Draft Digest: Vintage Cube Lightning Round!

This is Cube, so you can honestly take almost anything in this pack and go on to have an awesome draft. But I’ve provided the cards that jump out at me, and these are lightning rounds, so let’s go quick! I have very much been enjoying Storm, and draw-seven effects are of the utmost importance. Even more than that, any combo deck (also even mono-red), will happily play Wheel of Fortune. And don’t forget the combo with Leovold, Emissary of Trest either!

Signets and fetchlands are always a great way to add consistency to your powerful decks, but you need powerful cards too. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is not a card I pass often. I think it’s one of the top cards in the entire Cube, as there are plenty of ways to get Emrakul onto the battlefield. I’m happily starting off my draft with this card and will be on the lookout for cards like Sneak Attack and Channel.

As per usual, when I see any Vintage Cube pack, I just look for the card that enables the most broken starts. While Necromancy can grab a fatty and Jace can provide consistency, Ancient Tomb is completely unfair. The damage it does to you is not as relevant as you would think for two reasons. First and foremost, the acceleration and tempo advantage provided often mean the game ends sooner than usual (in your favor, I might add), which is certainly a good reason to pay six to ten life. Additionally, plenty of decks aren’t designed to deal twenty damage in this Cube. Most are focused on combos, and they tend to overkill, so cards that use life as a resource don’t have as detrimental of a downside as they would in a normal, combat-oriented format.

So I’m happily taking this Ancient Tomb!

Worn Powerstone is pretty busted. One card that lets you jam some of the best threats in this game’s history on Turn 4 is nothing to scoff at. It’s what I probably should take, but there’s a card in this pack that I have a pretty big soft spot for: Regrowth. That’s right…I could take premium cheap removal, an Eldrazi, or a powerful mana rock, and I’m choosing Regrowth.

You see, I just love the utility the card provides. Early on, if you need to rebuy a fetchland, that’s fine. But with enough cards that provide velocity (Faithless Looting, Frantic Search, Serum Visions, etc.), once you get to the later point in the game, Regrowth can function like a tutor. I love the way it shapes how you play the game, and I’m always happy to play it. Of note, I think it’s a better card to splash than run in a main color, as it has more utility in nongreen decks.

Wow, this pack has a lot of options. Fixing, cantrips, mana rocks, and combo cards are all great ways to start of the draft. My general philosophy is to prioritize the best combo cards first (after power), and Splinter Twin certainly fits that description.

One thing people forget about Cube is that, since every single card is so powerful, if you just draft great cards, you’ll have about fifteen cards in your sideboard you can’t play. I value hedging quite highly, so I’ll take one piece of a combo in hopes that I can complete it, and if I can, my deck will be awesome. But if not, I missed out on one pick, and that really doesn’t affect the potency of the deck in a format as powerful as Vintage Cube.