DANGER ROOM BATTLE BOX CUBE *LOTR UPDATE*
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a serious update to my Danger Room Battle Box Cube. In this installment, I’ll be going over some of the changes I’ve made to update and curate my stack/cube over the past few months. I’ll also be providing my picks for my favorite Battle Box staples from the Lord of the Rings expansion.
The primary way I’ve been interested in playing Magic over the past few months has been multiplayer Commander. I still love to rumble with the Battle Box 1v1 style and I’ll always keep it set up to ensure great dueling opportunities, but I’ve become really interested in the idea of Cube drafting my stack, Commander Style, for multiplayer games, recently. I’ve looked for opportunities to choose cards that are fun and impactful in multiplayer without diluting 1v1 duels.
LORD OF THE RINGS ADDITIONS
Lord of the Rings was an exciting set, both in terms of gameplay and classic Fantasy flavor, and I’ve been pleased with all six of these new cards in my stack.
A white Remand. ‘Nuff said.
I’ve had issues with balancing GW Legendary Commanders for Cube and I’m really liking Arwen as an option in the stack. Also, an interesting play pattern for Battle Box – fun card!
An exciting and versatile spell, both in duels and free-for-all play! I’m a big fan of including effects that impact “all players” that still feel good in 1v1 and Rise of the Witch King hits the sweet spot as a great Golgari value card.
A great update on Izzet Charm that scales up if you draft around Wizards. I’ve also scaled way back on interaction for Artifacts and Enchantments (so, blowing them up doesn’t feel like such a free roll) which makes the Shatter effect at a premium in UR colors for Cube.
Denethor, Ruling Steward earns my checkmark as my favorite Lord of the Rings card for Danger Room Battle Box Cube. It’s a great Commander to build around and I really like the 3 mana, 2/4 body, and ability to drain from multiple players in melee Commander games. I’ve often said I wished there were more 3 mana 2/4 to play on the draw and this one is quite nice!
I’ve been really impressed with Pippin in 1v1 Battle Box play and as a Commander for draft. Sweet card for sure!
The most recent set was really sweet for Battle Box staples and I highly recommend all of these cards as options in any stack or Cube.
Here’s a link to my current, organized stack for the Danger Room Battle Box Cube:
150 Mono Color Spells (30 of each color)
80 2-Color Guild spells (8 of each combination)
50 Mana Sources for Drafting (4 non-basics and a signet for each color combination)
I’ve also put some energy into bringing the cost to build the Danger Room Battle Box Cube down a little bit. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to play great games of Magic when you’ve got a well designed Battle Box Cube. My stack averages out to about a buck a card.
Don’t hesitate to re-add staples like Snapcaster Mage or Kokusho to the stack if you have them – great cards are still great – but, I really wanted to be able to play my stack unsleeved on camera and not have to worry about damaging valuable cards. It’s just proof that you don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive cards to play great games of Magic when you’ve got a nicely balanced and constructed Battle Box Cube. Essentially, it’s infinite replayable Magic on a budget that you only need to buy once!
I actually bought a second copy of my cube to play unsleeved on camera for an upcoming episode of Legendary Showdown at RIW Hobbies. I’ve been super excited about how much fun it is to play Commander Cube mode with my stack lately.
It’s pretty sweet that the entire Battle Box unsleeved fits into a Standard Commander-sized deck box which makes it easy to carry around and transport for easy gaming (I use a second deckbox to carry my Basics and Mana Additions for Cube) but the entire Battle Box fits into a single deck box unsleeved which was one of my goals.
Here’s a picture of the last deck I drafted and managed to win my pod with! Pretty sweet looking UW deck, right?
Let’s also take a look at all the spells laid out by Converted Mana Cost. I’ve found Battle Boxes and Cubes really thrive on having an abundance of efficient, low cost spells, capped off by exciting (but not unbeatable, game ending) more expensive threats and answers.
Emphasis on Equipment and cards that feel special and iconic. Fellwar Stone is a new addition and I LOVE it.
When we draft the Battle Box I add additional lands and mana fixing into the draft packs (but I keep them separate from the stack when Battle Box dueling).
For EDH drafting the stack, I’ve found it works out really well to let players pick which Guild they want to play, give them all of the gold cards and mana fixing for their colors, and just draft off the Mono Color and Colorless cards in packs. Each color has two Legendary Commanders to pick from to build around which creates some interesting opportunities for gameplay.
Overall, I think this is the tightest and most effective version of the Danger Room Battle Box Cube that I’ve ever cultivated. The game play for all versions of play (Battle Box, Cube Draft, and EDH Cube Draft) feels fresh, fun, and interesting and I’ve gotten the cost to build the stack down considerably. It’s one of those things where sometimes less is a little bit more in terms of creating fun and balanced formats for casual play.
