If you missed last week’s update, you may not know that the complete Community Cube is online and available to draft at TappedOut.net! This is important for two reasons:

1. Hey! Be one of the early testers of the Cube! See what it feels like, leave feedback at the Facebook page, and get a leg up for when you come across it at a future event!

2. Some said drafting occurred over the past weekend, and I have some interesting decks and data for you.

Part crash-course in what’s in store for drafting the Community Cube, part initial test of what it feels like to draft, this week is devoted to deck lists and ideas. If the process of building a Cube wasn’t as exciting as you had hoped, perhaps the spark of possibilities that await will be.

Testing the Waters

The first draft that fired didn’t really fire, per se. Fellow Tweeter @JoshuaGD jumped into the first queue along with @CavemanKellen (who immediately ran into some sort of time-out issue). Josh and I ran a draft with six bots, which skewed things slightly. The reason I share this draft, however, is that I drafted one of the favorite decks: a suicide Red/Black aggro that runs just fifteen lands.

It’s as high-risk/high-reward as it gets.

"Suicide Red/Black Aggro – Community Cube"

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Carnophage
• 1 Goblin Patrol
• 1 Goblin Shortcutter
• 1 Hearth Kami
• 1 Keldon Marauders
• 1 Mogg Fanatic
• 1 Nezumi Cutthroat
• 1 Order of the Ebon Hand
• 1 Pit Keeper
• 1 Raging Minotaur
• 1 Torch Slinger
• 1 Vampire Lacerator
• 1 Wretched Anurid
• 1 Vulshok Replica

• Spells (11)
• 1 Death Denied
• 1 Grim Harvest
• 1 Incinerate
• 1 Last Gasp
• 1 Searing Blaze
• 1 Chain Lightning
• 1 Disintegrate
• 1 Disturbed Burial
• 1 Rolling Thunder
• 1 Corrupted Zendikon
• 1 Bonesplitter

• Lands (15)
• 7 Swamp
• 8 Mountain

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I’ve drafted this type of deck in other Cubes, and it can be done with variations in color (White being the most common). It’s a strange mix of pure speed with recursive blunt force that plays to the simplest of plans: beat down, hard.

Josh’s deck was much more classic, and played an interesting foil to my suicide runs. He favors Blue, and picked up a sweet Blue/White tempo control deck.

"Tempo Control Blue/White – Community Cube"

• Creatures (11)
• 1 Aether Adept
• 1 Aethersnipe
• 1 Aven Riftwatcher
• 1 Errant Ephemeron
• 1 Fencer Clique
• 1 Knight of Cliffhaven
• 1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
• 1 Shimmering Glasskite
• 1 Stormscape Familiar
• 1 Talon Trooper
• 1 Welkin Tern

• Spells (13)
• 1 Condescend
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Force Spike
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Mana Leak
• 1 Ray of Command
• 1 Breath of Life
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 False Defeat
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Faith's Fetters
• 1 Fieldmist Borderpost
• 1 Mind Stone

• Lands (16)
• 6 Plains
• 8 Island
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

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While pure control—the kind with Wrath of God and planeswalkers—doesn’t exist in Pauper, decks that can withstand a beating to take control of the board do. With a healthy combination of bounce, card-draw, and flying, Josh’s deck looked sick. As he put things:

I will start this off by saying that one of my favorite things about Magic is permission: the mindset of “I like playing Magic, but I don’t like you playing Magic.” So as I went through this draft, I looked for cards that leaned toward that strategy. Obviously you draft Blue, though there are plenty of good cards in the other four colors to assist.

As I went through Pack 1, two things were painfully obvious to me: Blue was open (awesome!), and White was open. AEther Adept, Faith's Fetters, Breath of Life, and Mana Leak were all cards that I was more than happy to windmill-slam. That pace continued through Packs 2 and 3, and by the end of it I had a very solid U/W tempo control deck.

The only other person who seemed to finish his deck was, of course, Adam (who drafted a sick R/B aggro deck—the bane of every control player’s existence!). So we played a match. Both games were very close, with the crucial turn relying upon him not having a way to eke out just a few more points of damage with him being dead on the crack back. So my inexperience with the Cube as well as being just a little too aggressive ended up costing me each game during the deciding final turn. I had a lot of fun, though, and would definitely do it again!

