WARNING: This article is really, really long. But I hope it will be inspiring for those who read it, and that everyone who reads this changes at least one card in their Cube lists due to an idea they got from this article. Comments, criticism and corrections are of course very welcome.
One of the first things any new player learns (or needs to learn if he’s to find any success and enjoyment in the game), is that some Magic cards are more powerful than others. They have low mana costs for their effects, they do something few other cards in the game (or format) do, or they’re extremely versatile. So deckbuilding is just an exercise in determining which cards are the most powerful in any given format (a relatively easy exercise) and throw as many of them as our mana will allow into a deck, right? Luckily, this is not the case. Some relatively less powerful cards shine in combination with certain other cards, forming decks that are greater than the sum of their parts and that can go toe-to-toe with the decks playing the most powerful cards in the format. Such cards are said to have “synergy” with each other. The basic tension between power and synergy is at the heart of basically any Magic format.
Cube is no exception. While Cube originated from a desire to play Limited with the best (i.e. most powerful) cards in Magic’s history, when you combine cards from over 20 years’ worth of Magic sets, strange things happen and strong synergy-based decks come together. The next logical step, and one most Cube designers have taken a long time ago (although to different degrees), is to intentionally “seed” certain synergies into their lists. Whether it’s because a Cube designer wants to recreate and relive a beloved deck from some past or current format, or it’s with the aim of mimicking recent retail Limited formats, where some or all color combinations usually have fairly well-defined synergy-based strategies available to them, the end result is the same: drafters are incentivized to pay attention not just to the power levels of the cards in their packs, but also to any synergies those cards have with the cards already drafted (or even with cards they hope to open or get passed later in the draft!).
In this article I will use the term “archetype” to refer to a set of cards that share a certain synergy, or to a deck based around that particular synergy. I think this use is fairly commonplace in Cube discussions, but it’s important to note that it’s slightly different from the use of “archetype” in non-Cube Magic talk, where it has the meaning of “deck sharing similarities (and usually a number of cards) with other known decks, regardless of the deck in question being power-based or synergy-based”. In non-Cube Magic, one may refer to “the Blue-White Control archetype”, or the “Sligh/Red Aggro archetype”. For the purposes of this article, however, those are not descriptions of archetypes, but indicate that decks belong to a certain “theatre”. Decks in the same theatre can differ wildly from one another, but share a similar fundamental strategy, meaning they look to win the game in a similar way and in a similar amount of time (i.e. turns).
There are four theatres: aggro, control, midrange and combo.
An aggro deck uses creatures costing one to three mana backed up by some form of disruption and/or reach to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero in the early game (around turn five, ideally). A midrange deck relies mainly on creatures and planeswalkers costing from three to five mana, often played ahead of schedule due to mana acceleration and backed up by some card or board advantage engine to grind opponents out in the mid to late game. A control deck’s strengths are cheap interaction (blockers or spot removal spells), counterspells, mass removal and card drawing. It wants to win in the late game after answering all the opponent’s threats and dedicates only a few deck slots to actual victory conditions. A combo deck foregoes all or most interaction with the opponent in order to assemble a combination of cards that will win the game more or less on the spot, relatively early in the game.
Note that I consider combo to be a separate theatre, but an optional one. While decks using each of the three main strategies will come together almost automatically in each draft (although not necessarily an equal amount of each), the question of whether a combo deck is possible depends entirely on the particular Cube list in use and requires special attention of the Cube designer. It’s entirely possible to run a successful list without any combo support, but it’s also possible to support archetypes that play very similarly to combo decks in Constructed Magic and that cannot be usefully classified as aggro, control or midrange.
Archetypes and theatres exist side by side. Each deck belongs to a certain theatre (note that hybrids are possible) and may or may not belong to one or more archetypes. Some archetypes always play in the same theatre (Storm is always a combo deck), while others can be flexible (Tokens can be an aggro deck, a midrange deck, or even a combo deck in extreme circumstances).
Archetypes are also not to be confused with themes. A “theme” is a design choice with an overarching impact on the entire Cube, where many or even all of the individual cards are somehow related to the central theme. Themes can be gameplay-related (e.g. Tribal Cubes, Artifact Cubes, Multicolor Cubes, Creatureless Cubes (!)) or be based on flavor, storyline or even something like a particular artist. Archetypes differ from themes because they’re much narrower in scope: in a small (360-450) list, supporting an archetype can often be done by adding 5-10 archetype-specific cards, while introducing a particular theme will most likely entail a full Cube re-design.
The benefits of the archetype-based approach to Cube design are clear: the drafting process becomes more interesting, because it’s not just a matter of picking two (hopefully open) colors and then drafting the most powerful card in those colors that’s in each pack. Archetype-based decks are very satisfying to play (at least when they’re successful), as the drafter feels like he has created a small work of art (even though arguably the credit should go at least partly to the Cube designer). Archetypes also help to set one Cube apart from another, because whether a certain archetype is available depends on the subjective preferences of the Cube designer. Since finding the most powerful cards in each color is easy (relatively speaking), all Cubes would look alike if power level was the only criterion to decide on a card’s in- or exclusion.
However, archetype-based Cube design can be taken too far. Since cards that are included due to their synergies with other cards are by definition less powerful in a vacuum, drafters who are drafting a deck not based on that particular set of synergies will not be interested in those cards. Conversely, a player who is drafting a certain archetype will be less interested in any cards not working well in that archetype. In the extreme case, where a list has as many archetypes as there are drafters, and very few cards that are generally powerful, the decks will look the same draft after draft, and you might as well be playing Constructed at that point.
The solution to this issue is twofold: “anchor cards” and “cross-pollination”. “Anchor cards” are cards whose objective (i.e. archetype-independent) power level is high enough that their inclusion in the Cube can be justified based on that alone, but that get even better when played in a certain archetype. Restoration Angel is an anchor card for the Blink archetype, as is Tinker for the Artifacts archetype, and Siege-Gang Commander for the Tokens archetype. Using anchor cards, it’s possible to support archetypes without including too many cards that are useful only in that archetype.
“Cross-pollination” occurs when two different archetypes share certain similarities, or rely partly on the same set of cards, so that it’s possible to include elements of both in the same deck. Think of it as “synergy between synergies”. Examples are Tokens-Pox/Stax, and Storm-Spells Matter. A card that works well in multiple supported archetypes can earn its place in the Cube, even if its objective power level isn’t quite on par with that of other Cube cards.
Another pitfall to watch out for is scattering support cards for a single archetype over too many colors. You may have a couple of cards in all five colors that have awesome synergy, but if no deck can reliably cast all of those cards, the archetype will not be successful. It’s better to choose one or two colors for each archetype and only support the archetype within those colors. Note that some archetypes are deep enough that you can conceivably run cards for them in all five colors, for example Tokens and Blink.
In order to provide Cube managers with some ideas on which archetypes to support, I’ve compiled the following alphabetical list. It is meant to be comprehensive, meaning that some of the “archetypes” will be a bit “out there”, i.e. I don’t expect many Cube designers to include them. Of course, I’m bound to have missed some archetypes, so if you think of any others, please leave a comment to that effect and I will add them to the list.
For each archetype, I’ve listed the color(s) that are able to support it (main and secondary), its “anchor cards” (see above), some archetype-specific cards (i.e. cards you probably only want to include if you intend to support that archetype*), the “theatre(s)” the archetype can play in and any “cross-pollination” with other archetypes (see above). Note that this depends on Cube size. A card may well be a staple at 720 and “only” an archetype-support card at 360.
I’ve intentionally excluded from the list a number of powerful cards that nevertheless require a deck to be built around them in order to be effective. Examples are Moat, Upheaval, Doran, the Siege Tower and Isochron Scepter. These cards have very unique effects that are not available (at reasonable costs) on any other cards. At the same time it’s pretty obvious which cards work well together with them (you play Moat in a deck with fliers, Doran with creatures with higher toughness than power and Isochron Scepter with cheap instants - shocking, I know). I don’t think it’s very useful to consider these full-blown archetypes.
A final comment: while I hope any Cube designer can find some inspiration in this list, it’s mainly written for singleton, single-player, rares-allowed, unthemed (see above), Vintage-legal Cubes of any size. This is simply because I have little to no experience with other types of Cubes.
Description: This archetype makes use of cards that get better the more artifacts there are in your deck. It uses mana rocks to power out expensive artifacts ahead of schedule and creates card advantage through its artifact-based planeswalkers and recursion elements. This archetype can be especially powerful in Powered Cubes, due to the presence of “jewelry”, i.e. cheap (read: broken) artifact mana like the Moxen, Sol Ring and Mana Vault. Main Color(s): Blue Secondary Color(s): Black, Red Anchor Cards: Tinker, Sundering Titan, Myr Battlesphere Archetype-specific Cards: Tezzeret the Seeker, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Goblin Welder, Thirst for Knowledge, Metalworker, Lodestone Golem, Mindslaver, Tolarian Academy, Academy Ruins, Mishra’s Workshop, Karn, Silver Golem Theatre(s): Control, Combo Cross-pollination: Reanimator (both play big robots and ways to get them into play early, via the graveyard or otherwise), Wildfire (both like mana rocks), Time Vault Combo (which could be considered a sub-archetype of Artifacts, but gets it own entry because it’s both unique and somewhat controversial).
