CubeCon 2024

I went to CubeCon this weekend and stayed with 2dos and Tai since they lived in the same area as the con and I had a blast.  I went to the con on my own but even by myself it was a great experience.  Before I get into the cubes I played I want to take a little time to explain what CubeCon is and how it works since the website doesn't really explain it that well.

CubeCon is a Magic the Gathering event which is all about Cube.  Cube is a custom draft format created by members of the community.  They come in various flavors between different themes, special rules, and gimmicks.  CubeCon is simply a long weekend of playing various Cubes.  The main event for CubeCon is a tournament and it's also where you have the greatest selection of cubes available to try.  I was a bit wary to join the tournament at first because I tend to not enjoy them but I joined anyway because I wasn't going to be able to play the Cubes I wanted unless I did.  There is an Open Play area for non-tournament play but the selection of Cubes is limited except for Sunday when the main bulk of the tournament is done except for Top 64.  If you are looking at only going to CubeCon for one day then Sunday is the day you do it.

Magic tournaments have a bad reputation of being full of rules sharks but CubeCon was surprisingly laid back.  There were a few pro players and people there to win but by and large most people were just there to experience the joy that is playing Cube.  There were plenty of times throughout games where I missed triggers or my opponent did as well and we were all helping each other out in that regard and allowing take backs where it made sense to like playing the wrong land or something like that.  I dunno if I got lucky but that seemed to be a common sentiment shared among the people I was talking to.  It was honestly refreshing and made me feel more comfortable and the environment generally more welcoming.

CubeCon had an app where you can rank the cubes you want to play (and up to 10 to avoid) and the app would try its best to get you matched with a Cube you wanted to play.  If you didn't get matched in a Cube on your list then your choices are placed at a higher priority next round.  I ended up getting to play all of the cubes I ranked highly except for 100 Ornithopers, but that one was extremely popular and a lot of people missed out on that one.

Anyway, all that said let's get into the cubes I did play.


1. Peasant+ Cube (0-2-1)

Peasant is a rarity restricted format where only commons and uncommons are allowed.  The difference with Peasant+ is rare lands are allowed so the mana was full of fetches, shocks, surveil lands, etc.  This fixes a lot of the issues I have with The Pauper Cube where games tend to be slow to start and I kinda want to try a Pauper+ cube because of it.  This was a pretty safe cube for me to start with as I'm very familiar with the Pauper format (commons only) and Peasant is a natural extension of it.  If you like rarity restricted formats then this is an easy recommend.

I drafted a grindy Dimir Midrange deck that looked to loop and recur things like Accursed Marauder with Unearth for removal and use hand attack like Hymn to Tourach and Thought-Stalker Warlock (easily the highest performing card in my pool).  I feel like this one could have gone either way for me, a lot of these games came down to the wire.


2. Regular Games, Commander Cards (0-3)

This is Gavin Verhey's cube.  The gimmick is every card in the Cube originally premiered in a Commander product.  This was very funny to draft because everyone common sensibilities with drafting were thrown out the window as we all tried to evaluate how these cards which are designed for multiplayer ended up playing in 1v1.  Thankfully some of the known power outliers like Initiative were not included in the Cube otherwise that would have been miserable.  That said, there are still some power outliers and plenty of cards that play better than they read in 1v1.  I'd say the gimmick around this cube is neat and is worth playing once but I don't feel the need to repeat it.

I drafted an Orzhov Aggro deck with some of the standout cards being Jacked Rabbit, Grand Crescendo, Chivalric Alliance, Pre-War Formalwear and Assault Intercessor.  I ran into the same problem every time I try to draft aggro and its that I run out of steam and eventually lose to bigger stuff so maybe this should serve as a reminder to stop trying to draft aggro.


3. Devoid Cube (0-2-1)

This cube does what it says on the tin, every card in the deck is colorless or has Devoid.  The interesting thing though is you still need colored mana and the only basic land you have access to is Wastes so you have to draft lands and fixing to get any colored mana you may need.  Big mana Eldrazi are the splashiest effects in the cube but Affinity Aggro and other archetypes are very much a thing.  Despite the color restrictions I didn't feel like the archetypes were limited.  There's a lot of cool cards in this cube and it's definitely worth a look.