Our match was pretty epic. Game 1 he managed to gain what seemed like infinite life (only 10 to 12) as he approached stabilizing. While he played valiantly, I held onto my Death Denied until after he tapped for Errant Ephemeron (which I nuked with Rolling Thunder). Reloading four aggressive bodies against an emptied control deck is pretty busted—if he had held back to block, I would have been able to overrun him with evasion and looping Vulshock Replica with Grim Harvest. (By the way, Mana Leak and Force Spike were the perfect counterspells against my deck!)

Game 2 was a slugfest where he came close to killing me through looping bounce effects on Wretched Anurid for at least 10 damage. My deck powered through despite the life gain on his part.

This was just a taste of the diversity to come.

The Full Monty

With the first draft having fired off too fast, I set a much longer lead time for players to join.

Success.

Seven other live humans decided to help see what all the fuss was about:

• JoshuaGD (from above)
• Norbert88 (Jonathan Richmond, Thieving Magpie Lover)
• mycathatesyou1
• CavemanKellen (Kellen Huber)
• wmap (Thea Steel, Cubist extraordinaire)
• theDeck (Zac Orangio)
• metaknightmare (Zack Levine)

For those curious, you can see a complete breakdown of the draft here. It has seat numbers and pick order through every card (thus no reason to list the entire card pool).

What’s important, however, is the diversity of decks that were drafted. For that, I turn to a few more samples as provided by many of these players.

"Mono-Black Aggro – Community Cube (Norbert88)"

• Creatures (15)
• 1 Blind Creeper
• 1 Carnophage
• 1 Child of Night
• 1 Crypt Rats
• 1 Dauthi Horror
• 1 Dauthi Marauder
• 1 Faceless Butcher
• 1 Fledgling Djinn
• 1 Skittering Horror
• 1 Vampire Lacerator
• 1 Wretched Anurid
• 1 Zombie Cutthroat
• 1 Dross Golem
• 1 Moriok Replica
• 1 Phyrexian War Beast

• Spells (8)
• 1 Geth's Verdict
• 1 Grasp of Darkness
• 1 Rend Flesh
• 1 Terror
• 1 Unmake
• 1 Nameless Inversion
• 1 Hymn to Tourach
• 1 Sign in Blood

• Lands (17)
• 15 Swamp
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 Polluted Mire

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Jonathan drafted a solid Black aggro deck, one sporting a curve much more suited to fifteen or sixteen lands than my Red/Black above. Even better, he had picked up both of the on-color lands with cycling. Crypt Rats can serve as a board-wipe or game-ender, assuming the opposing life total is low enough. And he didn’t even put Pestilence in the main deck—a sure surprise to anyone aiming at just the Rats to answer!

This is why a “Black matters” theme was proposed at the beginning: imagine Tendrils of Corruption and Looming Shade thrown in here as well. Ouch.

"Blue/White Aggro – Community Cube (cavemankellen)"

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Benalish Cavalry
• 1 Blinding Mage
• 1 Deft Duelist
• 1 Knight of Cliffhaven
• 1 Kor Skyfisher
• 1 Merfolk Looter
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Pestermite
• 1 Shaper Parasite
• 1 Stormfront pegasus
• 1 Stormscape Familiar
• 1 Sunscape Familiar
• 1 Windrider Eel
• 1 Spined Thopter
• 1 Spire Golem
• 1 Thundering Tanadon

• Spells (7)
• 1 Capsize
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Pacifism
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Viridian Longbow

• Lands (17)
• 10 Island
• 7 Plains

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Kellen picked up one of my favorite archetypes, one that doesn’t usually get the attention it deserves. While Counterspell and Mana Leak are the usual tools of Blue, pack enough flying creatures into any deck and you’ll be turning them sideways fast. While the Phyrexian mana is a bit problematic without life gain, dropping a Tanadon and backing it with flyers will put most decks on their back foot fast.

Magic 2012 features almost a functional reprint of Cloud Spirit in Skywinder Drake. Along with Rishadan Airship, I’ll soon have three Blue creatures with flying, with 3 power, for 3 mana, in my cube. Flying aggression rocks!

