1-drop Cube - feels like it's missing something

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Posted on Dec. 28, 2015, 2:45 p.m. by brokendwarf

I had some personal rules set when I was making the cube:

  1. Nothing super expensive (Imperial Seal) or overpowered (Ancestral Recall)
  2. Cards with a Suspend cost of 1 are considered 1-drops (Ancestral Vision, Search for Tomorrow, Rift Bolt)
  3. No X cost spells (I've had to change this rule to provide better removal options, Bonfire of the Damned and Endless One I'm still on the fence about.)
  4. Treasure Cruise is not a 1-drop (people actually bring this up a lot). Delve doesn't count.

It's a really fun cube to draft (still haven't done the full 8), but it feels like it's missing something. Some nagging feeling like there's some cards that I'm missing that would make it better or more fun. I'm considering the cards that have a Miracle cost of 1, but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Cube List

Vasseer says... #2

Glimpse of Nature?

December 28, 2015 6:02 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #3

That would fall in the same category as Goblin Guide (an area I forgot to mention): good but I can't afford it.

December 28, 2015 6:12 p.m.

cireretals says... #4

Maybe the thing it's missing, is 2 drops?

December 28, 2015 6:26 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #5

I really like the concept of this cube. But having taken a look, you have a major problem: Blue is too good, in my opinion.

If I knew anything about the nature of your Cube being all 1-drops, or had drafted it previously, I would jump on Blue. Here's why: In a Cube with all 1-drops, everyone in every game can unload their hand quickly. If one player can effectively refill their hand with Ancestral Vision, or ensure some good draws with Ponder, that's a major advantage, and Blue looks like it has better access to draw power than anyone else. And that's before we even mention that Mental Misstep is in there. So I think balancing out draw power would be a great idea.

Sure, you've got a few things like Crimson Wisps, but I think you could do better, and there's options out there (stuff like Multani's Presence). And I think a Cube of 1-drops where everyone has some draw power should make for very fun games. In addition to adding more draw to the other colors, I would also consider cantripping artifacts, like Chromatic Sphere, which everyone can use no matter what they're drafting. And you can also use stuff that produces pseudo-card-advantage, like you already have with Launch the Fleet and Worldly Tutor.

Lastly, things like Imperial Seal and Glimpse of Nature could really take this up a few notches, help with the power balance, and make for some great decks. I realize you don't want to go buy stuff like that - so Proxy it. Proxies are totally acceptable in Cube, and your friends will probably be all the more inclined to draft it with stuff they're never going to get their hands on in real life.

Best of luck!

December 28, 2015 8 p.m.

Vasseer says... #6

Vampiric Tutor is strictly better and several hundred dollars cheaper than Imperial Seal

December 28, 2015 8:19 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #7

Also related to the issue of decks running out of gas, I see you've included stuff like Student of Warfare. I think having extra stuff to sink mana into when you're topdecking is a very good idea. The level-up dudes are good, and X-cost spells wouldn't be crazy (but keep in mind, they'll probably be bombs). But I would definitely be careful about balancing those effects with major late-game relevance.

December 28, 2015 8:26 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #8

cireretals: well where's the fun in that?

So more draw power for the other colors. Obviously I've got limited options with 1-drops but I can make it work.

Is there anything that seems too good? (yes, Mental Misstep is obviously in that category, but theoretically any color can play it)

Thoughts on the cards that have a Miracle cost of 1? (Banishing Stroke, Blessings of Nature, Revenge of the Hunted, Terminus, Thunderous Wrath, Vanishment)

I am running proxies at the moment but that was to make it playable. Most of them are either things I can't find (Genju of the Fields) or things my LGS doesn't have.

December 28, 2015 9:05 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #9

Land Tax has by been MVP every time I've gotten it. It basically allows me to play 3+ colors without worrying too much about mana.

December 28, 2015 9:06 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #10

I think Mental Misstep is hugely powerful, but fine. The stuff that might be big trouble: Fastbond, Deathrite Shaman, Ancestral Vision, and Skullclamp. Myth Realized seems really good as well, but I'd see how it plays out. All the others I mentioned above are banned from at least 1 Eternal format, and for good reason. I think Fastbond is just way too good. Vision really exacerbates the card draw thing. Skullclamp might be too good for the same reason, but it does fit in every deck, but that also makes it an auto-pick every time. DRS might be okay, but it is probably the best multi-colored car by far, and maybe the best thing that uses extra mana in the cube, so it may warp a draft or game. Oh, and Amulet of Vigor is pretty much an auto-pick since all your multi-colored lands come into play tapped.

But that's looking at the cube as-is. It might be fun to throw a few really broken cards in there, especially if you go nuts and proxy tutors, Glimpse of Nature, and crazy stuff like High Tide.

I think you can do without the Miracles. You really want to build around them and draft Ponder, etc.. They are mostly bad in the majority of situations.

