Your First Three Cube Drafts: The Mistakes Everyone Makes

Every Cube regular has a first-draft deck they would rather forget. A pile of rares in four colors, three lands in the opening hand, and a seven-drop that never got cast. That is normal. The good news is that new drafters lose to the same handful of habits, and each habit has a fix you can apply next time.

This lesson collects them in the order they tend to show up: during the draft, during the build, and during the games.

In the draft

Taking the flashiest card every pick. Early on, taking the most powerful card is right. By pick six or seven, a card’s value is its value in your deck, not in a vacuum. A huge creature in a color you are not playing is worth nothing on game day. The fix: after your first handful of picks, ask “would this make my deck?” before “is this good?”

Never settling into colors. Some new drafters stay open for all three packs and end with ten good cards in five colors. Staying flexible early is smart. Staying flexible forever means your deck has fewer playables than everyone else’s. The fix: by the middle of pack one, notice which two colors your best cards share, and lean that way unless the packs tell you otherwise. The Level 2 lesson on reading signals shows how to tell.

Forgetting cheap plays. Big spells are exciting to pick. Two-mana creatures are not, so they go late, and then your deck has nothing to do until turn four. The fix: from pack two on, count your plays that cost two or less. If you have fewer than four, start taking them over similar cards.

Passing removal. A cheap spell that deals with a creature is a strong pick in almost every Cube. New drafters pass it for a creature that looks better. The fix: treat good removal in your colors as a high pick, every time. Our piece on interaction in Cube explains why it matters so much.

In the build

Playing all your good cards. Forty-five picks feel like too many to cut, so some decks end up with 45 cards or three colors. The deckbuilding lesson has the method: two colors, about 23 spells, 17 lands. Cutting a good card is part of building well.

Too few lands. Sixteen or fifteen lands feels like more room for spells. Then the deck misses its third land drop and loses with a full hand. With 17 lands in a 40-card deck, you have at least three lands in your first nine cards about 85% of the time. With 15, that drops to about 75%. Those figures are worked out from the card counts and leave mulligans aside, and the gap shows up every night. The fix: play 17 unless your deck is very low and fast.

A splash with no way to cast it. One great card in a third color is tempting. Without dual lands or mana artifacts, it rots in your hand. The fix: in your first few drafts, skip the splash. Level 2 covers mana bases by the numbers, including when a splash pays off.

In the games

Playing too fast. New players often attack with everything, or cast every spell the moment they can. Sometimes holding a creature back to block, or keeping removal for a bigger threat, wins the game. The fix: before you attack, say what your opponent’s best block is and what happens next turn.

Not sideboarding. Between games, you can swap cards with your sideboard. New drafters often forget they have one. The fix: after game one, ask what beat you. If it was fliers, look for a card that stops fliers.

Not asking. Cube cards are drawn from all of Magic’s history, and some do strange things. Nobody minds a question. The fix: when you do not understand a card, ask its owner to explain it, or read it together. If the turn itself is still new, the How to Play Magic lesson in our Magic course covers the basics.

One fix at a time

Do not try to fix everything in one night. Pick one habit. Draft with it in mind. A first-timer who leaves the second draft with a two-color deck and 17 lands has already improved more than most people do in a month.

And keep perspective. A 0 and 3 night at a Cube is still a night of three matches with friends, and nothing it cost you was more than an evening. The record matters much less than coming back.