Games

Lucky Paper Radio

Lucky Paper Radio is a podcast about Magic: the Gathering hosted by lifelong friends Andy Mangold and Anthony Mattox. Focused primarily on sandbox formats like Cube, which are free of banlists, rotation, and net decking, the show is about the best parts of Magic and how to get the most out of the game.

Latest Episodes:

Foundations Community Set Review Dec 02, 2024

Show notes

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Andy, Anthony, and Parker review the results of the Foundations Cube Community survey. They talk through the top cards that have Cube designers most excited and theorize about what’s catching people’s interest and some of the patterns in the results. They talk about the associated Jump Start set with one major stand out: Scythecat Cub which is apparently both highly anticipated and polarizing. Finally, they can’t help but talk about the trends, stand outs, and misses in the new set’s artwork.

We’ve chosen Playing Oppression for our next Book Club episode. We’ll be reading the book and discussing it in an episode after the holidays. Pick up a copy if you want to read along with us!

Discussed in this episode:

Foundations Cube Prospective
Foundations Jumpstart Cube Prospective
Andy, Anthony, and Parker on BlueSky
Ollie’s post on BlueSky about Alesha
Reprints with new illustrations on Scryfall
Lucky Paper List Formatter
Lucky Paper List Differ
Upcoming Cube Events on Lucky Paper
Vertex Philadelphia Discord Server
Playing Oppression, our next Book Club book, on MIT Press

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

You 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 Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
2:52 - Parker’s Successful Dissertation Defense
7:51 - Foundations Cube Prospective Overview
13:01 - 8. Goblin Surprise
17:11 - 7. Kiora, the Rising Tide
24:28 - 6. Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
32:36 - 5. Sun-Blessed Healer
41:16 - 4. Kellan, Planar Trailblazer
51:39 - 3. Mischievous Mystic
54:54 - 2. Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate
1:02:35 - 1. Searslicer Goblin
1:07:17 - On the recent trend of ‘simple’ cubes
1:11:02 - Foundations Jumpstart — Scythecat Cub
1:15:47 - On the Anime Art Legends in Jumpstart Foundations

On Board Wipes and Cube Design Nov 25, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony talk all things board wipes in Cube. They talk about the varieties and boundaries of cards that reset the board state and how they effect gameplay and add strategic depth to games with or against them. They talk about the roles of board wipes in their main Cubes.

View cards mentioned in this episode >

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

1:22 - Topic introduction

2:22 - What is a board wipe?

20:25 - How much should a board wipe cost and how much does it matter?

45:27 - Different densities of board wipes and how they affect their respective cube environments

51:15 - The draft and play patterns that board wipes create

59:19 - Summary

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

If want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube submit it on our website. You 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 Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Clown Shoes Cubes and How to Use Feedback Nov 18, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony talk about their Cubes included in CubeCon 2024: Andy’s 100 Ornithopters and Anthony’s Regular and Turbo Cubes. They talk about what they learned about each from players’ feedback and the decklists after the event. They also talk about potential changes they’re considering based on that feedback.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

3:34 - Regular Cube Feedback

16:14 - Turbo Cube Feedback

30:53 - 100 Ornithopters Feedback

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

You 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 Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Foundations First Impressions Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony talk about Foundations, Magic’s latest set, akin to old Core Sets. The set fills multiple roles including being an approachable set for beginners, a nostalgic set to invested players, and a way to support standard with basic effects that stay in the format longer. Our hosts talk about their overall impressions of the set and individual cards they’re interested in for their own Cube projects, including Andy’s new Cube: Sacred Geometry.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Heuristics for Having a Good Time Nov 04, 2024

Show notes

In the wake of CubeCon 2024, Andy and Anthony talk about how they approach drafting new Cube environments. They talk about their general draft strategies and heuristics they start with to get a sense of what’s going to be important in the environment just by looking at the packs being passed.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

6:09 - Are we good at Magic?

8:56 - How do we approach drafting a completely unfamiliar list

19:29 - Should you look at the available mana fixing in a cube?

26:08 - The categories of cards to pay attention to in the draft

30:25 - How often should you end up playing your pack 1, pick 1 in Cube draft?

31:59 - The importance of recontexualizaion

40:26 - The Value of Having a Plan

48:04 - How much do you trust the Cube designer?