December 28, 2015 9:38 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #11

I've lost games where I got Ancestral Vision because the suspend time was so long that the cards I drew wouldn't have helped me. I haven't encountered Fastbond yet (again, haven't played with the full 8, that'll be a real test), Skullclamp is in the same boat as Mental Misstep. One of the best late-game cards is Dragonmaster Outcast because if you can keep it alive for a turn you pretty much just win.

Guess I'll print some more proxies.

Anything that seems too weak? (without testing it, I guess it's hard to determine, but in a vacuum, are there any cards that wouldn't help in most situations?)

December 28, 2015 10:32 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #12

Missed Land Tax. That does seem unfair. Dragonmaster Outcast is amazing, but probably fair.

Ancestral Vision is a monster if you drop it on turn 1, you may as well start the game with 10 cards. Fastbond is one of the most broken cards in history of MTG, you can empty your hand on turn 1 with a very minor drawback. Skullclamp gives every 1-toughness creature - , sacrifice this creature: draw two cards. That's really good (especially since there's not much artifact removal). But it's just totally bonkers with something like Gravecrawler. With another zombie out, you can draw a card for , as many times as you want. Again, I think one deck drawing a lot of cards is especially lopsided in this context.

The only things I'd watch out for being too weak are cards like Bloodchief Ascension, which really need support cards like Tome Scour to be much good.

December 28, 2015 11:12 p.m.

mtgThaen says... #13

Oh my goodness! I really want to make a one-drop cube now!

December 28, 2015 11:42 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #14

So I've got a lengthy list of cards I'm considering based on recommendations:

Draw spells that aren't blue

X cost spells

Other things of interest

December 29, 2015 12:24 a.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #15

White seems to be getting the short end of the stick. Enlightened Tutor could make a difference. I think Secure the Wastes and something like Hail of Arrows could make up for lack of card advantage. And I could be missing something good.

Good choices apart from that.

December 29, 2015 2:23 a.m. Edited.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #16

Maybe Inheritance?

December 29, 2015 2:54 a.m.

brokendwarf says... #17

I've already got Enlightened Tutor in the list. I was unsure about Secure the Wastes. Forgot about Molten Vortex for the list.

If Fastbond gets too out of hand, how about Manabond?

Also need to see what the rest of Oath brings for 1-drops.

December 29, 2015 11:36 a.m. Edited.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #18

Yeah I saw the Tutor right after I mentioned it- my bad.

I really like Secure the Wastes here because it gives pseudo-card-advantage, and makes up for white's lack of draw, especially if there's some good things to do with tokens. I also noticed you don't have Brave the Elements, which isn't necessary, I've just always thought about it as the quintessential white 1-drop spell.

Manabond seems pretty awful. Maybe Exploration is fair? No one will be running a high land count, so you can't abuse it that much. I think the issue with Fastbond is a 3-land, 3-creature hand being played on turn 1.

December 29, 2015 2:17 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #19

Proposed changes (luckily CubeTutor shows me bottom pick cards, so a good chunk of these are from there):

Didn't find spots for these:

December 30, 2015 2:52 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #20

I think those are all very sensible changes. Two notes: though blue is a bit short on creatures, you might consider keeping Turn Aside and cutting Galerider Sliver, who I'm pretty sure doesn't have any other slivers to interact with. You could also just replace Galerider with another blue creature (Trickster Mage? Nephalia Smuggler? Tideshaper Mystic?) and cut something from another color. I also kind of liked Thrive, and think Green Sun's Zenith is unnecessary with the other tutors (just an opinion).

You could replace Blazing Torch with Chromatic Star, Fever Charm with Winds of Change, and maybe Bump in the Night for Entomb. You'd be losing cards with very conditional value for less conditional value. And now that you have Molten Vortex, you can maybe ditch Magus of the Scroll for Banefire (I think Bonfire of the Damned isn't needed) - maybe Electrickery if you want that effect in there.

In any case, having drafted it a few times, I think it's really good, and shaping up to be even better.

December 30, 2015 7:11 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #21

I was originally running the other slivers, but then it was the problem of you need most of them for them to be good. I kept Galerider only because it gave itself flying (and Mothdust Changeling, which I think is strictly worse and I'm not running a lot of tribal/tapping matters stuff, so that'll probably be cut first). So for the blue creature spot it looks like either Trickster Mage, Nephalia Smuggler, Reef Shaman (it's Tideshaper Mystic but during either player's turn), or Vortex Elemental (I've been considering this).

As much as a like how Fever Charm looks, yeah there are better options. Thanks for the help and input by the way.

Thoughts on any of these:

December 31, 2015 5:34 p.m.

Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #22

Wow, the Apprentices and Guildmages are really interesting, and definitely give more decks access to a Deathrite Shaman-like value creature. They also help the cube be a little more diverse, allowing for more midrange-y and control-ish decks. And they're all highly interactive. I really like that idea. If you can fit them in there, I'd go for it.

December 31, 2015 6:09 p.m.

This discussion has been closed