Lucky Paper Radio

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony walk through (some of) the history of modal mechanics: cards that offer players choices between multiple effects. Starting with alpha they look at the different manifestations of modality, how they compare and contrast, and how they impact gameplay and fit into their Cube design philosophy.Discussed in this episode:An 11 hour game of commander ends in a draw and irrecoverable footageRhymeZoneNeologismEpisode: 243: In which Parker shares his criticism of CyclingCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro2:44 - Introduction to main topic5:40 - What is a modal card?8:15 - The history of modal effects9:36 - Charms, Commands, and Confluences22:41 - Bloomburrow’s Pawprint Mechanic24:42 - Cycling33:31 - Kicker38:05 - Split Cards43:47 - Morph47:38 - Entwine49:36 - Overload53:35 - Channel

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony are joined by Jane (a.k.a. maramas) and Arlo (a.k.a. gaytransmulldrifter) to talk about taste and aesthetics in Cube design. Building off recent discussions on the show, they question if there is such a thing as “taste” in cube design and what it means.Find more of Arlo and Jane, along with a motley cast of Cube designers, on their new podcast Pack1, Slick 1s.Discussed in this episode:Trump’s ‘One, big, beautiful bill’ would ban care for transgender people on Medicaid and ObamacareA4TE Condemns House Budget Cuts as Cruel Attack on Trans Lives and Lifesaving HealthcarePack 1, Slick 1sAndy’s Tangle Wire Reddit PostPack One Slick Ones - Episode #8 - Bitter Foods and Drafters’ MoodsInvitation to a Banquet by Fuchsia DunlopTrap StreetReading Rainbow CubeJeff KoonsYves KleinGlenstone MuseumUntitled Blue Sponge Relief by Yves KleinMark RothkoPack One Slick Ones - Episode #4 - Is Cube Punk Rock?Inland Northwest Cube FestUpcoming Cube Events on Lucky Papergaytransmulldrifter on YouTubeRobert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953Punxsutawney PhilCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro6:27 - Tangle Wire Corner19:53 - What does it mean to develop one’s taste in Magic?35:57 - Is there such a thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ taste?56:08 - Is a Cube a painting?

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk about saprolings, sort of. Our hosts talk about aesthetics and their own personal tastes, and how that applies to their preferences in Magic. Anthony somehow tries to make the case that saprolings connect to a pattern of affinity for systems thinking, complex iterative processes with emergent properties.Discussed in this episode:Episode 211 — Book Club: The Beauty of Games by Frank LantzEpisode 251 — Book Club: Playing Oppression by Mary Flanagan and Mikael JakobssonThe Design of Everyday ThingsWhy Fish Don’t ExistA Pattern LanguageReading Rainbow (Cube)Cod by Mark KurlanskyA People’s History of the United States by Howard ZinnLaw of the InstrumentThe Neoclassical Cube100 OrnithoptersSacred GeometryWhat if the 4-Card Limit Was Abolished in Modern? by Frank KarstenSaproling’s and Thallid Cards over TimeMeander Artwork by Robert HodginMandelbrot SetL-system fractalsChaos & Fractals: New Frontiers of ScienceNileRedWARNING Little Guys SpottedCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro3:39 - Introduction to episode4:50 - What are Andy’s broad aesthetic sensibilities?12:59 - How do these aesthetic preferences relate to games?18:33 - What are Anthony’s aesthetic sensibilities?27:52 - Anthony’s love/hate relationship with Slimefoot33:12 - Andy’s application of his aesthetic values to Sacred Geometry38:59 - How the aesthetics of Magic have changed over time43:50 - River corner48:17 - Dynamic equilibrium, Magic meta games, and power creep54:14 - “The Fractal Perspective”

