Howdy, y'all! My name is Emma Handy, and you might know me from the Rivals League, broadcasting and writing for StarCityGames.com, script supervision for Tolarian Community College, or my stream. I wear a ton of hats in the Magic community and consume the game in a variety of ways as a result. Cube's no exception, and I'm excited to bring you my latest project: Proliferate Cube!
Part of the fun of designing your own cube is getting to cultivate a specific experience. With this cube, my goal was to create high-complexity synergies while placing an emphasis on combat math. How was this accomplished? Every kind of counter under the sun. There are even a few incidental combos thrown in for those who enjoy such effects. Those who are just looking to sink their teeth into the cube list can find the full card list at the bottom of this article. For everyone else, there's a ton going on, so let's dive in!
Archetypes
The archetypes in this cube aren't as set in stone as a theme like tribal, but there are a ton of cards that play much better in specific decks. Rather than encouraging "midrange soup" decks, a major goal of this cube is to have decks that are greater than the sum of their parts. This leads to a bunch of thematic pieces within colors that have a host of applications across archetypes. Looking at what each color is about makes it easier to visualize how the themes can play together and what kinds of combinations can create some seriously messed-up Cube decks with cards that might not look as powerful on paper.
Green Ramp
Ramp is one of the archetypes in the cube that people are going to be the most familiar with. Cube all-stars like Avenger of Zendikar and Joraga Treespeaker are going to make the deck feel like an old friend. The twist? Rather than ramping into Terastodon and Primeval Titan, Hydras of all sorts are on the menu. They scale well with the beatdown decks available, and with enough mana, cards like Genesis Hydra and Lifeblood Hydra get completely out of control.
Red Aggro
While designing the cube, it was great how many Red Deck Wins all-stars naturally slotted into the themes of the cube without feeling forced. Seriously, if you're trying to get your feet wet, just play a normal red deck. If you wanna lean into synergies, the pool goes so, so deep. Hellspark Elemental sacrificed post-combat to put a counter on Carrion Feeder? Nice! Keldon Marauders has counters and is a beatdown favorite? Same with Stromkirk Noble? And Stormblood Berserker? And Soul-Scar Mage? And—the list goes on.
Black Sacrifice
One of the common themes throughout the cube is leveraging on-battlefield advantages, especially sacrificing cards for short-term gains. Interestingly enough, with all the escape, persist, undying, and other recursive creatures available, it's hard to tell if anything of consequence actually ever stays dead. Black's place is an Aristocrats-esque theme that can play best with red and white but has enough cards to stand on its own as a monocolor deck at the right table.
Red Sacrifice
While red's sacrifice synergies aren't as strong as black's, there are a bunch of cards that are very into the idea of sacrificing raw (digital) cardboard for profitable damage exchanges. Having a handful of Act of Treason-like effects allows the archetype to play similarly to its Standard counterpart. Enough of the red creatures are going to die anyways, so having ways to get value out of Keldon Marauders, Hellspark Elemental, and so on is gravy.
White Weenie
White Weenie operates similarly to the Hardened Scales archetype, but it goes much, much wider. With a minor token theme, cards like Basri's Solidarity are absolutely bananas, and proliferate spells do a great job of upgrading the entire team's power and toughness. Evolution Sage with fetch lands and white creatures ends the game fast.
Green Stompy
Ramp isn't the only way to play a base-green deck. If a traditional aggro deck is more your speed, there's a whole curve of above-rate green creatures that can beat down. The biggest thing to be cognizant of while drafting this deck is that it's important to find game-ending cards that work early and on into the late game. Kalonian Hydra, Verdurous Gearhulk, and Hadana's Climb are great ways to make sure you can get across the finish line against a well-established synergy deck.
Blue Counters
The central theme of this cube is counters, and while every other color has an incredibly proactive way to use them, blue is all about messing with counters and weaving an advantage through those interactions. There are ways to spend and steal counters, and there are even counter-centric counterspells in Ertai's Meddling and Delay. Most of blue's counter-manipulation cards aren't going to close a game by themselves, but as a support color, blue is able to play in several different directions. This customizability lends itself to letting players play at their pace and even steal some of the opponent's game pieces along the way.
Blue Evasion
In the interest of combatting the complexity of the interactions in the cube, blue has access to a traditional Skies archetype that is exactly what it looks like: efficient, evasive creatures with some room for synergies.
Hardened Scales
It wouldn't be much of a "counters" cube without one of the most iconic +1/+1 counter archetypes in recent history. This Stompy archetype is one of the stronger ones in the cube, easily producing a bunch of 4/4s in short order.
