Lucky Paper Radio

View all cards mentioned in this episodeCelebrating 300 episodes, Andy and Anthony answer listener submitted questions. They address their favorite gummy candies, opinions on the free will of jellyfish, the most technologically advanced things they could build from scratch on a desert island, and so much more.Discussed in this episode:Arena CubeShoeboxShrimp Welfare ProjectErich’s Packing CenterSockerbitGo BidetBooks:A Pattern Language,by Christopher AlexanderA People’s History of the United States) by Howard ZinnFrostbite by Nicola TwilleyCod by Mark KurlanskyThe Design of Everythings by Donald NormanThomas Thwaites, who attempted to make a toaster from scratchArtists:Yayoi KusamaJulie MehretuRobert HodginImpressionismwayne thiebaudIsaac LevitonGustave DoréVirgil FinlayTheo JansenDan FlavinRichard SerraJames TurrellOther Media:NTS RadioOff Menu, Podcast hosted by Ed Gamble and James AcasterAlone, TV ShowIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro4:18 - Episode 300 Q&A!5:03 - Origins of Lucky Paper and the Podcast8:45 - Shoebox10:24 - Do Jellyfish Have Free Will?12:26 - Being Opinionated13:31 - Processed Cheese21:00 - Pinatas23:35 - What do you admire most about each other?24:44 - Life Improvements29:49 - Influential Books34:21 - Who Could Build a More Technologically Advanced Thing?40:21 - FMK41:28 - Cube Soundtracks46:04 - Non Magic LPR Listeners49:15 - Higher Education53:09 - Survival Reality Television57:45 - Our Ideal High Speed Transit59:13 - Visual Art1:03:03 - Our Hosts First Impressions of Each Other1:10:53 - The Future of Cube1:17:52 - Hopes for Baltimore Cubing1:22:33 - Mailbag1:24:19 - Favorite Drinks

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk about one of Andy’s all time favorite cards Young Pyromancer. After a recent draft of a peasant cube at their weekly cube night, Anthony realized that despite it’s iconic status, it’s not a card he feels like he know’s how to optimize. Andy shares his experience with the card, what he thinks it takes to support it, and a handful of his cube draft decks it headlined.View the full decklists of Andy’s referenced drafts on the  cards page.Discussed in this episode:Library of Babel, Local Peasant CubeDeck Pics!Alternate Timeline cube by Joe DonkeyIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:03 - Sorting Cards9:07 - Helping Anthony with Young Pyromancer18:40 - Card Quality24:06 - How to Draft the Young Pyromancer Deck29:33 - Why Blue-Red Pyromancer34:51 - Modal Double Faced Cards36:20 - How Many Counterspells37:34 - Mulligans44:30 - Off-Strategy Splashes49:42 - Wrap Up55:17 - Andy is Bad at Big Games

View all cards mentioned in this episodeMost of the time when listeners suggest topics we’ve already recorded a whole episode dedicated to that subject. Sometimes we’ve even recorded three. It turns out almost six years is a long time to have a weekly podcast about a niche interest like Cube design. So when someone recently suggested we record an episode about ‘colorless cards’ I was surprised to discover that we have never actually dedicated an entire episode to the subject, and it turns out we have a lot to say!If you have questions for our 300th episodes please send them to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Episode 300 Question’.Discussed in this episode:Hedron NetworkRegular CubeTurbo Cube100 OrnithoptersBun MagicSacred GeometryNeoclassical CubeDevoid CubeIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:22 - Hedron Network Data3:47 - Episode 3006:39 - Colorless Cards11:20 - Thinking About the Color Pie13:05 - Sacred Geometry Diversion16:37 - Balancing Colorless Cards20:30 - Hole Filling22:19 - Supporting Monocolor28:29 - The Colorless Deck35:02 - Colorless Cards and Mana Fixing37:33 - Colorless v Colored Arifacts38:42 - Mana Rocks42:05 - Noosegraf Mob Sidebar43:37 - Pseudo Colorless Cards45:48 - Stax52:00 - Eldrazi54:46 - Colorless Cubes

View all cards mentioned in this episodeIn the third book club Episode, Anthony and Parker talk about Donald Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things. Originally published in 1988, the book was an influential criticism of the built world and interfaces establishing many concepts fundamental to user interface and industrial design today. It also introduces a metric ton of jargon per page.Our book club members talk about how these concepts apply to game and Cube design and their thinking about things more broadly.Discussed in this episode:The Design of Everyday Things by Donald NormanEnshittification concept and book by Cory DoctorowStatus and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change by W. David MarxBlank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century by W. David MarxBlood In the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech by Brian MerchantOther Book Club EpisodesIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro2:42 - The Design of Everyday Things7:43 - Mental Models12:04 - Trouble With Mapping16:58 - Cube REL/Humility19:40 - Don Please Turn off the Podcast21:03 - Types of Errors26:30 - Games are Intentionally Bad Design32:04 - Constraints34:55 - Knowledge in the World42:28 - Learned Helplessness48:20 - Neologisms50:59 - Choosing the Next Book

