# In Defense of Bad Cards

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lucky-paper-radio-380785/in-defense-of-bad-cards
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lucky-paper-radio-380785/in-defense-of-bad-cards.md
Podcast: [Lucky Paper Radio](https://stenobird.com/podcast/lucky-paper-radio-380785)
Published: 2025-12-22T11:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lucky-paper-radio/episodes/In-Defense-of-Bad-Cards-e3clv75
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/29f49e0c/podcast/play/112966309/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-22%2F9e879889-3231-4dab-eafa-27c0d251faf9.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lucky-paper-radio-380785/episodes/in-defense-of-bad-cards
Duration seconds: 3366

## Resource

View all cards mentioned in this episode Andy and Anthony talk about bad cards. Why do “bad cards” even exist? Can’t all the cards just be good? Our hosts talk about why they like playing with bad Magic cards and how Cube gives them the flexibility to play with whatever cards they like regardless of how they stack up to the other 30,000 cards in the game. They talk about ways they conceptualize a bad card in different formats and the inevitability of their existence. They also reflect on the differences between thinking about Magic as a player vs a designer and how player mentality and hamper design thinking. And also, for some reason, wolves. Discussed in this episode: Mark Rosewater’s When Cards go Bad Parkers Article on Bad Cards The Alpha Myth Episode of Unexplainable about Alpha Wolves Andy’s Take Five Brainstorming Videos on YouTube The Oldest School The Ball Pit Turbo Cube If you’d like to show your support for the show, please consider backing Lucky Paper on Patreon or leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. 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 You can find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord . Send in questions to the show at mail@luckypaper.co or our p.o. box: Lucky Paper PO Box 4855 Baltimore, MD 21211 Musical production by DJ James Nasty . Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 3:55 - Bad Cards 6:42 - What is a Bad Card 22:05 - The Fundamental Constants of Magic 29:44 - In Defense of Bad Cards 35:18 - Bad Cards in Cube Design 43:58 - Combat is Beautiful 49:30 - Recontextualizing Bad Cards

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## Transcript

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