Artifact Aggro
On the topic of iconic aggro strategies, finding a way to incorporate Arcbound Ravager and friends was one of the primary challenges in the cube. The way to go with this is to try and stay open for a little bit before falling into a color pair within Grixis, usually base blue. There's enough mana fixing in artifacts (that can be upgraded by Ensoul Artifact and company!) that it isn't too difficult to base around a single color and lightly touch another color or two to round out a full deck. Red and black's biggest strengths for the archetype are going to be in sacrificing artifacts for bursts of damage via cards like Atog and Disciple of the Vault. Their sacrifice cards also play beautifully with the modular mechanic for some tricky mid-combat plays. Make sure to prioritize the more ubiquitous artifact creatures (like Hangarback Walker) in pick orders because they go fast!
Tips and Tricks for Drafting
A lot of what's going on in this cube isn't exactly what people are accustomed to when it comes to a normal cubing experience, and it feels appropriate to mention a few points that might be unintuitive to someone who hasn't played with the cards before.
The Mana
For mana, you'll find the usual suspects—dual lands, shock lands, fetch lands, and creature lands, with filter lands thrown into the mix. There are enough impactful cards with multiple pips of the same color in their mana cost that the filter lands are much better in this format than they normally are. There are several instances where I would take a filter land over a dual or creature land of the same color.
Proliferate
In case the name of the cube doesn't beat you over the head with it hard enough, proliferate is the name of the game. The original idea for the cube was "War of the Spark Expanded," with sweet proliferate-able mechanics like infect and energy. The size of the cube made those mechanics and planeswalkers hard to balance against, and some of the planeswalker fights felt too close to the Modern Cube. Even though the details may have changed, the primary focus on counters, more specifically, mechanics that work with proliferate, hasn't changed.
By the same token, most counters-matter cards have significantly more applications than they normally do in the same way that artifact hate was relevant in Double Masters. Parting Thoughts? Easy Pack 1, Pick 1. Same with Ion Storm.
Combos
There are more combos than you think. Many of which are cards that happen to be incidentally good on their own.
Devoted Druid has combos with Quillspike and Vizier of Remedies. Both the latter cards are also just great with persist creatures and get sucked up early as a result. This makes it harder to assemble a ton of combos, but so rewarding when it comes together.
Kitchen Finks may be the easiest Pack 1, Pick 1 in the cube, simply because it's easy to build combos with cheap persist creatures. Wingrattle Scarecrow is much better than it looks for the same reason. Simply find something like Vizier of Remedies or Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit to pair with a sacrifice outlet, and you're off to the races.
Can't lose the game if you can't take infect damage. Just make sure you find a way to end the game before they find a way to kill a Grizzly Bears or an enchantment.
On top of being a low-cost way to constantly move counters around, Power Conduit allows you to repeat chapters on Sagas.
If there's a true "Splinter Twin" in this format, it's this. Gaining life and making all your creatures bigger for each set of clicks, as many times as you want, is no joke.
Heliod combos in the same ways that he does in Modern and Pioneer. Who knew?
Overall, despite there being a good number of combos in the cube, the fact that they aren't niche cards a la Deceiver Exarch means it's harder to actually see each piece of a combo in a draft. Coupled with the fact that this is a 600-card cube, not a 360 one, these combos will be novelties more frequently rather than format-ruining mainstays of an otherwise mid-power format.
Get Out What You Put In
The intricacies of this cube go miles deep, and there's so much to learn. Which means that the more reps you get, the more you're going to find and try. The best advice I can offer is this: always work toward ending the game. The threats are strong, and without a ton of sweepers, synergies will overwhelm most removal-heavy decks.
If you like attacking and doing things so whacky they're generally saved for Mental Magic and other made-up formats, you're going to love this cube. I know I do, and I couldn't be more excited to share it with the world.
Full Cube List
| Card Name |
Color |
|---|
| Basri's Solidarity |
White |
| Thraben Inspector |
White |
| Faith's Fetters |
White |
| Luminarch Aspirant |
White |
| Archangel of Thune |
White |
| Encircling Fissure |
White |
| Swallow Whole |
White |
| Fairgrounds Warden |
White |
| Porcelain Legionnaire |
White |
| Giant Killer |
White |
| Seal of Cleansing |
White |
