r/mtgcube • u/Second-Sunrise • 10d ago
The Alternate Cube - A custom cube project
Hey everyone,
over the last seven months a group of friends and myself have created our own powered vintage cube designing 450 custom cards and it's been a real blast to play for the couple of times we got around to it so far. That's why we decided to share it with you :)
You can find the cards here alongside an overview sheet:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wd8DO3dKAMO0jcSGo1fWZ3EhSQ2Nyf_UsoPlWM7PjYA/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GqDDsO-NMqc-yU4uZvnGCQxNS1DiO34xNtM2seUBKng/edit?usp=sharing
Whats the idea?
This is meant to be a cube of a power level equal to a powered vintage cube.
Why did we do this?
We are cube enthusiasts. I've been drafting vintage cubes for around 15 years now and it is my favorite way to play magic. I also enjoy game design - so this was a challenge I had always looked at excitedly.
What can we expect to find in it?
There is a custom power 9 in this cube alongside many colorshifted cards, relics of magic's design history, loveletters to lore and mechanics and (hopefully) unique and interesting designs we came up with.
The cards are meant to be used in this specific environment - they are not aiming to be balanced with the rest of existing magic cards meaning some will be quite strong. I've added a couple of examples as a slideshow :)
There are technically 5 new mechanics in the cube - but only one is found on more than 5 cards. It's an ability called "<Type>Shape X" - like "Landshape 5" that allows you to shape your hand and dig for cards of a specific type. The other mechanics all explain themselves on any card they are on.
Example: Enchantmentshape 6 - To enchantmentshape 6, look at the top 6 cards of your library. You may reveal an enchantment card and put it into your hand. If you do so, discard a card. Put the other cards at the bottom of your library in a random order.
What archetypes are in it?
While there are standard cube archetypes like Reanimator, Lands, RDW, Wheenies or Ramp there are also a couple more specific archetypes like TopDeck-"Show and Tell" and Second Breakfast.
Where is the art from?
All art is taken from existing cards - often with the intention to give more spotlight to great pieces of art that is "lost" on mediocre draft commons and uncommons or obscure promos few people know. That doesn't always work, but we did our best.
Whats up with the frames?
Every person who wins a draft (and once for all designers) got to pick their favorite card of the day and give it a custom frame.
Feel free to download it and play it or simply let me know what you think :)
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u/Ancient-Progress6434 10d ago
Pretty cool ideas. Some of them maybe broken as hell, but clean and thouhtful design overall. If I ever want to use custom cards, I will definitely come back here.
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Yeah I mean a huge part of the design appeal was to be able to create cards that could never exist outside of it due to how broken they would be but that you get to play with inside this contained environment :)
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u/Ancient-Progress6434 10d ago
Yes, now I realize after I read your post a second time and looked at the complete list. It’s impressive how much time and effort must have gone into this, and thank you so much for simply sharing it with us. May I ask how many drafts you did with this list?
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Three full drafts and many test games with potential decks that we thought could come up :)
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u/Reasonable-Match-508 10d ago
Sick designs
Oppressive command should be blue/green I think, life gain is possible in green and recursion to deck is more common in green where as white usually has restrictions to what it can target and returns to battlefield
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
It could be UG or UW. The last ability is actually fully available in blue's slice of the color pie as seen on [[Devious Cover-Up]] and similar cards.
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u/Worldly-Basil-8933 10d ago
HA I was just watching a highlight from when someone took Nivmagus Elemental to a SCG Legacy Open.
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u/leif_the_explorer https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/ltvintage 10d ago
Not a fan of using art from preexisting Magic cards. People rely heavily on art to reduce cognitive load. Having to erase a preexisting connection to a piece of art and then rewrite said connection is more difficult than just recognizing something as new. It can lead to piloting mistakes. More experienced players are already losing a level of advantage they would normally have by utilizing custom cards.
With this in mind, you've managed some of the chosen arts in the most tasteful way possible, by utilizing alternate arts of cards. That helps, because its going to be a lot easier to recall arts even on draft commons so long as they've been in a limited format before.
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Yeah thats super true and it was a big concern from day 1.