57:24 - Heuristics for having a good time

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

2–1 Into 3–0 Into 3–0 Into 3–0 Into Drop and Go Eat Ramen Oct 28, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony, are joined by perennial favorite, Patrick, to recap their experience at CubeCon 2024. They talk about how they approached the event, the Cubes they drafted, and the highs and lows of every deck they drafted throughout the event. Growing to almost 600 players in it’s third year, CubeCon continued to deliver on being an opportunity to play a huge range of novel environments, and catch up with old or meet up with new friends in the Cube community.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

5:00 - The Fire Swamp

17:43 - The Way too Hybrid Cube

21:21 - The Good Old Days

29:24 - The Mono Red Cube

34:40 - Spicy Ramen Cube

43:03 - Death’s Shadow Cube

46:06 - Alpha Reimagined

57:12 - The Simple Cube

1:02:12 - C/Ube

1:10:24 - The Bodleian Cube

1:15:30 - 100 Ornithopters

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Bloomburrow and Duskmourn: House of Horror Cube Community Set Reviews Oct 21, 2024

Show notes

Andy, Anthony, and Parker, belatedly discuss the results from the last two standard sets’ Cube community surveys, Bloomburrow and Duskmourn: House of Horror. They talk about the top cards that have the attention of the most Cube designers as well as their general observations about what from each set the community is responding to.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

6:54 - Episode format overview

7:55 - Bloomburrow Overview

10:12 - On the decreasing number of survey respondents more broadly

14:21 - Bloomburrow top cards — Number 5. Hired Claw

19:51 - 4. Shoreline Looter

23:09 - 3. Kitsa, Otterball Elite

29:28 - 2. Fell

34:49 - 1. Emberheart Challenger

44:13 - Bloomburrow Commander Shout Out: Jacked Rabbit

46:06 - Duskmourn Overview

48:54 - Duskmourn top cards — Number 5. Overlord of the Mistmoors

55:11 - 4. Insidious Fungus

56:54 - 3. Wildfire Wickerfolk

1:01:23 - 2. Chainsaw

1:03:54 - The flavor of Duskmourn overall

1:07:44 - 1. Fear of Missing Out

1:10:47 - Cube Mechanical Miss: Survivor

1:13:25 - Cube Mechanical Miss: Rooms

1:16:16 - On Manifest Dread and Abhorrent Oculus

1:21:28 - Honorable Mention: Split Up

1:24:46 - Honorable Mention: Come Back Wrong

1:28:44 - Duskmourn Wrap-Up

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Ryan Saxe’s Auto Battler Inspired Format Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony talk with Ryan Saxe about his latest Magic passion project. Inspired by one of his favorite video game genres, AutoBattlers, Ryan has been working to create a Magic variant that incorporates the feeling of quick mini-games and constant upgrades and expansion of your arsenal. In his format, players face of in a series of mini-games with only a few cards available to each player. After each quick game, players get to modify and expand their available pool of cards to use by trading with a random new selection of cards from the Cube list. Players are eliminated as they accrue a certain number of losses leaving one the champion.

The three talk about the design process, challenges and successes Ryan’s had through iterating on the rules system, and their experience drafting the AutoBattler cube.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - AI Corner

13:01 - Introduction to Ryan’s new format

14:20 - What is an auto battler?

17:59 - How did Ryan go about applying the patterns of an auto battler to Magic?

28:42 - How does Ryan’s auto battler format work?

46:16 - Designing the rules system vs. designing the cube list

53:22 - A deep dive on the design details of the auto battler

1:33:45 - How Anthony would teach the auto battler format

1:35:40 - Is it productive to describe this as an auto battler?

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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.

Commander Bans and Consumption as Self Expression Oct 07, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony take a step aside from their typical focus on Cube and reflect on the recent shake ups in Commander. They talk about the major bans that have rattled the format and their feelings about Wizards of the Coast formally taking control of the fan-made format which has become the dominant form of the game.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction

1:10 - Basic rundown of the events of the past two weeks in Magic

5:00 - The banning of Dockside Extortionist, Nadu, Winged Wisdom, Mana Crypt, and Jeweled Lotus in Commander

12:02 - “Rule Zero” and why it does not work

15:58 - The respective strengths and flaws of Commander and Cube

23:48 - On the deplorable backlash from a vocal subset of Magic players

39:16 - A clarification of our stance on proxies

44:02 - Magic and consumption as self expression

58:30 - What about Sol Ring?

1:02:21 - Wizard’s of the Coast’s concept about managing the Commander format with a series of tiers

1:09:39 - Summary and conclusions

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Lucky Paper

PO Box 4855

Baltimore, MD 21211

If 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

Boromir Sucks and Oko is a Joke-O: Sweeping Updates to the Turbo Cube Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

Andy and Anthony talk about a big batch of updates to Anthony’s Turbo Cube. In this Cube, all spells and activated abilities cost {2} less. They talk about their general philosophy of updating Cubes, what types of strategies Anthony is hoping to bolster with these updates, and talk through the changes card by card.

View all cards mentioned in this episode

Discussed in this episode:

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction

0:51 - Draft report: Boromir Sucks

3:25 - Episode overview

6:20 - What is the Turbo Cube?

10:48 - Broad goals and philosophies underpinning these changes

13:01 - A bold new direction for lands

24:55 - Black improvements and a focus on discard synergies

37:04 - Why cut Reckoner Bankbuster?

39:10 - Changes to green