| Hidden Dragonslayer |
White |
| Ajani, Caller of the Pride |
White |
| Basri's Lieutenant |
White |
| Unexpectedly Absent |
White |
| Topan Freeblade |
White |
| Lightwalker |
White |
| Tempered Veteran |
White |
| Martyr for the Cause |
White |
| Angel of Invention |
White |
| Planar Outburst |
White |
| Slith Ascendant |
White |
| High Sentinels of Arashin |
White |
| Wanderer's Strike |
White |
| Swords to Plowshares |
White |
| Journey to Nowhere |
White |
| Recruiter of the Guard |
White |
| Basri Ket |
White |
| Quarantine Field |
White |
| Cathars' Crusade |
White |
| Legion's Landing |
White |
| Declaration in Stone |
White |
| Unbreakable Formation |
White |
| Phyrexian Unlife |
White |
| Path to Exile |
White |
| Triumph of Gerrard |
White |
| Heliod's Punishment |
White |
| Valorous Stance |
White |
| Knight of the White Orchid |
White |
| Vizier of Remedies |
White |
| Grateful Apparition |
White |
| Kytheon, Hero of Akros |
White |
| Collective Effort |
White |
| Ordeal of Heliod |
White |
| Regna's Sanction |
White |
| Phantom Nomad |
White |
| Sunhome Stalwart |
White |
| Abzan Falconer |
White |
| Ainok Bond-Kin |
White |
| Student of Warfare |
White |
| Brimaz, King of Oreskos |
White |
| Otherworldly Journey |
White |
| Venerated Loxodon |
White |
| Apostle's Blessing |
White |
| Luminous Broodmoth |
White |
| Elite Scaleguard |
White |
| Burrenton Bombardier |
White |
| Adanto Vanguard |
White |
| Feat of Resistance |
White |
| Shade of Trokair |
White |
| History of Benalia |
White |
| Council's Judgment |
White |
| Elspeth Conquers Death |
White |
| Cast Out |
White |
| Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit |
White |
| Icatian Javelineers |
White |
| Heliod, Sun-Crowned |
White |
| Hero of Bladehold |
White |
| Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants |
White |
| Skyclave Apparition |
White |
| Abzan Battle Priest |
White |
| Oust |
White |
| Mikaeus, the Lunarch |
White |
| Banishing Light |
White |
| Emry, Lurker of the Loch |
Blue |
| Jace, Cunning Castaway |
Blue |
| Glen Elendra Archmage |
Blue |
| Nadir Kraken |
Blue |
| Pteramander |
Blue |
| Skatewing Spy |
Blue |
| Chasm Skulker |
Blue |
| Infiltrator il-Kor |
Blue |
| Contentious Plan |
Blue |
| Ior Ruin Expedition |
Blue |
| Reality Shift |
Blue |
| Deepglow Skate |
Blue |
| Zahid, Djinn of the Lamp |
Blue |
| Skilled Animator |
Blue |
| Ensoul Artifact |
Blue |
| Thrummingbird |
Blue |
| Æther Spellbomb |
Blue |
| Guildpact Informant |
Blue |
| Djinn of Wishes |
Blue |
| Relic Runner |
Blue |
| Animating Faerie |
Blue |
| Etherium Sculptor |
Blue |
| Imprisoned in the Moon |
Blue |
| Steady Progress |
Blue |
| Simic Fluxmage |
Blue |
| Sailor of Means |
Blue |
| Faerie Vandal |
Blue |
| Riftwing Cloudskate |
Blue |
| Teferi's Time Twist |
Blue |
| Parasitic Strix |
Blue |
| Cloudfin Raptor |
Blue |
| Psionic Blast |
Blue |
| Enclave Cryptologist |
Blue |
| Glimmer of Genius |
Blue |
| Ruination Guide |
Blue |
| Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor |
Blue |
| Flux Channeler |
Blue |
| Clockspinning |
Blue |
| Ordeal of Thassa |
Blue |
| Commit // Memory |
Blue |
| Repeal |
Blue |
| Brazen Borrower |
Blue |
| Benthic Biomancer |
Blue |
| Skyship Plunderer |
Blue |
| Simic Manipulator |
Blue |
| Whirler Rogue |
Blue |
| Merchant's Dockhand |
Blue |
| Rescuer Sphinx |
Blue |
| Part the Waterveil |
Blue |
| Warkite Marauder |
Blue |
| Leech Bonder |
Blue |
| Aether Swooper |
Blue |
| Kadena's Silencer |
Blue |
| Delay |
Blue |
| Master of Etherium |
Blue |
| Merfolk Trickster |
Blue |
| Unstable Mutation |
Blue |
| Storm Fleet Aerialist |
Blue |
| Riddlesmith |
Blue |
| Medomai's Prophecy |
Blue |
| Metallic Rebuke |
Blue |
| Essence Scatter |
Blue |
| Spark Double |
Blue |
| Spined Thopter |
Blue |
| Sai, Master Thopterist |
Blue |
| Ertai's Meddling |
Blue |
| Phyrexian Metamorph |
Blue |
| Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer |
Blue |
| Rapid Hybridization |
Blue |
| Glint-Nest Crane |
Blue |
| Tezzeret's Gambit |
Blue |
| Watcher for Tomorrow |
Blue |
| Ancestral Vision |
Blue |
| Witching Well |
Blue |
| Corrupted Conscience |
Blue |
| Dreadhorde Invasion |
Black |
| Living End |
Black |
| Bastion of Remembrance |
Black |
| Embraal Bruiser |
Black |
| Gluttonous Slug |
Black |
| Yahenni, Undying Partisan |
Black |
| Bloodghast |
Black |
| Blood Artist |
Black |
| Bloodchief's Thirst |
Black |
| Cranial Plating |
Black |
| Price of Betrayal |
Black |
| Carrion Feeder |
Black |
| Endling |
Black |
| Ruinous Path |
Black |
| Aether Poisoner |
Black |
| Painsmith |
Black |
| Fretwork Colony |
Black |
| Sinuous Vermin |
Black |
| Vampire Hexmage |
Black |
| Tragic Slip |
Black |
| Feed the Swarm |
Black |
| Executioner's Capsule |
Black |
| Weaponcraft Enthusiast |
Black |
| Taborax, Hope's Demise |
Black |
| Sly Requisitioner |
Black |
| Yawgmoth, Thran Physician |
Black |
| Woe Strider |
Black |
| Nether Traitor |
Black |
| Heartless Act |
Black |
