The magic power cube is a unique and versatile tool that allows its user to tap into a vast and untapped source of power. This cube is said to possess extraordinary powers that can be harnessed for a variety of purposes. One of the most remarkable features of the magic power cube is its ability to grant the user with enhanced abilities and skills. It is believed that by simply touching or holding the cube, the user can access latent magical powers that lie dormant within them. This can result in increased strength, speed, agility, and even the ability to manipulate elements such as fire, water, or air. Furthermore, the magic power cube can be used for healing and rejuvenation purposes.

PowerCube Extended USB review: Quirky and efficient, but no surge protection

Great design makes this multi-tap outlet super convenient, but it would be an even better alternative to a power strip if it delivered better protection from power surges.

Few things are more irksome than a poorly designed power strip. So I was intrigued when Allocacoc pitched me on their PowerCube line of power outlets. If you’re like me, you probably have as many devices—smartphone, tablet, media player, and so on—that rely on USB cables for charging as you do hardware that needs an AC power cable. So I’ll cover four of Allocacoc’s products here, but the rating above is specifically for the $25 PowerCube Extended USB.

The first thing you’ll want to know about the entire PowerCube line is that they don’t offer any power conditioning or surge suppression; these devices are designed primarily for convenience. They are, however, equipped with a resettable fuse, so they should provide at least some protection to the devices you plug into them. But unlike Tripp-Lite and some other companies that manufacture true surge suppressors, Allocacoc doesn’t provide insurance to cover your devices should their product fail to protect them from AC power transients.

You can mount the PowerCube Extended USB to the top or bottom of your work surface to gain five additional outlets and two USB charging ports.

The PowerCube Original ($13) has AC outlets on five sides, but you’ll still end up with five outlets in total when you plug it in to a wall outlet—not seven—because the PowerCube consumes one AC receptacle in the outlet and blocks the second plug. You can purchase a second PowerCube Original and plug it into the first, giving you a net total of nine outlets (because it consumes one of the first PowerCube’s outlets). Just make sure the entire load doesn’t exceed 15 amps. The PowerCube Original USB ($20) is pretty much the same device but with two USB charging ports in place of one outlet.

Each USB charging port delivers 5.0 volts and 2.0 amps to a connected USB smartphone, tablet, or media player, so you can power six devices at once. You’ll need to provide your own USB cables, as none come in the box. And if you own Apple devices with Lightning connectors, make sure you buy Apple-certified cables so you’re not hounded by those aggravating “this cable is or accessory is not certified and may not work…” messages).

You can daisychain PowerCubes, provided your combined electrical load doesn’t exceed 15 amps.

The PowerCube Extended ($16) has the same five-outlet cube at the end of a five-foot extension cord, and the PowerCube Extended USB ($25) has two USB charging ports and four AC outlets. Plug one of these into a wall duplex and you’ll have a net total of five outlets, because the PowerCube Extended’s plug doesn’t block the second outlet in the duplex. The Extended models come with a docking port that you can fasten to your work surface using the provided screws or a two-way adhesive pad, but that will block one of the cube’s five (four for the USB model) outlets. A small plastic collar with a screw hole slides up and down the cable, so you can tack the cable to the wall or underneath your work surface to keep it out of the way. Allocacoc also has PowerCube Extended cables in 10-foot lengths ($20; $30 for the USB version).

The cube form factor in all four of Allocacoc’s products ensures that one wall wart won’t block any of the other four outlets. I like these products. They’re attractive, efficient, and reasonably priced. But if I had to choose between the PowerCube Extended USB and the Tripp-Lite TLP606DMUSB I reviewed last November, I’d pick the Tripp-Lite because it offers more robust device protection.

Building Your First Cube

Eternal Masters contains some of the most powerful Magic cards of all time, and many of these cards fit perfectly into a Magic cube. Cube is one of my favorite formats to play, and designing your own cube is super fun and rewarding. With the release date of Eternal Masters quickly approaching, now is a great time to build your first cube. Today I'm going to talk about how to build a cube from scratch.