PS: I should note that many more cards exist that care about Artifacts, including but not limited to cards with the Affinity and Metalcraft keywords, Esperzoa and M15 role players Shrapnel Blast and Ensoul Artifact. While it is certainly possible to Cube with such cards, it will typically require a larger artifact section than Cubes would normally run and therefore turn the Cube into an Artifact-themed one.
Description: A very broad archetype that abuses the many powerful creatures with enters-the-battlefield (ETB) effects that have been printed over the years. Named for the card Momentary Blink, it aims to re-use those ETB effects by either temporarily exiling the creature in question or by bouncing and replaying it. Since almost all Cubes run creatures with ETB effects, often in all five colors, this is a commonly supported archetype. Main Color(s): White, Blue Secondary Color(s): All five Anchor Cards: Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp Archetype-specific Cards: Crystal Shard, Erratic Portal, Stonecloaker, Cloudshift, Parallax Wave, Waterfront Bouncer, Momentary Blink, Venser, the Sojourner, Kor Skyfisher, Galepowder Mage, Brago, King Eternal Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange, Control Cross-pollination: Rec/Sur/Pod (both like creatures with ETB effects), Tokens (several creatures create one or more tokens when entering the battlefield).
Description: If a deck reaches a critical mass of burn spells, it starts functioning more as a combo deck than as an aggro deck. The difference between a red aggro deck and a burn deck is that the former is creature-based and predominantly uses its burn spells to clear away blockers, and only aims them at the opponent’s head if that will immediately end the game. The latter plans on using one-shot effects (spells or creatures from the Ball Lightning-family) to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero as quickly as possible, while ignoring the board. The difference between the two decks is often one of degree, meaning that it’s debatable if Burn is to be considered a distinct archetype. I chose to include it here because there are quite a number of frequently-played Cube cards that only really make sense if the “Burn-style” is specifically supported. Main Color(s): Red Secondary Color(s): None Anchor Cards: Sulfuric Vortex, Hellspark Elemental Archetype-specific Cards: Lava Spike, Skullcrack, Smash to Smithereens, Flames of the Blood Hand, Pulse of the Forge, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Hell’s Thunder, Blistering Firecat, Ball Lightning, Chandra’s Phoenix, Chandra’s Spitfire, Fireblast, Shrine of Burning Rage, Vexing Devil Theatre(s): Aggro, Combo Cross-pollination: Spells Matter (making sure your burn spells do something apart from reducing your opponent’s life total helps quite a bit, and Blue card drawing or filtering lets you find more burn spells).
Description: Several sets throughout Magic’s history have included a “5-Color Matters” theme, either by including really powerful cards that cost one (or more!) of each color to cast, or by giving bonuses that increase with the number of basic land types you control (the latter is the Domain mechanic that was introduced in Invasion (Collective Restraint) and given an ability word in Time Spiral). While casting WUBRG-costed cards in a timely manner can be a difficult ordeal in Cube, this archetype plays naturally with the popular drafting strategy consisting of picking up the best cards in each pack regardless of color, and rounding out your deck with abundant mana-fixing. You may or may not want to promote this drafting style. Main Color(s): Green Secondary Color(s): All five Anchor Cards: Engineered Explosives, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Birds of Paradise, Kodama’s Reach, Cultivate Archetype-specific Cards: Allied Strategies, Collective Restraint, Tribal Flames, Gaea’s Might, Might of Alara, Tromp the Domains, Etched Oracle, Chromanticore, Coalition Victory, Progenitus, Legacy Weapon, Door to Nothingness, Quirion Dryad, All Suns’ Dawn Theatre(s): Midrange, Control Cross-pollination: Super Ramp (both aim to cast cards with outrageous mana costs and use the same type of manafixing and -ramping cards to do so), Fatty Cheat (cheating something into play is a good plan B for when you can’t quite pay retail).
Description: Black and Green have historically been the best colors at interacting with graveyards, most infamously through the original Ravnica mechanic Dredge, whose namesake deck still terrorizes Legacy and Vintage. Do not expect this archetype to play like that deck in Cube, though. The Cube version is not a combo deck, but a midrange one that seeks to fill its graveyard (with creatures in particular) and plays a bunch of cards that benefit from said full graveyard in some way. Useful keywords for this archetype include Flashback, Threshold, Delve, Scavenge and Retrace, while creatures with the Lhurgoyf-mechanic and those capable of returning themselves from the graveyard to the battlefield also shine in this deck. This is a pretty deep and open-ended archetype, so there’s definitely room for creative Cube designers to find a specific niche within it for their lists. Main Color(s): Black, Green Secondary Color(s): Blue, Red (mainly for their looting effects) Anchor Cards: Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, Tarmogoyf, Life from the Loam, Tombstalker, Living Death Archetype-specific Cards: Sewer Nemesis, Splinterfright, Bonehoard, Nighthowler, Varolz, the Scar-Striped, Jarad, Golgari Lich-Lord, Golgari Grave-Troll, Stinkweed Imp, Nether Traitor, Ichorid, Commune with the Gods, Satyr Wayfinder, Grisly Salvage, Grizzly Fate, Raven’s Crime, Worm Harvest, Nimble Mongoose, Werebear, Deadbridge Goliath, Hooting Mandrils, Sultai Scavenger, Murderous Cut, Ghastly Demise, Vengevine, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Hedron Crab, Nemesis of Mortals Theatre(s): Midrange Cross-pollination: Reanimator (both benefit from creatures in the graveyard), Rec/Sur/Pod (good at getting creatures into the graveyard) [in fact all three archetypes could reasonably be classified as sub-archetypes to a Black/Green Graveyard Matters super-archetype], Lands (via Life from the Loam and the Retrace mechanic), Zombies (many of the relevant cards are Zombies, most notably Gravecrawler), Pox/Stax (recursive creatures make that archetype’s sacrifice effects asymmetrical).
Description: Less a true archetype and more a set of loosely connected cards, each of which can be used to put some large monster onto the table (permanently or temporarily) without paying its mana cost (hence the name). Some cheating methods will even allow you to get a noncreature permanent onto the battlefield. Maybe more than any other, this archetype is capable of spectacular plays that are remembered for a long time. The price you pay for such stories-for-the-ages is wild inconsistency. Cheating methods are relatively few in number, spread out over several colors, and not all of them work equally well with the same fatties. For that reason, this archetype often works best as a secondary plan in a normal midrange (ramp) or control deck. Main Color(s): Blue, Green Secondary Color(s): Black, Red Anchor Cards: Tinker, Sneak Attack, Natural Order, Woodfall Primus Archetype-specific Cards: Shelldock Isle, Flash, Show and Tell, Dream Halls, Through the Breach, Corpse Dance, Channel, Eureka, Oath of Druids, Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Tooth and Nail, Defense of the Heart, Pattern of Rebirth, Elvish Piper, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Blightsteel Colossus, Progenitus, Worldspine Wurm, Griselbrand, Quicksilver Amulet, Polymorph, Riptide Shapeshifter Theatre(s): Midrange, Control, Combo Cross-pollination: Super Ramp (because hardcasting the fatty in question can be a good plan B), Reanimator (even though several of the fatties this archetype tries to abuse have anti-reanimation clauses, most cheating methods also work acceptably well with regular reanimation targets).
Description: Without looking at your list, I can state with a pretty high degree of confidence that Human is the most numerous creature type in your Cube. They’re available across all colors, among a variety of mana costs, and they include some of the best creatures in the game. Interestingly enough, not all that many Human Tribal effects have been printed. They were unofficially banned by WOTC for a time for flavor reasons, and since they’ve been considered fair game, only a few such cards have seen the light of day. Therefore, Humans is not really an archetype, but just a few notable cards that you can include at a pretty low cost (depending on your list). Note that a reason not to do so could be that quite some older creatures have been errata’d to be Humans, and depending on which version you have in the Cube, it can be a PITA to remember if a certain card interacts with a Human Tribal effect or not. Main Color(s): None Secondary Color(s): White, Black, Green Anchor Cards: None (or too many to list, depending on how you look at it) Archetype-specific Cards: Champion of the Parish, Xathrid Necromancer, Mayor of Avabruck, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Silver-Inlaid Dagger Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange Cross-pollination: None
Description: Whatever the format is, a subset of Magic players will inevitably try to win by decking. WOTC has been happy to oblige these players by printing a steady stream of milling cards (after Millstone from Alpha). This strategy is - in theory - even more attractive in Limited formats, including Cube, due to the 40-card decks. The archetype’s main problem is its very insular nature: few milling cards are reasonable inclusions on their own (with the exception of some that can be decent finishers in control decks), a milling strategy needs critical mass to work, and it is very hard to interact with in-game. There is also a substantial subset of players that hate losing to Milling strategies. Cube designers wanting to explore this archetype will have to pay careful attention to these issues. Main Color(s): Blue, Black Secondary Color(s): None Anchor Cards: Jace Beleren Archetype-specific Cards: Jace, Memory Adept, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, Phenax, God of Deception, Hedron Crab, Glimpse the Unthinkable, Traumatize, Nephalia Drownyard, Nemesis of Reason, Consuming Aberration, Sewer Nemesis, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Millstone, Sands of Delirium, Mesmeric Orb, Breaking // Entering, Thought Scour Theatre(s): Control, Combo Cross-pollination: Dredge and Reanimator (a number of milling cards allow self-targeting, which may be useful as an alternate method of filling the graveyard).