| Mortician Beetle |
Black |
| Disciple of the Vault |
Black |
| Scrapheap Scrounger |
Black |
| Vault Skirge |
Black |
| Fume Spitter |
Black |
| Malefic Scythe |
Black |
| Bloodflow Connoisseur |
Black |
| Knight of the Ebon Legion |
Black |
| Skyclave Shade |
Black |
| Spread the Sickness |
Black |
| Lazotep Reaver |
Black |
| Feaster of Fools |
Black |
| Liliana, Heretical Healer |
Black |
| Marionette Master |
Black |
| Dusk Urchins |
Black |
| Dire Fleet Hoarder |
Black |
| Guul Draz Assassin |
Black |
| Parallax Dementia |
Black |
| Quest for the Gravelord |
Black |
| Grim Affliction |
Black |
| Doomed Dissenter |
Black |
| Bloodthrone Vampire |
Black |
| Priest of Forgotten Gods |
Black |
| Cruel Sadist |
Black |
| Thoughtseize |
Black |
| Butcher Ghoul |
Black |
| Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet |
Black |
| Lampad of Death's Vigil |
Black |
| Subtle Strike |
Black |
| Drana, Liberator of Malakir |
Black |
| Flesh Carver |
Black |
| Malicious Affliction |
Black |
| Putrid Goblin |
Black |
| Fatal Push |
Black |
| Retribution of the Ancients |
Black |
| Hagra Constrictor |
Black |
| Skinrender |
Black |
| Parting Thoughts |
Black |
| Zulaport Cutthroat |
Black |
| Geralf's Messenger |
Black |
| Bloodsoaked Champion |
Black |
| Murderous Rider |
Black |
| Glistening Oil |
Black |
| Black Sun's Zenith |
Black |
| Hagra Mauling |
Black |
| Victimize |
Black |
| Phyrexian Scriptures |
Black |
| Tibalt, Rakish Instigator |
Red |
| Koth of the Hammer |
Red |
| Soul-Scar Mage |
Red |
| Keldon Marauders |
Red |
| Fiery Confluence |
Red |
| Grim Initiate |
Red |
| Puncture Blast |
Red |
| Chain Lightning |
Red |
| Abrade |
Red |
| Atog |
Red |
| Legion Warboss |
Red |
| Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin |
Red |
| Dismantle |
Red |
| Shrapnel Blast |
Red |
| Rift Bolt |
Red |
| Hellspark Elemental |
Red |
| Goblin Banneret |
Red |
| Underworld Rage-Hound |
Red |
| Ordeal of Purphoros |
Red |
| Thopter Engineer |
Red |
| Pyreheart Wolf |
Red |
| Orcish Vandal |
Red |
| Chandra, Acolyte of Flame |
Red |
| Stromkirk Noble |
Red |
| Skarrgan Hellkite |
Red |
| Pia and Kiran Nalaar |
Red |
| Vile Aggregate |
Red |
| Karplusan Minotaur |
Red |
| Ion Storm |
Red |
| Daretti, Scrap Savant |
Red |
| Wheel of Fate |
Red |
| Phoenix of Ash |
Red |
| Mogg War Marshal |
Red |
| Goblin Cratermaker |
Red |
| Brimstone Volley |
Red |
| Goblin Bomb |
Red |
| Volt Charge |
Red |
| Arc Blade |
Red |
| Galvanic Blast |
Red |
| Taurean Mauler |
Red |
| Shivan Meteor |
Red |
| Mask of Immolation |
Red |
| Mark of Mutiny |
Red |
| Devouring Hellion |
Red |
| Shatterskull Charger |
Red |
| Firebolt |
Red |
| Stormbreath Dragon |
Red |
| Fight with Fire |
Red |
| Bomat Courier |
Red |
| Incendiary Flow |
Red |
| Stormblood Berserker |
Red |
| Heart-Piercer Manticore |
Red |
| Caldera Hellion |
Red |
| Blood Aspirant |
Red |
| Zektar Shrine Expedition |
Red |
| Pia Nalaar |
Red |
| Scourge of the Throne |
Red |
| Consuming Fervor |
Red |
| Bonecrusher Giant |
Red |
| Lightning Serpent |
Red |
| Tibalt's Rager |
Red |
| Slith Firewalker |
Red |
| Greater Gargadon |
Red |
| Aether Chaser |
Red |
| Runaway Steam-Kin |
Red |
| Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge |
Red |
| Rekindling Phoenix |
Red |
| Pyrite Spellbomb |
Red |
| Hellrider |
Red |
| Ravenous Intruder |
Red |
| Hobblefiend |
Red |
| Abbot of Keral Keep |
Red |
| Careless Celebrant |
Red |
| Fireblade Charger |
Red |
| The Akroan War |
Red |
| Planewide Celebration |
Green |
| Birds of Paradise |
Green |
| Managorger Hydra |
Green |
| Hardened Scales |
Green |
| Tireless Tracker |
Green |
| Ordeal of Nylea |
Green |
| Champion of Lambholt |
Green |
| Young Wolf |
Green |
| Deep Forest Hermit |
Green |
| Melira, Sylvok Outcast |
Green |
| Jadelight Ranger |
Green |
| Song of the Dryads |
Green |
| Renegade Krasis |
Green |
| Titanic Brawl |
Green |
| Pelt Collector |
Green |
| Saddled Rimestag |
Green |
| Fertilid |
Green |
| Pollenbright Druid |
Green |
| Avatar of the Resolute |
Green |
| Avenger of Zendikar |
Green |
| Nissa, Vastwood Seer |
Green |
| Birthing Pod |
Green |
| Cytoplast Root-Kin |
Green |
| Strangleroot Geist |
Green |
| Verdurous Gearhulk |
Green |
| Wall of Roots |
Green |
| Wickerbough Elder |
Green |
| Gyre Sage |
Green |
| Renata, Called to the Hunt |
Green |
| Generous Patron |
Green |
| Primal Might |
Green |
| Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter |
Green |
| Primordial Hydra |
Green |
| Armorcraft Judge |
Green |
| Nissa, Voice of Zendikar |
Green |
| The Great Henge |
Green |
| Search for Tomorrow |
Green |
| Spike Feeder |
Green |
| Evolution Sage |
Green |
| Savage Swipe |
Green |
| Voracious Hydra |
Green |
| Reverent Hunter |
Green |
| Wildborn Preserver |
Green |
| Gnarlid Colony |
Green |
| Greenbelt Rampager |
Green |
| Oran-Rief Ooze |
Green |
| Den Protector |
Green |
| Inscription of Abundance |
Green |
| Barkhide Troll |
Green |
| Joraga Treespeaker |
Green |
| Sylvan Caryatid |
