Joe van den Berg
@hardcasting.bsky.social
Who even knows at this point? Loves cube, sports, architecture, and history.
Professional Architectural Historian. MA in Historic Preservation and Museum Practice
https://cubecobra.com/user/view/5ec3713c6c26474a6cda986e
Professional Architectural Historian. MA in Historic Preservation and Museum Practice
https://cubecobra.com/user/view/5ec3713c6c26474a6cda986e
Was quite a stolid game, felt like both sides were afraid of the other
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Was quite a stolid game, felt like both sides were afraid of the other
P1p1 in A Brooding Saga; what are you taking?
I think I'm on Witch's Vanity followed by Teachings of the Kirin!
I think I'm on Witch's Vanity followed by Teachings of the Kirin!
November 19, 2025 at 9:44 PM
P1p1 in A Brooding Saga; what are you taking?
I think I'm on Witch's Vanity followed by Teachings of the Kirin!
I think I'm on Witch's Vanity followed by Teachings of the Kirin!
My sweet 2-0 sultai manifest pile in my Duskmourn extended desert #mtgcube, where you get to pick 1 of 3 rooms to be your companion. Companioned a removal spell and hit the grindset to go the distance. Deck on left pool by pick order on right
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 AM
My sweet 2-0 sultai manifest pile in my Duskmourn extended desert #mtgcube, where you get to pick 1 of 3 rooms to be your companion. Companioned a removal spell and hit the grindset to go the distance. Deck on left pool by pick order on right
Preparing for an 18-player Apocalypse prerelease tomorrow.
- 2001-themed playlist? ✅
- cans of artisan chile bought as shitty prizes? ✅
- packs all sleeved up? ✅
- laundry folded? 🚫
- 2001-themed playlist? ✅
- cans of artisan chile bought as shitty prizes? ✅
- packs all sleeved up? ✅
- laundry folded? 🚫
October 25, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Preparing for an 18-player Apocalypse prerelease tomorrow.
- 2001-themed playlist? ✅
- cans of artisan chile bought as shitty prizes? ✅
- packs all sleeved up? ✅
- laundry folded? 🚫
- 2001-themed playlist? ✅
- cans of artisan chile bought as shitty prizes? ✅
- packs all sleeved up? ✅
- laundry folded? 🚫
The three new trophy pages! The hall of fame for the cube gets even bigger :)
October 14, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The three new trophy pages! The hall of fame for the cube gets even bigger :)
At 8-1 with two pod wins, this qualified me for top-8 out of 120 people! The top-8 cube was Aqua's cube. which I 0-1ed :sob:
I don't play a lot of vintage cubes, so I was out of my depth. Ended up on a heinous 4-c Dreadnought pile? Had the Bomberman combo, but couldn't figure out how to win with it
I don't play a lot of vintage cubes, so I was out of my depth. Ended up on a heinous 4-c Dreadnought pile? Had the Bomberman combo, but couldn't figure out how to win with it
October 6, 2025 at 7:02 AM
At 8-1 with two pod wins, this qualified me for top-8 out of 120 people! The top-8 cube was Aqua's cube. which I 0-1ed :sob:
I don't play a lot of vintage cubes, so I was out of my depth. Ended up on a heinous 4-c Dreadnought pile? Had the Bomberman combo, but couldn't figure out how to win with it
I don't play a lot of vintage cubes, so I was out of my depth. Ended up on a heinous 4-c Dreadnought pile? Had the Bomberman combo, but couldn't figure out how to win with it
Day 2- Neal's Micro Cube! 2-1 loss in finals
15-card deck minimum and maximum, no loss by decking. Super fun cube. Always love playing it. Played a heinous 4-color control deck that utilized Reito Lantern to re-use a bevy of answers. With only 15 cards, sideboarding is super important!
15-card deck minimum and maximum, no loss by decking. Super fun cube. Always love playing it. Played a heinous 4-color control deck that utilized Reito Lantern to re-use a bevy of answers. With only 15 cards, sideboarding is super important!
October 6, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Day 2- Neal's Micro Cube! 2-1 loss in finals
15-card deck minimum and maximum, no loss by decking. Super fun cube. Always love playing it. Played a heinous 4-color control deck that utilized Reito Lantern to re-use a bevy of answers. With only 15 cards, sideboarding is super important!
15-card deck minimum and maximum, no loss by decking. Super fun cube. Always love playing it. Played a heinous 4-color control deck that utilized Reito Lantern to re-use a bevy of answers. With only 15 cards, sideboarding is super important!
3rd draft- 2010's Nostalgia cube!
It's weird, I played magic during this time, but I didn't enjoy the draft and gameplay that much even though we only had time for one match. I did get to play with Birthing Pod though, and that is always fun
It's weird, I played magic during this time, but I didn't enjoy the draft and gameplay that much even though we only had time for one match. I did get to play with Birthing Pod though, and that is always fun
October 6, 2025 at 6:46 AM
3rd draft- 2010's Nostalgia cube!
It's weird, I played magic during this time, but I didn't enjoy the draft and gameplay that much even though we only had time for one match. I did get to play with Birthing Pod though, and that is always fun
It's weird, I played magic during this time, but I didn't enjoy the draft and gameplay that much even though we only had time for one match. I did get to play with Birthing Pod though, and that is always fun
2nd draft- Urza's Saga cube! Where each player gets an Urza's Saga after the draft in their pool.
Drafted a Grixis control pile for the 3-0. A lot of drafters I played against lamented that they didn't fully understand what the cube would be, and I ended up with a pile of broken cards as a result
Drafted a Grixis control pile for the 3-0. A lot of drafters I played against lamented that they didn't fully understand what the cube would be, and I ended up with a pile of broken cards as a result
October 6, 2025 at 6:44 AM
2nd draft- Urza's Saga cube! Where each player gets an Urza's Saga after the draft in their pool.
