How to Build Your First MTG Cube

Constructing a Magic: The Gathering Cube is a lot like writing a novel; both require ample time, constant revision, and a heck of a lot of paper. And like writing a novel, building a Cube is a huge accomplishment.

Cube Draft, if you didn't know, is a format in which players draft from a custom-built set, usually featuring some of the most famous cards from Magic's history.

In strictly Magic terms, Cube is one of the best ways to play the game. This format combines the fun of drafting cards with the strategy and raw power of constructed-level play. If you want to draft a Modern Splinter Twin combo deck back, you can probably do it. Likewise, if you want to run a mono-white aggro white weenie deck, that should work, too. Cube is open to many different styles of play.

Ready to be the author of your very own Cube? The following seven tips should get you started on the right track.

1. Choose a Size

George R.R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones and its sequels, writes chunky books. However, he started mostly with short stories, then worked his way up to the heftier stuff. Likewise, as the author of your Cube, I'd recommend starting small and going big. Just try working a little faster than Martin (I'm sorry, George—I couldn't resist).

In Cube terms, starting small means 360 unique cards—exactly enough cards for eight drafters. This is known as a small Cube. The next size up is the large Cube, which boasts 720 cards and gives you room for 16 drafters, or two pods of eight.

For your first try, start with the small Cube. Once you learn to build it, you can work your way up to 720.

2. Choose Your Cube's Overall Theme

Like many great popular novels, your Cube can use a genre. What sets it apart from others? What's the overarching philosophy behind your design?

On Magic Online, there are Cubes for almost every eternal format, including a Modern Cube, a Legacy Cube, and a Vintage Cube. And though it was panned by many players, MTGO also offered a Legendary Cube for a little while, which was almost completely composed of (you guessed it) legendary creatures.

Just like genres for novels, there are countless themes for Cubes. Many players love Pauper Cubes (only commons allowed). I myself built a Lorwyn Cube, which is dedicated to my favorite Magic block of the same name. MTG Hall of Famer Luis Scott-Vargas has apparently played a mono-green Cube, which sounds totally whacky.

Though it might be difficult, I think choosing a theme really helps in Cube construction. It narrows your focus to a few specific cards rather than every card, ever. When you've got your theme, proceed to the next step.

3. Brainstorm Your Archetypes

Cube archetypes are kind of like characters within a novel. They should feel distinct, and they should play out in different ways. To start, try constructing your archetypes around the ten two-color pairs. 

Take Rivals of Ixalan Draft as an example. Each color pair has a relatively clear strategy: black-red is a pirates deck, blue-green is a merfolk deck, white-blue is an ascend deck. Feel free to look to current sets such as these for guidance in your Cube.

For example, if a drafter opens their first pack and finds Lorescale Coatl from Masters 25, it's pretty clear what blue-green's theme is. Draft cards that draw more cards! Since Cube can be a daunting format, these little hints are super helpful for providing your drafters with some direction.

At this stage, I'd recommend brainstorming any possible archetypes each two color pair could have. Write the archetypes down in ten columns. You'll notice that some color pairs historically support more strategies than others. For example, blue-black could support control, delve, reanimator, zombies, or artifact archetypes equally well. White-red, on the other hand, pretty much only does aggro.

At this stage, just brainstorm as many archetypes as you can. When you're ready, proceed to the next step.

4. Settle on Your Archetypes

Now that you've outlined your Cube, it's time to select one archetype for each color pair. (Yes, advanced Cubes support way more than just ten archetypes. But for the purposes of getting started, we're going to keep things simple. Just like writing, we need to learn the basic form before we can improve upon it.)

An easy way to narrow those archetypes is to look for overlap between them. That's because gameplay is most interesting when individual cards can be used in multiple archetypes. So say you're looking for archetypes in both black-red and white-red. If you've selected tokens for white-red, I'd recommend a sacrifice theme for black-red; doing so gives you mechanical overlap between the two. Now your red token makers—which already function with your white-red archetype—also interact favorably with your black sacrifice cards. Try to build as much of this mechanical overlap as you can.

Let's hop back to our novel writing metaphor for a second. Classics endure because they have timeless themes rather than ideas of the moment. If you want your Cube to be a classic as well, try going for those timeless Magic archetypes.

For example, +1/+1 counters are printed in almost every set. If you select this as one of your archetypes, you'll have a wide variety of cards to choose from. On the other hand, you might want to shy away from something like a black-green infect archetype, since it's really only appeared in one block.

Tireless Tracker is a great example of a card that fits into a number of different archetypes. Human tribal, green-based midrange, landfall, ramp, +1/+1 counters, even artifacts—this card slots into all of them. Not every card in the Cube needs to be this flexible—and it's unlikely that they will be. But ideally, you'll have many cards which serve multiples roles.

Still feeling a little overwhelmed? Here are a few sample archetypes to get you started.

• White-Green: Tokens
• Red-Green: Midrange
• White-Blue: Fliers
• Blue-Black: Control
• Black-Red: Sacrifice
• Blue-Red: Spells
• White-Red: Tokens
• White-Black: Lifegain
• Black-Green: Self Mill
• Blue-Green: Ramp

5. Fill in Your Cube!

This is the fun part. Look through your collection and pick out cards that fit into your Cube's archetypes. At this stage, you'll notice which archetypes feel well-supported and which ones feel sparse. Novelists come to similar realizations when they start writing. If things aren't working the way you planned, don't be afraid to revise or even replace the nonfunctional elements.

Don't forget to add mana fixing to your Cube. Playing multiple colors is one of the coolest parts of the format, so feel free to support three, four, or even five color decks.

6. Test it Out

Once writers finish their novels, the next step is sharing with readers. So now that your Cube is complete, it's time to share your rough draft with your fellow players.

Playing Cube is just like playing a regular Booster Draft. Just have players take 15 random cards from the Cube and set them face down in front of them. When ready, everyone looks at their 15 cards, chooses one, then passes the rest to the left. Pass to the right on the next round, then the left on the one after, and you're all set. Everyone should have exactly 45 cards from which to build a deck. And just like any Booster Draft, you'll need to provide basic lands to your drafters.

Once you've gotten a few drafts under your belts, ask your friends what they thought of your Cube. Did any archetypes feel underpowered or overpowered? Same question for individual cards. Or did any particular color feel too weak or too strong?

Ideally, I believe you want to create a balanced Cube. Like any good Booster Draft format, Cubes are at their best when players can find success with essentially any strategy or color.

7. Iterate!

One secret writers don't like to share: the first draft of the novel is always bad. Always. Writing a book is hard, so it's nearly impossible to get everything right on the first try.

The same goes for Cube. Though you might've filled out all your slots, there's plenty of tweaking needed to make it perfect. So when you finish those first few drafts, don't forget to come back and iterate. Use your players' feedback and your own observations to make the experience the best it can be.

8. Add New Cards as They're Printed

Just like writers combine words for a desired effect, Cube designers combine cards for powerful outcomes. When a set releases, make sure to see how the new cards match up with the old. Will the legends of Dominaria play favorably with the cards of Ixalan block? Test it out and see.

You are now the New Phyrexia Times Best Selling author of a timeless Cube. Congratulations!

Kyle Massa is a writer and avid Magic player living in upstate New York with his fiancée and their two cats. When he's not writing, you'll find him down at the East Greenbush Flipside store jamming booster drafts. For more of Kyle's work, visit www.kyleamassa.com or follow him on Twitter @mindofkyleam.