I'm not sure if this has been a topic ever, but I did a search and didn't find anything. If it is, my bad.
I recently came up with the idea of having a "cube" of less-than-stellar cards. A friend suggested I call it the Sphere (as I mentioned in the title, it'd be the opposite of most cubes you've seen). I've started trying to come up with some cards to put in it, but I was hoping to get some input from others: what would you expect to see in this "set"?
These cards don't have to be terrible, but they shouldn't be better than mediocre. They probably also shouldn't be narrowly focused, lest they not be played at all for no relevance (i.e. Great Wall is a terrible card, but unless I put in a ton of creatures with Plainswalk - what, 3 or so? - it's not relevant in a limited format. Likewise, a bunch of cards hose players for playing snow-covered lands, which are probably also not a good idea.)
In general, the cards I've chosen so far are inefficient and expensive, or don't affect the game much. One good example is Lord Magnus, a good example of most of these (he's overcosted for his power and toughness, and he has 2 "abilities" that hardly affect the game. Another example is Verdigris, which is a significantly more expensive half of Naturalize.
Any thoughts? I'm open to lots of suggestions. Thanks!
I have a whacko-cube (what i call it).
It's actually not a cube that can be draftet with, but only to play a format where you can put down your cards from your hand facedown, to be used as basic lands of any type.
This cube is mainly for multiplayer, but nvm on that.
My point is that it contains many mediocre cards, as i've decided it should only contain rares and only good creatures over 7 in manacost.
That results in very fun games of weird "enchant world" type of cards and battles with dragons and angels.
This idea has been tossed around for a while and it sounds like fun. Though I think you want to be careful as it could easily go from amusing the first few drafts to utterly abysmal. I would avoid boring cards like Squire and include more interesting effects. Warp World for example.
Thanks! You guys have come up with some great suggestions. I'd love to hear more if you come up with them! I'll post the list when we've decided on it...in case anyone else wants to do one, it'll be a good place to start.
My full powered cube is almost complete - what the hell am I going to do now?!?!!?!?
I know,
I'LL BUILD A SPHERE!!!!
I think I'll build it with the following rules:
1] No vanilla creatures that aren't fat (they are boring as hell)
2] All cards in the sphere will have never been constructed playable
3] PINK SLEEVES!!!!
Ok, some of the worst/interesting-but-bad cards off the top of my head, inspired by various articles on the interbubs:
and the best of them all Wheel of Fate (the blue one is stupid).
Wheel of Fate actually saw some competitive play in neo-dstorm. A "sphere" environment should be slow enough that it would really shine and be a high pick. (The last 3 are still questionable though....)
I think we need Ice caludron here. It's not abysmal, but it is fairly bad, and more important, needlessly complicated.
What about "bad" favorites, cards that just seemed so cool when you were a noob?
1. Cards like mudhole are never going to see play (unless you do back draft), I don't think you should include cards of such awfulness.
2. Horrible lands like Teferi's Island will not be played. I'll just play a basic land over it.
Why have a card in the sphere if its never going to be played. You might as well just have a blank card. I think it would be more fun to have horrible, but yet decent by comparison cards. Like Chimney Imp. It's god awful. But at least it flies. If I'm low on creatures, I would still play it in a black deck. There is a difference in bad and useless cards. One can be fun, the other not so much.
For the first three turns it's out, your doing nothing, meaning your getting stomped.
After that your (or you're for those who are picky) just playing something you could've played 4th turn already, except you have no 1, 2, and most likely 3 drops.
This card just licks the nuts.
I also think Masticore should go in.
Let's see, 1 it costs you a card per turn. So while your opponent is playing card's your ditching them and keep just a 4/4.
It's an artifact. AKA it's vulnerable to both artifact and creature destroy and burn.
It's abilities cost SOOO much. Regen for two is OKAY, but doing 1 dmg for 2? That at most is like 1 more dmg after you play him out, because since your ditching a card anyways, you know you want to save that mana for the regen. AND it doesn't even hit the player! If you want an ability like that, see the upgraded version, aka Kumano!
Right, I’m gonna make this sphere if it kills me (or my group!!):
Sphere breakdown:
360 cards (8 man draft)
45x Black
45x Blue
45x Red
45x Green
45x white
50x Artifact
25x Land
60x Multi / hybrid
Artifacts
Artifacts in the sphere should help out with casting the horrible casting costs of the aweful cards in your deck – hence I’ve gone for a mana fixing heavy theme for my sphere artifacts.
Well I think really what needs to be adressed here is how bad do you make the cards? I say to start off, you throw in the worst cards, play with it, and see how it turns out. Than balance from there. That's because I really don't think we can judge somethign like this without playing it. If I can at least play with those terrible cards, than at least I have an idea of what can make those terrible card's more viable, or if you have to draft the decks differently.
Than if there's really no way but to not make it a true sphere (That being a sphere with all the worst cards ever printed), than decide what cards are cut.
