A themed cube is a cube built around a constraint instead of around raw card quality: every card from one plane, every creature a member of a tribe, every spell at a single mana value, every card printed before 1998. The constraint is the point. It produces drafts that a “best cards” cube cannot, and it gives a cube owner a reason to build a second box that is not just a worse version of the first.
This article walks through the kinds of themed cubes that hold up at a weekly table, the design rules that keep a constraint from becoming a chore, and a few ideas we have seen work. It assumes you know how a cube is built and are wondering what to build next.
Why build a themed cube at all?
Because a standard cube converges. There are only so many great cards at a given power level, and two unpowered legacy cubes built by strangers overlap by hundreds of cards. That is fine; it is why the format has a shared vocabulary. But it means the third cube in a friend group is mostly redundant.
A constraint breaks the convergence. It forces in cards that would never make a standard list, and it changes which decks exist. A cube where every creature is a Human plays nothing like a cube of staples, even if the two share a hundred cards. The constraint also gives the cube a story that is easy to explain to a new drafter: “everything in this box is from Innistrad” is a pitch in one sentence.
There is a design pleasure too. Choosing the best 360 cards is a research problem. Choosing the best 360 cards that fit a rule is a puzzle, and puzzles are more fun to work on.
What kinds of themed cubes work?
Set and plane cubes. All cards from one set, block, or plane. The Innistrad plane cube, built from the original block plus the return visits, is the most popular because the plane has coherent tribes, a graveyard theme, and a strong flavor. Ravnica cubes lean on guilds, which map onto the ten two-color lanes a cube wants anyway. Dominaria and Kamigawa cubes also exist. The constraint keeps a set’s draft archetypes intact while cutting the filler, which makes a set cube feel like the best version of that set’s limited format.
Tribal cubes. Every creature belongs to one of a handful of creature types, usually four to six, each assigned to a color pair or two. Lorwyn’s eight tribes are a natural base. Goblins, Elves, Merfolk, Zombies, Humans, Spirits, Vampires, and Slivers all have enough depth. The design trap is that tribal payoffs are only good with the tribe, so every tribe needs around 25 to 30 members and 6 to 10 payoffs, and gold cards should be tribe-specific.
Mechanic cubes. A graveyard cube where every archetype uses the yard. A spells cube where creatures are rare and every deck is UR spells in a different costume. A +1/+1 counters cube. These are the hardest to balance because one mechanic can only support so many distinct decks before they blur together.
Era cubes. Old-border cubes, cards printed before the 2003 frame change, are the best known. Pre-Modern cubes and “Alpha through Urza’s” cubes also exist. The power level is uneven and the games are slower, but the nostalgia is strong and the art is wonderful on a table. Proxies are nearly required for the rare old cards.
Budget and rarity cubes. Pauper (commons only) and peasant (commons and uncommons) are themed cubes with a price constraint. They are the most common second cube and for good reason: cheap to build, slow enough to teach with, and well-documented by the community. Our pauper vs vintage comparison covers the trade-offs.
Single-set-of-rules cubes. Every card costs exactly three mana. No creatures anywhere. Only legendary cards. Only cards with a cat in the art. These are novelties. Some are great for one night a year. Build one if the idea makes you laugh.
| Theme | Example | Strength | Design risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set or plane | Innistrad, Ravnica | Flavor, built-in archetypes | Thin in some colors |
| Tribal | Lorwyn tribes | Clear lanes for new drafters | Payoffs dead outside the tribe |
| Mechanic | Graveyard, spells | Deep in one direction | Decks blur together |
| Era | Old-border, pre-Modern | Nostalgia, art | Uneven power, slow games |
| Budget or rarity | Pauper, peasant | Cheap, teachable | Needs careful aggro support |
| Novelty rule | All three-drops | A good night | Not a weekly cube |
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What design rules keep a constraint fun?
A constraint is a promise to the drafter: this box will be different. It becomes a chore when the difference is only that the cards are worse. Four rules help.
The constraint should create decks, not just remove cards. “No creatures” removes cards. “Every deck is a tribe” creates decks. Before you build, list the ten decks the constrained cube will produce. If you cannot name ten, or if six of them are the same deck, pick a different constraint.
Keep the two-color lane structure unless the theme replaces it. The ten guild lanes exist because they work for eight drafters. A tribal cube can replace them with tribes, and a set cube inherits the set’s archetypes. A mechanic cube usually cannot replace them and should keep them.
Protect aggro and fixing on purpose. Both suffer first under any constraint. A set cube has only the set’s lands; an era cube has only old removal. Audit the one-drop count and the dual-land count before you call the list done, and bend the constraint if you must. Many Innistrad cubes allow a few off-plane lands for this reason.
Flatten the power curve harder than in a normal cube. A constrained card pool has fewer great cards, so the great cards that remain stand out more. In a pauper cube, one uncommon that slipped in is a lottery ticket. In a set cube, the set’s three best rares can warp every draft. Cut the top end before you cut the bottom.
How big should a themed cube be?
Smaller than a standard cube, usually. The pool of cards that fit a constraint is finite, and stretching to 540 means including cards that are only there because they fit. 360 is right for most themed cubes. Some set cubes run 450 because the plane is deep. A novelty cube can be 180 for a four-player night.
A smaller cube also means more repetition, which for a themed cube is a feature. The constraint rewards drafters who learn it, and they learn it faster when they see the same cards more often.
A few themed cube ideas worth building
Ideas we have seen work or wanted to build ourselves, with the one design note each one needs:
- Innistrad plane cube. Humans, Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, each in two colors, plus a flashback and self-mill backbone. Needs a decision on the werewolf transform rules at the start of every draft night because new players will ask.
- Ravnica guild cube. Ten guilds, each with its signature mechanic. The gold cards do the heavy lifting; keep the mono-color sections generic enough that two players can share a color.
- Lorwyn-Shadowmoor tribal cube. Eight tribes across five colors with heavy overlap, built to pull drafters into two tribes at once. Count the changelings as members of every tribe when you audit.
- Graveyard cube. Reanimator, dredge, delirium, flashback, aristocrats. The danger is that every deck mills itself and the games feel the same; give at least two lanes that attack the graveyard, like Orzhov exile effects and Boros aggro that ignores it.
- Old-border legacy cube. Everything printed before 2003, including proxied Power. Slow, beautiful, and the best cube for a table of players who started in the nineties.
- Pauper cube. The commons-only classic. Choose a few archetypes to support deeply rather than ten shallowly; Boros aggro, Dimir control, and Golgari value are the usual backbone.
FAQ
What is a themed cube?
A cube built around a constraint, such as cards from one plane, creatures of one tribe, or a single era or rarity, rather than around the best cards available at a power level.
What is the most popular themed cube?
Pauper cube, by a wide margin, followed by set cubes built around Innistrad or Ravnica and old-border cubes.
How big should a themed cube be?
360 cards is right for most. Constrained pools run thin, so stretching to 540 usually means including cards that are only there because they fit.
Can a themed cube be a group’s only cube?
A pauper or peasant cube can. Most other themes are better as a second box that comes out once a month, because the constraint that makes them fresh also makes them repetitive if played every week.
Build the box only you would build
A standard cube is a shared language. A themed cube is a dialect, and it says something about the person who built it. The best ones get pulled out on a slow night and become the thing people ask about. The game is the reason. The people are the point.
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