The best cube house rules examples share one trait: they are written down. A rule that lives in the owner’s head is a surprise for every new drafter. A rule in the primer is a promise. Below are twelve rules we have borrowed, adapted, or envied from public cube primers, with wording you can use and the reason each exists.
None of these is a standard. Every one is a choice, and the point of collecting them is to show what the choices are. For how to write the rules into your own primer, see house rules worth writing down; this article is the list that article asks you to fill in.
Why do cubes need house rules at all?
Cube is not a sanctioned format. The Comprehensive Rules cover the game and the Tournament Rules cover drafting, but nothing covers the hundred small questions a box of singleton cards raises: how many lands are provided, whether proxies are fine, what happens when someone is late, whether the shock lands count as fixing for a splash. Each cube answers these on its own, and the answers shape the games as much as the card list does.
The rules below are grouped by when they apply: before the draft, during it, during building, and during play.
Before the draft
1. Packs are dealt before anyone arrives.
Wording: “The owner deals and bands the packs before the night starts. Players do not shuffle or count the cube.”
The MTGO Vintage Cube does this by definition, since the client deals the packs, and the groups whose nights start on time do it in paper. It removes fifteen minutes of counting and the temptation to peek. It also means the owner knows exactly which 360 cards are in play, which matters for a 540 cube that is not fully used each week.
2. Late players are drafted for.
Wording: “If a seat is empty when pack one opens, the players on either side take turns making its picks, best card in the pack, until the drafter arrives.”
Borrowed from the way online drafts auto-pick for a disconnected player. It is the single rule that most improved our start time. The late player gets a competent pile of cards, nobody waits, and the social cost of lateness is paid by the latecomer, not the table.
3. Proxies are fine, matched, and declared.
Wording: “Proxies are allowed for any card. They are printed in color, sleeved to match, and listed in the primer as proxies. Nobody is asked to buy a card to play here.”
Many power cubes run proxies for the expensive slots, and the honest ones say so on the first page of the primer. Declaring it removes the awkward conversation when a new drafter opens a pack with a photocopy of a Mox in it. The ethics are covered in our proxies article.
During the draft
4. The table runs one clock.
Wording: “One timer in the middle of the table, run by whoever opened the pack: 60 seconds for picks one through four, 40 for five through eight, 20 for nine through eleven, 10 after that. When it goes off, everyone passes.”
Adapted from the tournament schedule in MTR Appendix B, which starts at 40 seconds and drops to 5. The casual version is roughly double. It keeps a draft under 40 minutes without anyone being singled out. The full argument is in our pick-timers article.
5. Picks are face down until the pack is done.
Wording: “Keep your picks in a face-down stack. You may look at them between packs, not during.”
It matches the booster draft rule at Competitive level, where the MTR lets players review picks only between packs. It stops the mid-pack spread-and-recount that costs the table a minute every time, and it forces drafters to hold their plan in their head, which is a skill.
6. One hate-draft is announced.
Wording: “Once per draft, a player may announce ‘hate’ as they take a card. The card is shown to the table and placed face up. It may not be played in that player’s main deck, only sideboarded in.”
This one is adapted from team-draft conventions. It gives hate-drafting a cost, a ceremony, and a story. It also prevents the “I hate-drafted it, then I splashed it” play that irritates everyone. Some groups allow it only in team formats; once a night in any format works too, and the table enjoys the reveal.
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During deck-building
7. Basics are unlimited, in two art styles.
Wording: “Basic lands are provided, as many as you need. Each basic type comes in two arts so you can tell your deck’s lands from a borrowed set.”
Every cube provides basics. The two-art rule is a common fix for owners tired of sorting mixed Islands at midnight. Small, practical, and it saves ten minutes of clean-up.
8. Twenty-five minutes to build, then a five-minute warning.
Wording: “Deck-building is 25 minutes. At 20 the host calls five. At 25 you are playing with what is sleeved.”
The tournament recommendation is 25 minutes for draft construction. Most casual tables drift to 40. A called warning fixes it, and nobody has ever needed the extra fifteen.
9. The duplicate voucher, cashed after the draft.
Wording: “Each drafter receives one voucher. After the draft, it may be exchanged for a proxy second copy of a drafted card not on the exclusion list. Unused vouchers return to the box.”
The one rule on this list we would call a design feature rather than a convenience. It makes aggro draftable and gives every player one deck-building decision that reveals how well they read their pool. Full procedure and the exclusion list are in the duplicate voucher system.
During play
10. Free first mulligan, London rules after.
Wording: “Your first mulligan is free: draw seven and bottom nothing. Each mulligan after that is a normal London mulligan.”
Multiplayer formats, Two-Headed Giant included, already give a free first mulligan. Cube decks are built from 45 cards with imperfect mana, so non-games from land screw are more common than in a Constructed format. A free mulligan reduces them without changing the game. Many casual cube groups use some version.
11. Best of three, two minutes to sideboard, main deck resets.
Wording: “Matches are best of three with sideboarding. Two minutes between games. Before each new match, return to the deck you built.”
This mirrors Competitive tournaments, where decks are registered and reset before each match. Casual events without decklists let players change decks between matches, so the reset needs saying. The reset matters: it keeps the drafted deck the deck of record, and it stops a player from rebuilding into a different deck for round two. Sideboard specifics are in our sideboarding article.
12. Rounds end at the clock, and the game on the table finishes.
Wording: “Rounds are 50 minutes. When the clock ends, finish the game in progress with five extra turns. Unfinished matches are draws. Nobody plays to the end of a match after time.”
The tournament procedure gives five turns after time is called; five is better than three, the Two-Headed Giant number, which is too few for a board stall. The draw rule removes the slow-play incentive, and a standing record can treat a draw as half a win.
Which of these should you adopt?
| Rule | Solves | Adopt if |
|---|---|---|
| Packs pre-dealt | Slow start | Always |
| Late players drafted for | Waiting | Your group has a chronic latecomer |
| Proxies declared | Awkwardness, cost | Your cube has any proxy |
| One table clock | Long drafts | Drafts run past 45 minutes |
| Picks face down | Mid-pack stalls | Same |
| Announced hate-draft | Splash-the-hate-pick | Team formats; or for fun |
| Two-art basics | Clean-up | You lend basics |
| 25-minute build | Drift | Always |
| Duplicate voucher | Weak aggro | Your cube is singleton and aggro is struggling |
| Free mulligan | Non-games | Always, for casual |
| Bo3 with reset | Arguments | Always |
| Clock and five turns | Slow play | You run rounds |
Start with the “always” rows, write them into the primer, and add the others as the problems they solve show up. A primer with four rules that are enforced is better than one with twelve that are not.
FAQ
What are common cube house rules?
Pre-dealt packs, a shared pick clock, unlimited basics, a free first mulligan, best-of-three with a main-deck reset, and a declared proxy policy are the most common. Pick clocks and vouchers are the ones that vary most between cubes.
Should a cube allow a free mulligan?
Most casual cubes do. A free first mulligan reduces games lost to mana screw, which are more frequent in cube because decks are built from small pools with imperfect fixing.
Where should house rules be written?
In the primer, on the first page, and pinned in the group’s Discord. A rule nobody can find is not a rule.
How many house rules is too many?
More than a new player can hear in two minutes. Four to six core rules, read aloud before the first draft, is the practical limit; the rest can live in the primer for reference.
Rules are hospitality
Every rule on this list exists to make the next person at the table comfortable: they know when to arrive, how long they have, what the proxy is, and what happens when time is called. The game is the reason. The people are the point.
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