Green |
| Devoted Druid |
Green |
| Servant of the Scale |
Green |
| Forgotten Ancient |
Green |
| Kalonian Hydra |
Green |
| Beastbreaker of Bala Ged |
Green |
| Khalni Heart Expedition |
Green |
| Biogenic Ooze |
Green |
| Steelbane Hydra |
Green |
| Quirion Dryad |
Green |
| Incubation Druid |
Green |
| Longtusk Cub |
Green |
| Courage in Crisis |
Green |
| Fungal Behemoth |
Green |
| Hooded Hydra |
Green |
| Tuskguard Captain |
Green |
| Kraul Harpooner |
Green |
| Triumph of the Hordes |
Green |
| Song of Freyalise |
Green |
| Scavenging Ooze |
Green |
| Lifeblood Hydra |
Green |
| Experiment One |
Green |
| Rishkar, Peema Renegade |
Green |
| Génesis Hydra |
Green |
| The First Iroan Games |
Green |
| Knight of Autumn |
Multicolor |
| Resplendent Griffin |
Multicolor |
| Zealous Persecution |
Multicolor |
| Ezuri, Claw of Progress |
Multicolor |
| Ral Zarek |
Multicolor |
| Heroic Reinforcements |
Multicolor |
| Figure of Destiny |
Multicolor |
| Marchesa's Smuggler |
Multicolor |
| Grind // Dust |
Multicolor |
| Tajic, Legion's Edge |
Multicolor |
| Lurrus of the Dream-Den |
Multicolor |
| Winding Constrictor |
Multicolor |
| Warden of the First Tree |
Multicolor |
| Maverick Thopterist |
Multicolor |
| Vorel of the Hull Clade |
Multicolor |
| Hadana's Climb |
Multicolor |
| Saheeli, the Gifted |
Multicolor |
| Aven Mimeomancer |
Multicolor |
| Fate Transfer |
Multicolor |
| Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch |
Multicolor |
| Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice |
Multicolor |
| Shalai, Voice of Plenty |
Multicolor |
| Huatli's Raptor |
Multicolor |
| Baleful Strix |
Multicolor |
| Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter |
Multicolor |
| Soul Diviner |
Multicolor |
| Tezzeret's Touch |
Multicolor |
| Domri's Ambush |
Multicolor |
| Conclave Mentor |
Multicolor |
| Far // Away |
Multicolor |
| Grimgrin, Corpse-Born |
Multicolor |
| Phylath, World Sculptor |
Multicolor |
| Meren of Clan Nel Toth |
Multicolor |
| Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord |
Multicolor |
| Turn // Burn |
Multicolor |
| Scab-Clan Mauler |
Multicolor |
| Lightning Helix |
Multicolor |
| Grenzo, Dungeon Warden |
Multicolor |
| Unlicensed Disintegration |
Multicolor |
| Corpsejack Menace |
Multicolor |
| Dovin, Grand Arbiter |
Multicolor |
| Boggart Ram-Gang |
Multicolor |
| Nissa of Shadowed Boughs |
Multicolor |
| Marchesa, the Black Rose |
Multicolor |
| Roalesk, Apex Hybrid |
Multicolor |
| Varolz, the Scar-Striped |
Multicolor |
| Chamber Sentry |
Multicolor |
| Angrath, Captain of Chaos |
Multicolor |
| Kitchen Finks |
Multicolor |
| Dromoka's Command |
Multicolor |
| Elenda, the Dusk Rose |
Multicolor |
| Roil Spout |
Multicolor |
| Grumgully, the Generous |
Multicolor |
| Ajani, the Greathearted |
Multicolor |
| Dreadhorde Butcher |
Multicolor |
| Quillspike |
Multicolor |
| Atraxa, Praetors' Voice |
Multicolor |
| Bioessence Hydra |
Multicolor |
| Rakdos Cackler |
Multicolor |
| Detention Sphere |
Multicolor |
| Dack's Duplicate |
Multicolor |
| Endless One |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Scarecrone |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Lightning Coils |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Myriad Construct |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Spire Golem |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Flayer Husk |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Cryptolith Fragment |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Ghostfire Blade |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Sphere of the Suns |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Chief of the Foundry |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Soultether Golem |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Contagion Clasp |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Stonecoil Serpent |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Myr Sire |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Energy Chamber |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Pentad Prism |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Powder Keg |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Arcbound Slith |
Colorless/Artifact |
