Curating a Cube: Part II

A few months ago I wrote a long post about my philosophy when building a SWU Cube: why I like the format, how aspects affect draft, and the design goals behind my list. With the release of A Lawless Time, I’ve updated the cube quite a bit, so I thought it would be worth sharing what changed and why.

Most of the changes were meant to reinforce the goals I talked about before: approachable gameplay, flexible drafting, and an environment where players discover synergies organically rather than being forced into specific archetypes.

Aspect Distribution Changes

The biggest change comes from the introduction of more multi-aspect cards, including the new triple-aspect ones.

In my previous post I talked about how restrictive multi-aspect cards can be in draft. That’s still true, but the card pool is now large enough that they’re becoming part of the game’s identity. Because of that, I slightly adjusted the aspect distribution of the cube to accommodate them without letting them dominate packs.

The idea is still the same: single-aspect cards should form the core of the environment, while double or triple aspect cards act as powerful rewards for the right decks rather than mandatory build-arounds.

Removing Rare Bases

Another change was removing rare bases from the cube entirely.

Previously, bases occupied cube slots and had to be drafted. In practice, this created some awkward incentives: spending a pick on a base never feels great, but including them in packs meant they were taking space away from actual gameplay cards.

With the new cycle of 27 HP common bases that allow splashing, I decided to take a different approach. Players now simply have access to these bases outside the draft, just like standard 30 HP bases.

Doing it this way solves a couple issues:

• No one has to “waste” a draft pick on a base
• Players still make an interesting base choice during deckbuilding
• Splashing off-aspect cards becomes a real strategic option

You’re effectively choosing between durability or flexibility, which creates a nice tension without affecting the draft itself. It also pairs nicely with the addition of more multi-aspect cards.

More Leaders

Leaders matter a lot in this game since they start on the board and flip in almost every game.

In the previous version of the cube I already ran more leaders than the minimum, but I’ve expanded the pool even further. The main reason is variety: when certain leaders appear too often, drafts start to feel repetitive.

Increasing the leader count reduces that repetition and also increases the diversity of leader combinations that show up in each draft.

As a side effect, this change pushed the cube up to 400 cards total, which I actually ended up liking quite a lot. At that size, the probability that a specific aspect simply doesn’t appear in the leader draft becomes very low, which helps keep the environment balanced without needing to seed leaders.

I strongly prefer avoiding seeded drafts whenever possible, so this was a nice outcome.

Simplifying Mechanics

The last major change was removing most non-evergreen mechanics from the cube. This change wasn’t about balance so much as making the cube easier to pick up, especially for friends who don’t play the game very often.

Many of the people I draft with enjoy the game but don’t play it regularly. When a cube environment includes too many set-specific mechanics, it increases the cognitive load significantly: players need to remember rules interactions, reminder text, and niche synergies that only appear a handful of times.

By focusing mostly on evergreen mechanics, the format becomes much easier to jump into. Players can rely on familiar concepts like Ambush, Sentinel, Raid, or Overwhelm rather than needing to learn several mechanics at once.

Where the Cube Is Now

After these updates, the cube now sits at 400 cards with a larger leader pool, simplified mechanics, and slightly adjusted aspect distribution to support newer card designs.

The overall philosophy is still the same. I want a draft environment where most cards are playable, picks feel meaningful, and players discover synergies naturally while drafting. If anyone is interested in the exact list, you can see the full list here.

I’d love to hear how other people are updating their cubes, especially how you’re handling multi-aspect cards and the new bases.