Description: This is another entry where “archetype” is used in a fairly loose manner, but pinpoint land destruction spells can be said to have synergy with each other, and there have been “Land Destruction decks” throughout Magic’s history (even though it’s been many years since a playable Stone Rain-variant was printed). Land destruction can be used by aggro decks to extend the early game where they’re at their best, or by midrange (ramp) decks to “bridge the gap” to their powerful four- and five-mana plays. Main Color(s): Red Secondary Color(s): Black, Green Anchor Cards: Avalanche Riders, Plow Under, Strip Mine, Wasteland Archetype-specific Cards: Pillage, Molten Rain, Stone Rain, Goblin Ruinblaster, Ravenous Baboons, Goblin Settler, Ogre Arsonist, Sinkhole, Ice Storm, Argothian Wurm, Shivan Wumpus, Deathrite Shaman Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange Cross-pollination: Blink (for the creatures with ETB land destruction effects), Lands (Strip Mine is a key card in both archetypes), Wildfire (pinpoint LD helps ensure the opponent is crippled by the namesake spell).
Description: The admittedly uninspiring archetype name derives from the Rec(urring Nightmare)/Sur(vival of the Fittest)-fueled deck of Tempest-era Standard (yes, those two cards were Standard-legal at the same time, go figure), as well as from relatively recent addition Birthing Pod, that works as a hybrid between the two aforementioned cards. The only true toolbox deck in the format, Rec/Sur/Pod aims to find, use and re-use creatures with ETB abilities, death triggers or recursion, of which Black and Green have no shortage in most lists. Other colors can contribute to the value chain as well, with cards like Restoration Angel, Reveillark, Glen Elendra Archmage, Flametongue Kavu and Sneak Attack. Listing archetype-specific cards for this deck seems futile, since there’s so much synergy with tons of Cube staples already that it seems unnecessary to include too many specialized support cards. Main Color(s): Black, Green Secondary Color(s): All five Anchor Cards: Recurring Nightmare, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Birthing Pod, Volrath’s Stronghold Archetype-specific Cards: Living Death, Diabolic Servitude, Genesis, Vengevine, Masked Admirers, Victimize, Attrition, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Whip of Erebos, Squee, Goblin Nabob Theatre(s): Midrange Cross-pollination: Reanimator (the Combo version of this archetype, sharing many key cards), Madness and Dredge (discard outlets and binned creatures, respectively), Pox/Stax (both like to sacrifice their own guys), Blink (share a love for ETB creatures)
Description: The Blue-Red Spells Matter archetype makes use of a small, but steadily growing subset of cards that care about instants and sorceries being cast. The cards are pretty unassuming on their own, but they work so well with what the color pair wants to be doing anyway (countering and burning stuff while looting and/or drawing extra cards) that the resulting decks can be quite fearsome. The archetype is also open-ended enough to receive useful input from the other colors. Interestingly, this deck is hard to put into a specific theatre, since the deck can play wildly differing amounts of small creatures, reach, countering and card draw, and can even display traits of a Combo deck in some cases. Main Color(s): Blue, Red Secondary Color(s): All five Anchor Cards: Young Pyromancer, Forbid, Deep Analysis, Faithless Looting Archetype-specific Cards: Talrand, Sky Summoner, Guttersnipe, Augur of Bolas, Delver of Secrets, Kiln Fiend, Staggershock, Isochron Scepter, Runechanter’s Pike, Wee Dragonauts, Spellheart Chimera, Monastery Swiftspear, Jeskai Elder, Capsize Theatre(s): Any Cross-pollination: Tokens (especially Opposition), Burn (this deck can bring a lot of direct damage to the table), Storm (of which it is the less broken, but easier to support and more flexible step-brother).
Description: Probably the worst mistake Wizards R&D has ever repeated, the Storm mechanic is responsible for more broken decks and banned cards than any other. It’s no wonder that many have tried to introduce the archetype to Cube. This is, however, more difficult than it looks. Storm decks are delicately balanced machines, with specific amounts of mana acceleration (often Ritual effects), cantrips, tutoring, and business spells (often draw-7’s) They often play cards that would be almost useless in any other deck. These factors make it a challenge to support the archetype in a Singleton Limited format without running a bunch of cards that are automatic 15th picks if no one is drafting Storm. Also, the non-interactive nature of the games involving the archetype may not be to everyone’s tastes. Storm generally works best in smaller, Powered Cubes, where the density of broken mana acceleration, tutors and draw-7’s is at its highest. Main Color(s): Blue, Black Secondary Color(s): Red, Green Anchor Cards: Timetwister, Time Spiral, Dark Ritual, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Yawgmoth’s Will, Wheel of Fortune Archetype-specific Cards: Brain Freeze, Mind’s Desire, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Cabal Ritual, Lion’s Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Seething Song, Dream Halls, Palinchron, Frantic Search, Turnabout, Ancestral Vision, Mana Flare, Heartbeat of Spring, Dictate of Karametra, Rude Awakening, Memory Jar, Nightscape Familiar, Necropotence, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Past in Flames, Manamorphose, Snap, Cloud of Faeries Theatre(s): Combo Cross-pollination: Spells Matter (both like casting multiple spells in the same turn), Super Ramp (the deck needs a lot of mana and can incorporate a plan B of playing one big spell if the Storm count isn’t quite there)
Description: Taking infinite turns by repeatedly untapping a Time Vault with Voltaic Key is the most popular win condition in Vintage, because it takes up very few deck slots and involves cheap colorless cards that are easy to tutor for by Tinker and Tezzeret the Seeker (the latter also functions as an alternate combo piece). Cube designers looking for more Combo support may be interested in a Time Vault archetype, but some caution is advised: Time Vault, more than any other card mentioned in this article, is an almost completely dead card outside of the combo, and Voltaic Key is not much better in that regards. Moreover, the combo can be pretty brutal to play against, because it can be assembled very early in the game (theoretically on turn one, even in Cube), but takes a long time to actually win with. For these reasons, it’s probably best to reserve this archetype for the smallest, highest Powered Cubes, where broken plays are the norm rather than the exception. Main Color(s): Blue Secondary Color(s): Red, Green Anchor Cards: Ral Zarek Archetype-specific Cards: Time Vault, Voltaic Key, Tezzeret the Seeker, Kiora’s Follower, Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient, Rings of Brighthearth Theatre(s): Control, Combo Cross-pollination: Artifacts (where Tezzeret is a key card and the Key can be used to untap Mana Vault, Grim Monolith and similar cards), Twin Combo (where Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite can be used as one shot extra turns with Time Vault in play), Pox/Stax (where Time Vault can at least theoretically be used to cripple an opponent via Smokestack and Braids, Cabal Minion).
Description: The TurboLand archetype can be considered the Combo version of Lands Matter and makes use of cards that allow multiple land drops a turn, most notably Fastbond and Exploration. These can be combined with the original Ravnica cycle of bounce lands (Azorius Chancery) and cards that return lands to the hand from the battlefield, in order to generate large amounts of mana and card advantage. Any mass card draw spells are useful as well, since they will presumably provide you with more lands. Since the archetype requires a considerable number of narrow combo pieces, it's probably best suited for smaller, combo-oriented lists. Main Color(s): Green Secondary color(s): Blue Anchor Cards: Courser of Kruphix, Crucible of Worlds, Life from the Loam Archetype-specific Cards: Fastbond, Exploration, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya, Horn of Greed, Burgeoning, Trade Routes, Gush, Future Sight, Explore, Amulet of Vigor Theatre(s): Combo Cross-pollination: Lands Matter (they share several cards, and the combo version of the deck is even better at racking up Landfall triggers), Super Ramp (makes good use of large amounts of mana), Storm (also likes a ton of mana and mass card draw), Top-of-deck Matters (via Courser of Kruphix, Oracle of Mul Daya and Future Sight).
