Magic: the Gathering is a Difficult Game

In an effort to expand on past discussion about what makes a particular cube “hard” or “easy” to play, Andy and Anthony are dedicating an entire episode to unpacking what exactly makes Magic a difficult game. After being pressed by Andy to define seemingly simple terms, Anthony expounds upon his concepts of a “competency floor”, “mastery ceiling”, and overall “exertion”, and how each of these factors makes the game difficult in a different way.

Our listener submitted pack 1, pick 1 this week comes from listener Cameron’s 1 Drop Cube. Thanks, Cameron!

Discussed in this episode:

• Calca
• Git
• Scryfall
• Vine
• Best hangman words
• Terraforming Mars
• Carcassonne
• An Introduction to the Degenerate Micro Cube
• Drive to Work on Tic Tac Toe
• The 1863 World Checkers Championships, which ended in 40 consecutive draws, 21 of which were the exact same game
• Limited Resources Episode 560: Paper Magic at Home with Brian David Marshall
• Anthony’s appearance on the Riptide Lab Podcast
• Baltimore Salt Boxes

Timestamps:

• 6:29 — Listener submitted pack 1, pick 1
• 15:04 — Main topic: the different kinds of difficulty associated with playing Magic
• 1:03:18 — The Salt Box™

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

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

• Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
• Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited on air, your pronouns, and if you’re submitting a cube for the pack 1, pick 1, a link to said cube.

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.