Cube identity is the thing a drafter can describe about your cube a month after playing it. “That’s the one where Boros is always open.” “That’s the one with the Sneak Attack deck.” “That’s the one with no planeswalkers.” If nobody can finish the sentence “that’s the one where…”, the cube does not have an identity yet. It has a list.
That is not a crisis. Most first cubes are staples lists, and staples lists play fine. But the cubes people drive across town for are the ones with a point of view, and a point of view can be designed on purpose. This piece is about where identity actually lives in a cube and how to put some there.
Why does a cube need an identity?
Two practical reasons, before the sentimental one.
First, identity is what makes a cube draftable by regulars. A drafter who knows that your Golgari is a graveyard lane and your Izzet is a spells lane can draft with intent from pick one. A cube that is a different set of good cards every month cannot be learned, and a cube that cannot be learned rewards nothing but raw card evaluation.
Second, identity is what makes a cube worth choosing. There are more than 100,000 cubes on CubeCobra. The ones that get drafted by people who do not own them tend to be the ones that do something specific: the Pauper Cube, the Vintage Cube, the well-known themed lists. A generic unpowered 540 is competing against every other generic unpowered 540, and the MTGO Vintage Cube list is free to copy.
The sentimental reason is the real one. A cube with an identity is the owner’s, and the group’s, in a way a copied list is not. It is the difference between hosting a draft and hosting your draft.
Where does identity live?
Four places, in rough order of how much they matter.
The lanes. The clearest identity is a cube whose archetypes are unmistakable. Not “ten two-color pairs” but “our Rakdos is sacrifice, our Simic is +1/+1 counters, our Orzhov is reanimator, and our Boros can win on turn four.” Most cubes share eight of their ten lanes with every other cube; identity comes from the two that are different, and from how committed the cube is to all ten. This is where the signpost cards do their work.
The exclusions. What a cube refuses to do is as much its identity as what it does. No planeswalkers. No land destruction. No cards that cost more than $20. No cards printed after 2012. Nothing with more than four lines of rules text. A cube’s exclusions are the fastest thing to explain and the thing most likely to make someone say “oh, I want to try that.”
The power band and its edges. Where the cube sits is identity, but so is how it sits there. Two unpowered cubes can feel completely different if one runs Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and the fast artifact mana and the other cuts all of it. One is an unpowered cube that plays like Vintage; the other is an unpowered cube that plays like Legacy. Both are “unpowered” on CubeCobra.
The texture. The hardest to name and the one people remember longest. A cube where every game goes long. A cube where combat matters. A cube with a lot of old frames. A cube where the sideboard matters because there are hate cards. A cube that feels fast, or grindy, or weird. Texture comes from dozens of small choices that add up, and it is the part that cannot be copied from a list.
What are some real examples?
Public cubes with strong identities, and what the identity is:
| Cube | Identity in one line |
|---|---|
| MTGO Vintage Cube | Power is in, fast mana is core, games are fast and swingy. |
| The Pauper Cube (community list) | Commons only, combat and card quality decide games, running since 2008. |
| Set cubes (e.g., an Innistrad cube) | Recreates one beloved draft format forever. |
| “Old frame” or pre-Modern cubes | Nothing after a chosen year, usually 2003 or 2007; the feel is the point. |
| Peasant cubes | Commons and uncommons; Mulldrifter and Lightning Helix are the top of the curve. |
| Artifact or tribal cubes | Every deck is organized around one card type or creature type. |
None of these are identity through “better card choices.” They are identity through a constraint or a commitment. That is the pattern. The cubes people remember chose something and gave up something else to get it.
How do you give a staples cube an identity?
The honest route is slow. You do not need to tear down the list. You need to make three or four decisions and then let them propagate.
- Pick two lanes to be unmistakably yours. Not the lanes you think are coolest. The lanes your group drafts most and enjoys most. Make those two lanes deeper than any other cube’s: more payoffs, more enablers, better signposts. If your group loves the sacrifice deck, give it 25 cards instead of 15 and let Rakdos be the thing people talk about.
- Write down one exclusion and mean it. Something your cube does not do, chosen because it makes the games better for your room. “No mass land destruction” is common and fine. “No planeswalkers” is bolder. “Nothing printed after Theros” is a whole cube. Put it in the primer.
- Choose a texture and tune toward it. Decide whether your games should be fast or long, and move the dial: more cheap creatures and burn for fast, more sweepers and card advantage for long. Interaction density and variance are both dials, and both move texture.
- Keep a few cards that are only in your cube. Not bad cards. Cards that are good but unusual, that other lists do not run. A drafter who sees Opposition, or Squandered Resources, or Sulfuric Vortex, or Recurring Nightmare learns that this cube has an owner with opinions.
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What kills identity?
Three things, in our experience, and they are all well-intentioned.
Chasing the Vintage Cube. Every MTGO update post comes with a wave of paper owners making the same swaps. The result is a thousand cubes that converge on one. If your cube’s answer to “why is this card in” is always “it’s in Vintage Cube,” it is not your cube. Use the reference lists as a source of candidates, not a source of decisions.
Adding every new set. New cards are exciting and most of them are not for your cube. A cube that adds six cards from every release and cuts six old ones drifts, and the drift is always toward whatever the newest design philosophy is. Ten years of that and the cube is unrecognizable. Add two cards a set and make them earn it.
Saying yes to every request. The regulars will ask for cards. Some requests are good. If every request is granted, the cube becomes an average of eight people’s preferences, which is the same as nobody’s. The owner’s job is to be the editor, which is the subject of owner’s vision vs community wish list.
How do you know it is working?
Listen for the sentence. When a drafter at a different cube says “this reminds me of your cube because…” the “because” is your identity. When someone new sits down and a regular explains the cube to them in two sentences, those two sentences are your identity. If the regular says “it’s an unpowered 540,” keep working.
A good answer sounds something like: a 540 where aggro is real, the sacrifice and reanimator decks are deep, and nothing in it will make a new player feel stupid. That takes a while to say, and longer to make true. But it is why a list is yours and not a download.
FAQ
What gives a cube its identity?
Its lanes, especially the two or three that differ from the default; its exclusions; where it sits on power and how it gets there; and the texture of its games. Not individual card quality.
Can a staples cube have an identity?
Yes, but it has to be added on purpose: commit to two lanes, write down one exclusion, choose a game texture, and keep a few cards nobody else runs.
Does a cube need a theme to be memorable?
No. Many memorable cubes are unthemed. They are memorable because they are consistent about what they do and clear about what they do not.
How long does it take a cube to develop an identity?
Usually a year or more of regular drafting with the same core group. Identity comes from repeated choices, not from a single build.
Be the one where
Every cube worth driving to is “the one where” something. Decide what yours is, commit to it in the list, and let your drafters finish the sentence for you. The game is the reason. The people are the point.
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