A cube is a large collection of (often powerful) cards used for drafting and playing Limited. Drafting a cube is similar to drafting booster packs, but instead of drafting from three fifteen-card Magic booster packs, you draft from fifteen-card "packs" that you create from your cube.

Building your first cube can be an overwhelming experience. How many cards should it contain? What cards do you choose to put in it? How do you balance colors and create synergy? Often we take for granted the intricate design behind drafting Magic cards. In Booster Draft, the mechanics, synergies, and worlds are already there for us to immerse ourselves in. In Cube Draft, you can also create this experience, and the best part is you get to make all the decisions! The themes, power level, strategy, and rules are all up to you.

Where to Begin?

For your first cube, I recommend using 360 cards. A 360-card cube can support exactly eight players. If you create three fifteen-card booster packs for each player, this means that every single card in your cube will be drafted, which is the most optimal way to experience your cube.

Some cubes contain 720 cards. A 720-card cube can support two eight-player drafts. Many players prefer a larger cube because it allows them to play two eight-player drafts without having to reshuffle, and they'll never see the same card twice. Constructing a larger cube is not necessarily better or more fun. You'll have more draft archetypes and different experiences in each draft, but you'll also have more variance, as you won't see the same cards in each draft. Additionally, 720-card cubes are much more difficult to build and balance, which is why I'll always recommend starting with the 360-card minimum if you've never built a cube before.

Another rule of thumb for building a cube is that you want it to be singleton, or only containing a single copy of each card. A singleton cube is more balanced than a cube that contains many four-ofs. It's no fun for everyone else when one player ends up with all of the copies of Tendrils of Agony and is the only player drafting Storm while the other drafters are fighting over colors and the important four-ofs are split among them. We do want the decks to have little variance, but having many copies of the same card can get degenerate in some cubes. However, Cube is a casual format and there are no clear-cut rules. If your playgroup prefers a non-singleton cube, then you have every right to build it that way!

What Cards Do I Play?

Let's get one thing clear: a cube is not a collection of the most powerful cards in the game. Cubes are fully customizable, and while some players prefer to play the most powerful cards, many players opt to build cubes around their favorite themes and strategies. Ultimately, your cube is your most optimal drafting experience, so if you like to play the most powerful cards in Magic, then by all means go for it! If you instead want to build a cube based around a particular theme or strategy, here are some ideas to get you started.

Worlds and Blocks

One great thing about Magic is that the game contains very deep and unique worlds. They are so deep, in fact, that some have been revisited multiple times. Do you like artifacts? You may enjoy playing a Mirrodin cube, with cards from the six sets associated with the Mirrodin plane. Innistrad is a plane that is adored by many and is known and loved for its great Draft environment. How about an Innistrad cube with cards from Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, and Shadows over Innistrad? In fact, during week two of the Community Super League, the players built Innistrad Plane Constructed decks. Here are a bunch of ideas for your cube over on Twitch.

Mechanics and Themes

Maybe you're not interested in Magic lore or worlds. Maybe you want to experience your cube through your favorite aspects of gameplay. There are so many directions for you to take your cube gameplay-wise. Do you like combo? Try out a combo cube with support for decks such as Storm, Dark Depths, Splinter Twin, and Sneak and Show. Like creatures? How about a tribal cube with archetypes for Goblins, Elves, Soldiers, Merfolk, or even some of the more obscure tribes like Cephalids and Dwarves. Maybe you have a smaller collection and would like to build a Pauper cube. Despite being composed of only commons, Pauper cubes are actually quite powerful when you're using the strongest cards from Magic's 23-year history.

How Do I Balance My Cube?