"White/Red Aggro – Community Cube (theDeck)"

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Burrenton Bombardier
• 1 Coalition Honor Guard
• 1 Frostling
• 1 Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1 Goblin Shortcutter
• 1 Kor Hookmaster
• 1 Manic Vandal
• 1 Mogg War Marshal
• 1 Ronin Houndmaster
• 1 Safehold Elite
• 1 Silkbind Faerie
• 1 Soltari Lancer
• 1 Stingscourger
• 1 Slash Panther

• Spells (7)
• 1 Burst Lightning
• 1 Magma Burst
• 1 Searing Blaze
• 1 Act of Treason
• 1 Rift Bolt
• 1 Flayer Husk
• 1 Tumble Magnet

• Lands (20)
• 10 Mountain
• 7 Plains
• 1 Chandra's Outrage
• 1 Faith's Fetters
• 1 Orim's Thunder

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Zac’s Red/White deck seems slightly strained, though certainly serviceable. As he put things:

I started with an aggro control hybrid flyer to keep my options way open. After that, I loved all the efficient burn/removal that I got passed, and I decided on a quick little Boros tempo deck. Get a dude or two attacking, take out or tangle up all their blockers and just try to get there.

Given the power level of the other creatures I saw, and the lack of two-for-ones, I didn’t see too many problems for me. Then again, this kind of deck is just asks to be stomped in the late game, given the complete lack of bombs.

What makes Zac’s deck seem awkward to me is knowing what I had ended up drafting.

"Red/White Aggro – Community Cube (the_stybs)"

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Amrou Seekers
• 1 Blisterstick Shaman
• 1 Gathan Raiders
• 1 Guardian of the Guildpact
• 1 Infantry Veteran
• 1 Kabuto Moth
• 1 Order of Leitbur
• 1 Phantom Nomad
• 1 Pouncing Kavu
• 1 Raging Minotaur
• 1 Skirk Marauder
• 1 Skirk Shaman
• 1 Vulshok Replica

• Spells (10)
• 1 Puncture Blast
• 1 Staggershock
• 1 Chain Lightning
• 1 Fire Ambush
• 1 Pyrotechnics
• 1 Rolling Thunder
• 1 Cage of Hands
• 1 Temporal Isolation
• 1 Bonesplitter
• 1 Copper Carapace

• Lands (17)
• 7 Mountain
• 8 Plains
• 1 Smoldering Crater
• 1 Teetering Peaks

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I, too, drafted a Red/White deck, my take being a little more Red than Zac’s. I managed to snake a few pieces of equipment and an abundance of removal to go alongside Rolling Thunder/Pyrotechnics and Guardian of the Guildpact. With so few ways to handle it, the Guardian is an excellent pick early, and likely worth splashing.

"Green/White Aggro – Community Cube (metanightmare)"

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Akrasan Squire
• 1 Blastoderm
• 1 Goldmeadow Harrier
• 1 Hungry Spriggan
• 1 Kor Sanctifiers
• 1 Mire Boa
• 1 Qasali Pridemage
• 1 Ronom Unicorn
• 1 Shu Cavalry
• 1 Silhana Ledgewalker
• 1 Soltari Visionary
• 1 Steppe Lynx
• 1 Whitemane Lion
• 1 Wild Dogs
• 1 Tangle Golem
• 1 Vault Skirge

• Spells (6)
• 1 Blinding Beam
• 1 Fortify
• 1 Prismatic Strands
• 1 Sunlance
• 1 Rancor
• 1 Utopia Vow

• Lands (16)
• 8 Forest
• 8 Plains

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When Zack started, he saw Crypt Rats (the card that would put norbert88 down his Black path) and Evicar's Justice in his first pack. Deciding to grab Qasali Pridemage and force Green/White, he was rewarded with a plethora of efficient creatures. A touch of mass creature pump is an excellent way to turn a “bad attack” into a savage beating.

Homework Assignment

Next week, Trick will be running the show, and he’ll have something awesome to share then as well. For now, I’d like if you took a look at the online draft feature, found a few friends to join you, and drafted a hour of your time away.

What do you like about it? What did you dislike? Anything seem strange? What kind of deck did you end up with? Was it something “new” altogether?

Answering these questions takes time and drafts, and it’s up to all of us to make feedback on the Facebook page happen. And if you use the #CommCube tag to call for players on Twitter, you may just fill a draft up like we first-drafters did!

And for bonus points: If you draft an interesting deck and you can share the list on Facebook, share it right away! I can guess that there are a dozen more decks to see and strategies to try. Think you can find something awesome?