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:

Dos Okies Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

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Anthony is one again out sick, and trying to fill his sizable shoes are both judge Bones and Kade from Recross the Paths for a discussion with a potpurri of topics. They recap Cube for a Cause, talk about how to divorce player experience from the outcome of their matches, and, of course, The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

Discussed in this episode:

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
8:55 - Main Topic Start
18:58 - The Devil Went Down to Georgia
31:20 - Vibe Curation
40:33 - H** O***
42:40 - Okay Maybe Winning Does Matter
53:06 - Bones’ Judge Corner

2025 Standard Set Rotation in Review Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

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Andy and Parker look back at all the cards rotating out of Standard this summer. They look at the specific cards they were interested in for their cubes and talk about what they were right and wrong about.

Search your own past survey submissions here.

Discussed in this episode:

2025 Standard Rotation Article by Parker LaMascus
Theseus
Pulp Nouveau
Sacred Geometry
Bun Magic
Neoclassical
Regular
Cube for a Cause UMA Cube Draft

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
2:24 - Main Topic: Post Rotation Cube Survey Retrospective
10:47 - Surprising Trends
17:14 - Parker’s Lessons
36:32 - Andy’s Picks
50:07 - Correct Predictions
57:29 - Wrap Up

Cube Resonance Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

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Andy and Anthony talk about how and why designers can present their cubes in ways that resonate with players. They talk about the presentational aspects available to communicate through, the values of making a connection, and how valuable it can be to set expectations with players.

Discussed in this episode:

Double Black Diamonds Cube (formerly “Mono Decent”)
100 Ornithopters
Turbo Cube
Regular Cube
Don’t Call It That by Eli Aldman
The Fire Swamp
The Giver Cube
The Red Terror
The Mono Red Cube
The Jund Cube
Bun Magic Cube
Penrose Cube
Penrose Aperiodic Tiling
Dichotomy Cube
Sacred Geometry
MTGO Vintage Cube
The Pauper Cube
The Campaign
May’s Fae Cube
Cascade Cube
The Ballpit
Esper Bouncy Castle

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
3:30 - What is Resonance in Cubes
12:57 - What’s In A Name?
34:14 - A Few Different Resonant Hooks
44:12 - Intercube Dialogue
51:59 - Shoebox, a Magic convention focused on creative expression and friendly competition.

Stone Soup, A Magical Community Stew with D.S.B. Aug 18, 2025

Show notes

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Andy and Anthony are joined by Dan, a.k.a. “D.S.B” to talk about one of his favorite cube adjacent formats — Stone Soup. 8 players (or as many as you’ve got!) each bring their own selection of 45 sleeved cards to the draft. All the contributions are shuffled up and drafted as you would any other Cube. They talk about their experience drafting a Stone Soup and how the format plays. Choosing what cards to bring, especially if players don’t discuss their choices in advance, is an interesting question, and our hosts go deep into the nuance of it.

Inevitably they also meander off the path and talk a little bit about a lot of topics, and a lot about The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Huge thanks to Rush Coil for granting us permission to use his great chiptune version of “Too Many Cooks” as the backing track for our intro week.

Tune in to our Twitch channel this weekend, August 23-24, for some live paper Cube coverage from Cube for a Cause in New York!

Discussed in this episode:

To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.

Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it.

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
5:42 - Main Topic: Stone Soup
21:20 - Andy’s Stone Soup Pool
26:22 - Stone Soup Etiquette
31:56 - Competitive Stone Soup?
35:35 - Anthony’s Pool, Balancing Favorites With Power
53:35 - Favorite Aspects of Stone Soup
1:03:30 - The Dispossessed

Tuning Control in 100 Ornithopters (Again) Aug 11, 2025

Show notes

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Andy and Anthony talk about control decks in Andy’s 100 Ornithopters Cube. Control decks flush with disenchants often perform better than Andy expects them to, getting a surprising density of what seems like should be premium cards for all players. They talk about why that might be the case, the kinds of decks they think should be able to combat these decks, and Andy’s plans to change the Cube to make the gameplay better fit the expectations he sets for players.

Discussed in this episode:

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
7:48 - Thopterless Control
30:35 - Anecdote Time
41:20 - Bow of Nylea
45:49 - List Changes

Inland Northwest Cube Fest Tournament Report Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

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Back from a Cube adventure to the west coast, Andy and Anthony recap their drafts at the first Inland Northwest CubeFest. The event included four drafts with over 50 players and a chance for our hosts to draft some very different cubes from their local scene. They also started the weekend with a “Stone Soup” draft with each player contributing 45 cards of their choosing that they’ll talk about in more detail in a future episode.