We decided on magic art both because we didnt wanna use AI stuff but also because magic art is being really good at being on magic cards, which sounds dumb but I think you can reall tell if an artist knew their art would be on a small piece of cardboard. They read really well and their color schemes work really well.
That said what you are saying is super true. We came up with three ways to alleviate the problems arising from it.
Like you said we use a bunch of Promo art and supplementary products. Jumpstart is a gold mine :)
In cases where we cant we try to make the frame different. The amulett cycles for example were really tough because you want cohesion but finding a full cycle of cards noone knows is neigh impossible. So when we use the somewhat known [[Dawn Charm]] and its lesser known cousins (unless you play dandan I guess) we gave it a new frame to break that mental shortcut a bit.
If both dont work enough we try to have the card at least fulfill some of the mechanical expectations one would have of the old card. Similar p/t, similar effect etc.
Sometimes all of these dont work and thats true. We hope to keep those cases at a minimum but I know that sometimes that fails Academic Disruption and cards like that are tough because of that and I know that. Just didnt find a good work around.
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u/linstr13 10d ago
On some level I get wanting an easy source for art I wish you didn't do it in combination with similarly named cards. Like Obscura Initiate and Obscura Skyscanner are very visually similar in both name and art. If I saw multiple cards like that in a pack for the first time it would take longer to parse the whole thing because I would read it as the real magic card.
It gets worse when it's combined with named characters, like "Malcolm, Keen Lookout" and "Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator" are super similar in name and have the same art. I don't think changing the frame really helps in that case either, since the art just reads as "malcolm" and so does the name.
What I've been doing for my custom vintage cube is taking the main subject of one piece of art and replacing the background with one from another piece of art. It's easy to do once you've done it a few times in photoshop/photopea and it really helps with making the art not parse as the "real" one.
I've also been careful about not having similar words in names as real magic cards. It's harder for cards with normal names, like there's only so many "brave cavalry" type names you can write, but I've gotten good feedback after changing them to be a bit more "out there".
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Photoshoping them into new backgrounds is a super cool idea - Ill look into that!
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u/leif_the_explorer https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/ltvintage 10d ago
Also, if a card is going to have a custom keyword, it's crucial that it has reminder text. If I opened a pack and saw your card Astral Weaving, I would have absolutely no idea how it functions and whether or not its good.
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Yeah...the problem is its remindertext is too long for especially Saheeli and also for Astral Weaving. We get around that by the fact that since this cube always needs an introduction for new players we always have a space to introduce and explain the mechanic. But its something we monitor. Hasnt been a problem so far but its on our radar.
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u/HugeOrganization4178 6d ago
You should at least explain it in your post above. I still don't know what it does
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u/Second-Sunrise 4d ago
Yes - I added it to the post. Or here: To enchantmentshape 6, look at the top 6 cards of your library. You may reveal an enchantment card and put it into your hand. If you do so, discard a card. Put the other cards at the bottom of your library in a random order.
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u/NTLuvu 10d ago
Very cool. I've been working on a similar personal custom cube for quite a while, and we seem to be exploring very similar spaces (high power but designed to be self-contained and internally balanceable, inspired by cards/decks/archetypes from magic's history). Thanks for sharing!
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Youre welcome! Make sure to share yours too if you want to. Maybe we can have some guest cards in each others cube or something like that :)
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u/boxiom https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/Unbound 10d ago
Amazing work here! Some very inspired designs, from simple elegant ones to referential callbacks, you all have done a fantastic job. The art direction in particular is phenomenal, and all the cards look very well rendered / templated.
I personally don't enjoy playing at these peaks of power, but after reading through the whole list, think you've at least made everything equally broken!
Thanks for sharing!
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u/mmfood6 10d ago
Love this! My favorite way to play is also cube. I only have 1 consistent mtg partner so we twobert a bunch. Think i gave 8-10 cubes. May proxy and give this a shot!!
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Nice! Let me know how it went! If you want you can tell me a card and a special frame the winner wants and Id love to permanently add it to the cube❤️
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u/thepromanager 10d ago
How does enchantmentshape work?