I drafted a ramp deck picking up every piece of ramp and bombs I could get my hands on.  This was easily the most degenerate pool I had this weekend.  I grabbed Mindslaver late on Pack 1 and ended up getting Academy Ruins in Pack 2 so I was ready to start going for the Mindslaver lock.  I also picked up Field of the Dead and a way to fetch it which was very gross.  I had probably one of the most ridiculous games in my Magic career in this Cube.  Here's a summary of what happened

- My opponent played Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, exiling my Field of the Dead and Cityscape Leveler.
- I countered with Mennarch but only had enough mana to turn Ulamog into an artifact.
- Ulamog swings and I chump block.  I had 21 cards in my library, down to 1.  He plays Steel Hellkite.
- The last card in my deck?  ACADEMY RUINS, and I have Mindslaver and some other artifact in my graveyard.  I play it, steal Ulamog. Pass.
- My opponent plays Introduction to Annihilation targeting Ulamog.  I put Mindslaver on top of my library with Academy Ruins to prevent decking out.  I steal his Steel Hellkite.
- My Upkeep I use Academy Ruins to put the artifact on top to prevent decking out.  Unfortunately, it didn't leave me enough mana to kill with Hellkite and Mennarch or play and activate Mindslaver but I still played it.  Attacked, my opponent is at 4.
- He topdecked Phyrexian Revoker and named Mindslaver.  I had no way to get an artifact in the graveyard so I decked out.

We ended up finishing our round in a draw because that Game 1 took nearly 35 minutes.  It was a completely ridiculous back and forth grindy slugfest between two ramp decks.  The people next to us got distracted by our game because of how compelling it was.  Incredible game.

AND THAT WAS NOT ALL.  I also drafted a Chaos Orb.  I threw away an early pick in Pack 2 because I've never gotten to use a Chaos Orb before and I wanted to do it.  I didn't draw it at all in Match 1 or 2 and I was gonna be sad if I never got to use it.  Match 3 rolls around and my opening hand was Chaos Orb and 6 lands.  I took one look at it and told my opponent, I'm throwing away the game so I can do this.  She didn't know what I meant until I played the Chaos Orb on Turn 3 and she audibly gasped and went "OH MY GOD" and we both frantically called for a judge.  When the judge arrived we just kept saying Chaos Orb and then asked what do we do.  They pulled out a box and roughly measured one foot for the minimum height I had to flip the card from.  I finally got to do it and... it bounced off the table lmao.  It may not have killed anything but that was such a fun moment.


4. Museum of Modern (2-1)

Hey look I can win matches!  Museum of Modern is looking to capture the experience of Modern circa-2016.  Many cards have multiple copies so we can have a better chance of drafting decks more closely resembling a Modern deck from the era.  This draft was also 20 card packs with 2 picks each to help facilitate this as well.

I ended up drafting 5 color control of all things.  My opening pack had two Lightning Bolts in it.  Easiest first picks of my entire life.  Second pick had a Snapcaster Mage and Treasure Cruise and my third pack had Deathrite Shaman.  I was cooking really hard on this one.  In the pack I didn't like a lot of the cards I was being passed so I grabbed a lot of fixing and it paid off when I got two Cryptic Commands late in Pack 3 which I was able to cast reliably.  This deck was firing on all cylinders with my only loss being a nail biter against a Saffi-Rallier combo deck.  This cube really delivered on the old Modern experience.  Everyone was trading stories and reminiscing about the old Modern era and it was really cool.  I got to Bolt Snap Bolt a few times and it was just such a rush to do that again.


5. Creatureless Cube (2-1)

No creatures allowed!  But things that generate creature tokens are fair game.  I liked the idea behind this cube and enjoyed it but I think it needs a little more tweaking.  There's some pretty egregious power outliers in the cube and just randomly some combos like Citadel Top and name a thing with Paradox Engine for some reason among a few others.  Someone in the pod had a deck where they could generate infinite mana and it seems weird to have that in there without mentioning it in the cube description.  Usually combo decks being possible in multiple forms are called out.  I still had fun with my pool though, probably wouldn't play this one again.

Anywho, I drafted a Rakdos Sacrifice deck.  I ended up getting a ton of the good payoffs.  I took Bastion of Remembrance Pack 1 Pick 1 and shortly there after got Goblin Bombardment and Impact Tremors.  From there it was just a bunch of recurring token payoffs, removal, and the star of the show Firecat Blitz to burst people down.  In my second match I nearly got milled out by Teferi's Tutelage but I managed to win on my upkeep with some instant speed token generation, Impact Tremors, Bastion, and Jinxed Idol of all things being my sac outlet.  Was a pretty cool deck.


The Devoid Cube was my favorite of the ones I played this weekend and had the biggest moments by far.  Museum of Modern made me very happy getting to play with those cards again and hearing people's stories of when they used to play Modern just made me happy.  I don't like what Modern has turned into nowadays but getting to play this cube was a treat.

I wouldn't say this for most cons but CubeCon is honestly one you can enjoy going on your own if you like playing Cube, and there's plenty of stuff going on outside the tournament hours too.  Being able to do this then hangout with my friends afterwards was just an excellent weekend.  I probably won't shut up about CubeCon for a bit and will be trying to get my friends to go next year lol.  It was a great time and I highly recommend it.