Xerox Theory and You

Andy and Anthony talk about “Xerox Theory” a strategic Magic concept involving cantrips, land count, a balance of resources. Andy explains the history and origins of the idea, as documented by Mike Flores’s 2005 article. They talk about how the concept applies differently in early and contemporary Magic and how it’s relevant, or not, to different types of decks. They also talk about Gunk Slug for some reason. ⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠ Discussed in this episode: UB Trippin’ by Mike Flores The Streisand Effect Lucky Paper Radio: All About Brainstorm Drive to Work on Card Advantage Hypergeometric Calculator MTG Cube Con Twitter The Reading Rainbow Cube Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:27 - Introduction to Topic 6:27 - What is Xerox Theory at its core? 10:08 - What is a cantrip? 13:44 - The baseline of Xerox cantrips and the case for Reach Through Mists 17:25 - The sometimes unstated context to make Xerox Theory work 19:45 - The power of a smaller deck 22:08 - Going beyond “UB Trippin’” — the ramifications of cantrips on the tempo of reactive decks 31:57 - Modern Xerox “Payoffs” 38:29 - Review, conclusions, and abstraction 48:47 - Gunk Slug Corner 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 want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube submit it on our website. Send in questions to the show at [email protected]. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord. 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.