Everybody remembers the combo decks of the powered Holiday Cube, fueled by fast artifact mana and Magic‘s most powerful spells. However, things are back to normal and Cube drafters have to adopt to creature-focused play once again. Is there a hole in the metagame caused by drafters’ inertia? This episode of Simon Says is set to find out.
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Fun police FIGHTING!
I like seeing Cube, but for the future you might want to consider holding them right after the release of a new set. It’s kind of disappointing to hit MTGOAcademy, see a new set of videos posted, but then be let down when you realize it is a draft from a set/cube that is no longer available online anyway. I liked how LRR was able to upload a Gatecrash video already. Be interesting tomorrow to see what Marshall has for us!
Simon, can you explain your math from m3g2? He is on 11 life. Ball lightning + vortex + ring = 10 right? How was he dead if you drew a red source?
I agree with the above poster about the timing of this video.
I watched about 60 seconds of the draft and then shut it off becuase the information is no longer relevant.
They will most likely change the cube next time around as well thus changing the cube meta.
Get some gtc events in or modern videos post banning.
I disagree with the previous posters. Simon + Cube = 10/10, always.
Thanks for your comments!
@Anonymous: don’t really know what I was thinking — I probably just messed up the math. Hope you enjoyed that intense match nonetheless!
@Frizzell66 and apricio: I really appreciate your feedback, even if you don’t like the content of the episode. Let me try to give you my perspective. There are multiple reasons why this is a cube draft rather than a Gatecrash one. The first reason is a practical one: With my part at the live coverage of GP London as well as other real life duties, I was simply unable to prepare a Gatecrash episode this early.
Second of all, my primary goal is to educate, accompanying a long-term learning experience of (limited) Magic with my series. On the other hand, this means that while perfect timeliness is desirable, it is not my main criterion for content. I made the decision to present first a ZZW and now a cube draft because I felt that both included valuable lessons to be learned — in fact, most of them independent of the specific format. There are always new formats to explore, aggro decks to draft, and cube drafts will be back in some variant or the other.
It is perfectly reasonable to be interested in how to draft the newest set, or whatever happens in this week’s MTGO queues, but I feel it is a bit shortsighted to believe that the content I am providing “is no longer relevant”. Passive consumption of Magic content will not make you a better player in the long run. Analyzing and understanding the concepts of the game and applying this understanding in a broader, more creative, more efficient way than your opponents will. This is what Simon Says is about.
@jj: Good to know, thanks for letting me know that you enjoy the content :).
Simon’s response sums up why I still rate his series as the best teaching tool for magic available. I still watch/read CFB and occasionally Starcity, but this is leagues ahead in terms of a ratio of time spent to knowledge gained.
Keep up the good work.
“Simon’s response sums up why I still rate his series as the best teaching tool for magic available. I still watch/read CFB and occasionally Starcity, but this is leagues ahead in terms of a ratio of time spent to knowledge gained.”
I agree entirely. Simon is one of the most knowledgeable and thoughtful MTG teachers/players around.