I gotta be honest with you. I’m a little jealous.

I’m happy for you Commander players; I really am. I was once one of you, back four years ago before I knew what a Cube was. Now that Wizards has
come along and decided to officialize—I’m writing, you’re reading, it’s a word—your format, you get cards special made just for your little 100-card decks. Five Commander decks bursting with both sweet and new cards. Congratulations Commander
contingent, you hit the big time. Still a little jealous, but at least we cubers were able to pick up a handful of cards out of the new 51 and shove
them into our boxes.

And then they release From the Vault: Commander Legends.

Two special products aimed at one group in one summer. What the &@#%?!? Now I’m really jealous.

I just want to believe that most of R&D hasn’t had the chance to sit down and have some pure unadulterated cube-ness, but I know that
isn’t the case. They featured it as a format in the 2007 Magic Invitational so I know they know how awesome it is. My guess is they took away the
Invitational because no one could handle how sweet cube drafting would be with the best players the game had to offer. But I digress. So why am I so
bummed about Wizards releasing a From the Vault set just for Commander players? Well recently there has been some Twitter discussion regarding the From
the Vault series, and Mark Rosewater claimed that in essence, a FTV: Cube had already been released in the form of FTV: Exiled. I’m going to have
to disagree, for a couple reasons:

1) FTV: Exiled was released two years ago. I know that I was cubing then, but the general population was still getting their feet
wet accepting it. That’s like saying to Commander players, “Look guys, we released a multiplayer product! Surely you can find a Battle
Royale box set somewhere on eBay…”

2) All of the cards in FTV: E aren’t even cube playable (henceforth “cubable”). Trinisphere? Maybe if you snuck it into
Kenny Mayer’s cube as a sick joke. Goblin Lackey for a Tribal cube? Lotus Petal for a, I dunno, storm cube? It’s not like they slipped Lin
Sivvi, Dralnu, Lich Lord Haakon, Stromgald Scourge into From the Vault: Legends and called it a day just because they formally saw Constructed play and
are Legends.

Even if
I accept the reasoning for calling FTV: Exiled the equivalent of FTV: Cube, I’m holding you to the second part of your tweet where you say
“Not saying we won’t make another one.” For goodness sake, Tom LaPille, put a (proverbial) gun to their heads!

Now that the ranting is out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Since this piece is far more relevant to the rallying of cube support
rather than an outline for what I want them to do, I am not concerning myself with what the print of these cards in a limited run box set would do to
any secondary market value. This is just a potential sweet example of what could be done if Wizards were to go all in on an amazing FTV directed
towards cubers. I will adhere to the Reserve List, so if something isn’t on it, anything goes.

This list will be fifteen cards rather than fourteen + new mystery card, since just putting that in spot 15 would be lazy as hell. I don’t care
what the average number of new art is compared to the previous FTV sets, so if I want them all to have brand spanking new art (spoiler: I don’t)
then so be it. Pimping a cube out is one of the most fun aspects of owning a cube, so I will give a little detail on each card of what art I would
want, as well as a tiny description if it gets new art. Remember, this self-made list is generally for discussion and cube-boners so don’t expect
much of it to come to fruition. So without further ado…

From the Vault: Cube

1) Mind Twist

Guess what card isn’t on the Reserved List? Mind Twist is my all-time favorite Magic card, so of course that means it’s my favorite Cube
card. Strong discard is black’s hallmark, and nothing does it better than Mind Twist. I have actually heard stories of people casting this card
and then claiming they didn’t fall in love immediately. Luckily I know those stories aren’t true.

For this iconic of a card, I am a little squeamish on having new art that would do the card justice, so I would want to stay as close to the original
as possible if we did. Think the difference between Ron Spencer’s Alpha Terror and his MPR Textless Terror. Julie Baroh was the original artist,
but I think the aforementioned Ron Spencer would knock it out of the park on a redo. Just thinking about opening this in foil in pack one gives me
chills.

2) Bribery

One of blue’s heavy hitters in any Cube that will have it, Bribery has been letting the blue mage steal your deck’s best fatty for over a
decade. I’m sure that I could legitimately fill up ten slots out of the fifteen with blue cards, but I’m going to try to avoid doing so
while still being true to what I think people would want to see in an ideal box set.

This card absolutely needs new art in a bad way. I would want to stay on the basic premise of the Masques block art, with a port city theme and
human/mercenary/Saprazzan dealings and everything else that goes with it. Since I don’t want the art to accidentally suck again, I would entrust
Rebecca Guay to cook up something spicy.

3) Ravages of War

Was gonna go Armageddon in this spot, but how else are we gonna get a sweet black-bordered Ravages, in foil no less? This is the quintessential aggro
finisher in white, along with his more famous but cheaper twin brother. I made the mistake of temporarily taking it out of my cube during the
first Rotisserie draft in Baltimore
earlier this year since I didn’t own one and didn’t want any proxies to be played.