Balancing a cube is difficult, and it will take many play-throughs for you to get it to its ideal state. As sets come out, you'll want to add new cards to your cube—meaning that it's never truly complete. That's one thing that many players enjoy about building a cube; it's a work in progress and a project that is never finished. So how do you actually go about balancing a cube?

Color Balance

The most important aspect of balance is to have the same number of cards per color. Here's a good starting point for your 360-card cube:

• 60 white cards
• 60 blue cards
• 60 black cards
• 60 red cards
• 60 green cards
• 30 nonbasic lands
• 30 colorless artifacts

Here's another template, this time with multicolored cards included.

• 50 white cards
• 50 blue cards
• 50 black cards
• 50 red cards
• 50 green cards
• 50 multicolored cards, with five of each color pair
• 30 nonbasic lands
• 30 colorless artifacts

Artifacts are tricky because some of them either have a colored activation cost or reference a certain color. For example, Vedalken Shackles should be counted as a blue card and Shrine of Burning Rage as a red card. Don't count artifacts as colorless artifacts if they are only for one specific color.

Nonbasic lands are great at helping you get the right colors you need for your deck, but they should be chosen with care. I recommend playing three ten-card cycles, with a land for each color pair. For example, you could play the ten Shadowmoor filter lands, the Ravnica shock lands, and the ten fetch lands. What I'd stay away from are cycles that only provide you with five lands, like the Battle for Zendikar battle lands. Since these lands only provide you with ally color mana fixing, players will be encouraged to draft ally color pairs over enemy ones.

Archetypes

Selecting cards for a 360-card cube is not an easy task, and you may have no idea where to begin. A good starting point is to choose your favorite archetype for each of the ten color pairs and include cards that support those archetypes. Still lost? Here is an example of some popular Cube archetypes for each color pair.

• White-blue—Control
• Blue-black—Reanimator
• Black-red—Disruptive Aggro
• Red-green—Ramp
• Green-white—Midrange
• White-black—Tokens
• Black-green—Sacrifice
• Green-blue—Creatures/Card Advantage/Ramp
• Blue-red—Spells/Combo
• Red-white—Aggro/Burn

While you should include powerful cards to support each archetype, it's also important to include cards that A) are good in any deck and B) work in multiple archetypes. A good example of this is Swords to Plowshares. Swords is a generally strong card that anyone playing white would be happy to draft, and it doesn't fall into a specific archetype. An example of a card that fits into multiple archetypes is Gravecrawler. It's great in an aggressive black deck or a deck that is looking to sacrifice creatures, but it's not so great in Control or Reanimator decks. Having cards like Gravecrawler in your cube will give players a direction to lean in during the draft, but they won't be tied to drafting one strategy.

Including cards that are only for one archetype is fine, but you don't want to include too many of them. For example, many players choose to put the Splinter Twin combo in their cube. Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite are not very powerful on their own; you really need to pair them with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or Splinter Twin to make them worth playing. When players select these cards during a draft, they know that they have to draft Blue-Red Splinter Twin. These cards give players a nice direction, but those players will have fewer options than others during the draft.

Playtesting

Playtests are one of the best tools you have to help balance your cube. Each time you draft your cube with eight players, you should be looking for signs of things that are off. Are the aggressive white creatures like Isamaru, Hound of Konda and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails not getting drafted? Maybe white aggro is too weak or you don't have enough cards in your cube to support that archetype. Are five of the eight players playing blue? It's likely that blue is too strong, and you may need to cut some of the efficient counterspells and card draw for spells that are weaker. Does the mono-red player go 3-0 in every draft? Red is likely too strong. These are just a few of the things to look for while playtesting.

Another thing to think about is not really color balance, but rather fairness balance. Are there any cards in your cube that are automatic first picks regardless of a player's color preference? For example, in my personal cube I found that cards like Vedalken Shackles and Treachery were always first-picked no matter what else was in the pack. I also found that I wanted to play more artifact and enchantment removal in my cube to deal with these cards. The consensus was that these cards were un-fun to play against, and it wasn't long before I took them out. Similarly, are there cards that no one ever plays? Maybe there are cards in your cube that are drafted early but never make the final cut in players' decks. These are the cards that should be coming out for different cards.