View all cards mentioned in this episodeIn the second episode of the Lucky Paper Radio Book Club, Andy, Anthony, and Parker discuss Playing Oppression by By Mary Flanagan and Mikael Jakobsson. The book explores the history of colonialism in games - the many roles games have played inculcating explicit propaganda or normalizing colonial value systems in their aesthetics and mechanics. Our club members, including call ins from listeners, talk about what they took from the book and whether it’s changed their perspective on games.Discussed in this episode:Playing Oppression by By Mary Flanagan and Mikael JakobssonFree PDF of the BookThe First Book Club EpisodeNose DiveA Pattern LanguageThe DoughboysUntitled Goose Game‘Kriegsspiel! How Napoleon Accidentally Invented Strategy Games’ on YouTubeWingspanPhotosynthesis (board game)Spirit IslandA People’s History of the United StatesCole WehrleRootMolly House (concept)Molly House (board game)Citizen GameRusty Cash Box of GoblinPolytopiaOgre Battle Tactics: March of the Black QueenThe Design of Everyday Things by Don NormanCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:26 - Pickle Corner Returns5:15 - First impressions of Playing Oppression11:05 - On the format of the book and whether it’s the best means to convey the message16:28 - Getting on board with the core conceit of Playing Oppression19:41 - Are games descriptive or prescriptive of our culture?25:07 - What is a “Goose Game”30:42 - Are video games to blame for gun violence?'37:02 - The German Colony Game and why rehearsing violence is perhaps more visceral than witnessing it42:23 - How are colonial and violent values baked into games that don’t have explicitly colonial flavor?45:26 - How post-war Germany gave rise to the modern Eurogame52:22 - How do you subvert these colonial themes in game design?57:14 - Our experience playing the ‘anticolonialist’ games mentioned in Playing Oppression1:15:01 - Fascism as colonialism and imperialism turned inward1:16:29 - How does all of this relate to Magic1:20:42 - Polytopia and whether or not a better skin would make a difference

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk about a paradox they occasionally face in Cube design. Sometimes a particular card to strategy over performs and as curators we want to add cards that offer counter play. Often those cards end up being just as potent played alongside the problematic cards as they are against them, only making the problem worse. Our hosts talk about specific times they’ve faced this paradox in their own cubes, and different strategies to break out of the paradox.But first, they go on a long digression on Anthony’s latest fermentation project, growing koji.Discussed in this episode:Flavorama, by Arielle JohnsonThe Noma Guide to FermentationThe Art of FermentationAnthony’s First Koji Test100 OrnithoptersDegenerate Micro CubeRegular CubeEvergreen Ability Tier List Episode of Lucky Paper RadioMono Black CubeThe Turbo CubeTurbo Cube Changes with Julien Episode of Lucky Paper RadioLucky Paper Events PageCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro0:57 - Pickle Corner8:48 - The Nature of the Cube Design Paradox12:52 - Disenchants in 100 Ornithopters17:03 - Ensnaring Bridge in the Degenerate Micro Cube24:52 - Red in the Regular Cube27:23 - The Defunct Mono Black Cube29:59 - Combo Decks in the Turbo Cube37:17 - Constructed Magic Precedent for the Cube Design Paradox43:21 - Andy’s barely baked theory of power distribution’s impact on decks most likely to be drafted53:57 - Tools to Navigate the Cube Design Paradox

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy, Anthony, and Parker talk about the results of the cube community survey for Tarkir: Dragonstorm. They discuss the sets new mechanics and how they function to support a the set’s themes and limited environment and how that relates to goals of many Cube designers. They also talk about the top cards catching interest on the survey and honorable mentions featuring new mechanics or exploring new space.Discussed in this episode:Community Survey ResultsSpice 8 Rack’s video on the history of TarkirThe McElroy Brothers will be in Trolls 2Not just white men’s privilege, but just one timeCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro5:35 - What is it like to be back on Tarkir?10:01 - Set survey overview11:25 - Harmonize24:20 - Omens39:19 - ‘Twobrid’ mana45:43 - Honorable Mention: Frontline Rush49:27 - Dishonorable Mention: Skirmish Rhino53:20 - Honorable Mention: Kishla Skimmer56:56 - Honorable Mention: the Monocolored Utility Lands1:00:37 - 9. Rotcurse Rakshasa and Renew1:05:38 - 8. Sunpearl Kirin1:09:32 - 7. Surrak, Elusive Hunter1:15:43 - 6. Desperate Measures1:19:52 - 5. Tersa Lightshatter1:23:30 - 4. Sinkhole Surveyor and Endure1:28:36 - 3. Voice of Victory and Mobilize1:31:18 - 2. Cori-Steel Cutter and Flurry1:39:01 - 1. Descendant of Storms