View all cards mentioned in this episodeIn this explicit episode of Lucky Paper Radio, Andy, Anthony, and Patrick recap their experience at Shoebox in St Paul, Minnesota. Shoebox celebrated a range of casual formats including team limited, pauper, and, of course, Cube! They talk about highlights from the weekend and the decks they drafted.Discussed in this episode:The Monster FuckDee Dee Mega Doo DooArties CubeShoeboxEiganjo DriftAquaone PoweredPenrose CubeHeatherCubeBoudican Destruction Horizon100 LotusesIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro7:23 - Fistfights12:04 - Pottery Studio16:28 - Weather and Planes18:58 - Microfame20:32 - Andy’s Draft of Artemis’ Cube24:19 - What is Shoebox29:41 - Anthony’s Draft of Eiganjo Drift32:09 - Patrick’s Draft of aquaone Powered36:51 - Andy’s Draft of Penrose Cube41:33 - Anthony’s Draft of HeatherCube45:31 - Andy’s Stone Soup53:30 - Anthony’s Stone Soup55:19 - Patrick’s New Friends57:22 - Pizza Time63:03 - Andy’s Draft of Boudica68:33 - Patrick’s Draft of Boudica72:10 - James’ Microcube72:56 - 100 Lotuses78:17 - Closing Thoughts79:36 - Anthony’s Draft of Companion Cube

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony finally just talk about epistemology and sort of address Magic: the Gathering. They talk about the way we all generally learn things and incorporate them into our understanding of the world around us, and how that manifests in the smaller world of the game.Discussed in this episode:ContraPoints on YouTubeThe Beginning of Infinity by David DeutschEvery Living Thing by Jason Roberts100 OrnithoptersRegular CubeCascade CascadeCube MapIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro4:55 - Epistemology11:43 - The Enlightenment14:43 - Authority20:29 - Empiricism26:49 - Explanations29:58 - Science as a Creative Process33:18 - Knowledge in Magic37:04 - Emergent Properties41:54 - Aggro-Midrange-Control45:53 - Cube Experiments51:10 - Mailbag!

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk with Greg about his Companion Cube. In this Cube, each player chooses a card from their deck before each game to be their ‘companion’, which their guaranteed access to. They talk about the history of the cube and the difference between the early days of frequent edits and the longer stable phase with less frequent changes.Greg is also one of the organizers of Shoebox an event happening next week in St Paul, Minnesota. Shoebox will prominently feature Cube as well as other formats that don’t usually get center stage and much more.Discussed in this episode:”Still Alive” from PortalCompanion CubeC4AC StreamShoeboxMuseum of ModernTake 5If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro2:27 - Greg AKA Dinrovahorror4:16 - Shoebox10:35 - Companion Cube15:57 - Cube as Nostalgia18:48 - Power Level27:49 - Responding to Feedback32:22 - New Player Pitfalls35:42 - Comparing Companions40:49 - Control Decks42:37 - Clones46:13 - The Future

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk about cutting a long-standing, controversial card from 100 Ornithopters: Echoing Boon. They talk about gameplay experiences with the card and why Andy decided to include a conspiracy in the cube in the first place. The ‘always on’ nature of conspiracies put certain constraints on the cube’s design. Andy talks about some of those limitations and changes he’s planning to make after they’re gone.Discussed in this episode:100 OrnithoptersCube For a CauseRhystic Studies Video on 100 OrnithoptersShoebox, St Paul, Minnesota, Mar 13-15, 2026If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro4:46 - Echoing Boon13:20 - Why Cut Echoing Boon22:30 - Regrets25:23 - Leyline of Resonance30:55 - Blazing Shoal33:39 - Reverse Dunning-Kruger35:46 - “Must Cuts”38:20 - More Additions47:29 - City on Fire50:06 - Lunar Frenzy51:25 - Slip Through Space53:12 - Actual Cuts54:35 - Time Sieve57:51 - Mailbag

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony discuss how they think about themes within cubes. As always, our hosts beginning with a thorough defining of terms. They talk about how they think about thematically related sets of cards and how many they think can fit, or would want to, in a Cube. Andy has been exploring fitting a tight network of synergistic cards in his cube Take Five.They also talk about a new app Anthony built specifically for mapping synergies between cards within a cube. It lets you create a force directed diagram of every card in a cube and draw connections between individual or sets of cards. Give it a try with your own cube!Discussed in this episode:Regular CubeNew App: Cube Synergy MapperTake Five CubeAndy’s Take Five VideosCommander Spellbook - Magic Combo DatabaseSacred GeometryShoeboxMagic Card List SpellcheckerIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro3:01 - Cube Packages and Themes9:56 - Theme's in Anthony's Regular Cube14:41 - New App For Mapping Synergies withing a Cube16:46 - More Regular Cube Themes21:13 - Take Five and Combos23:07 - Theme Density25:12 - The Take Five Clown Car28:05 - Game Speed30:26 - Themes vs Good Cards34:35 - Fitting More Themes in Your Cube36:51 - Thematically Disconnected Cards40:29 - Synergies in Context47:03 - Wrap up

View all cards mentioned in this episodeAndy and Anthony talk about the concept of power level band or range in Cubes. It’s sometimes said a Cube should have a pretty even power level, with the strongest card being not too much stronger than the weakest, is a good idea. Our hosts talk about why that doesn’t always make sense and strategies for making Cubes with a wide band of power that still make sense.Discussed in this episode:Regular CubeSacred GeometryRecross the PathsNeoclassical CubeBun Magic Cube100 OrnithoptersIrregular CubeIf you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.Check 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 [email protected] or our p.o. box:Lucky PaperPO Box 4855Baltimore, MD 21211Musical production by DJ James Nasty.Timestamps0:00 - Intro4:48 - Power Levels16:34 - Against a Narrow Power Band19:55 - Absolute vs Relative Power24:09 - Bombs26:37 - Enablers vs Finishers32:01 - Absolute Game Impact36:28 - Power Curve46:35 - Summary