Poor Kenny Mayer drafted mono-white aggro, expecting to have both land sweepers but soon found out his dreams were just that. I don’t think
he’ll ever forgive me for that. I honestly I don’t think he should.

The original art will do just fine here in a beautiful black foily border.

4) Sylvan Library

The only Library good (and legal) enough for this list is the ever-loved Sylvan Library. One of the only cards on the list that is correct to usually
splash, Sylvan Library is a card not too many decks don’t want for its (arguably) better-than-Top library manipulation. Green is always in a tough
place in most cubes, with people including myself trying to figure out its identity. Sylvan Library is the de-facto best enchantment for green outside
of Survival of the Fittest, and since the Reserved List squashed those dreams, the Library stands alone at the top.

We can all agree that the card’s original art is just awful so a new commission would be needed. I’m envisioning a forest-y tomb with
something interesting hiding inside, so I’m handing the reins for new art over to Rob Alexander, who would certainly deliver on a land-esque
looking card.

5) Sulfuric Vortex

This is probably the least iconic card so far, but for people who fancy tossing burn and small creatures at your opponent’s face, you know that
Sulfuric Vortex absolutely deserves to be here. I still feel like this card is underutilized in cube. It’s not that people don’t run it in
their cube—it does seem to be fairly ubiquitous—but I never hear it mentioned as the defining card that it is. Red is in a funny place in
cube, in that it only does one thing well, and that’s kill people ASAP. Lightning Bolt is the quintessential Red card, but Vortex is like a
really pissed off Bolt every turn. And no silly lifegain to get you out from under its vortex of rage either.

I like the old art, but similarly to the Mind Twist debate, I want something new but that pays homage to the original. I would peg Matt Cavotta as my
artist of choice for an update.

6) Jace, the Mind Sculptor

I’m pretty sure at this point, this card doesn’t need any explaining why it’s on this list. In cubes, planeswalkers are at
the top of the card advantage mountain, and even though it’s getting crowded up there, I don’t see anyone usurping the BAMF that is Jace,
the Mind Sculptor.

I’m sure some people will hem and haw about Jace being on the list, but let’s be realistic. If you open Jace, and there isn’t any
Power Nine to be found, you are usually taking him. Jason Chan’s original art is absolutely perfect, so no need to go on about that.

7) Eternal Witness

It may surprise some of you to find that (spoiler) Tarmogoyf is not on this list, and Eternal Witness is. Cubers had long ago come to the conclusion
that despite Goyf being pretty much the best at what he does, attacking and blocking, that is all he does, and in most situations that just isn’t
exciting. Most people’s favorite creatures in standard cubes are ones that are really fast or have a sweet enters/leaves the battlefield ability.
The Witness has it all, one of the best abilities of that category, along with a Reanimate/Unearth-friendly casting cost, a Reveillark-loving two
power, and beautiful original art by Terese Nielson, making her a slam dunk for a spot on this list.

8) Umezawa’s Jitte

Oh Jitte. The best Equipment in the game as well as the most iconic, Jitte has been an easy first pick in cube drafts for as long as they have existed.
Even in an environment as powerful as a fully powered cube where fast mana rules, there are few decks that don’t fear a JItte on a quick
creature, powering up and ready to take out their win conditions from the battlefield. The only other Equipment that are close in power level and
meaningfulness are Sword of Fire and Ice and Skullclamp, the latter of which has already had a FTV treatment. I absolutely love the original art by
Chris Moeller, so that gets the nod.

9) Vampiric Tutor

Another black card sneaks around the reserve list and onto ours. Vampiric Tutor is one of the most powerful cards in Magic, hands down. In a format
where you only have one of each card, V Tutor is the only card that you can cast at instant speed after surveying your opponent’s turn to get the one
card to blow them out of the game or let you back into it. Another easy first pick and easily splashable at that.

I would like new art for this card, something that is really sinister looking that catches your eye as you pass through the pack. Kev Walker should by
now be the go to guy for epic and sinister, so there isn’t a reason to choose someone else.

10) Hymn to Tourach

Hymn, as Mind Twist earlier, highlights black’s most powerful cards in a cube setting. As I’m sure you’ll note, this is the third
black card on our list and the last black card on our list. That means that my favorite creature of all time, Dark Confidant, will find himself sitting
on the sideline joining his brother in arms Tarmogoyf as the most debated cards not here. Even though Hymn doesn’t quite have first-pick
pedigree, I would argue that Confidant usually finds himself in the same boat due to black’s lack of early game as far as aggro goes.

So in the event of the coin-flip, I’m going to side with the card that hasn’t ever had the chance to be foiled. Liz Danforth’s
original art of the Druids gathering in a circle is one of my favorite arts in all of Magic, so it’s an easy pick for me in the art department.

