Tag Archives: Drafting

Digital Playground

MTGA Cube First Impressions

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Introduction

My MTGA cube first impressions are that it is decent. There’s your TLDR right at the beginning of the article. See you in a couple of days for hopefully some Mortal Kombat content. I’ve been meaning to talk about the new expansion for a few weeks now, but it keeps getting put on the back burner for other material. Who knows? This week might end up being MTG and Pokemon again because I’ve been playing a ton of Pokemon Go. Plus, the expansion for that is coming out. Mortal Kombat coming soon(ish).

When I texted Chris about this after he told me that he was facing peer pressure to play MTGA, he said that his other MTG friends had just texted him the announcement. Guess we’re all excited.

I’ve only done one draft so far on my smurf account, so these are truly my first impressions of the cube experience on MTGA. I’ve played cubes before, mostly on xMage. However, I have done one or two on MTGO and I’ve watched numerous cubes on streams. Mostly, those are Legacy or Vintage cubes, so my sense of power level might be a bit warped. Bear that in mind as you read.

The Great

Trigger warning: I’m about to be cliche. It’s cube! On MTGA! Okay, so what does that all mean? Well, limited formats are my favorite, for sure. I don’t mind constructed, but there’s something about cracking 24 packs and trying to make a cohesive deck from the nonsense contained in those packs. I’m not the best drafter, by any stretch. Hell, I might not even be a good drafter. But, I love drafting.

And, now I can on MTGA. MTGA is my go to for Magic the Gathering right now. When it first got released, I called it MTG: Hearthstone Edition, but I’m eating my words now. I guess I just saw too many digital MTG products come and go with little to no support. This one got support and I’m glad. Especially with Covid-19, I can still play Magic on a regular basis.

The Good

And you draft against real players! Drafting against real players is awesome. The bots will usually just take the perceived best card without regard for what’s open, what you can hate draft, etc. Most people are like me, in the middle when it comes to drafting, but our decisions are based more in our priorities and perceptions of what others are doing.

The Decent

I mentioned that I’m used to Legacy and Vintage drafts. So, I’ve seen cards like Massacre Wurm (back in standard!), Elesh Norn, and Jace the Mind Sculptor. So, it’s a bit of let down when I look at the card pool for the MTGA Cube. Thanks to more powerful recent sets and some strategic reprints, there are some powerful cards like Mirari’s Wake, Thalia, and the pictured Liliana. Overall, though, the power level is what you’d expect for a Historic/Pioneer card pool.

Note: This might change with M21 because as I eluded with my Massacre Wurm parenthetical, there are some insane reprints coming with that set.

The Verdict

Like I said earlier, my MTGA cube first impressions are that it is decent. I enjoy the cube experience and I’m glad that it is in MTGA. With the power level being a bit lower and drafts still costing money if you want to draft more than about once a week, I don’t see it becoming my go to Magic the Gathering experience any time soon. I will still mostly just play Standard/Historic on MTGA and do my cubes on xMage where they are free.

On the Tabletop

Building a Pokemon Cube Part 1.5 (of 2)

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Introduction

What do you mean Building a Pokemon Cube Part 1.5? In my previous entry into the building a Pokemon cube series, I highlighted the cube I was going to try to build. Also, I reported that I am only 50% of the way done in building the cube. If you thought that nothing would come of this experiment, you are partially right.

Progress

While I haven’t made any progress in obtaining more cards, I have been thinking about how to add the cards. I actually read reddit, against my better judgement, to see what the creator of the cube I picked did to get the cards.

That article provided a lot of helpful information. However, it was almost an overload of information. They give several places to buy the cards. I need to parse that information better. Then again, I’m sure I do what I always do and just order from the place that I know best, no matter the cost.

So, there isn’t much of an update on the construction of the cube. However, know that I haven’t given up on the project just yet. I need to do some research for card prices. Once that is taken care of, it’s just a matter of actually purchasing those cards.