As for your list, already jack-in-the-mox is good. U can consider it free colorless mana!
The diamonds are still mana accel, though not the best.
I don't know, I think some of those cards are just not bad enough. I would say start with the worst of the worst, than build from there. I see a lot of messed up combo's coming to light.
I don't know, I think some of those cards are just not bad enough. I would say start with the worst of the worst, than build from there. I see a lot of messed up combo's coming to light.
Hmm.. I agree... ok, let's start a little more slowly then - I'd like to work on ARTIFACT MANA fixing cards.
This is just a first look at mana artifacts - can anyone think of any real stinkers left off the list of mana artifacts, or are any of the above too good?
I've purposely excluded 'duplicates' - ie there are a ton of artifacts that cost 3 and add 1 colourless - I think only including one instance of such a duplicate is necessary, mainly to avoid your drafters from falling asleep!!!
I think that will be funny though getting to put your Chimney Imp into play for free. On the other hand, Fireshrieker and Scythe of the Wretched are both very good cards, definately too good for sphere!
I recently came up with the idea of having a "cube" of less-than-stellar cards. A friend suggested I call it the Sphere (as I mentioned in the title, it'd be the opposite of most cubes you've seen). I've started trying to come up with some cards to put in it, but I was hoping to get some input from others: what would you expect to see in this "set"?
These cards don't have to be terrible, but they shouldn't be better than mediocre. They probably also shouldn't be narrowly focused, lest they not be played at all for no relevance (i.e. Great Wall is a terrible card, but unless I put in a ton of creatures with Plainswalk - what, 3 or so? - it's not relevant in a limited format. Likewise, a bunch of cards hose players for playing snow-covered lands, which are probably also not a good idea.)
In general, the cards I've chosen so far are inefficient and expensive, or don't affect the game much. One good example is Lord Magnus, a good example of most of these (he's overcosted for his power and toughness, and he has 2 "abilities" that hardly affect the game. Another example is Verdigris, which is a significantly more expensive half of Naturalize.
Any thoughts? I'm open to lots of suggestions. Thanks!
It's actually not a cube that can be draftet with, but only to play a format where you can put down your cards from your hand facedown, to be used as basic lands of any type.
This cube is mainly for multiplayer, but nvm on that.
My point is that it contains many mediocre cards, as i've decided it should only contain rares and only good creatures over 7 in manacost.
That results in very fun games of weird "enchant world" type of cards and battles with dragons and angels.
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
The hits just keep coming.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
All of the vanilla legends from legends would have to go in.
Sorrow's Path, Chimney Imp, Zephyr Spirit, Cathartic Adept, lots of really bad an inefficient lifegain cards like Soul's Grace, Iname as One, Takeno's Cavalry, Trusted Advisor, Mana Seism, Vigilance (and other inefficient Auras), Inner Fire, Reliquary Tower and the like.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Facebook.
Alters Blog.
If these haven't been mentioned, these are shoe-ins (I had a quick scan):
Wood Elemental (truly god awful)
Norin the Wary
Moonlace
Cosmic Larva (not bad per se, but self-destructive and fun)
Phyrexian Etchings
Spell Snip
Last Stand
I'll add more as I think of them
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I know,
I'LL BUILD A SPHERE!!!!
I think I'll build it with the following rules:
1] No vanilla creatures that aren't fat (they are boring as hell)
2] All cards in the sphere will have never been constructed playable
3] PINK SLEEVES!!!!
Ok, some of the worst/interesting-but-bad cards off the top of my head, inspired by various articles on the interbubs:
Meteor Crater
Teferi's Isle
Reclusive Wight
Fungus Elemental
North Star
Index
Erosion
Shrieking Mogg
Blessed Wind
Psychic Theft
Soulgorger Orgg
Rhystic Cave
Minion of the Wastes
Chimney Imp
Goblin Lyre
Animal Magnetism
Sporogenesis
Strongarm Tactics
Hawkeater Moth
Rapid Fire
Warping Wurm
Mercadian Lift
fun times
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
also, consider Un-cards. Water Gun Balloon Game is a personal fave.
EDIT: and how could i forget those beautiful Time Spiral tributes to the classics: Hypergenesis, Living End, Restore Balance, and the best of them all Wheel of Fate (the blue one is stupid).
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
I am John Galt.
Wheel of Fate actually saw some competitive play in neo-dstorm. A "sphere" environment should be slow enough that it would really shine and be a high pick. (The last 3 are still questionable though....)
I think we need Ice caludron here. It's not abysmal, but it is fairly bad, and more important, needlessly complicated.
What about "bad" favorites, cards that just seemed so cool when you were a noob?
Uncle Istvan
Nial Sylvan
Lord of the Pit
Cosmic Horror
Erg Raiders
Most auras - including Unholy Strength
Kjeldoran Dead
Hecatomb (actually pretty strong in mono-B if you get it to stick)
Hmm, these are mostly black. Love some of those awful drawbacks experimented with in those days.
also, consider using the old ante rule (Tempest Efreet FTW).
