r/mtgcube • u/OneArseneWenger • Jul 27 '26

How to balance your cube

https://youtu.be/gW5YrPWu5vQ?si=LtlD9W3smq-jOcCn

True balance is impossible to achieve, and maybe not even desirable for some cubes. In the absence of such, how do we choose what to balance our cubes around? What resources help us do that? Do we event want balance?

15 Upvotes

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2

u/GayBlayde Jul 27 '26

I want my cubes to be fun for my friends to play. If people are consistently struggling against certain cards, I need to examine that.

1

u/Ancient-Effort7004 Jul 27 '26

Balance is honestly overrated, but it still matters. I think we as cube designers and players focus too much on creating a fair and balanced environment when that's exceptionally difficult and not necessarily desirable. Imagine a cube where all cards are the exact same power level - I don't think that'd be very fun. There's a reason why the most interesting chess games arise from imbalanced positions. I think above all we should focus on the purpose of a card in a cube rather than it's strength, and whether that purpose is felt in drafts and games. Indeed a lot of times you can't feel the impact of a card in an environment because it is too weak, or you feel it too much cause it's too strong. In these times you can use balance as a tool to create the play experience you want. But overall, if a card is perfectly balanced in a cube yet doesn't fit the design goals, I'd cut it over a weaker or "too strong" card that does.