iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Zach Barash

GARDEN STATE CUBE @gardenstatecube.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Another cube announcement! A love letter to Ultimate Masters Limited, with a few twists. UMA+ Cube, designed by @improphilo.bsky.social is worth a look for your hedron network preferences #mtgcube cubecobra.com/cube/about/u...

cubecobra.com

Cube Cobra: UMA+ Cube

181

Reposted by Zach Barash

C4AC - a cube charity event @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com · 06/07/2026

Let’s brighten this rainy Monday with another #mtgcube #c4acobscura reveal! Our own @improphilo.bsky.social offers up Omelas, a brilliant exploration of fascism and fighting it.

1193

Reposted by Zach Barash

Dan Schneider @worklifevalue.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I hope that everyone who was thinking about going to @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com Obscura this August already got their ticket! So excited to share what we've been cooking up!

052

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

You might have heard that this event will be the cube event of the year. That it will be weird, loud, chaotic, and above all, awesome. You heard right. I can't wait for it.

084

Reposted by Zach Barash

NYU Game Center @nyugamecenter.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Our 2026 Spring Showcase is TOMORROW at 6pm! Additional tickets were added and are going fast. Come check out over 50 student games, including projects from graduating students as well as a selection of games from our wide range of courses! RSVP Here: gcspringshow26.eventbrite.com

gcspringshow26.eventbrite.com

NYU Game Center Spring Showcase 2026

Join us for the annual NYU Game Center Spring Showcase! Play student games and chat with developers at this enormous display of projects!

173

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

There's never been an event like what's coming to C4AC in August. Really, really excited for what's been brewing.

0144

Reposted by Zach Barash

Andy Mangold @andy.luckypaper.co · 21/02/2026

We’re going live now! www.twitch.tv/luckypapermtg We’re raising money for Make the Road New York, and yes, we are programming against the Olympic Games

twitch.tv

LuckyPaperMTG - Twitch

Cube for a Cause 2026 AW Day 1

02210

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Hanging out with one slick fellow, I hope.

010

Reposted by Zach Barash

Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

5783268414039

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Drum is a solid pickup. Mangara I like, but I think ought to go later just because it actually requires 4 mana (or a deck with a lot of pitch spells).

000

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Nope, mine is also Force of Virtue. Card is completely busted, especially when you're on the draw and get to attack on T1 with a 2-3mv creature.

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

I think Force is 100% the best pick. Swords is decent, but it's one of the rare cheap Cascade whammies that might just miss at the beginning of the game.

010

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

I think Academy is super viable, it just runs afoul of lands not interacting with the emblem at all. I could see adding a Map or two to find it, though I try to keep a tight limit on ways to spend mana that don't cascade.

010

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

A gold star for Cube Person of the Year, 2024, Ollie!

020

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Force of Virtue is a top 15 card in the cube, and may well be #2 for "when this card hits play, the game is decided, " only behind Delayed Blast Fireball.

230

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

CubeCobra has a daily P1P1 is from the #CascadeCube! You can vote and see if you picked what I did. As a reminder, each player starts the game with a Maelstrom Nexus emblem. (Spoilers: I was the only person to pick this card, and I think it's unambiguously one of the strongest cards in the cube.)

An image of 15 cards from the Cascade Cube:
Eidolon of the Great Revel
The Restoration of Eiganjo
Argentum Masticore
Marionette Apprentice
Elder Gargaroth
Defiler of Vigor
Springleaf Drum
Force of Virtue
Badlands
Tolarian Academy
Mangara, the Diplomat
Aethersnipe
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
Swords to Plowshares
Curse of Shaken Faith

Image of the card, Maelstrom Nexus from Alara Reborn.

7141

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Thank you sharing this, Alexander. It reminded me just how much I love your mind and how I enjoyed your perspective, be it experienced through prose or project. Here's hoping to a brighter future, a happier decade, and to get to have another conversation this year (now as fellow fathers).

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Thirteen years ago today, I had one of the best starts I've ever had in a Powered Cube. And it was on stream. Crazy how time flies (and in that draft, getting passed a piece of power).

Magic Online Holiday Cube draft image from January 2nd, 2013. The game is over on turn 4, with one player having only two tapped mountains in play. The author has a Frost Titan, Tamiyo, Mox Sapphire, and lands in play with Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, and Black Lotus in the graveyard.

050

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

An activity never to be pooh-poohed, but always poo-tee-kah-teed.

150

Reposted by Zach Barash

Welcome to Night Vale @nightvaleradio.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Remember, it's two candles tonight, or 386 candles if you're still on last year's Hanukkah.

426155

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Hello, world! At 4:00pm EST (so, in ~40 minutes from the time of this post), I'm going live at twitch.tv/magic streaming Powered Cube to support Seattle Children's Hospital through #ExtraLife. We're under $50 away from my bonus stream stretch goal! Come hang out and donate to a good cause.

twitch.tv

Magic - Twitch

EXTRA LIFE - EMPLOYEE TAKEOVER STREAM

0103

Reposted by Zach Barash

Dan Schneider @worklifevalue.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Incredibly cool to see @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com shouted out on @tolariancommunitycollege.com in their latest video! I think this speaks to the joy coming from the proliferation of local cube events, literally across the world.

161

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Just from this pack, lots of cards seem clustered at relatively similar power levels. Plenty of strong cards, but I'm not ready to commit to a direction or a multicolored card. So, while the heart wants FoF, I'm almost certainly taking Prismatic Vista. And yes, I see there are 15 copies.

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

This is the first foray of Arena Powered Cube, so I can't make any pronouncements, but we have run all of our cubes multiple times and have always changed them up.

020

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

People can and do copy these lists onto other sites. I have it alongside other cubes I've worked on.