11) Rishadan Port

The only land to grace this list is also the second Mercadian Masques card to appear, obviously making Masques the most powerful set of all time*. Port
is the only card in the list that the majority of decks would be happy to add. Its mana denial ability has always helped aggro decks and control decks
alike slow down both answers and questions, respectively, as well as cutting off greedy three to five color decks.

The art has always been blah to me, so I think we’ll hand over the commission to this new artist named John Avon and see if he can draw a cool
looking land.

12) Stoneforge Mystic

Mystic is likely going to be a debated inclusion on this list, but she is one of the quintessential build-around-me cards. Obviously it isn’t
hard to figure out what to do once you draft her—eat up all the Equipment you see like that fat kid from Willy Wonka and the chocolate river.
Having a toolbox full of sweet Swords is a phenomenal feeling and a deck you’ll probably not want to take apart if you can get it.

I do like the original art but feel like it could be improved on a bit. Pete Venters is one of the best artists for creating a piece with a central
figure, so Ms. Mystic would be the perfect piece for him. I envision a small-esque Kor lady calling for a big ass sword. Come on down; you’re not
banned in this format!

13) Figure of Destiny

Figure of Destiny comes in as the only multicolor card on the list. Really he is the embodiment of what red and white (or any color really) want in an
aggro card—cheap, hits hard, and wins the game on its own if left alone long enough. He can go in just about every deck that is about 50% of
either color, good at any point in the game and certainly first pick material.

The original art is horrendous, and even though I guess I get what they’re trying to portray with him “growing” into a warrior, it
still looks like a randomly generated image of Kithkin crap. So let’s hand the new art over to one of the new powerhouse artists on the block,
Aleski Briclot. He’s fantastic with lighting and extreme detail, so I have no doubt he would knock a very epic looking Figure of Destiny out of
the park.

14) Crucible of Worlds

The only other artifact on the list is one I predict will be somewhat controversial. Crucible of Worlds is one of the sneakiest great cube cards. It
works great with manlands, fetchlands, and self-sacrificing lands like City of Traitors or Wasteland just like in Legacy. The sneaky interactions with
things that put things directly into the graveyard from your library like Entomb or discarding lands with something like Thirst for Knowledge is what
puts this value machine in overdrive.

I like the original art but feel like it doesn’t quite fit what I think of for an artifact that works with lands. Since we’re on
controversial already, let’s pick an interesting artist too. For something as open as Crucible of Worlds, I want to give the job to master
alter-er and fellow cube lover Eric Klug. Klug hasn’t illustrated any Magic cards for Wizards, but I trust him to come up with something badass
and original despite being known for sweet replication of known material for alters.

15) Mana Drain

Surprise! We started this list with a whammy and we sure as hell will end it with one. Mana Drain is by far one of the least fair cards in all of
Magic, making it one of the easiest first picks you can have in just about any pack. It’s not unrealistic to end the game by countering a
three-drop on your turn two and “curving” into a six-drop threat on your turn three.

Nothing more needs to be said about the mechanics of the card, but how about the art? I might be in this camp alone, but I have never been a fan of
Mark Tedin’s art. It just seems a little too basic and unexciting for me. Newer artist Steve Argyle on the other hand has illustrated just a few
handfuls of cards that have all looked awesome. I think that he could do some great things with a new Mana Drain while keeping the original in mind.

I know I’m leaving out some cube favorites like Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Solemn Simulacrum, Reveillark, Goblin Guide, and Ancestral Vision, but
it took me quite a while to trim this list down to a svelte fifteen. But what would the cube-mmunity be without some intense discussion on what
deserves to be where, and what roles they play? This is my ideal From the Vault set, and I have a sneaking suspicion that all of my readers would love
to get their hands on something like this as well. Hit the comments to tell me why I’m right or wrong!

Before we get back to our cube drafting, I do want to use my soapbox to direct everyone who didn’t see it the first time to
Jon Agley article about bringing back Team Constructed.
I was taking a magical sabbatical the earlier go round during Ravnica Standard and have been assured it was the most fun type of tournament that many
had ever competed in. Let’s rally support for this and help show Wizards we want this format back!

The
Cube Rotisserie draft for SCG: Atlanta
is almost complete and ready to be played in a couple of weeks on September 9th—11th. Look for coverage on some of your favorite personalities
including SCG buyers Matt Gargiulo, Travis Gibson, and Wes Wise, along with Coverage Manager Glenn Jones and SCG Open competitors John Winters and Matt
Scott, not to mention myself and US National Champion Ali Aintrazi! Follow along and see whose deck you like the best!

That will wrap it up for this week; remember to check out MTG Cube Drafting on Facebook! Let’s
get those likes higher than the Ali Aintazi Fan Club! Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Justin Parnell
@JParnell1
on Twitter

*In the Masques block, anyway.