So I’m here to write about my favorite kind of draft. Before I do however I feel that there are some things that I should say about myself. I like making decisions, and I like looking at my hand and having a ton of options. I also hate drawing dead cards that make me more an observer to the game then a participant. Imagine a deck were each card is modal. That’s exactly what split card cube is, all the way down to the basic lands.
Now for a little bit of history. I first heard of split card cube back in December of 2011. I don’t know who started it or when it was started; however, I was captivated by the idea. What happens when each card is a threat and an answer? I have made a couple of split card cubes since, however I have never really shared them, treating them more as thought experiments. Some were full of broken combos; others were just weird. I know some people have heard about split card cube but it is a fair bit of work to get one all set up on your own. So I want to help you in starting your own split card cube. At the end of the article you will find a printable spoiler that can be used to print out your own copy of my split card cube. I will also include the Magic Set Editor files I have used for this cube so that you can easily change the cube to your taste.
So why should you play split card cube in the first place?
Let me ask you some questions:
Do you want a huge creature or do you want to have one of your creatures fight another creature?
What about an amazing three drop or a great removal spell?
Maybe you are more of a control mage and you aren’t worried about all these creatures. Well then, do you want to take one of their creatures or do you want to draw a bunch of cards?
How about a visit to value town?
Are you more of a flavor person?
Maybe you just want to do really cool things.
Or maybe you are just a simple person who just wants to light people on fire.
So now that I have shown you some cards I should probably explain some of the slight changes to the rules. Spells are considered to be both halves of the card in question in every zone but the stack where the spell is whichever half you cast. For example: you cast Sakura-Tribe Elder//Roar of the Wurm on turn 2. At the end of your opponents turn you activate Sakura-Tribe Elders ability and put a basic into play tapped. You then untap, draw and play a land you may now flash back Roar of the Wurm. So you get a ramp spell and a 6/6 all for one card.
Another weird mechanic in the cube is cascade. You cast a Bloodbraid Elf and the first card you cascade into is Mountain//Tormenting Voice what happens? Cascade says “until you exile a nonland card” Mountain//Tormenting Voice is a land so cascade continues. The next card you reveal is Mox Emerald//Avenger of Zendikar. This is a nonland card, cascade checks the converted mana cost of Mox Emerald and gives you the choice on if you want to cast the spell. You may now cast either Mox Emerald or Avenger of Zendikar. Talk about some value.
Other weird rules interaction may come up that changes the power level of cards like the example above. Another great example is Counterbalance. If you have specific questions on the rules,try to figure it out, and accept that you may have to make house rules. Also feel free to send me the rules issues and I will post rules FAQs every so often.
So I have drafted a lot of split card cubes. A few rules are that since all your lands are spells you can usually run more lands. I usually run 20+ depending on my non-basic count. You will always have enough playables. There have been times when I went from a BUG control deck to a recurring nightmare/survival of the fittest deck at the beginning of the third pack. If you are drafting with 4 people 4 packs of 10 is best. Make sure that you and your opponent have a common “tapped” and “untapped” style.
I have had a blast making all the split card cubes that I have made but there are a few things to keep in mind when you create cards. The first thing that I would do is choice what you want on the other side of your basic lands. The rules I used for this one is that they had to cantrip. Another possible idea is that they have to cost over 5. Another thing that you should do is set up the framework for pairings. For my cube the default is permanent//non-permanent however each color gets a way to break this rule. Green is allowed permanent//creature, white is allowed permanent//enchantment, blue is allowed non-permanent/non-permanent, black is allowed to have spells that cost life on the opposite half of the card, and red is allowed permanent//artifact.
Another thing to keep in mind is to beware of cards that name specific card types. Some examples of this type of card are Life from the Loam (which is not in the cube because it is to powerful), Enshrine Memories, Planar Birth, or Relearn. Another type of card to be aware of is cards that check converted mana cost like Ignite Memories and counterbalance.
The most important rule to keep in mind is “Would you still have fun if your opponent is beating you with this card?” There are lots of other things that you will find made the cube more fun for your play group or certain cards that none of you want to deal with (like Counterbalance) that’s fine make the cube such that you will enjoy playing it.
For a printable PDF spoiler of the split card cube please click here.
Click here for the Magic Set Editor file of the split card cube. You must have the Magic Set Editor to open this.