The Nature of Combo in Cube

Andy and Anthony talk about combos. What is a combo? Is it a spectrum? Almost certainly. How are they related to the aggro-midrange-control metagame? How do they affect the draft and gameplay of a given Cube? Does Anthony hate combos? Does Andy hate combos? Only one way to find out.

⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠

Discussed in this episode:

Lucky Paper Radio — The ABCs of Aggro
Lucky Paper Radio — The ABCs of Control
Bosh n Roll on YouTube
Lucky Paper Radio — Guest Episode with Ryan Saxe
Anthony’s Personal Journey through Cube Design Article
Andy’s broken Fastbond Roto deck on YouTube:
Boonta Vista
Well There’s Your Problem
Til’ Death do us Blart
The Worst Idea of All Time
The Neighborhood Listen

Cubes Mentioned:

Bun Magic Cube
Regular Cube
Degenerate Micro Cube
Neoclassical Cube
The Turbo Cube
The Irregular Cube
Lyserg’s Legacy Cube
Ryan Saxe’s Buildaround Cube
Ligma Cube
“The Pube” a.k.a Rally The Peasants
AiBretty’s Cube

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

0:58 - How good is Whitemane Lion plus Oketra’s Monument?

3:08 - Why is combo not Anthony’s favorite style of gameplay?

8:53 - What is a ‘combo’? What is a ‘combo deck’?

20:08 - The tension between heuristics and individual cards

24:09 - Does Andy hate combo?

31:10 - The impacts of combo on gameplay and sequencing

39:35 - How does the presence of combo affect the draft?

45:34 - Satisfying different desires with different cubes

49:01 - Balancing combo alongside fair decks

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

If want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube submit it on our website. Send in questions to the show at [email protected]. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.