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAs they continue to attend more and more local, grassroots Cube events, Andy and Anthony find themselves asking: do people like these ‘tournament report’ episodes? They try to talk through their drafts at Boston Cube Party Two more quickly, but it still takes almost an hour to get through them. The episode concludes with a brief look at the decklists from Andy’s new cube, Sacred Geometry, which was only drafted three times prior to the event. The cube is still very much in its infancy, and Andy and Anthony’s discussion serves as a model for how to digest a very small sample size of gameplay results and turn those results into some high-level goalsSpecial thanks to Judge Bones for conceiving, writing, and recording the voiceover for this week’s intro!Discussed in this episode:Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cube SurveyTarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Cube SurveySacred GeometryDoubleton Synergy555-JankEsper CubeSpicy Ramen CubeHoopin’The Cascade CubeThe Devoid CubeAndy on Cubereviews talking about the Neoclassical CubeAnthony on Cubereviews talking about the Irregular CubeAlex on Recross the PathsCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro2:55 - Should we do a tournament report for every tournament we attend?5:30 - Boston Cube Party 2 Overview8:55 - Andy’s Tournament Report10:52 - Andy’s Draft of Doubleton Synergy18:53 - Andy’s Draft of 555-Jank24:20 - Andy’s Draft of The Esper Cube29:35 - Andy’s Draft of the Spicy Ramen Cube35:33 - Anthony’s Draft of Hoopin’41:25 - Anthony’s Draft of the Cascade Cube49:09 - Anthony’s Draft of the Devoid Cube53:08 - Closing thoughts on Boston Cube Party 255:05 - Sacred Geometry Initial Impressions

View all cards mentioned in this episodeIn the final installment of ”The Barash Files” (at least for now!), Zach — game designer at Wizards of the Coast — talks with Andy and Anthony about playtesting. The three talk about how they approach getting feedback on their specific different environments and how they use that information.Discussed in this episode:Episode 15: Playtesting & TheorycraftingEpisode 231: The Barash Files 001 — The Principles of Game DesignThe Cascade CubeNeoclassical CubeOld Border Foil Cube100 OrnithoptersRegular CubeThe Mono Black CubeThe Null HypothesisKill Your DarlingsThe Turbo CubeUMA+ CubeCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro3:44 - What is ‘playtesting’? How do you ‘playtest’ a cube?9:55 - What kinds of feedback can players be trusted to give?16:22 - How does Andy ask for feedback on the Neoclassical Cube and 100 Ornithopters?28:24 - How does Anthony ask for feedback on Regular Cube, the Mono Black Cube, and the Turbo Cube?40:14 - How does Zach ask for feedback on The Cascade Cube, and what is the story with Crashing Footfalls?52:17 - The ballad of Aura Shards in 100 Ornithopters1:06:54 - A note on ego when you receive feedback

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk all things “combo”. After talking about both aggro and control on the show, they finally get around to this sometimes divisive part of the Magic landscape. They try to come up with a working definition of combo strategies, talk about their own history with it as players and cube designers.Discussed in this episode:Tarkir: Dragonstorm Cube SurveyTarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Cube Survey“The Daigo Parry”Episode 6: ABCs of AggroEpisode 165: ABCs of ControlImpostor SyndromeThe Turbo CubeWhen Trivia Beats Strategy by Parker LaMascusBun Magic CubeDegenerate Micro Cube100 OrnithoptersThe Neoclassical CubeCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:52 - Introduction to Combo8:59 - How are Andy and Anthony defining a ‘combo’16:47 - A selection of combos from the Turbo Cube25:06 - Why does Anthony include combos in the Turbo Cube?26:59 - Andy’s journey to loving combo48:13 - How playing against combo changes your decision making52:19 - The inescapable danger of playing combos alongside fair decks

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony are joined by Judge Bones. As mid-sized Cube events have flourished, Bones has spearheaded the task of judging and carried valuable lessons over from event to event. Hot on the heels of The Salt Box in Baltimore, the three talk about Bones’ history with Cube and what it takes to host and judge a Cube event.Discussed in this episode:Eiganjo DriftThe Amonkar Desert CubeBones on Recross the PathsLoxodon Mierarch’s Desert CubeHedron NetworkThe Broadcast ShuffleStripe Payment LinksLucky Paper Events PageCheck us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:Andy’s “Bun Magic” CubeAnthony’s “Regular” CubeYou can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro4:48 - What is a Magic judge?8:05 - Judge Bones’s history with Magic and Judging13:21 - Judge Bones’s history with Cube21:45 - What is it like judging a small, grassroots Cube event?26:23 - How are grassroots Cube events run?31:43 - How to run your own grassroots Cube event38:43 - Security concerns, or lack thereof, of having strangers draft your cube46:34 - Bones’s tips to other judges for working Cube events51:35 - Rapid fire logistics of Cube event organization1:00:34 - Andy, Anthony, and Bones’s purely subjective suggestions for running your Cube event