Discussed in this episode:

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
3:34 - Pre-Event Stone Soup Draft
8:31 - Anthony’s Alternate Timeline Draft
11:18 - Andy’s Alternate Timeline Draft
16:07 - Andy’s The Citadel Draft
23:01 - Anthony’s The Citadel Draft
27:47 - Andy’s The Ball Pit Draft
41:16 - Anthony’s Aquaone Powered Draft
48:30 - Anthony’s Cabbages and Kings Draft
52:27 - Andy’s Cabbages and Kings Draft
57:51 - Anthony’s Cabbages and Kings Matches
61:43 - Wrap Up

8 Players, 8 Cubes, 1 Weekend, 1 Cabin Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

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After spending a long weekend in a cabin in the woods with 8 friends playing 8 Cubes, Andy and Anthony recap their drafts. Each player brought a cube to share which they drafted back to back over course of the weekend.

Discussed in this episode:

If 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:

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

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
4:43 - Andy’s Draft of The Drownyard
7:19 - Anthony’s Draft of The Drownyard
10:19 - Andy’s Draft of The Oldest School
14:33 - Anthony’s Draft of The Oldest School
17:01 - Andy’s Draft of Anarchy Cube
20:41 - Anthony’s Draft of Anarchy Cube
23:21 - Andy’s Draft of The Regular Cube
25:20 - Anthony’s Draft of The Regular Cube
29:00 - Andy’s Draft of 100 Ornithopters
32:57 - Anthony’s Draft of 100 Ornithopters
40:41 - Andy’s Draft of Doubleton Synergy
44:52 - Anthony’s Draft of Doubleton Synergy
46:20 - Andy’s Draft of Bolt Cube
50:37 - Anthony’s Draft of Bolt Cube
53:12 - Andy’s Draft of Bodleian Cube
58:24 - Anthony’s Draft of Bodleian Cube

Big Story Moments with Joe Anderson Jul 21, 2025

Show notes

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Andy and Anthony talk with Joe Anderson, proprietor of Cali Cube Champs, host of Joe’s Week in Magic, and a model local cube scene organizer about their theory of Cube Design and some of their favorite game moments.

Discussed in this episode:

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
4:51 - Episode and Guest Introduction
36:43 - Playing Magic for Big Story Moments

The ABC’s of Midrange Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

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Continuing on their archetype breakdown series, Andy and Anthony talk about midrange decks. They talk about the theory behind the tempo based meta-game and where midrange decks fit. They talk about ways to think of midrange in different cube environments, or if it even makes sense to. They also discuss strategy and how it can be used as a framework for thinking about the way a particular deck can win games.

Discussed in this episode:

Also in the series:

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
2:43 - What is a midrange deck?
11:50 - Does every cube have a midrange deck?
26:12 - The Relationship Between Midrange Decks and Synergy Decks
36:30 - How the Color Pie Sees Midrange
48:29 - How To Think About Midrange as a Cube Designer

Cubing in Unsanctioned Spaces and The Ten-Year-Old Child Test Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

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After five full years of Lucky Paper Radio, Andy and Anthony reflect on how their local playgroup, the podcast, and the broader cube community have evolved. They talk about their recent experience of keeping a weekly Cube night going without a local game store and how you can make it work. They also talk about the supportive, casual vibe of their local community and how a young player having a great time cubing is something of a litmus test for a strong community.

Our hosts also introduce a new Patreon to support the show, the goal of which is to keep the show sustainable, covering the cost of an editor and other expenses. After years of hard work on Andy’s part, the show’s production needs to evolve to stay tenable. If they exceed that goal they have bigger ambitions of ways to support the Cube community.

Andy and Anthony are excited to use this as an opportunity to record a bonus podcast for supporters: Magic Doesn’t Exist. All the Cube discussion will stay in the main feed available to everyone. The bonus feed will be an opportunity for our two hosts to talk about whatever else catches their interest. Anything at all, except Magic: hobbies, interests, books their reading, koji, mechanical watches, more koji probably until Anthony falls into a different rabbit hole, how they feel about Pokemon…

If you want to support the show and hear more from our hosts, consider joining!

Discussed in this episode:

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