Description: One of the format-defining decks in Modern, the Twin Combo deck uses Splinter Twin or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker together with Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch, Zealous Conscripts or Restoration Angel (the latter only works with Kiki) to create an infinite number of hasty tokens. Even though in a Singleton Limited format the deck can never approach the consistency it has in Modern, the archetype has been a favorite of Cube designers looking to add some Combo elements to their lists. The reasons are that the cards in question are respectable inclusions on their own merits, and that the combo doesn’t require a deck built around it. If a deck has access to the correct mana and some means of card selection, it can probably benefit from Kiki and friends as either as either its main win condition or an alternate route to victory. Main Color(s): Blue, Red Secondary Color(s): White Anchor Cards: Restoration Angel, Zealous Conscripts Archetype-specific Cards: Deceiver Exarch, Pestermite, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Village Bell-Ringer, Sky Hussar, Imperial Recruiter Theatre(s): Control, Combo Cross-pollination: Time Vault Combo (Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch can untap Time Vault), Blink (Kiki and Twin are solid as a way to copy an ETB-trigger every turn, and the other archetype-specific cards have ETB-effects themselves).
Description: Named for the Urza’s Saga card that was (for all intents and purposes) functionally reprinted in a Portal set (Burning of Xinye), this archetype aims to build a board position where it can cast its namesake card and leave the opponent with (ideally) zero permanents while keeping a big threat and a few mana sources itself. This is achieved by playing mana acceleration, preferably via Rampant Growth-effects or Artifact mana, creatures with a toughness of at least five, and/or Planeswalkers. The archetype is a favorite among Cube designers looking to make a strategy available to Red that’s completely different from the cheap-creatures-and-burn plan the color tends to employ. Main Color(s): Red Secondary Color(s): All five (but mainly Green) Anchor Cards: Thundermaw Hellkite, Inferno Titan, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Kalonian Hydra, Primeval Titan, Coalition Relic, Solemn Simulacrum Archetype-specific Cards: Wildfire, Burning of Xinye, Destructive Force, Ember Swallower, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Everflowing Chalice, Chandra Nalaar, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Vorapede, Greater Gargadon Theatre(s): Midrange, Control Cross-pollination: Artifacts (both value mana rocks more than most decks), Ponza (pinpoint Land Destruction synergizes decently with Wildfire), Lands Matter (which is very good at re-using the sacrificed lands plus Knight of the Reliquary survives even a “naked” Wildfire).
As noted throughout this article, some cards with slightly lower power levels (for Cube standards, of course) may nevertheless be worth including because they contribute to several specific archetypes (preferably while being respectable cards in their own right).Here are ten cards you may not have considered before, but which may have an interesting role to play in your list.
Should you choose to support the Lifegain or the +1/+1 Counters archetype (or both!) this card is the first one to add to your list. It is also a strong roleplayer in the Tokens deck and a solid addition to any generic White midrange or control deck. There are several infinite combo’s with this card as well:
•Archangel + Spike Feeder (a card versatile enough that it almost made this top-10 in its own right) gives you infinite life and an enormous flier
•Archangel + Kitchen Finks + a sacrifice outlet is the same (plus you get infinite of whatever the sac outlet is doing)
•Archangel + Triskelion + Nearheath Pilgrim or any other way to give the Trike lifelink is infinite damage
•Archangel + a Soul Warden effect + any mass token generator doesn’t go infinite but leads to ridiculous board states
Let’s just list the archetypes this card is relevant for: Artifacts, Blink, +1/+1 Counters, Pox/Stax, Rec/Sur/Pod, Storm and Wildfire. And that’s in addition to its baseline utility as a cheap and easy to cast value engine for any matchup where you’re more interested in blocking than attacking in the early game.
Putting cards in the graveyard is useful for Reanimator, Dredge and sometimes Artifacts, costing no mana helps with casting multiple spells in the same turn, which is good for Storm and Spells Matter, generating mana with any land producing more than one is good for Super Ramp and again Storm, and it’s a great Madness enabler as well (you can pay for a madness spell you discard with the lands you untap). If your Cube is Combo- and/or Graveyard-oriented, this card should be in it.
Similar to Frantic Search in that it provides a spell without costing mana (or even a card, in this case) for Storm and Spells Matter (if you want more of that effect, Gitaxian Probe is another good option), it doubles as a low-opportunity cost fixer for multicolor aggro decks that can’t afford to play nonland fixing otherwise and absolutely need to play their bombs (for example, the Khans of Tharkir wedge cards) on curve. As a bonus, it’s a pretty neat card to stick under an Isochron Scepter.
A green card advantage engine, which is a pretty rare sight. It can be Blinked, milled and re-used (Dredge), discarded and re-used (Madness and Rec/Sur/Pod), sacrificed and re-used (Rec/Sur/Pod and Pox/Stax), and it’s an Elf! There aren’t that many situations where a 3/2 for 4 that draws you a card is actively bad by itself, either.
This little guy is so unassuming, yet does so much. Artifacts, Pox/Stax, Rec/Sur/Pod and Wildfire all love to add him to their rosters, and he’s a valuable early drop for control decks of any color as well, stopping many an aggro deck’s best starts right in their tracks.
This card is like a charm, but with ten different modes (albeit more situational ones) instead of a mere three. It’s a combat trick that lets an aggro deck efficiently remove a midrange or control deck’s speedbump (like a Wall or Courser of Kruphix). It can be discarded for value in a Madness deck and brought back via one of that deck’s tramplers. It’s a late-game mana sink and repeatable damage source for aggro decks. It can pump one of Voltron’s Hexproof or Double Strike attackers at instant speed. It can come down as a creature and pick up a Rancor or a piece of Equipment. It can take advantage of a Goblin Tribal effect. It’s repeatable fodder for cards like Butcher of the Horde, Lotleth Troll and the Masticores. It’s a one-toughness creature for Skullclamp, it’s a situational Lava Spike and if worst comes to worst it can even block!
The third of the durdly recursive engine cards with a relevant creature type. He provides a discard outlet for Madness and Reanimator, a repeatable cycler for Astral Slide and Lightning Rift, a convenient way for Dredge to put a creature into the graveyard to kickstart Splinterfright or Sewer Nemesis, and a Zombie for Gravecrawler and Graveborn Muse. That’s in addition to his functionality as a warm body and as a late-game card quality engine.
At face value, Waterfront Bouncer is a terrible Magic card. Unsummon is a situational effect, in essence because it trades card advantage for tempo, which may not be what you need. Waterfront Bouncer requires you to pay three times as much mana, wait a turn, and discard another card (!) to get the same effect. And yet, the Bouncer does a lot of work in the right Cube list. It’s a discard outlet for Reanimator and Madness (fitting particularly well into the latter’s tempo game) and it’s an engine card in Blink decks. It also works well with some other individual cards like Sneak Attack, and provides a means to interact with opposing Reanimator of Fatty Cheat strategies and Control Magic effects.
The Whip is an Artifact for the Artifacts deck (useful for returning Myr Battlesphere and Sundering Titan, or becoming a 5/5 Lifelink with Tezzeret 2.0 or Karn) and an Enchantment for, well, the Enchantment Matters deck. It is insane in the Blink deck, since its various anti-abuse clauses still allow shenanigans with temporary Exile effects. It’s a decent support card in the various graveyard-related strategies, mainly Rec/Sur/Pod and Dredge, and it provides some very welcome lifegain for the heavy Black strategies that often run a lot of self-damaging effects, as well as for the Lifegain deck.
I have no clear answer, because I haven't tried most of these ideas myself (obviously). However, taking a quick look at your list, there are a number of "almost free" changes you could make in order to get more Elves in the list: Civic Wayfinder for Borderland Ranger, Boreal Druid for Wild Growth, any of the Green 5-drops for Deranged Hermit, Masked Admirers for Vengevine, Twinblade Slasher for Wolfbitten Captive or Jungle Lion, and then probably cut Werebear and Wolfir Avenger for Priest and Archdruid. Your card quality wouldn't suffer much at all, IMO.
Can't seem to find the two most powerful and versatile, archetypedefining green cards: fastbond and exploration. Where's the turboland archetype? It crossovers with storm, superramp, lands matter and top-of-deck matters.
You're right, it's not listed. I guess it just never occurred to me that Turboland was a supportable Cube archetype. Fastbond and Exploration seem pretty bad in a vacuum; what sort of cards would you run to support them? Gush is pretty spicy in Vintage, but that's just one card. If you could explain a bit more, it could be a good addition to the list. Maybe it's better to just lump it in under the Lands Matter archetype.
I just wanted to thank you for putting this together, it must have taken you a long time to do. I learned a lot from this, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many new archetypes I could support just by adding a few cards to what's already in my cube.
