Recross the Paths

A G.O.A.T. by any other name would still be a sweet draft! This week, Dave guides us through his synergy-driven peasant environment. We discuss designing for synergy in an increasingly powerful game, "the Box," inspiration for your own cube invitational, and more.

Dave is dnolan08 on Discord

Dave on CubeCobra https://www.cubecobra.com/user/view/5d8e33c43b499239566b7c91

The G.O.A.T. Peasant Cube on CubeCobra https://www.cubecobra.com/cube/overview/GOAT_peasant

Dave on Bsky https://bsky.app/profile/dnolan08.bsky.social

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In this conversation, Alex and I talk about cube and not about cube. We explore Upkeep, Alex's zine about cube as an outlet for other creativity, community, and chaos. Buckle up and enjoy the ride through unintentional therapy, a probably-stolen binder, heartache about foil stamps, and much more.

Alex on CubeCobra - https://cubecobra.com/user/view/5f1f15788b0b670fce74a752

Alatta - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/alatta

Alex is Alveric on Discord

Email the show at [email protected]

Enjoy a brief archival recording this week! Jake, Joe, Bones, and I talk about feedback on a quick car ride.

Midwinter: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/midwinter

World War of the Spark: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/wwrav

"Garden as though you will live forever" - William Kent

In this episode, Scott (the mind behind Upkeep New York and Cube for a Cause) shares his insight on The Garden, a context-shifting cube where players start with a Lotus Field in play. We discuss stretch goals, Type 1 cubes, the value of aesthetics in cube design, and much more.

The Garden on CubeCobra

Scott on CubeCobra

C4AC - Cube for a Cause

Scott on BlueSky

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May (also known as Myagic) unpacks finding the fun through May's Fae Cube! In this conversation we discuss aesthetics vs. gameplay, objective subjectivity, cube being like an ant farm, and much more.

May on CubeCobra

May's Fae Cube on CubeCobra

May on BlueSky

May is on the Uber Cube podcast!

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On this episode, Danny guides us through the graveyard-focused Soskube: the Second Hand. We also explore Cogwork Librarian, a tool he developed for advanced cube-building queries and creation. We discuss building toward target gameplay goals, reinventing projects that have lost their spark, using resources to go from idea to table more quickly, and more.

Dive into Cogwork Librarian at: https://coglib.sosk.watch/

Find Danny's personal projects at: https://danielsoskey.com/

Danny (soskube) on CubeCobra

Soskube: the Second Hand on CubeCobra

Danny is .jawnsnow on Discord

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"Creature spells? Where we're going, we don't need Creature spells!" - Ollie, probably

On this episode, Ollie guides us through The Creatureless Cube and - spoiler alert - there may be some creatures along the way. We discuss building with packages, cube as shared game design, serving your players, and more.

The Creatureless Cube on CubeCobra

Ollie on CubeCobra

Ollie on BlueSky

Ollie is @beeksy on Discord

Boston Cube Party official website

Boston Cube Party on BlueSky

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Join us in the Junderdome! In this episode, Tyler - the tyrant of The Jund Cube - guides us through this accessibly harsh tri-color environment. We discuss curating for an ethos, pitfalls and opportunities of color-restricted environments, ease-of-brain, and more.

The Jund Cube on CubeCobra

Tyler on CubeCobra

Tyler on BlueSky

Tyler is tylerpug on Discord

Email the show at [email protected]

Me: Can we draft Ikoria?

Mike: We have Ikoria at Home.

This week, Mike guides us through the 'big three' pillars of the Ikoria at Home cube - the iconic cycling archetype, kindred humans, and mutating monsters - and many of the design decisions that impact its ongoing curation. We discuss finding and building cohesion, balancing humility and intentionality, and more.

Mike (BigTears) on CubeCobra

Ikoria at Home on CubeCobra

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This week, Haiyue unpacks the art of casting for coverage and casting ultimatums! We discuss following an emotional cadence, building for greed, holding onto the reins of your own projects, and more.

Oops! All Pips on CubeCobra

Haiyue on Bluesky

Haiyue on Twitter

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"The modernity of yesterday is the tradition of today, and the modernity of today will be tradition tomorrow." - Jose Andres

In this thoroughly Modern conversation, Jabs takes us through The Modern Darlings Cube, a nostalgic museum of pre-Magic Origins constructed Modern with some thoughtful twists. We discuss digging deep to support archetypes, testing special seeded packs, not being afraid to seek out feedback, and more.