| The Ozolith |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Coalition Relic |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Metallic Mimic |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Wingrattle Scarecrow |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Triskelion |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Contagion Engine |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Jinxed Choker |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Phyrexian Soulgorger |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Chronomaton |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Etched Champion |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Edifice of Authority |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Ornithopter |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Lotus Bloom |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Serrated Biskelion |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Untethered Express |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Sparring Construct |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Sigil of Distinction |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Steel Overseer |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Orochi Hatchery |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Farmstead Gleaner |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Everflowing Chalice |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Arcbound Stinger |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Karn, Scion of Urza |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Empowered Autogenerator |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Prophetic Prism |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Gingerbrute |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Grafted Exoskeleton |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Coldsteel Heart |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Iron Bully |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Treasure Map |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Scrapyard Recombiner |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Throne of Geth |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Sickleslicer |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Power Conduit |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Hope of Ghirapur |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Epochrasite |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Pyramid of the Pantheon |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Phyrexian Revoker |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Myr Retriever |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Crystalline Crawler |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Diamond Knight |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Universal Automaton |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Arcbound Worker |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Æther Vial |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Culling Dais |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Perilous Myr |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Astral Cornucopia |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Aethersphere Harvester |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Phyrexian Walker |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Grim Poppet |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Ratchet Bomb |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Lodestone Golem |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Blade of the Bloodchief |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Chromatic Star |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Signal Pest |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Lesser Masticore |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Animation Module |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Memnite |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Crystalline Giant |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Walking Ballista |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Mox Tantalite |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Engineered Explosives |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Serrated Arrows |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Hangarback Walker |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Arcbound Ravager |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Jhoira's Toolbox |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Armory of Iroas |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Sword of Truth and Justice |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Springleaf Drum |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Paradise Mantle |
Colorless/Artifact |
| Ruins of Oran-Rief |
Land |
| Needle Spires |
Land |
| Arid Mesa |
Land |
| Mystic Gate |
Land |
| Lavaclaw Reaches |
Land |
| Savannah |
Land |
| Sacred Foundry |
Land |
| Fabled Passage |
Land |
| Mage-Ring Network |
Land |
| Wooded Bastion |
Land |
| Karn's Bastion |
Land |
| Scrubland |
Land |
| Godless Shrine |
Land |
| Hissing Quagmire |
Land |
| Vivid Meadow |
Land |
| Fetid Heath |
Land |
| Watery Grave |
Land |
| Tropical Island |
Land |
| Stirring Wildwood |
Land |
| Sunken Ruins |
Land |
| Creeping Tar Pit |
Land |
| Badlands |
Land |
| Cave of Temptation |
Land |
| Grasping Dunes |
Land |
| Spire of Industry |
Land |
| Twilight Mire |
Land |
| Breeding Pool |
Land |
| Bloodstained Mire |
Land |
| Shelldock Isle |
Land |
| Raging Ravine |
Land |
| Blast Zone |
Land |
| Llanowar Reborn |
Land |
