100 Ornithopters
100 Ornithopters is a 360 card Cube designed by Andy Mangold, one of the hosts of the Cube focused Lucky Paper Radio podcast. As its name suggests, it consists of 100 copies of the artifact creature Ornithopter. The cube was purposely designed so that it has no other creatures, token producers, or "Manlands". With Ornithopter being the only win condition in the cube, with only one or two exceptions, drafters are required to recontextualize the other cards in the cube to be able to construct a viable deck.[1][2][3]
Details
Fundamental to the identity of the cube is that each Ornithopter, matching non-foil Mirrodin printings, is individually numbered. Whenever a player wins a game, they add a tally mark to the Ornithopter that did the final point of damage to their opponent. At the end of three rounds, the player with the 3-0 record earns the right to name an unnamed Ornithopter from their pool and to alter its art.
In addition to the Ornithopters, the cube contains some of the most powerful cards from Magic's history. This includes many cards that are banned or restricted in multiple Constructed formats. Notable examples are Balance, Wheel of Fortune, Yawgmoth's Will as well as the three Legendary Urza's Saga lands Tolarian Academy, Serra's Sanctum and Gaea's Cradle.
Due to the unique nature of the cube, other, less well-known cards also become much better. The Conspiracy Echoing Boon, for instance, is considered to be one of the most powerful cards in the cube. The Theros legendary Enchantment Artifact Bow of Nylea is another reasonable first pick, being able to buff your own Ornithopters or destroy an opponent's. However, it's Bow's final mode which gives it its true power within the cube; the ability to recycle cards from the graveyard back into the library gives pure Control decks a rare, non-Ornithopter-related, win condition.
Cube list
The contents of 100 Ornithopters in July 2025, when Rhystic Studies released a video on YouTube about it[3], was as follows:[5]
 Colorless (135)
|
|---|
| Creatures (100) 100 Ornithopter |
 White (27)
|
|---|
| Instants (6) 1 Disenchant |
 Blue (28)
|
|---|
| Instants (21) 1 Annul |
 Black (26)
|
|---|
| Instants (8) 1 Ad Nauseam |
 Red (29)
|
|---|
| Instants (6) 1 Battle Hymn |
 Green (28)
|
|---|
| Instants (6) 1 Berserk |
 Multicolored (20)
|
|---|
| Instants (4) 1 Biomass Mutation |
The following month, August 2025, Mangold made a large number of changes to the cube to reduce the power of Disenchant effects.[6]
History
On October 23, 2023, Vincent Chandler (PleasantKenobi) made a post on Twitter promoting the play experience of Cube. This was responded to by the user R. Morgan Slade, who asked, "Can my cube be all ornithopters"? While this tweet appears to have been meant to be taken flippantly, it prompted Andy Mangold to spend some time putting together a prototype list, which he posted in a reply to Slade on October 25, 2023. Mangold hadn't intended to go any further with 100 Ornithopters than it being a response to a joke comment. However, the list had come to the attention of users in the CubeCon Discord server who decided to run a simulated draft of the cube. Initial feedback was positive, prompting Mangold to return to the project and start making changes based on suggestions from this playtest.
Episode 193 of the Lucky Paper Radio podcast, "100 Ornithopters in a Trenchcoat", was released on March 24, 2025.[2] During the Podcast it was implied that the cube would be physically assembled in paper, with this confirmed in a blog post on Cube Cobra on April 8, 2025.[7] The first draft occurred the following month, resulting in power outliers such as Grinding Station and Bolas's Citadel being cut.[8]
Unite Fundraiser
100 Ornithopters was played as a fundraiser for the Tabletop Workers United Trade Union in January 2025. Union members were undergoing industrial action to agitate for better working conditions across several Local Game Stores in New York City.[9]
A stream of the event was hosted by Jesse Robkin and Evart Moughon (Aspiringspike).[10] The feature matches were:
- Round 1: Rebell Lily vs Jason Ye (who had also been the featured drafter)
- Round 2: Jesse Robkin vs Jason Ye
- Round 3: Jesse Robkin vs Andy Mangold
Mangold was not originally intended to play his own cube, but he filled the 8th seat after another player was forced to cancel at the last minute.
References
- ↑ Andy Mangold. "100 Ornithopters (website)". Cube Cobra. Retrieved on December 20, 2025.
- ↑ a b Lucky Paper Radio (March 25, 2024). "100 Ornithopters in a Trenchcoat (Podcast)". Lucky Paper.
- ↑ a b 100 Ornithopters in a Cube-Shaped Box (Video). Rhystic Studies. YouTube (May 26, 2025).
- ↑ Eric Klug (October 26, 2024). "Ornithopter alter for 100 Ornithopters Cube". Reddit.
- ↑ Andy Mangold (July 2025). "100 Ornithopters (website)". Cube Cobra. Archived from the original on July 23, 2025.
- ↑ Andy Mangold (August 30, 2025). "An Experimental Big Shift (blog post)". Cube Cobra.
- ↑ Andy Mangold (April 8, 2024). "State of the Cube (blog post)". Cube Cobra.
- ↑ Andy Mangold (May 9, 2024). "First Draft Updates! (blog post)". Cube Cobra.
- ↑ Tabletop Solidarity Committee (October 29, 2024). "Support the Tabletop Workers United Strike Hardship Fund! (website)". Go Fund Me.
- ↑ Pro Tour Competitors Draft 100 Ornithopters Paper Cube !donate !cube !action !faq (Video). Nile Joan Rivers. YouTube (January 31, 2025).