Drafted a Grixis control pile for the 3-0. A lot of drafters I played against lamented that they didn't fully understand what the cube would be, and I ended up with a pile of broken cards as a result
Drafted a Grixis control pile for the 3-0. A lot of drafters I played against lamented that they didn't fully understand what the cube would be, and I ended up with a pile of broken cards as a result
California Cube Championships thread!
First draft- Showdown at the Okk Corral! In this cube, there are no creatures; but you can add as many Okk to your deck as you want.
Drafted a sweet Naya Vehicles aggro with a glimpse of nature/Earthcraft combo mode for the 3-0! Tivadar's Crusade was sided out
First draft- Showdown at the Okk Corral! In this cube, there are no creatures; but you can add as many Okk to your deck as you want.
Drafted a sweet Naya Vehicles aggro with a glimpse of nature/Earthcraft combo mode for the 3-0! Tivadar's Crusade was sided out
October 6, 2025 at 6:40 AM
California Cube Championships thread!
First draft- Showdown at the Okk Corral! In this cube, there are no creatures; but you can add as many Okk to your deck as you want.
Drafted a sweet Naya Vehicles aggro with a glimpse of nature/Earthcraft combo mode for the 3-0! Tivadar's Crusade was sided out
First draft- Showdown at the Okk Corral! In this cube, there are no creatures; but you can add as many Okk to your deck as you want.
Drafted a sweet Naya Vehicles aggro with a glimpse of nature/Earthcraft combo mode for the 3-0! Tivadar's Crusade was sided out
Fantastic vibes for our first season
September 18, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Fantastic vibes for our first season
If anyone has this, I need uhhhhh 4-5 copies!
September 12, 2025 at 9:10 AM
If anyone has this, I need uhhhhh 4-5 copies!
Here are my token packs, that also work for booster packs. I got 50 of them for super cheap at the local office supplies store
August 20, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Here are my token packs, that also work for booster packs. I got 50 of them for super cheap at the local office supplies store
Seems like ICE is stepping up their presence in SF. Bunch of us got pepper sprayed. Fuck this, we were all filming them after a kidnapping and then they arrested this protestor
August 20, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Seems like ICE is stepping up their presence in SF. Bunch of us got pepper sprayed. Fuck this, we were all filming them after a kidnapping and then they arrested this protestor
Would like to volunteer to help out in open play, but the form does not have an option for "have not attended prior years' cube con". Sent a dm too, but can't send an image there
August 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Would like to volunteer to help out in open play, but the form does not have an option for "have not attended prior years' cube con". Sent a dm too, but can't send an image there
Good day to fire 5 pods at the cube picnic!
August 18, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Good day to fire 5 pods at the cube picnic!
0-3 bant food. My guess is this drafter started Selesnya but splashed blue. There are a couple tools that seem out of place here and this deck lacks a bit of focus. This was the newest drafter we had at the pod, and this is a tough cube to be inexperienced in magic for. It has a HIGH skill ceiling
August 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM
0-3 bant food. My guess is this drafter started Selesnya but splashed blue. There are a couple tools that seem out of place here and this deck lacks a bit of focus. This was the newest drafter we had at the pod, and this is a tough cube to be inexperienced in magic for. It has a HIGH skill ceiling
1-2 Esper midrange. My guess is the two Esper players ate into each other a little bit, and both struggled as a result. This drafter indicated the deck didn't have enough oomph to cover for both the aggro decks and the super big midrange decks. Noted they did not draw Dance enough
August 11, 2025 at 8:14 PM
1-2 Esper midrange. My guess is the two Esper players ate into each other a little bit, and both struggled as a result. This drafter indicated the deck didn't have enough oomph to cover for both the aggro decks and the super big midrange decks. Noted they did not draw Dance enough
1-2 Esper Blink. Subject to some draw variance, this deck ended up 1-2. They admitted to some deckbuilding errors, and indicated they wished they had drawn more of their blink synergies (they got magicked)
August 11, 2025 at 8:11 PM
1-2 Esper Blink. Subject to some draw variance, this deck ended up 1-2. They admitted to some deckbuilding errors, and indicated they wished they had drawn more of their blink synergies (they got magicked)
1-2 5-color bombs. The drafter admitted they didn't have enough early defensive plays to survive some of the aggro or tempo heavy decks, and this deck lacks some of the tools that has let 5-color succeed in the past (like Fires of Invention)
August 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
1-2 5-color bombs. The drafter admitted they didn't have enough early defensive plays to survive some of the aggro or tempo heavy decks, and this deck lacks some of the tools that has let 5-color succeed in the past (like Fires of Invention)
2-1 Abzan Midrange. This pilot was impressed with the cube, and recognized they learned a lot about the environment and really want another crack at it. They admitted they also made a number of mistakes they would try to rectify next time
August 11, 2025 at 7:54 PM
2-1 Abzan Midrange. This pilot was impressed with the cube, and recognized they learned a lot about the environment and really want another crack at it. They admitted they also made a number of mistakes they would try to rectify next time
2-1 Naya Aggro, using lots of cheap buffs. Talking with the pilot after the draft, they admitted they made a number of mistakes that lead to them blowing a few games, and admitted they probably drafted poorly
August 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
2-1 Naya Aggro, using lots of cheap buffs. Talking with the pilot after the draft, they admitted they made a number of mistakes that lead to them blowing a few games, and admitted they probably drafted poorly