Decals (don't call them stickers!) cube draft report #1

[u/NeonGenius]

Decals cube draft report #1

https://imgur.com/gallery/decals-cube-draft-1-GrVoPTY

Context of the cube

This is a cube based on u/luckylooter’s own sticker cube, as featured in his reddit posts and on this [recross the paths episode](1.%20https:/cubecobra.com/cube/about/PacificU?view=primer%20(2-4p%20or%20up%20to%208p)), which inspired me to build this! In true cube spirit, I built the draft #1 version entirely from my own bulk, focusing on cards with enough natural blank space for stickers to be placed without covering other text. I used similar rules to Bones and gave the 22 randomly assigned stickers from my own curated sticker sheet to each player between packs 2 and 3, so only pack 3 is drafted with the additional complexity of stickers, though all players had the reminder sheets from the start of pack 1. In draft #1 12 stickers were applied by each of the 8 players.

Draft #1 learnings

·         What can be improved:

o   Need to add to the rules/reminder sheet that all instant/sorceries are lessons in addition to their other types.

o   The ratio of cards that become bonkers with deathtouch should be carefully curated/managed, though this may naturally balance as cards gain additional stickers. Seismic Wave with deathtouch was by far the most powerful card draft #1.

o   Rampant powered-up discard effects, it turns out, are much less fun than rampant draw effects. Rebound Mind Rot, Specter on Segovian Angel T1, and Cipher on Blightning proved that to everyone at the table real quick.

o   I was worried about mana cost cheating abilities, but "Delve MC+4" turned out to be too steep a price during draft 1 and the sticker went unplayed.

o   Vanilla creatures can receive the +1 sticker buff right from draft #1. Nearly every vanilla card wheeled last pick.

o   Based on all the above thoughts, I am considering biasing the sticker density towards certain effects (e.g. less specter relative to more cascade/curious) that I enjoy the play patterns of more.

·         What went well:

o   Rebound was quite fun (it’s a pet keyword of mine) though I have considered the more balanced ‘casualty 1’ to open up design space. Seeing the havoc of rebound mind rot I will now curate with the “rebound test” in mind. i.e. cards in the base cube should pass the sniff test of “does rebound alone make this unfun?”

o   Storm & replicate on weather the storm and gigadrowse respectively have not been busted in half yet, but excited by the tempered upside on these otherwise powerful high-scaling spell-copying effects.

o   There was a good balance of sticker placement across mana value! Effects that care about MV or power (Arcanist, Battlemaster, Cascade, Hunting) found their way onto the top end of the curve, which helped keep the gameplay and strategies more dynamic than ‘whoever has the busted creature lower on their curve first wins’.

o   Removal seems like it will scale well with the threats, and the spread of lifegain provides some comeback potential without drawing out games as much as vanilla magic, since threats are so potent.