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Awesome article! I'm sure this took a lot of hard-work and it definitely shows. I just wanted to point out a few things just to be nit-picky.
I don't know if Upheaval is a strict build-around card. You can put it in a Wildfire deck that utilizes mana rocks, or Super-ramp or Artifacts for the same reasons. It's basically useful in any deck that can get a lot of mana out quickly.
I don't really think it's possible to make an aggro Blink deck, the archetype feels too durdly to end games quickly. Also, I think Kor Skyfisher and maybe Galepowder Mage deserve mention.
A control Token deck doesn't seem plausible either. Control spends the game answering threats until a win-condition, not fielding a bunch of creatures.
Sylvan Tutor maybe deserves a mention for Top-of-Deck Matters. I've found it to be not that different from Worldly Tutor when it's used.
I think Voltron is very much a midrange archetype as well, depending on the build.
Otherwise, FANTASTIC analysis! This should be stickied
A control Token deck doesn't seem plausible either. Control spends the game answering threats until a win-condition, not fielding a bunch of creatures.
Token generators make great wincons for control decks because they're hard to interact with, stabilize the board, and often can win the game quickly on their own. Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion and Kjeldoran Outpost in particular come to mind. A control deck running multiple token generators doesn't seem all that out there, IMHO.
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I think you underrate Time Vault's utility in a control deck.
Speaking as a Vintage player, I have certainly fed a decent number of turns to Time Vault in competitive games - basically, if I have nothing to untap, I'll usually skip my turn. Then, when I want to fight over a play, I'll do so on the first of two consecutive turns.
If you support anything like the Draw-Go decks of old, Time Vault is a strong card both in and against them.
It also cross-pollenates well with Twin as you say, and is interesting if Ral Zarek is in your cube (as he is a Voltaic Key replacement that is desired by some other decks too).
You're right, it's not listed. I guess it just never occurred to me that Turboland was a supportable Cube archetype. Fastbond and Exploration seem pretty bad in a vacuum; what sort of cards would you run to support them? Gush is pretty spicy in Vintage, but that's just one card. If you could explain a bit more, it could be a good addition to the list. Maybe it's better to just lump it in under the Lands Matter archetype.
I run all 10 karoo's for starters, they are quite important. I also run burgeoning. Then there's, you've already named (most of) them, gush, future sight, courser of kruphix, oracle of mul daya, any draw 7, any big carddraw, upheaval, life from the loam, crucible of worlds, hermit druid, etc. I don't consider the top-of-deck matters, superramp and lands matters archetypes powerful enough (unless they're splashed as 'tech') in a powered environment without fastbond or exploration. They also make storm less of a niche. They are first pick worthy in my experience. You'd have to start running karoo's though. But together they can battle the speed of the moxes/sol ring/black lotus/mana crypt.
I just wanted to thank you for putting this together, it must have taken you a long time to do. I learned a lot from this, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many new archetypes I could support just by adding a few cards to what's already in my cube.
You're welcome. That's what the intention of the article is: to provide ideas and challenge people's preconceptions, while trying hard not to be prescriptive.
Awesome article! I'm sure this took a lot of hard-work and it definitely shows. I just wanted to point out a few things just to be nit-picky.
I don't know if Upheaval is a strict build-around card. You can put it in a Wildfire deck that utilizes mana rocks, or Super-ramp or Artifacts for the same reasons. It's basically useful in any deck that can get a lot of mana out quickly.
Exactly, and it's pretty useless in any deck that *isn't* able to get a lot of mana out quickly. That makes Upheaval an ideal example of a build-around card to me. But generally, I just wanted to point out that one card doesn't make an archetype by itself.
I don't really think it's possible to make an aggro Blink deck, the archetype feels too durdly to end games quickly. Also, I think Kor Skyfisher and maybe Galepowder Mage deserve mention.
Possibly, but I could imagine an U/W Tempo deck with White 1- and 2-drops that uses cards like Flickerwisp and Man-o'-War to remove blockers and has Venser the Sojourner's minus ability as a finisher. I'd classify that deck as an aggro deck, but it's obviously somewhat arbitrary. The cards you mention have been added.
A control Token deck doesn't seem plausible either. Control spends the game answering threats until a win-condition, not fielding a bunch of creatures.
Apart from what Spike Rogue mentioned, I could also see a Control/Ramp crossover deck that runs Mirari's Wake, Decree of Justice, Entreat the Angels, Martial Coup and/or Rude Awakening as finishers. Is that still a Tokens deck? Debatable, but I tried to err on the side of giving more possibilities instead of less.
Sylvan Tutor maybe deserves a mention for Top-of-Deck Matters. I've found it to be not that different from Worldly Tutor when it's used.
Sure.
I think Voltron is very much a midrange archetype as well, depending on the build.
It's a deck that tries to win relatively fast, using mostly cheap creatures and a form of reach and/or increased damage output, doesn't have any real card advantage engine (on the contrary, it opens itself up to card disadvantage with Auras and pump spells), and actually wants to interact with the opponent as little as possible. Sounds like Aggro or Aggro/Combo to me.
I think you underrate Time Vault's utility in a control deck.
Speaking as a Vintage player, I have certainly fed a decent number of turns to Time Vault in competitive games - basically, if I have nothing to untap, I'll usually skip my turn. Then, when I want to fight over a play, I'll do so on the first of two consecutive turns.
If you support anything like the Draw-Go decks of old, Time Vault is a strong card both in and against them.
It also cross-pollenates well with Twin as you say, and is interesting if Ral Zarek is in your cube (as he is a Voltaic Key replacement that is desired by some other decks too).
While that may be true for Vintage, in Cube there is such a thing as the combat phase, and giving your opponent extras of those is usually not going to end well. I can understand that Time Vault is going to be good in a mirror match between two counter-heavy, creature-light decks, but since there's actually not that many counters in most Cubes (and tons of creatures), that seems like a niche application all the same. Bottom line is that Time Vault is very unlikely to make it into any list where the combo is not both a desirable possibility and actively supported.
That is a very big article! I haven't read all of it yet, but from what I read so far, I can say: Great work!
And thank you for mentioning Epochrasite as a Multi-Archetype All-Star! I brought it back when I started supporting more archetypes in my cube a few years ago (after a period of rigorous streamlining for power level alone) and I am a huge fan of it ever since. There are so many neat interactions with this card in a bunch of very different decks. Sure, it is not one of the most powerful cards, but certainly one of the most interesting 2-drops around.
Minor nit-pick: In the cross-pollination section of the Time Vault Combo, you mention some cards from the Twin Combo that untap Vault once. You don't mention Zealous Conscripts though, who also does that and who is one of the most commonly run cards from the Twin Combo.
A control Token deck doesn't seem plausible either. Control spends the game answering threats until a win-condition, not fielding a bunch of creatures.
Token generators make great wincons for control decks because they're hard to interact with, stabilize the board, and often can win the game quickly on their own. Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion and Kjeldoran Outpost in particular come to mind. A control deck running multiple token generators doesn't seem all that out there, IMHO.
I suppose when I think of a Tokens deck I think of a deck that synergizes tokens with anthems, Purphoros, and the like. Some token cards are certainly a win-con, but if you throw in a couple token win cons in your control deck, is that necessarily a Token deck?
I suppose a Pox/Stax or Opposition deck can be controlling, so that could be a controlling Token deck.
Awesome article! I'm sure this took a lot of hard-work and it definitely shows. I just wanted to point out a few things just to be nit-picky.
I don't know if Upheaval is a strict build-around card. You can put it in a Wildfire deck that utilizes mana rocks, or Super-ramp or Artifacts for the same reasons. It's basically useful in any deck that can get a lot of mana out quickly.
Exactly, and it's pretty useless in any deck that *isn't* able to get a lot of mana out quickly. That makes Upheaval an ideal example of a build-around card to me. But generally, I just wanted to point out that one card doesn't make an archetype by itself.
Hmm, a fair point. But what about Time Vault? Couldn't we make the same argument for that card? In its archetype section you basically list a bunch of cards that can untap it - the same could be done for Upheaval, where you list a bunch of mana rocks and other mana accelerators to flood your mana pool.
I think Voltron is very much a midrange archetype as well, depending on the build.
It's a deck that tries to win relatively fast, using mostly cheap creatures and a form of reach and/or increased damage output, doesn't have any real card advantage engine (on the contrary, it opens itself up to card disadvantage with Auras and pump spells), and actually wants to interact with the opponent as little as possible. Sounds like Aggro or Aggro/Combo to me.
I think your basic midrange deck that puts out a bigger resilient threat kind of falls in line with this strategy. Instead of spending your early game mana ramping into a bomb, you're making your little hexproof guy into the bomb.
Falcone...this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much for putting this together. A great guide and has proven very useful in allowing me to build in archetypes into my cube, which is something it was seriously lacking.
This was an excellent thread, thank you very much for it!