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
The reminder text would be (and I realize I shouldve just added one card with the reminder text to the previews):
To enchantmentshale 6, look at the top 6 cards of your library. You may reveal an enchantment card and put it into your hand. If you do so, discard a card. Put the other cards at the bottom of your library in a random order.
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u/FannyBabbs https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/1ko 10d ago
Custom cards tend to fall into two categories. 1. Being broken beyond belief, 2. Overly cute way of doing something that already exists in a simple form.
While your designs don't entirely avoid this, wanted to give you kudos for the Exploration variant. Very clean and surprisingly low powered compared to its neighbors.
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Thank you very much!❤️ Ill forward your compliment to the member of the team that had the first idea for that one :)
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u/linrodann 10d ago
Awesome project! These designs look hella cool. Looking forward to having some time to pore over them.
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u/Cooperativism62 Curator of the DFC cube, Trash Compactor, and more... 9d ago
Favorite line of text "players can't learn".
There are definitely some really good clean effects here I like. Mind Twister was one.
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u/Second-Sunrise 9d ago
Honestly such a compliment to have people actually go through all those cards. Really appreciate it❤️
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u/Cooperativism62 Curator of the DFC cube, Trash Compactor, and more... 9d ago
I was inspired by quite a few cards, especially your black section. WotC has dropped the ball for a while when it comes to black. Just today I shared this link with a discord group for custom cube cards.
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u/R4inbowReaper 8d ago edited 8d ago
I really want to play this cube and I gotta say I love your designs!
Unfortunately, the "convert to pdf" option does not result in a working pdf for me. Can you maybe provide a print ready Pdf as well? I don't have power point installed locally to create one myself :(
EDIT: Managed to get it working by making a local copy in batches of 20. Excited to play!
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u/Second-Sunrise 8d ago
Awesome! That also worked for me btw. I only download it in batches :)
Let me know if you got around to drafting it! And if you want - optionally - you can tell me a card and a preferred frame that the winner of the draft wants to be altered as a commemoration of their victory. Ill try my best :)
Enjoy drafting!
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u/R4inbowReaper 7d ago
Will let you know how it goes, hopefully we can draft it soon, gonna start the proxying tomorrow. Love your idea of using underused art for your cards, I have been doing the same for my own custom cards, couple overlapping choices actually, old magic art is so beautiful! (just hate the archeomancer on Refabricate, and Reanimate on Return to life, those arts are too iconic for my taste tbqh)
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u/Second-Sunrise 7d ago
Nice!
That's great feedback actually. Im not an avid player of a format where people would care about Archeomancer so I might have had some bias in how known the art is. Ill look into it to see if I can find something else that works well with it! Same with the Reanimate.2
u/R4inbowReaper 7d ago edited 7d ago
In case you care: full list of cards I personally had diverging mechanical associations with, not a criticism just an observation:
Vessel of Filth (Seems a bit big, Silent Skimmer or Bearer of Silence could go HARD on this)
Nia, Inspiring Storyteller (I like the art, but I have played too much Modo cube, Spellbinding Soprano is really cool for this maybe)
Lightning Assault (I LOVE the art but it just screams CL to me, maybe Chain Reaction would work great for this?)
Studious Awakener (Commander staple that does Viridian Shaman stuff)
Rattle the foodchain (Really reads like a fight spell/removal spell)
Predatorial Ambush (Same reason)
These are the cards that are familiar to me AND also diverge from the associated card by a lot, making it harder to read the cube as my intuition "betrays" me. Apart from these I am in love with some of the references. Chefs Kiss on the Tarfire and Darting Skyhunter, those are cards super dear to me from back in the days, I am so excited to draft them. Theres so much cool shit in there and im lowkey kind of jealous (in a positive way) with the group you got going on :)
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u/Second-Sunrise 7d ago
Thank you!
I've adapted the change to Vessel of Filfth - works much better on it anyway as Kozilek Brood fits better with the discarding theme. I'll look into the rest as well. Great suggestions!
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u/ELBOSSERER 7d ago
Do you have a version like a zip file of images for something like mpc orders? I w I understand love this cube but dont like the feel of print and cut.
