andy says some really big numbers to convince you Magic is really random

19:22 - Using your library as a random number generator

26:57 - Categorizing different types of ‘random’ cards

49:09 - Andy and Anthony’s approach to randomness as Cube designers, in summary

55:41 - Andy and Anthony’s favorite ‘random’ moments from games they’ve played

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. You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at [email protected] or our p.o. box:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.