Somehow, rather than satisfying me, it has made me thirstier for more Multi-archetype All-stars! Do you have more than 10, or do they start dropping off really quickly after that?
Thanks for writing this. I was looking for a list of Cube archetypes because I couldn't think of something BW that hasn't been done many times before already for my own cube.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
I'm planning my first cube and trying to make it a ground-up affair. I took a 14-year hiatus from the game in 2004, so my internal encyclopedia is... incomplete to say the least. This guide is exactly what I was looking for: a comprehensive but concise resource that avoids just providing a simple pre-made cube list. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthanky...
Are there any plans to an update to the thread?
It's such a great thread, but is coming up on 2 years old, couple new sets,
any new archetypes people are trying out?
So, think some of the new stuff is worth mentioning?
Like UG Clue seems an OK archetype for a low powered cube. You get slowly growing creatures, incidental bonuses like mill, life gain, creatures. The option to bog the board down with your stuff and then drop a huge beasty in with Tracker etc.
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WARNING: This article is really, really long. But I hope it will be inspiring for those who read it, and that everyone who reads this changes at least one card in their Cube lists due to an idea they got from this article. Comments, criticism and corrections are of course very welcome.
Cube is no exception. While Cube originated from a desire to play Limited with the best (i.e. most powerful) cards in Magic’s history, when you combine cards from over 20 years’ worth of Magic sets, strange things happen and strong synergy-based decks come together. The next logical step, and one most Cube designers have taken a long time ago (although to different degrees), is to intentionally “seed” certain synergies into their lists. Whether it’s because a Cube designer wants to recreate and relive a beloved deck from some past or current format, or it’s with the aim of mimicking recent retail Limited formats, where some or all color combinations usually have fairly well-defined synergy-based strategies available to them, the end result is the same: drafters are incentivized to pay attention not just to the power levels of the cards in their packs, but also to any synergies those cards have with the cards already drafted (or even with cards they hope to open or get passed later in the draft!).
There are four theatres: aggro, control, midrange and combo.
An aggro deck uses creatures costing one to three mana backed up by some form of disruption and/or reach to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero in the early game (around turn five, ideally). A midrange deck relies mainly on creatures and planeswalkers costing from three to five mana, often played ahead of schedule due to mana acceleration and backed up by some card or board advantage engine to grind opponents out in the mid to late game. A control deck’s strengths are cheap interaction (blockers or spot removal spells), counterspells, mass removal and card drawing. It wants to win in the late game after answering all the opponent’s threats and dedicates only a few deck slots to actual victory conditions. A combo deck foregoes all or most interaction with the opponent in order to assemble a combination of cards that will win the game more or less on the spot, relatively early in the game.
Note that I consider combo to be a separate theatre, but an optional one. While decks using each of the three main strategies will come together almost automatically in each draft (although not necessarily an equal amount of each), the question of whether a combo deck is possible depends entirely on the particular Cube list in use and requires special attention of the Cube designer. It’s entirely possible to run a successful list without any combo support, but it’s also possible to support archetypes that play very similarly to combo decks in Constructed Magic and that cannot be usefully classified as aggro, control or midrange.
Archetypes and theatres exist side by side. Each deck belongs to a certain theatre (note that hybrids are possible) and may or may not belong to one or more archetypes. Some archetypes always play in the same theatre (Storm is always a combo deck), while others can be flexible (Tokens can be an aggro deck, a midrange deck, or even a combo deck in extreme circumstances).
Archetypes are also not to be confused with themes. A “theme” is a design choice with an overarching impact on the entire Cube, where many or even all of the individual cards are somehow related to the central theme. Themes can be gameplay-related (e.g. Tribal Cubes, Artifact Cubes, Multicolor Cubes, Creatureless Cubes (!)) or be based on flavor, storyline or even something like a particular artist. Archetypes differ from themes because they’re much narrower in scope: in a small (360-450) list, supporting an archetype can often be done by adding 5-10 archetype-specific cards, while introducing a particular theme will most likely entail a full Cube re-design.
However, archetype-based Cube design can be taken too far. Since cards that are included due to their synergies with other cards are by definition less powerful in a vacuum, drafters who are drafting a deck not based on that particular set of synergies will not be interested in those cards. Conversely, a player who is drafting a certain archetype will be less interested in any cards not working well in that archetype. In the extreme case, where a list has as many archetypes as there are drafters, and very few cards that are generally powerful, the decks will look the same draft after draft, and you might as well be playing Constructed at that point.
The solution to this issue is twofold: “anchor cards” and “cross-pollination”. “Anchor cards” are cards whose objective (i.e. archetype-independent) power level is high enough that their inclusion in the Cube can be justified based on that alone, but that get even better when played in a certain archetype. Restoration Angel is an anchor card for the Blink archetype, as is Tinker for the Artifacts archetype, and Siege-Gang Commander for the Tokens archetype. Using anchor cards, it’s possible to support archetypes without including too many cards that are useful only in that archetype.
“Cross-pollination” occurs when two different archetypes share certain similarities, or rely partly on the same set of cards, so that it’s possible to include elements of both in the same deck. Think of it as “synergy between synergies”. Examples are Tokens-Pox/Stax, and Storm-Spells Matter. A card that works well in multiple supported archetypes can earn its place in the Cube, even if its objective power level isn’t quite on par with that of other Cube cards.
Another pitfall to watch out for is scattering support cards for a single archetype over too many colors. You may have a couple of cards in all five colors that have awesome synergy, but if no deck can reliably cast all of those cards, the archetype will not be successful. It’s better to choose one or two colors for each archetype and only support the archetype within those colors. Note that some archetypes are deep enough that you can conceivably run cards for them in all five colors, for example Tokens and Blink.
For each archetype, I’ve listed the color(s) that are able to support it (main and secondary), its “anchor cards” (see above), some archetype-specific cards (i.e. cards you probably only want to include if you intend to support that archetype*), the “theatre(s)” the archetype can play in and any “cross-pollination” with other archetypes (see above). Note that this depends on Cube size. A card may well be a staple at 720 and “only” an archetype-support card at 360.
I’ve intentionally excluded from the list a number of powerful cards that nevertheless require a deck to be built around them in order to be effective. Examples are Moat, Upheaval, Doran, the Siege Tower and Isochron Scepter. These cards have very unique effects that are not available (at reasonable costs) on any other cards. At the same time it’s pretty obvious which cards work well together with them (you play Moat in a deck with fliers, Doran with creatures with higher toughness than power and Isochron Scepter with cheap instants - shocking, I know). I don’t think it’s very useful to consider these full-blown archetypes.
A final comment: while I hope any Cube designer can find some inspiration in this list, it’s mainly written for singleton, single-player, rares-allowed, unthemed (see above), Vintage-legal Cubes of any size. This is simply because I have little to no experience with other types of Cubes.
Main Color(s): Blue
Secondary Color(s): Black, Red
Anchor Cards: Tinker, Sundering Titan, Myr Battlesphere
Archetype-specific Cards: Tezzeret the Seeker, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Goblin Welder, Thirst for Knowledge, Metalworker, Lodestone Golem, Mindslaver, Tolarian Academy, Academy Ruins, Mishra’s Workshop, Karn, Silver Golem
Theatre(s): Control, Combo
Cross-pollination: Reanimator (both play big robots and ways to get them into play early, via the graveyard or otherwise), Wildfire (both like mana rocks), Time Vault Combo (which could be considered a sub-archetype of Artifacts, but gets it own entry because it’s both unique and somewhat controversial).
PS: I should note that many more cards exist that care about Artifacts, including but not limited to cards with the Affinity and Metalcraft keywords, Esperzoa and M15 role players Shrapnel Blast and Ensoul Artifact. While it is certainly possible to Cube with such cards, it will typically require a larger artifact section than Cubes would normally run and therefore turn the Cube into an Artifact-themed one.
Main Color(s): White, Blue
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp
Archetype-specific Cards: Crystal Shard, Erratic Portal, Stonecloaker, Cloudshift, Parallax Wave, Waterfront Bouncer, Momentary Blink, Venser, the Sojourner, Kor Skyfisher, Galepowder Mage, Brago, King Eternal
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Rec/Sur/Pod (both like creatures with ETB effects), Tokens (several creatures create one or more tokens when entering the battlefield).
Main Color(s): Blue
Secondary Color(s): None
Anchor Cards: None (possibly Opposition)
Archetype-specific Cards: Thassa, God of the Sea, Master of Waves, Coralhelm Commander, Aether Adept, Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Nightveil Specter
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: Tokens (via Master of Waves), Top-of-Deck Matters (via Thassa’s Scry ability).