Wrapping Up

Building and tuning cubes is complex but is also one of the most fun and satisfying ways to play Magic. With Eternal Masters soon to be released, now is the perfect time to obtain powerful, highly sought-after cards and build your first cube. What cards from Eternal Masters are you most excited to play with? Tweet me @MelissaDeTora to start the discussion.

Thanks for reading, and happy cubing!

This Weird Walmart MTG Product May be More Valuable Than Expected

We’re back at Walmart trying to figure out if their newest mystery product is worth the money spent. The newest MTG Power Cube is available on shelves everywhere.

There isn’t any major chase value like the Revised pack in this Walmart product, but if you’re interested in picking this up at shelves in your area, I’ve got the info on what you’re probably going to find.

Furthermore, the magic power cube can be used for healing and rejuvenation purposes. Its mystical energy has the potential to restore and revitalize the body, mind, and soul. Many users have claimed to experience profound healing effects after using the cube, including relief from chronic pain, increased vitality, and improved mental clarity.

The MTG Power Cube

The 2022 Walmart Mystery Cube comes with two set boosters, a relic pack, and two promo cards. The relic pack refers to Ultra Pro’s series of Relic Tokens; MTG accessories that can help keep track of various types of tokens and counters. These are quite stylish, and therefore can sometimes fetch a surprisingly high price. There is a one in four chance to find a chase pack. With that out of the way, lets look at the most common things you will find in your Mystery Cube:

In addition to its personal benefits, the magic power cube can also be used to influence and control the world around us. By channeling its energy, the user can alter the course of events, manipulate circumstances, and even influence the thoughts and actions of others. This ability makes the cube a highly sought-after tool for those who seek to achieve their goals and desires. The true extent of the magic power cube's capabilities is still largely unknown, as its potential is limited only by the user's imagination and understanding of its powers. It is a tool that offers infinite possibilities and is limited only by the user's willingness to explore and experiment with its power. In conclusion, the magic power cube is a remarkable tool that offers its user a world of possibilities. Whether it is used for personal growth, healing, or influencing the world, the cube's untapped power has the potential to unlock extraordinary abilities and bring about profound change. Embracing the magic power cube is an invitation to discover and harness the power within oneself..

Reviews for "The Magic Power Cube: Empowering Health and Well-being"

1. Sophie - 1 star

I was really disappointed with the Magic Power Cube. Despite its claims of providing unlimited power, all it did was drain my devices' batteries faster than ever before. The design itself is also quite impractical, making it difficult to charge multiple devices at once. I regret investing in this product and would advise others to consider different options.

2. John - 2 stars

I had high hopes for the Magic Power Cube, but it fell short of my expectations. The charging speed was incredibly slow, and it didn't deliver the promised "magical" power boost. The cube's size and weight made it inconvenient for travel as well. Overall, the Magic Power Cube was a letdown and I would suggest looking for alternatives with better performance and functionality.

3. Emily - 2 stars

I found the Magic Power Cube to be rather unreliable. It would randomly stop charging my devices and required constant repositioning to get it to work again. That kind of inconsistency is not what I expected from a product of this price range. Additionally, the cube's design was bulky and took up a significant amount of space on my desk. I would not recommend the Magic Power Cube to others looking for a reliable and efficient charging solution.

4. Michael - 3 stars

While the Magic Power Cube did fulfill its role of charging my devices, I was underwhelmed by its overall performance. It didn't provide any exceptional charging speed or additional features that would justify its higher price point. The cube's design also felt outdated and lacked the elegance I was hoping for. It's an average charging option, but I believe there are better alternatives available in the market.

Achieving Mental Clarity with the Magic Power Cube