| Graven Cairns |
Land |
| Temple Garden |
Land |
| Vivid Creek |
Land |
| Plateau |
Land |
| Vivid Crag |
Land |
| Scalding Tarn |
Land |
| Wandering Fumarole |
Land |
| Vivid Marsh |
Land |
| Wooded Foothills |
Land |
| Reflecting Pool |
Land |
| Steam Vents |
Land |
| Inkmoth Nexus |
Land |
| Misty Rainforest |
Land |
| Bayou |
Land |
| Rustic Clachan |
Land |
| Tendo Ice Bridge |
Land |
| Crawling Barrens |
Land |
| Flooded Strand |
Land |
| Fire-Lit Thicket |
Land |
| Flooded Grove |
Land |
| Marsh Flats |
Land |
| Polluted Delta |
Land |
| Volcanic Island |
Land |
| Hellion Crucible |
Land |
| Windswept Heath |
Land |
| Celestial Colonnade |
Land |
| Cascade Bluffs |
Land |
| Verdant Catacombs |
Land |
| Underground Sea |
Land |
| Hallowed Fountain |
Land |
| Nesting Grounds |
Land |
| Taiga |
Land |
| Overgrown Tomb |
Land |
| Oran-Rief, the Vastwood |
Land |
| Rugged Prairie |
Land |
| Mishra's Factory |
Land |
| Vivid Grove |
Land |
| Blood Crypt |
Land |
| Prismatic Vista |
Land |
| Tundra |
Land |
| Stomping Ground |
Land |
| Lumbering Falls |
Land |
| Ifnir Deadlands |
Land |
| Shambling Vent |
Land |
Wizards of the Coast
Howdy, y'all! My name is Emma Handy, and you might know me from the Rivals League, broadcasting and writing for StarCityGames.com, script supervision for Tolarian Community College, or my stream. I wear a ton of hats in the Magic community and consume the game in a variety of ways as a result. Cube's no exception, and I'm excited to bring you my latest project: Proliferate Cube!
Part of the fun of designing your own cube is getting to cultivate a specific experience. With this cube, my goal was to create high-complexity synergies while placing an emphasis on combat math. How was this accomplished? Every kind of counter under the sun. There are even a few incidental combos thrown in for those who enjoy such effects. Those who are just looking to sink their teeth into the cube list can find the full card list at the bottom of this article. For everyone else, there's a ton going on, so let's dive in!
Archetypes
The archetypes in this cube aren't as set in stone as a theme like tribal, but there are a ton of cards that play much better in specific decks. Rather than encouraging "midrange soup" decks, a major goal of this cube is to have decks that are greater than the sum of their parts. This leads to a bunch of thematic pieces within colors that have a host of applications across archetypes. Looking at what each color is about makes it easier to visualize how the themes can play together and what kinds of combinations can create some seriously messed-up Cube decks with cards that might not look as powerful on paper.
Green Ramp
Ramp is one of the archetypes in the cube that people are going to be the most familiar with. Cube all-stars like Avenger of Zendikar and Joraga Treespeaker are going to make the deck feel like an old friend. The twist? Rather than ramping into Terastodon and Primeval Titan, Hydras of all sorts are on the menu. They scale well with the beatdown decks available, and with enough mana, cards like Genesis Hydra and Lifeblood Hydra get completely out of control.
Red Aggro
While designing the cube, it was great how many Red Deck Wins all-stars naturally slotted into the themes of the cube without feeling forced. Seriously, if you're trying to get your feet wet, just play a normal red deck. If you wanna lean into synergies, the pool goes so, so deep. Hellspark Elemental sacrificed post-combat to put a counter on Carrion Feeder? Nice! Keldon Marauders has counters and is a beatdown favorite? Same with Stromkirk Noble? And Stormblood Berserker? And Soul-Scar Mage? And—the list goes on.
Black Sacrifice
One of the common themes throughout the cube is leveraging on-battlefield advantages, especially sacrificing cards for short-term gains. Interestingly enough, with all the escape, persist, undying, and other recursive creatures available, it's hard to tell if anything of consequence actually ever stays dead. Black's place is an Aristocrats-esque theme that can play best with red and white but has enough cards to stand on its own as a monocolor deck at the right table.
Red Sacrifice
While red's sacrifice synergies aren't as strong as black's, there are a bunch of cards that are very into the idea of sacrificing raw (digital) cardboard for profitable damage exchanges. Having a handful of Act of Treason-like effects allows the archetype to play similarly to its Standard counterpart. Enough of the red creatures are going to die anyways, so having ways to get value out of Keldon Marauders, Hellspark Elemental, and so on is gravy.
White Weenie
White Weenie operates similarly to the Hardened Scales archetype, but it goes much, much wider. With a minor token theme, cards like Basri's Solidarity are absolutely bananas, and proliferate spells do a great job of upgrading the entire team's power and toughness. Evolution Sage with fetch lands and white creatures ends the game fast.