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
1. Cards like mudhole are never going to see play (unless you do back draft), I don't think you should include cards of such awfulness.
2. Horrible lands like Teferi's Island will not be played. I'll just play a basic land over it.
Why have a card in the sphere if its never going to be played. You might as well just have a blank card. I think it would be more fun to have horrible, but yet decent by comparison cards. Like Chimney Imp. It's god awful. But at least it flies. If I'm low on creatures, I would still play it in a black deck. There is a difference in bad and useless cards. One can be fun, the other not so much.
And hey, I play wheel of fate in my cube!
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
But what about encouraging the use of the truly horrible cards.
One Accumulated Knowledge would probably be good also
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
while you're at it, add one of each Burst.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
It's useless late game.
For the first three turns it's out, your doing nothing, meaning your getting stomped.
After that your (or you're for those who are picky) just playing something you could've played 4th turn already, except you have no 1, 2, and most likely 3 drops.
This card just licks the nuts.
I also think Masticore should go in.
Let's see, 1 it costs you a card per turn. So while your opponent is playing card's your ditching them and keep just a 4/4.
It's an artifact. AKA it's vulnerable to both artifact and creature destroy and burn.
It's abilities cost SOOO much. Regen for two is OKAY, but doing 1 dmg for 2? That at most is like 1 more dmg after you play him out, because since your ditching a card anyways, you know you want to save that mana for the regen. AND it doesn't even hit the player! If you want an ability like that, see the upgraded version, aka Kumano!
Yeah that's about it.
Just shows that you don't understand magic.
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
Sphere breakdown:
360 cards (8 man draft)
45x Black
45x Blue
45x Red
45x Green
45x white
50x Artifact
25x Land
60x Multi / hybrid
Artifacts
Artifacts in the sphere should help out with casting the horrible casting costs of the aweful cards in your deck – hence I’ve gone for a mana fixing heavy theme for my sphere artifacts.
Artifacts so far (32/50):
Jack-in-the-Mox
Jeweled Amulet
Springleaf Drum
Mana Screw
Star compass
Sky diamond
Fire diamond
Moss diamond
Charcoal diamond
Marble diamond
Barbed Sextant
Chromatic Sphere
Chromatic Star
Coldsteel Heart
Kaleidostone
Pentad Prism
Darkwater egg
Mossfire egg
Shadowblood egg
Skycloud egg
Sungrass egg
Rakdos Riteknife
Deathrender
Fireshrieker
Manaforce Mace
Peregrine Mask
Scythe of the Wretched
Slagwurm Armor
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
Worldslayer
Steel Golem
Phyrexian Soulgorger
Cyclopean Snare
Mishra's Bauble
What do you’ll think? Suggestions to make up the remainder please?
Than if there's really no way but to not make it a true sphere (That being a sphere with all the worst cards ever printed), than decide what cards are cut.
As for your list, already jack-in-the-mox is good. U can consider it free colorless mana!
The diamonds are still mana accel, though not the best.
I don't know, I think some of those cards are just not bad enough. I would say start with the worst of the worst, than build from there. I see a lot of messed up combo's coming to light.
Hmm.. I agree... ok, let's start a little more slowly then - I'd like to work on ARTIFACT MANA fixing cards.
Are any of these not bad enough?
Artifacts (26/50)
Mana fixing (26):
Astrolabe
Celestial Prism
Diamond Kaleidoscope
Gemstone Array
Implements of Sacrifice
Jeweled Amulet
Kyren Toy
Mana Cylix
Mana Prism
Phyrexian Altar
Phyrexian Lens
Standing Stones
Ventifact Bottle
Cycles:
Black Mana Battery
Blue Mana Battery
White Mana Battery
Red Mana Battery
Green Mana Battery
Darkwater egg
Mossfire egg
Shadowblood egg
Skycloud egg
Sungrass egg
Colourless Mana:
Ashnod's Altar
Basalt Monolith
Sisay's Ring
This is just a first look at mana artifacts - can anyone think of any real stinkers left off the list of mana artifacts, or are any of the above too good?
I've purposely excluded 'duplicates' - ie there are a ton of artifacts that cost 3 and add 1 colourless - I think only including one instance of such a duplicate is necessary, mainly to avoid your drafters from falling asleep!!!
I think that will be funny though getting to put your Chimney Imp into play for free. On the other hand, Fireshrieker and Scythe of the Wretched are both very good cards, definately too good for sphere!
What about Krark-Clan Ironworks? Might be fun in a sphere.
I think Standing Stones is a pretty cool card and might not be bad enough.
Recommendation while I think about it: Enormous Baloth as a late game bomb
You also need Rakalite and Obelisk of Undoing for your artefact section - the cards are complete woof.
What about Solarion too - he isn't totally terrible, but might be hard to build around. Would be fun trying.
Bronze Horse.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms: