Andy and Anthony talk about “tutors” in Cube and how cards that give you access to any card in your library impact the game. Historically, both of our hosts have tended to avoid them in most of their Cube designs, but the serve a unique function that could make them worth considering. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Intro 100 Ornithopters Neoclassical Cube Irregular Cube All Tutors on Scryfall The Cube Map Timestamps 0:00 -...

Andy, Anthony, and Parker review the results of our Cube community set survey for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. As with every set, we asked Cube designers which cards they’re excited about from Magic’s latest world of hats, and how confident they are in them remaining in their Cubes long-term. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Cube Prospective Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander Cube Prospective Usman’s Deep Dive on...

Andy and Anthony revisit designing a Cube starting with a single card as inspiration. Starting with Goblin Charbelcher, they each explore themes and mechanics that could make the card relevant in a Cube, and build off those to create rough Cube skeletons. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Episode 182: Emergent Cube Design by Example Our Teaser on YouTube UberCube Event Lucky Paper Cube Events Page Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 3:11 - Overview...

Andy and Anthony are joined by Sam from Rhystic Studies to talk about his first Cube design project. Sam, who produces thoughtful, carefully written videos on Magic, has been interested in Cube design for years and has finally made the leap to create his own list. They talk about what motivates Sam’s design goals, how he’s approached the project, and what he’s looking forward to in his first experiences playing it. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Timestamps 0:00 -...

Our Cube Prospective Surveys for Outlaws of Thunder Junction is now open! Let us know what you are testing in your cube from the latest set. Andy and Anthony talk about their first impressions of Outlaws of Thunder Junction and the cards their interested in for their own Cube lists. Anthony is not too impressed by the aesthetics of the set, but they manage to power through, talk about the mechanics and how they might be relevant to different Cube designers, and even a few individual cards...

Guests Tara, Jenn, and Haiyue join Andy and Anthony for a discussion on making play spaces that are more accountable and inclusive to help grow more diverse playgroups. Tara brings her perspective as a professional diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant; Jenn, their experience organizing and judging events; and Haiyue what she’s learned managing the VML, and, from all of them, much much more. As Cube designers, our hosts and many of our listeners need to grow their communities as much...

Andy and Anthony talk about Andy’s newest Cube experiment: a cube who’s only creatures are Ornithopters. Andy couldn’t help but entertain the idea of an all-ornithopter Cube in a humorous tweet, and a recent draft of it in the Cube Con discord inspired him to flesh out the idea even further. Our first playmat is currently available for pre-order! Illustrated by Andy and featuring gold, foiled details it expresses our love of the most punk rock Magic format. Pre-order a playmat here The...

Our first, limited edition playmat is now available for pre-order. The playmat is designed and illustrated by Andy and custom printed to order. Orders will only be available for a limited time. Pre-order a mat here. Andy and Anthony talk about “ART!” loosely as it relates to Magic: The Gathering. They talk about the role of creative work in the game, the nuances of art and illustration, how the approach to illustration has changed over the history of the game, and even the present and future...

Andy and Anthony are joined by Ryan Overturf, sharing his Cube design wisdom. Starting with Ryan’s articles on power outliers and letting fun drive Cube design, they talk about their approach to Cube design and how they let play experience, vibes, and taste inform their processes. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Ryan on Star City Games Power Level Outliers And How To Handle Them In Magic Cubes Magic Cube Design: Make The Fun Thing The Good Thing ...

Andy, Anthony, and Parker review the results of the Murders at Karlov Manor Cube Community Survey and discuss the top cards, tested by the most Cube designers. They dig into some trends, patterns, and surprises in the cards people are giving a chance in their environments. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Usman’s Card-by-card MKM Review MKM Community Survey Results Characters of the Board Game Clue John Mulaney All about Clue on Stuff You...

Andy and Anthony talk about layers of interaction in Cube design. Some cards interact with particular effects. Other cards are, in turn, resistant to those responses. Inevitably other cards get around those resistances. Our hosts talk about how they approach these orders of interaction. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: GeoGuessr Wingspan Splendor Episode 31 on Density of “Bread and Butter” Effects Episode 101 on Density of Disruption ...

Well, it’s my (Andy’s) final week of writing the show notes as punishment for losing a bet against Anthony. But that’s ok, because writing these particular notes is a privilege, as we are joined by special guest Emma Partlow on this episode! We’be been trying to get Emma on the show for a long time and I’m really glad we were finally able to make it happen. We use her Peasant Cube as a jumping off point to discuss playing Magic with rarity and budget restrictions, what traits describe the...