Main Color(s): Red
Secondary Color(s): None
Anchor Cards: Sulfuric Vortex, Hellspark Elemental
Archetype-specific Cards: Lava Spike, Skullcrack, Smash to Smithereens, Flames of the Blood Hand, Pulse of the Forge, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Hell’s Thunder, Blistering Firecat, Ball Lightning, Chandra’s Phoenix, Chandra’s Spitfire, Fireblast, Shrine of Burning Rage, Vexing Devil
Theatre(s): Aggro, Combo
Cross-pollination: Spells Matter (making sure your burn spells do something apart from reducing your opponent’s life total helps quite a bit, and Blue card drawing or filtering lets you find more burn spells).
Main Color(s): Green, White
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Ajani Goldmane, Kalonian Hydra, Curse of Predation
Archetype-specific Cards: Ainok Bond-Kin, Abzan Falconer, High Sentinels of Arashin, Archangel of Thune, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Ajani Steadfast, Doubling Season, Cytoplast Root-Kin, Plaxcaster Frogling, Fathom Mage, Master Biomancer, Renegade Krasis, Phantom Centaur, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch, Forgotten Ancient, Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver, Anafenza, the Foremost, Ghave, Guru of Spores
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: Voltron (putting +1/+1 counters on evasive/unkillable/double-striking guys is useful), Lifegain (via Archangel of Thune and Ajani’s Pridemate), Tokens (via Doubling Season and Archangel of Thune, among others).
Main Color(s): Red, White
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: None
Archetype-specific Cards: Astral Slide, Lightning Rift, Fluctuator, Eternal Dragon, Krosan Tusker, Edge of Autumn, Wild Dogs, Decree of Justice, Akroma’s Vengeance, Renewed Faith, Starstorm, Slice and Dice, Miscalculation, Cloud of Faeries, Complicate, Secluded Steppe, Drifting Meadow, Forgotten Cave, Smoldering Crater, Tranquil Thicket, Slippery Karst, Lonely Sandbar, Remote Isle, Barren Moor, Polluted Mire, Undead Gladiator
Theatre(s): Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Blink (via Astral Slide), Lands (cycle lands work well with Life from the Loam)
Main Color(s): Black
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Red (mainly for the Combo aspect)
Anchor Cards: Liliana of the Veil, Hymn to Tourach, Hypnotic Specter, Mind Twist
Archetype-specific Cards: Stupor, Raven’s Crime, Wrench Mind, Ravenous Rats, Mardu Skullhunter, Liliana’s Specter, Abyssal Specter, Abyssal Nocturnus, Guul Draz Specter, Nezumi Shortfang, Headhunter, Silent Specter, Liliana’s Reaver, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Augur of Skulls, Liliana Vess, Liliana’s Caress, Megrim, Waste Not, Sangromancer, The Rack, Shrieking Affliction, Nyxathid, Blightning
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange, Combo
Cross-pollination: Pox/Stax (Pox is a fine discard spell in its own right), MonoBlack (the Discard archetype is heavy Black by nature and is therefore in a good position to take advantage of the powerful MonoBlack cards).
Main Color(s): Green
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Engineered Explosives, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Birds of Paradise, Kodama’s Reach, Cultivate
Archetype-specific Cards: Allied Strategies, Collective Restraint, Tribal Flames, Gaea’s Might, Might of Alara, Tromp the Domains, Etched Oracle, Chromanticore, Coalition Victory, Progenitus, Legacy Weapon, Door to Nothingness, Quirion Dryad, All Suns’ Dawn
Theatre(s): Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Super Ramp (both aim to cast cards with outrageous mana costs and use the same type of manafixing and -ramping cards to do so), Fatty Cheat (cheating something into play is a good plan B for when you can’t quite pay retail).
Main Color(s): Black, Green
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Red (mainly for their looting effects)
Anchor Cards: Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, Tarmogoyf, Life from the Loam, Tombstalker, Living Death
Archetype-specific Cards: Sewer Nemesis, Splinterfright, Bonehoard, Nighthowler, Varolz, the Scar-Striped, Jarad, Golgari Lich-Lord, Golgari Grave-Troll, Stinkweed Imp, Nether Traitor, Ichorid, Commune with the Gods, Satyr Wayfinder, Grisly Salvage, Grizzly Fate, Raven’s Crime, Worm Harvest, Nimble Mongoose, Werebear, Deadbridge Goliath, Hooting Mandrils, Sultai Scavenger, Murderous Cut, Ghastly Demise, Vengevine, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Hedron Crab, Nemesis of Mortals
Theatre(s): Midrange
Cross-pollination: Reanimator (both benefit from creatures in the graveyard), Rec/Sur/Pod (good at getting creatures into the graveyard) [in fact all three archetypes could reasonably be classified as sub-archetypes to a Black/Green Graveyard Matters super-archetype], Lands (via Life from the Loam and the Retrace mechanic), Zombies (many of the relevant cards are Zombies, most notably Gravecrawler), Pox/Stax (recursive creatures make that archetype’s sacrifice effects asymmetrical).
Main Color(s): Green
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Red (one card each)
Anchor Cards: Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, Joraga Treespeaker, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Elvish Mystic, Fauna Shaman, Reclamation Sage, Deranged Hermit, Bloodbraid Elf, Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Archetype-specific Cards: Priest of Titania, Elvish Archdruid, Imperious Perfect, Elvish Champion, Joraga Warcaller, Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Elvish Visionary, Masked Admirers, Deathrite Shaman, Wellwisher, Viridian Shaman, Boreal Druid, Elves of Deep Shadow, Civic Wayfinder, Nettle Sentinel, Oracle of Mul Daya, Talara’s Battalion, Wren’s Run Vanquisher, Twinblade Slasher, Wolf-Skull Shaman, Wood Elves, Yeva, Nature’s Herald
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: Super Ramp (see above).
Main Color(s): White, Green
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Enlightened Tutor, Rancor
Archetype-specific Cards: Argothian Enchantress, Verduran Enchantress, Mesa Enchantress, Enchantress’s Presence, Eidolon of Blossoms, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Academy Rector, Replenish, Auratog, Nyx-Fleece Ram, Sightless Brawler, Eidolon of Countless Battles, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Courser of Kruphix, Boon Satyr, Mirari’s Wake, Griffin Guide, Elephant Guide, Angelic Destiny, Ethereal Armor, Dictate of Heliod, Zur the Enchanter, Seal of Cleansing, Seal of Primordium
Theatre(s): Midrange
Cross-pollination: Voltron (which likes Auras and Bestow creatures), Storm (whose untap effects benefit from Wild Growths), Tokens (which likes Anthems).
Main Color(s): Blue, Green
Secondary Color(s): Black, Red
Anchor Cards: Tinker, Sneak Attack, Natural Order, Woodfall Primus
Archetype-specific Cards: Shelldock Isle, Flash, Show and Tell, Dream Halls, Through the Breach, Corpse Dance, Channel, Eureka, Oath of Druids, Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Tooth and Nail, Defense of the Heart, Pattern of Rebirth, Elvish Piper, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Blightsteel Colossus, Progenitus, Worldspine Wurm, Griselbrand, Quicksilver Amulet, Polymorph, Riptide Shapeshifter
Theatre(s): Midrange, Control, Combo
Cross-pollination: Super Ramp (because hardcasting the fatty in question can be a good plan B), Reanimator (even though several of the fatties this archetype tries to abuse have anti-reanimation clauses, most cheating methods also work acceptably well with regular reanimation targets).
Main Color(s): Red
Secondary Color(s): Green
Anchor Cards: Lightning Mauler, Sarkhan Vol
Archetype-specific Cards: Fires of Yavimaya, Ogre Battledriver, Urabrask the Hidden, Generator Servant, Xenagos, God of Revels, Lightning Greaves, Hammer of Purphoros, Reckless Charge
Theatre(s): Midrange
Cross-pollination: Tokens (especially Sarkhan Vol and Ogre Battledriver)
Main Color(s): Red
Secondary Color(s): Black, White
Anchor Cards: Goblin Guide, Goblin Rabblemaster, Siege-Gang Commander, Murderous Redcap, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Archetype-specific Cards: Goblin Chieftain, Goblin King, Krenko, Mob Boss, Goblin Grenade, Mogg War Marshall, Beetleback Chief, Krenko’s Command, Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Warchief, Sparksmith, Pyrewild Shaman, Goblin Trenches, Spike Jester, Marsh Flitter, Stingscourger, Goblin Wardriver, Ember Hauler, Mogg Fanatic, Legion Loyalist, Spikeshot Elder, Goblin Ruinblaster
Theatre(s): Aggro
Cross-pollination: Tokens (many cards produce Goblin tokens), Spells Matter (Guttersnipe is a Goblin and the Goblin-producing Sorceries work well in the archetype).