Green Stompy
Ramp isn't the only way to play a base-green deck. If a traditional aggro deck is more your speed, there's a whole curve of above-rate green creatures that can beat down. The biggest thing to be cognizant of while drafting this deck is that it's important to find game-ending cards that work early and on into the late game. Kalonian Hydra, Verdurous Gearhulk, and Hadana's Climb are great ways to make sure you can get across the finish line against a well-established synergy deck.
Blue Counters
The central theme of this cube is counters, and while every other color has an incredibly proactive way to use them, blue is all about messing with counters and weaving an advantage through those interactions. There are ways to spend and steal counters, and there are even counter-centric counterspells in Ertai's Meddling and Delay. Most of blue's counter-manipulation cards aren't going to close a game by themselves, but as a support color, blue is able to play in several different directions. This customizability lends itself to letting players play at their pace and even steal some of the opponent's game pieces along the way.
Blue Evasion
In the interest of combatting the complexity of the interactions in the cube, blue has access to a traditional Skies archetype that is exactly what it looks like: efficient, evasive creatures with some room for synergies.
Hardened Scales
It wouldn't be much of a "counters" cube without one of the most iconic +1/+1 counter archetypes in recent history. This Stompy archetype is one of the stronger ones in the cube, easily producing a bunch of 4/4s in short order.
Artifact Aggro
On the topic of iconic aggro strategies, finding a way to incorporate Arcbound Ravager and friends was one of the primary challenges in the cube. The way to go with this is to try and stay open for a little bit before falling into a color pair within Grixis, usually base blue. There's enough mana fixing in artifacts (that can be upgraded by Ensoul Artifact and company!) that it isn't too difficult to base around a single color and lightly touch another color or two to round out a full deck. Red and black's biggest strengths for the archetype are going to be in sacrificing artifacts for bursts of damage via cards like Atog and Disciple of the Vault. Their sacrifice cards also play beautifully with the modular mechanic for some tricky mid-combat plays. Make sure to prioritize the more ubiquitous artifact creatures (like Hangarback Walker) in pick orders because they go fast!
Tips and Tricks for Drafting
A lot of what's going on in this cube isn't exactly what people are accustomed to when it comes to a normal cubing experience, and it feels appropriate to mention a few points that might be unintuitive to someone who hasn't played with the cards before.
The Mana
For mana, you'll find the usual suspects—dual lands, shock lands, fetch lands, and creature lands, with filter lands thrown into the mix. There are enough impactful cards with multiple pips of the same color in their mana cost that the filter lands are much better in this format than they normally are. There are several instances where I would take a filter land over a dual or creature land of the same color.
Proliferate
In case the name of the cube doesn't beat you over the head with it hard enough, proliferate is the name of the game. The original idea for the cube was "War of the Spark Expanded," with sweet proliferate-able mechanics like infect and energy. The size of the cube made those mechanics and planeswalkers hard to balance against, and some of the planeswalker fights felt too close to the Modern Cube. Even though the details may have changed, the primary focus on counters, more specifically, mechanics that work with proliferate, hasn't changed.
By the same token, most counters-matter cards have significantly more applications than they normally do in the same way that artifact hate was relevant in Double Masters. Parting Thoughts? Easy Pack 1, Pick 1. Same with Ion Storm.
Combos
There are more combos than you think. Many of which are cards that happen to be incidentally good on their own.
Devoted Druid has combos with Quillspike and Vizier of Remedies. Both the latter cards are also just great with persist creatures and get sucked up early as a result. This makes it harder to assemble a ton of combos, but so rewarding when it comes together.
Kitchen Finks may be the easiest Pack 1, Pick 1 in the cube, simply because it's easy to build combos with cheap persist creatures. Wingrattle Scarecrow is much better than it looks for the same reason. Simply find something like Vizier of Remedies or Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit to pair with a sacrifice outlet, and you're off to the races.
Can't lose the game if you can't take infect damage. Just make sure you find a way to end the game before they find a way to kill a Grizzly Bears or an enchantment.
On top of being a low-cost way to constantly move counters around, Power Conduit allows you to repeat chapters on Sagas.
If there's a true "Splinter Twin" in this format, it's this. Gaining life and making all your creatures bigger for each set of clicks, as many times as you want, is no joke.
Heliod combos in the same ways that he does in Modern and Pioneer. Who knew?
Overall, despite there being a good number of combos in the cube, the fact that they aren't niche cards a la Deceiver Exarch means it's harder to actually see each piece of a combo in a draft. Coupled with the fact that this is a 600-card cube, not a 360 one, these combos will be novelties more frequently rather than format-ruining mainstays of an otherwise mid-power format.
Get Out What You Put In
The intricacies of this cube go miles deep, and there's so much to learn. Which means that the more reps you get, the more you're going to find and try. The best advice I can offer is this: always work toward ending the game. The threats are strong, and without a ton of sweepers, synergies will overwhelm most removal-heavy decks.
If you like attacking and doing things so whacky they're generally saved for Mental Magic and other made-up formats, you're going to love this cube. I know I do, and I couldn't be more excited to share it with the world.
Full Cube List