Well folks, it happened. I lost the bet on air last week about whether or not Wizards would include a physical, punch-out reminder for “suspected” creatures in the pre-release kit for Murders at Karlov Manor, so here I am writing the notes. I still think it’s weird that they literally include a counter for a mechanic that they explicitly designed to NOT include a physical counter, but I forgot the precedence set by Exert in Amonket, so that’s on me. This week is part two of our marathon,...

Andy and Anthony discuss the mechanics of Murders at Karlov Manor, along with satellite sets, and their first impressions of the set for Cube. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Set Surveys: Murders at Karlov Manor Mechanics Mothership Article A new Returning Mechanic, but Tweaked, @luckypapermtg on Twitter Boonta Vista Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 3:37 - Ward, Cloak, and Disguise 17:41 - Suspect 21:29 - Collect Evidence 26:16 - Cases 33:20 -...

Andy and Anthony talk about Anthony’s experimental Battle Box where players start at three life, can cast spells without paying their mana cost, and start the game with two Lightning Bolts on the stack. They talk about rapid prototyping and challenges in game design. The novel design didn’t initially play as hoped, and they brainstorm ideas to make it work. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Hedron Rockworks on YouTube Topaz D20 We Are Already Dead,...

Andy and Anthony talk about updates to Anthony’s Turbo Cube and how changing a few cards can impact the way a cube feels. In this environment, all spells and activated abilities cost  generic mana less. They cut some of the most potent win conditions including Teferi's Tutelage, and added a handful of cards to bolster black discard focused strategies. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ 0:00 - Introduction 4:09 - Small (but actually big) changes to the win conditions in the Turbo...

Andy and Anthony talk about cubing on a budget. Between cards, sleeves, and other needs, putting a cube together is not without costs, but the format has some unique attributes that can still make it approachable on a budget. But first, they talk for a long time about Tetris. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: After 34 Years, Someone Finally Beat Tetris Tetris Just Got Beaten Again Fosbury Flop Four Minute Mile Radiolab: Stochasticity Lucky...

Andy and Anthony talk through emergent cube design by example. Starting with a listener submitted card — Trade Routes — they explore ways to create a context where the card is a role player. Moving beyond direct synergies, they demonstrate how they’d use on card as a seed crystal to generate ideas for a mechanically coherent Cube. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Scryfall search "fo:/whenever.*you.*discard/" Our article about using Scryfall Our...

Andy and Anthony talk about gold cards in Cube. They talk about how they effect decks and drafts and their roles in their own cubes. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: Uber Cube Podcast Episode 21: Commander Legends and a Cube that Glitters How Many Lands Should You Include in Your Cube Lucky Paper Radio Cubesmas Special Power Thesaurus ...

Andy, Anthony, and Parker climb up on Maro’s Lap and share their Christmas Cube wishes for the coming year: what cards do they want to see printed for their Cubes, what cycles do they want to see completed, and how much of a Grinch can Anthony be. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Timestamps 0:00 - A very long and involved series of intros 7:37 - Overview of episode structure 9:03 - Parker’s Cubesmas List 35:08 - Andy’s Cubesmas List 48:55 - Anthony’s Cubesmas Grinch...

Andy and Anthony take a look back on 2023, and what a year it’s been! Our hosts discuss some of their favorite things happening this year, including the second annual CubeCon, and a growing number of Cube events. They talk about how valuable Magic has been as a vector for creative outlets. In a candid, critical discussion they share how Magic as a game, and a product, has fundamentally changed in the recent years and how in many ways it no longer supports the way they most deeply engaged with...

Andy and Anthony open up the mailbag and answer questions from listeners. Our hosts answer all your burning questions about Cube, soup, and probably egg nog? ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: I got a fever of 103 Boonta Vista Murphy’s Law Moore’s Law Sturgeon’s Law Ship of Theseus Heraclitus Midnight Diner bigsofttitty.png Cubes Mentioned Regular Cube Ryan Saxe’s Buildaround Cube Caleb Gannon’s Synergy Cube The Neoclassical...

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...

Andy, Anthony, and Parker discuss the results of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Cube community survey. As always, we asked cube designers to share what cards they’re interested in from Magic’s newest premier set. Our hosts discuss the results: the top, and top rated, cards, as well as other patterns and surprises they found in the results. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Community Review Lost Caverns Commander Community...