Today's article was going to be an article examining some pick one pack one scenarios for this year's version of the Magic Online Vintage Cube. I was going to take some screenshots from example packs from this year's #Cube4Charity event and talk about some very interesting first picks.

It started off well enough, as the very first draft gave me quite the choice:

This pack is completely juiced.

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Orcish Bowmasters, and Balance are three of the most powerful non-power cards in the Cube, provide extreme advantage at a very lost cost in a way that few other cards can. However, none of them are even in the discussion in this pack.

What is in the discussion is two of the most powerful Magic cards of all time - Black Lotus and Sol Ring.

Black Lotus is probably the most famous Magic card ever, being the most expensive single Magic card and the cornerstone of the original Power Nine from Alpha. Sol Ring is amusingly inexpensive thanks to being in every Commander set ever made, but its power level in Commander is nothing next to its power in a 1v1 game where table politics can't overcome it.

So... what's the pick?

It's a really tough one.

In a more fair deck, the repeatable mana source of Sol Ring comes out on top. Being able to play a 4-drop on turn two, and then follow it up with a 5-drop or other big things is later in a longer game where your opponent might be able to answer your first threat. If you blow your Black Lotus and they just answer the thing you play, you're down a card.

In a more broken deck, the explosive power as well as recursive element of Black Lotus reigns supreme. There's no better card for the Storm or other combo decks than Black Lotus, which can be the most explosive card in the entire Cube as well as a repeatable source of mana with things like Yawgmoth's Will, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, and more. If you've got a plan to do broken things, Black Lotus is the superior card.

In a pick one, pack one scenario, Sol Ring feels like the more consistent card, but if you're super comfortable drafting those sorts of broken decks, taking the Black Lotus is super defensible too. A lot of Cube Drafting does come down to personal preference in these close spots, so I don't think there's even a "right" answer.

That was an interesting first pick scenario, so what happened to the rest of the article?

Well, this happened.

While I'm very happy that my team was able to finally win it's first Cube4Charity in five years, it was certainly no thanks to me. It was a comical event, as just about everything that could go wrong went wrong, and I lost over a half-dozen final rounds to miss out on trophies. It was only for the ridiculous runs that Hogpog and D00mwake had that took us to victory, as I was effectively dead weight.

Obviously these things happen, but if feels difficult to write a strategy article on a format when you've only won one trophy in 18 drafts.

So here we are.

I brought them together, but when the aliens starting coming through the portal or Thanos showed up for the Infinity Stones, I was nowhere to be found! Of course, the heroes came through and saved the day, but ole Jim was just a mere mortal in the background who brought everyone together.

Frankly, the Vintage Cube has changed a lot since last year.

Many of the mana denial and prison cards, some of my favorites in the whole Cube like Tangle Wire and Opposition, have been removed, and the overall feel of the Cube is more midrange, less polarized archetypes. I clearly haven't adapted well to this, so it's something to watch out for if you're a veteran Cube drafter and have tendencies you've built up over the years.

There also a lot more Commander cards in the Cube these days, leading to spots where I was reading a card for the very first time in a pack next to Birds of Paradise and Mox Diamond. Many of these Commander cards are very powerful, with some like Forth Eorlingas! being among the most powerful cards in the entire Cube.

But again, I clearly am not in a spot to give expert level advice.

What I am in a spot to do is thank everyone who tuned in for #Cube4Charity, as well as each team and the folks behind the scenes who made it all happen:

Team CoolStuffInc - Playing for the charity Lambda Legal

• Jim Davis - JimDavisMTG
• Reid Duke - reiderrabbit
• Devon O'Donnell - d00mwake
• Arya Karamchandani - hogpog_98

Team Cardhoarder - Playing for the Charity Doctors Without Borders

• Jonathan Brostoff - TeamJbro
• Gab Nassif - YellowHat
• Caleb Durward - CalebdMTG
• Skye - MythicMeebo

Behind the Scenes:

Dan Bopes and WarrenFish doing the scoreboard and all the backend tech stuff

Cassady Alberico doing the promotional video and graphics

And of course, CoolStuffInc and Cardhoarder for sponsoring as well, as well as everyone who tuned in and donated!

That's All Folks!

That's a wrap for 2023!

It's been a crazy year for Magic and otherwise, but it's time to turn the page to 2024.

I'll see you there!