July 04, 2022

Deciding Which Cards to Cut from Your Cube

59 minutes

View all cards mentioned in the episode →

Most Cubes are ever-changing, with a constant stream of cards being added as new sets are released and the designer’s sensibilities evolve over time. There is a dark side to the joyous, Christmas-morning feeling of putting new cards in one’s cube, though: making cuts. On this episode, Andy and Anthony talk about how to find cuts from a cube, tackle some common pitfalls newer designers often fall into when removing cards from a Cube list, explore high-level theory around Cube curation, and take a walk down memory lane, defending some of their more contentious cuts from their own environments.

Our listener submitted pack 1, pick 1 this week comes from wowitsarlo’s Fair ‘Nuff Cube. Thanks, Arlo!

Timestamps

2:59 — Pack 1, Pick 1

10:19 — Don’t take cuts too seriously

13:31 — Avoid like-for-like cut mentality

17:16 — Ask yourself — do you actually NEED to make a cut?

20:37 — Don’t only cut the “bad” cards

25:56 — Make cuts based on your overarching goals

34:17 — Cut known quantity cards to maximize information gleaned from play testing

37:17 — Cut power outliers to activate lower powered cards in your cube

39:20 — Walking down cut memory lane

Discussed in this episode:

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Card Kingdom Starter Cube

Anthony’s Turbo Cube

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You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube

Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

15 weeks to Cube Con!

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited, your pronouns, a link to your cube if relevant. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

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