Jabs on CubeCobra

The Modern Darlings Cube on CubeCobra

Email the show at [email protected]

This week, Anthony of Lucky Paper talks through several of the cube design tools he's helped craft as well as the joy of curating cubes and play groups. We explore building thoughtful processes, chains of eroding frustrations, and doing the best you currently can.

All of the tools referenced are hosted on luckypaper.co

Anthony on CubeCobra

Anthony on Blusky

Anthony's Shuffling Article is complete!

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Blink and you'll miss it! This week, Ian shows off the value and fun of the Bant Cube. We also talk about his ongoing interview project, Cuberviews. We explore building from cards you own, designing in ways you enjoy, learning from varied perspectives, and more.

Find Cuberviews anywhere fine podcasts are hosted!

Ian on CubeCobra

The Bant Cube on CubeCobra

Ian is ianbraverman on Discord and Reddit

Email the show at [email protected]

When in Loam... This week, Gwen guides us through the intricacies of Loam Cube and talks about his role as the founder and admin of CubeCobra. We unpack considering archetypes in a color-imbalanced environment, convincing players to try new cubes, the joys and challenges of passion projects, and more.

Gwen is dekkaru on Discord

Loam Cube on CubeCobra

CubeCobra on Bluesky

Opportunities to support Gwen's work on CubeCobra including the CubeCobra Patreon

Email the show at [email protected]

This conversation is a landing place for curious designers and players about the particulars of building and interpreting land-restricted draft environments - Desert Cubes! Bones brings his tremendous expertise on the format to help highlight numbers, design ideas, and high-level ideas to help guide you toward your own positive Desert experience.

The Desert Cube (Corince) by Loxodon_Meyerarch

Amonkar Desert by Bones

Devoid Cube by Isticle

Dragons of Winter's Night by ChillMTG

The Monopoly by UberBear

Midwinter by Deinonychus

Giver Cube by The Oinkinator

Loam Cube by dekkerglen

Desert Rose by strogie

Post-Apocalyptic Cube by dinrovahorror

The Labyrinth by Bones

The Fire Swamp by aibretty

Pulp Nouveau by Parker (landofmordor)

Pulp Nouveau - A Tribute to Drafting Basic Lands by Parker LaMascus

Want more primers along with ongoing interviews? Let me know by emailing the show at [email protected]

This week, Arlo, the famous (or infamous) gaytransmulldrifter, guides us through a wild ride of projects and philosophy. We discuss how boring Jace, the Mind Sculptor is, building things your friends enjoy, whether you can actually be good at cube design, and more.

⁠Arlo's Podcast⁠ on Soundcloud

Arlo on CubeCobra

Pushstart on CubeCobra

The $5 Fair 'Nuff Cube on CubeCobra

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This week, Rojja shows off the bespoke and eclectic Rusty Box o' Goblins (also called the Cash Box). We discuss moonshine-flavored cards, jam sessions, the dangerous idea that other people were right all along, and more.

Rusty Box o' Goblins on CubeCobra

Photos of the Box!

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I took things slow for the holidays this week, so enjoy a totally self-indulgent custom design retrospective with my friends Bones and Kyle. Bones and I have worked on several custom projects over the years and we burn some windshield time reminiscing on the good, the bad, and everything in between. Regular interviews will resume next week!

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Color pie? Where we're going, we don't need the color pie! Dan guides us through the Devoid Cube and the Colorshifted Cube, two projects that challenge notions of color in cube construction. We discuss color balance (or lack thereof), using cube size as a tool, embracing dangerously refreshing confusion, and more.

Dan on CubeCobra

Devoid Cube on CubeCobra

Colorshifted Cube on CubeCobra

Dan on Bluesky

Cube 'Starter Pack' on Bluesky

Dan is isticle on Discord

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As iron sharpens iron, so one drafter sharpens another! Matt coordinates weekly drafts for designers and players in preparation for CubeCon. We discuss the process of hosting a digital draft for play on Magic Online, evaluating novel environments, the value of consistent scheduling, and more. Matt is mattbelcher on Discord

Join the CubeCon Discord at the following link and be sure to request the Digital Drafter role: https://discord.gg/pMgPQHCMQj

Email the show at [email protected]