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Oh! Didn't know that your small town is likely also my small town. Strange how we've never crossed paths despite the tiny population.

010

Reposted by Zach Barash

MTG Arena @mtgarena.com · 20/10/2025

Get ready to play with some VERY powerful Magic cards (say hi to Power Nine) in our new limited-time event, Arena Powered Cube! The drafting fun begins 10/28. Learn more: magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-...

magic.wizards.com

Announcing the Arena Powered Cube!

Harness some of the strongest cards in Magic's history with Powered Cube. Now, the power is in your hands.

86413

Reposted by Zach Barash

CubeCon @cubecon.org · 20/10/2025

Congratulations to Shariq Moore claiming the crown this year! Check out Shariq’s final match against Abe Corrigan on the twitch stream vod below: www.twitch.tv/videos... #Cubecon2025 #mtgcube

38616

Reposted by Zach Barash

CubeCon @cubecon.org · 15/10/2025

This year, CubeCon is raising money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of our dear friend Jonathan Brostoff, who we tragically lost 1 year ago. Please consider tuning in and donating to this important cause.

tilt.fyi

Tiltify - Made for Fundraisers

We give you the tools to engage with your donors and raise more for your charity

06632

Reposted by Zach Barash

CubeCon @cubecon.org · 15/10/2025

We're so excited for those of you at home to tune in live for four days of world class Cube coverage! Catch all the action here: www.twitch.tv/cubeco...

Thursday, Oct 16

Draft 0 – Prequel Draft: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Mani Davoudi / Gabriel Nassif

Special Draft: 4:30 PM – 9:00 PM | Tannon Grace / Ross Merriam

Friday, Oct 17

Draft 1: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Ross Merriam / Mason Clark

Draft 2: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Luis Scott-Vargas / Marshall Sutcliffe

Saturday, Oct 18

Draft 3: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Arya Karamchandani / Ross Merriam

Draft 4: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Gabriel Nassif / Brad Nelson

Draft 5 – Top 128 Final Fortune: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Mani Davoudi / Arya Karamchandani

Sunday, Oct 19

Draft 6 – Top 64: 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Arya Karamchandani / Brad Nelson

Draft 7 – Top 8: 12:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Mani Davoudi / Arya Karamchandani

12812

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Hence my vote to fork and playtest. You've got multiple good directions, it's worth seeing how much passion you've got for what's down the other path.

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I love the cube, I love how MH3 has replenished the supply of Devoid cards, and I frankly love how it is and *feels* like a high-powered cube despite the enormous restriction. So much of me would be happy to see it barely change. And I'm low on many of the cut OGW Devoid cards.

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I'd be interested in playtesting a forked version of Devoid Cube that tests the waters of a radically lower power level. I agree that the cube has drifted over time and have perhaps been one of the loudest anti-Tower of the Magistrate voices.

120

Reposted by Zach Barash

C4AC - a cube charity event @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com · 25/08/2025

AND JUST SO Y’ALL KNOW HOW SERIOUS WE ARE ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR AW26!!! WE ARE GONNA BE BACK AS USUAL 2/21/26 - 2/22/26

3193

Reposted by Zach Barash

C4AC - a cube charity event @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com · 24/08/2025

Our top 8 is truly so fire y’all

0254

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

We could also just sing Too Many Cooks for an hour.

020

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

We could prep some Magic trivia, chat with some of the cube designers for the event, do a segment where one cube designer sings the praises of another (or as seems to be the case with @worklifevalue.bsky.social, roasts him).

160

Reposted by Zach Barash

C4AC - a cube charity event @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com · 19/08/2025

Moment of vulnerability- when I sat down with @jenn-the-judge.bsky.social earlier this year for coffee and said I wanted to double #C4AC I thought it was a super ambitious & unrealistic goal. As of today we’ve sold 104 tickets and expanded what we do & offer and I’m so happy. See y’all Saturday 😭

2193

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Displacer Kitten feels like the highest ceiling pick, though it's reliant on certain kinds of card combinations to function best. Containment Construct is so wonderfully open-ended. ...but I might just take Get Lost. If folks are building around synergies, instant-speed disruption overperforms.

010

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Funnily enough, we played each other in the first round, both on the strategy of avoiding artifact hate.

120

Reposted by Zach Barash

C4AC - a cube charity event @cubeforacause.upkeepnewyork.com · 24/07/2025

#mtgcube fam - we said we weren’t done with exciting announcements! This #C4AC we’re partnering with our friend @andy.luckypaper.co and our pal @nyc-mtg.bsky.social for a 2 day charity stream with community special guests!! Want to join us? Tix here: www.upkeepnewyork.com/c4ac-ss25-ti...

1224

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

How would you say you've been struggling with the cube? Is it... - Stress/lack of direction during the draft? - Trouble with deckbuilding? - You feel like you're winning games but then they each slip away? - You keep drafting or losing to certain kinds of cards?

100

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

All that's to say, well done, Anthony!

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

I think improving card draw *is* the best use for Echoing Boon (and every now and then making your Echoing Truth nearly uncounterable). Going all in on pump spells exposes you to getting blown out by disruption like Truth, while drawing cards gives you the most important resource in the cube.

140

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

AHHHH!!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU!!!

110

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

I encourage everyone to use both hats, but intentionally - *especially* if you're struggling with one hat dominating. I've found that editor hat becomes harder to remove the more one gets into design. It's easy to shoot down ideas before giving them a try. Especially when time is scarce.

020

Zach Barash @improphilo.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Again, I could easily be wrong because, well, I'm just guessing how you're feeling and what you mean by your words. But it sounds like maybe you've always got that editor hat on and you miss just writing without it getting in the way.

120