I would be careful with this. Once you have the basics in place, often it only takes about two cards to make a new archetype.
Examples: Smokestack + Braids
Wildfire + Burning or Destructive Force
Neither of these archetypes pop up very often in my drafts, but since the support for them is so compact (only two cards), they greatly increase the variety of decks available. The trick is to limit the space you allot to the creation of a niche archetype.
I support Dream Halls combo, but the only "narrow" card needed to support it is Dream Halls itself. Other cards that fit into the archetype like Griselbrand and Tidings have applications elsewhere. What I've found is that, when done correctly, you can add a half-dozen potential decks with the addition of only 10 cards.
The key is that cards like Smokestack and Braids are mostly good on their own in aggressive decks (i.e. support cards are fairly common), and the support cards for Wildfire-style cards are also fairly common (mana rocks).
Dream Halls is definitely narrower. You just need to be sure there are large enough plays that you'll want to pitch other cards to (Griselbrand definitely applies) that also work in other deck archetypes (Griselbrand fits into reanimator nicely). So your examples work.
But there are surely cards that I wouldn't put into the cube unless I dedicated a more broad support package for them. Millcards, Stasis, Pickleslock (these two cards are "servicable" without each other, but not commonly powerful enough for most cubes as individual cards), Painter's Servant + Grindstone, etc. and similar cards are likely not worth the card slots unless they're part of a bigger range of cards in your cube that work together - and you'll have to keep them all in mind when you work with the cube list to make sure it's what you want your cube to be doing.
Quote from Toadisbest »
The only thing I can add to this is is the flipside; if you are targeting a certain power level for your cube, don't include cards that are overpowered compared to the rest of your cube. I guess when you put it all together - keep your cube balanced.
Agreed. If you want to make an unpowered cube with a focus on limited-style play (rather than splashy plays or constructed-style decks), don't go including Sol Ring, Umezawa's Jitte (or even the Swords of X and Y), Recurring Nightmare, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, etc.
I think there are a lot of very good points being made in this thread. And many of them conflict.
The moral of that story is that a lot of this depends on your play group and what type of cube you are trying to make. Power is a perfect example to illustrate this. wtwlf123 and eidolon232 are probably two of the most knowledgeable guys here, and they disagree on whether power should be in cube or not. So which opinion is correct? They both are because this choice will play to a specific play group.
At the end of the day, you need to figure out what you want your cube to be, find the lists on this site that match that, and then focus on the feedback you get from those posters.
For me, I like a more nostalgic themed cube (I don't play walkers and use 6th edition rules). So for me, I get a lot of value out of ExpiredRascals cube list. But a powered list running titans and walkers is not going to want to run half of what's in that list. Wtwlf123 and eidolon232 both have super tights lists, but sometimes they undervalue or overvalue cards because they run walkers and titans. So including or excluding a card based on what they run is not always the right decision in my cube.
I find myself including a 5 drop or two in my aggro decks sometimes. Sometimes the plenty of aggro cards isnt enough and i need a midrange splash to my deck. Last night i ran baneslayer and thundermaw in my boros aggro/midrange deck. Its not that uncommon to splash a tiny bit of midrange into aggro or vice versa.
It really all comes down to what experiences you want to have in your cube. If you want people to be able to Channel a Turn 2 Emrakul, that's your prerogative. If that feels broken to you, then don't make that possible.
I think the only bad inclusions in a cube are cards that are awful in a powerful draft format (let's just say battle of wits, for example), cards that are vastly more powerful than any other card in the cube (sol ring in a peasant cube, for example), or cards that the majority of your individual play group does not enjoy playing with/against.
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EDH BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores WGB RUG Riku of Two Reflections GUR WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion BW
This is silly. Planeswalkers only create imbalance if you can't balance your cube otherwise. To say that Chandra Nalaar creates a level of imbalance that Armageddon doesn't is just absurd.
Agreed. I would bet more often than not, when people experience planeswalkers dominating a cube, that means the cube doesn't have enough support to consistently build aggressive decks which prey on otherwise dominant planeswalkers like Jace.
You can absolutely balance your cube so that walkers don't dominate. But they do have a warping effect on the meta game which requires you to make certain design choices.
Whether you see that as a good thing or not is the part open for debate.
The key is that cards like Smokestack and Braids are mostly good on their own in aggressive decks (i.e. support cards are fairly common), and the support cards for Wildfire-style cards are also fairly common (mana rocks).
Dream Halls is definitely narrower. You just need to be sure there are large enough plays that you'll want to pitch other cards to (Griselbrand definitely applies) that also work in other deck archetypes (Griselbrand fits into reanimator nicely). So your examples work.
But there are surely cards that I wouldn't put into the cube unless I dedicated a more broad support package for them. Mill cards, Stasis, Pickles lock (these two cards are "servicable" without each other, but not commonly powerful enough for most cubes as individual cards), Painter's Servant + Grindstone, etc. and similar cards are likely not worth the card slots unless they're part of a bigger range of cards in your cube that work together - and you'll have to keep them all in mind when you work with the cube list to make sure it's what you want your cube to be doing.
Agreed. If you want to make an unpowered cube with a focus on limited-style play (rather than splashy plays or constructed-style decks), don't go including Sol Ring, Umezawa's Jitte (or even the Swords of X and Y), Recurring Nightmare, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, etc.
My Cube Blog @theCubeMiser on Twitter
The moral of that story is that a lot of this depends on your play group and what type of cube you are trying to make. Power is a perfect example to illustrate this. wtwlf123 and eidolon232 are probably two of the most knowledgeable guys here, and they disagree on whether power should be in cube or not. So which opinion is correct? They both are because this choice will play to a specific play group.
At the end of the day, you need to figure out what you want your cube to be, find the lists on this site that match that, and then focus on the feedback you get from those posters.
For me, I like a more nostalgic themed cube (I don't play walkers and use 6th edition rules). So for me, I get a lot of value out of ExpiredRascals cube list. But a powered list running titans and walkers is not going to want to run half of what's in that list. Wtwlf123 and eidolon232 both have super tights lists, but sometimes they undervalue or overvalue cards because they run walkers and titans. So including or excluding a card based on what they run is not always the right decision in my cube.
Hope that helps.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
I think the only bad inclusions in a cube are cards that are awful in a powerful draft format (let's just say battle of wits, for example), cards that are vastly more powerful than any other card in the cube (sol ring in a peasant cube, for example), or cards that the majority of your individual play group does not enjoy playing with/against.
EDH
BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores WGB
RUG Riku of Two Reflections GUR
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion BW
Looking forward to Shu Yun and Alesha.
Agreed. I would bet more often than not, when people experience planeswalkers dominating a cube, that means the cube doesn't have enough support to consistently build aggressive decks which prey on otherwise dominant planeswalkers like Jace.
Whether you see that as a good thing or not is the part open for debate.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/