I don’t think that the purchase will happen this weekend. The last article, I said that I wanted to get it done this past weekend. That obviously didn’t happen. I don’t get a check from my new job until next week. So, the earliest that it might happen is next weekend.

Stay Tuned…

Thanks for reading the Building a Pokemon Cube Part 1.5 article. I promise you that this won’t all be in vain. It might not happen until the game is released in November, but I assure you that it will happen. I am fully committed to making this web page active and fun again. If you have any ideas, be sure to let me know.

On the Tabletop

Building a Pokemon Cube Part 1 (of 2)

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Introduction (BUILDING A POKEMON CUBE PART 1)

Why am I writing this building a Pokemon Cube Part 1 article? There’s a new Pokemon game coming out this year. Well, technically, there are two, but you get my point. As a result, I wanted to do some preview content this month. Then, in November, when the game releases, we can revisit and give some first impressions of the game.

In between in football (and futbol) season and Halloween. After is December and Christmas. We have plenty of content planned for the rest of the year. Perhaps, at long last, we will be able to get this page back on track for the new year.

None of that answers the original question. Well, to begin this flurry of content, I have decided to put together a Pokemon cube for me and the boys to draft once or twice. Bear in mind that none of us have played the Pokemon trading card game for several months. Mostly, we just collect the cards. However, with the new video games coming out, it seemed like the perfect time to give the card game a try again.

What is a Cube?

Not to get technical, but it is a 3 dimensional shape with six square faces.

You might be wondering exactly what a cube is. I, too, wondered this several years ago when I first got into Magic the Gathering Online and saw cube events. The concept intrigued me so much that I even played a few. Now, I’m not going to go into a huge explanation. There are plenty of resources out there to learn about cubes and why they might interest a father and his three sons who have a couple thousand Pokemon cards lying around in their playroom. This page is the first one, for example, that comes up when you ask the Google machine about Pokemon cubes.

Why a Pokemon Cube?

Okay, this is more like it. The question is more personal and it requires a personal answer. Well, first, I wanted something to kick off our Pokemon coverage this month. Second, the boys and I got it in our heads to organize the Pokemon cards again. All of them are older, so it is more likely that they will stay organized this time instead of being thrown all across the floor.

Then again, both Chris and I have been known to throw our cards on the table and floor and we are both considerably older than my children, so this could easily become commonplace in our house. Except with Pokemon cards instead of playing cards. Use your imagination.

As I was organizing the cards alphabetically, I thought several times, “Wow, we have a ton of Pokemon cards.” I wonder if we have the right amount and variety of cards to make a workable cube. Like I said, I’ve been interested in the concept since those days on MTGO. More than once I’ve texted Chris that I want to put together a Magic cube. However, the ones I like to play are Legacy cubes and I can’t afford half of those cards.

Well, I thought, we have a heck of a lot of Pokemon cards and I’m not predisposed to any particular format in the game, so maybe I can just put together a starter cube for me and the boys to get our Pokemon coverage started. I found just such a cube here. Well actually, I found it on reddit via the Google machine.

Why is this article about building and not playing?

What an astute and timely question. Have you been reading my notes? (Actually that won’t help as I only jotted down a few notes for the first couple of paragraphs. Wait, are you reading my mind? Guess it’s time to work on my top secret mind shield exercises. I knew paranoia would pay off for me eventually.) However you came up with that question, it is relevant to the discussion and deserves a response.

As I went through the list and compared to the cards I have, I only got to maybe 50% of the list and not all of the cards matched exactly. Also, I just started a new job and haven’t gotten a paycheck yet. As a result of both of these, I am still in the process of putting the cube together. Hopefully, I can order the cards that I’m missing over the weekend and finish assembling the cube for some drafts next week.

Is this it?

While I can understand your doubt that anything will ever come from this building a Pokemon Cube Part 1 article, I will hopefully prove you wrong. Yes, it’s true that I often go missing for weeks and even months at a time, but I’m committed to using the free time that my new job gives me to bring this page back to some prominence. Again, I hope that you will join me on the journey into 2020 and beyond. Stay tuned for the update!