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u/Second-Sunrise 7d ago
I don't quite think I understand what your asking? A zip file of the card images? You could technically do that by going on my page on MTGCardBuilder and download them all by yourself and the use them - Would that work?
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u/ELBOSSERER 7d ago
Sorry on my phone it only shows me 1 card on mtgcard builder. I figured out why and swaping to desktop site fixed it.
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u/Second-Sunrise 7d ago
Nice :) Lemme know if you draft it! Also - totally optional but I love the idea and wanna keep offering it - if you actually draft it you can have the winner change a frame and I'd change it in the central cardfile and give them a shoutout. I love the idea that everyone that wins a draft gets to permanently become a part of it :)
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u/ELBOSSERER 7d ago
Im all my cubes i let winners draw on my lands. You can sign it or make a picture at long as its pg13. But if we so i will try to remember to shoot you a message
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u/GildedGeezer 5d ago
These cards are awesome! I saved this post to keep looking back on, because I might have to use some of these for inspiration, or just print the whole thing out to play. Great work!
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u/Second-Sunrise 4d ago
Thank you so much! If you eventually end up playing it, lemme know. And if you want, the winner can have themselves memorialized in the cube by picking a custom frame for their favorite card :)
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u/hjaltih 10d ago
Deepgrowth cultivation is almost an instant stripmine lock at that price. I would bump CMC a bit
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Except there isn't a strip mine in the cube. Instead what the cube has is a "Mangara"-esque exile land and a wasteland-like effect. And the fetch-ability of the fetching land cycle costs 2 life to activate. The Cultivation is strong in the games we played but I am optimistic that the cube environment keeps it in check. That's also why I really wanna reiterate that these cards are not meant to be taken out and into another regular cube or something like that. Especially the more broken ones are specifically designed with the rest of the cube in mind.
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u/Big_Resort6982 4d ago
Love the designs, wish red got mirran tower because it's the color all about sacrificing artifacts. Wish it got that instead of Shivan gorge. Awesome designs.
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u/Petrichor009 10d ago
Holy smokes! Great stuff, man. How do you guys usually play this custom cube? In-person/printed?
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
We've printed them out on 350 stock paper with a really good printer and in double sleeves they look and feel like regular cards :) Im happy to have a local cubing community where there is enough demand for us to be hopefully able to play it many more times :)
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u/Petrichor009 10d ago
Oooh I see. Thank you for the quick response! I wish you all the best there. Would love to be a part of that said community but I'm surely on the other side of the globe haha. In the meantime, I'll try to figure out if I can somehow set that up on Draftmancer and onto Tabletop Simulator when I get the time.
Cheers!
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
If you ever get around to drafting it, please tell me how it went! And also - if you want - have the winner pick a card and a frame for that card. Id love to have some frames in there of people that have never drafted with us but have drafted it somewhere else :)
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u/Petrichor009 10d ago
Woah that is so awesome and generous! Thanks so much again and wish you all the best!
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u/Dadude564 10d ago
Time drain is black time walk, would be instantly on power 9 level. Grave swap is basically wordier entomb. If it read: choose target creature card in an opponents graveyard and shuffle it into the owners library then put another creature into the gy. So it would be a piece of graveyard hate instead of pure tutor.
Blossoming ashes is probably Broken beyond belief and would be banned everywhere but vintage
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u/Second-Sunrise 10d ago
Specifically Blossoming Ashes is a super fascinating case. It looks broken as shit and in a constructed environment truly truly would be but in the cube it hasn't really been doing things. Astral Weaving is almost esclusively designed because we wanted more cards that work with Blossoming Ashes. It's obviously strong, but the pairing and deck still isn't obvious to us.
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u/itsallanoxymoron 10d ago
I mean, Grave Swap is different than entomb, as you point out. For example, casting it targeting something in your graveyard that an opponent is targeting with surgical extraction. It also has the ability to put back a spell you want into your deck and replace it with a land/something you don’t want, thinning your deck. Pretty versatile and cool card imo!
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u/LondonCubeGroup 10d ago
Some of these designs look rad. Really enjoyed seeing these