Main Color(s): None
Secondary Color(s): White, Black, Green
Anchor Cards: None (or too many to list, depending on how you look at it)
Archetype-specific Cards: Champion of the Parish, Xathrid Necromancer, Mayor of Avabruck, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Silver-Inlaid Dagger
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: None
Description: This archetype focuses on moving lands between the library, the battlefield and the graveyard, and more specifically, on the powerful interaction of Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds with Strip Mine, Wasteland, fetchlands, and other utility lands. It’s often possible to get two or more landfall triggers a turn, which makes any card with that ability word pretty busted. It’s also the best deck possible for breaking the symmetry of mass land destruction (Armageddon, Wildfire). The beautiful thing about this archetype is that it’s built around cards that are present in most lists anyway for their natural power level, so supporting it can be done by adding just two or three cards that you wouldn’t have played otherwise.
Main Color(s): Green
Secondary Color(s): White, Red
Anchor Cards: Life from the Loam, Crucible of Worlds, Strip Mine, Wasteland, Horizon Canopy, Steppe Lynx, Plated Geopede, Lotus Cobra, Primeval Titan, Mishra’s Factory, Mutavault, Mox Diamond, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Land Tax
Archetype-specific Cards: Knight of the Reliquary, Countryside Crusher, Courser of Kruphix, Oracle of Mul Daya, Constant Mists, Zuran Orb, Vinelasher Kudzu, Emeria Angel, Rampaging Baloths, Harrow, Deathrite Shaman, Crop Rotation, Weathered Wayfarer, Seismic Assault, Adventuring Gear
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: Domain (this archetype has an easier time than most achieving the full domain), Dredge (Life from the Loam and Knight of the Reliquary are good at filling your graveyard), Top-of-Deck Matters (via Courser of Kruphix and Oracle of Mul Daya, plus the abundance of shuffle effects is useful), Wildfire (the eponymous card is anything but symmetrical in a deck like this).
Description: While cards whose only function is to gain life are notoriously bad, when the lifegain is a bonus on a card with another desirable effect, things are quite different. Quite a few cards that happen to gain life as part of an overall package are Cube staples, with some of the commonly played ones being Lone Missionary, Knight of Meadowgrain, Kitchen Finks, Baneslayer Angel, Exalted Angel, Scavenging Ooze, Courser of Kruphix, Vampire Nighthawk, Faith’s Fetters, Batterskull and multiple versions of the planeswalkers Ajani and Sorin. If you have enough of these effects in your list (creatures with Extort can also help), a couple of cards that care about gaining life or about having a high life total could become attractive options.
Main Color(s): White
Secondary Color(s):Black, Green
Anchor Cards: Ajani Goldmane
Archetype-specific Cards: Ajani’s Pridemate, Archangel of Thune, Serra’s Ascendant, Soul Warden, Suture Priest, Path of Bravery, Well of Lost Dreams, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Ajani Steadfast, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Sanguine Bond, Essence Warden
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Tokens (via the Ajanis, Sorin, Archangel of Thune, Path of Bravery and the various Soul Warden effects), +1/+1 Counters (via Ajani’s Pridemate and again Archangel of Thune).
Main Color(s): Red, Green
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Black
Anchor Cards: Faithless Looting, Fauna Shaman, Survival of the Fittest, Dack Fayden, Enclave Cryptologist, Looter il-Kor
Archetype-specific Cards: Violent Eruption, Fiery Temper, Reckless Wurm, Squee, Goblin Nabob, Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, Rakdos Pit-Dragon, Gathan Raiders, Wild Mongrel, Basking Rootwalla, Arrogant Wurm, Vengevine, Roar of the Wurm, Hooting Mandrils, Merfolk Looter, Thought Courier, Waterfront Bouncer, Circular Logic, Dark Withering, Lotleth Troll, Tormenting Voice, Firestorm
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: All graveyard-based archetypes, especially Reanimator (they share a love for discard outlets) and Rec/Sur/Pod (they share a key card in Survival of the Fittest), Spells Matter (both the Madness spells and the looting effects are useful in the archetype).
Main Color(s): Blue, Black
Secondary Color(s): None
Anchor Cards: Jace Beleren
Archetype-specific Cards: Jace, Memory Adept, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, Phenax, God of Deception, Hedron Crab, Glimpse the Unthinkable, Traumatize, Nephalia Drownyard, Nemesis of Reason, Consuming Aberration, Sewer Nemesis, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Millstone, Sands of Delirium, Mesmeric Orb, Breaking // Entering, Thought Scour
Theatre(s): Control, Combo
Cross-pollination: Dredge and Reanimator (a number of milling cards allow self-targeting, which may be useful as an alternate method of filling the graveyard).
Main Color(s): Black
Secondary Color(s): None
Anchor Cards: None, strictly speaking
Archetype-specific Cards: Necropotence, Phyrexian Obliterator, Nantuko Shade, Geralf’s Messenger, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Erebos, God of the Dead, Abhorrent Overlord, Corrupt, Tendrils of Corruption, Liliana of the Dark Realms, Cabal Coffers, Lake of the Dead, Lashwrithe, Mutilate, Mind Sludge, Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, Squelching Leeches, Crypt Ghast, Nirkana Revenant, Mogis’s Marauder, Nightveil Specter
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Discard and Pox/Stax (all three require a heavy commitment to Black).
Main Color(s): None
Secondary Color(s): All five.
Anchor Cards: None (Exalted Angel and Rattleclaw Mystic probably come closest)
Archetype-specific Cards: Exalted Angel, Whipcorder, Master of Pearls, Willbender, Voidmage Prodigy, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Bane of the Living, Grim Haruspex, Headhunter, Silent Specter, Zombie Cutthroat, Blistering Firecat, Gathan Raiders, Akroma, Angel of Fury, Ashcloud Phoenix, Rattleclaw Mystic, Nantuko Vigilante, Hystrodon, Thelonite Hermit, Hooded Hydra, Sagu Mauler, Zoetic Cavern
Theatre(s): Any
Cross-pollination: None, although several Morphs are also archetype-specific cards for other archetypes.
Main Color(s): Red
Secondary Color(s): Black, Green
Anchor Cards: Avalanche Riders, Plow Under, Strip Mine, Wasteland
Archetype-specific Cards: Pillage, Molten Rain, Stone Rain, Goblin Ruinblaster, Ravenous Baboons, Goblin Settler, Ogre Arsonist, Sinkhole, Ice Storm, Argothian Wurm, Shivan Wumpus, Deathrite Shaman
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: Blink (for the creatures with ETB land destruction effects), Lands (Strip Mine is a key card in both archetypes), Wildfire (pinpoint LD helps ensure the opponent is crippled by the namesake spell).
Main Color(s): Black
Secondary Color(s): White, Red
Anchor Cards: Liliana of the Veil, Gravecrawler, Bloodsoaked Champion, Bloodghast, Ophiomancer, Bitterblossom
Archetype-specific Cards: Pox, Smallpox, Braids, Cabal Minion, Smokestack, Reassembling Skeleton, Curse of Shallow Graves, Grim Haruspex, Goblin Bombardment, Greater Gargadon, Blood Artist, Carrion Feeder, Mogg War Marshall, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Geralf’s Messenger, Murderous Redcap, the Abyss, Nether Void, Attrition, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Butcher of the Horde, Mortarpod, Nether Traitor, Epochrasite, Contamination, Abyssal Persecutor, Death Cloud
Theatre(s): Aggro
Cross-pollination: Lands (this archetype has an easy time getting lands into the graveyard for Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds), MonoBlack (if your deck can cast Pox, it could probably benefit from a Necropotence as well), Reanimator (getting creatures in the graveyard is easy, and reanimation spells are cheap enough to cast with a low land count), Rec/Sur/Pod (both archetypes take advantage of creatures with recursion abilities or death triggers), Tokens (which are one way to break the symmetry of Braids & friends).
Description: The only “Combo” archetype present in many “standard” Cubes, Reanimator decks need three things: a big creature, a way to get it into the graveyard, and a reanimation spell. That may seem like a tall order for a Limited deck, but luckily several cards are able to help on two or more fronts. The archetype is conveniently centered in Black, the color with the best and most abundant tutor effects. Looting effects act as discard outlets while digging for missing pieces, and Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman tutor for fatties and bin them as well. Sceptics quickly learn to respect the archetype when facing a T3 Griselbrand or Woodfall Primus for the first time. Note that although the reanimation spells themselves are listed below as archetype-specific cards, they’re actually respectable inclusions in other (mainly midrange) decks as well.
Main Color(s): Black
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Red, Green
Anchor Cards: Recurring Nightmare, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Imperial Seal, Enclave Cryptologist, Looter il-Kor, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Pack Rat, Liliana of the Veil
Archetype-specific Cards: Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Necromancy, Dance of the Dead, Unburial Rites, Makeshift Mannequin, Living Death, Life // Death, Entomb, Buried Alive, Lotleth Troll, Oona’s Prowler, Griselbrand, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Merfolk Looter, Thought Courier, Waterfront Bouncer, Thirst for Knowledge, Compulsive Research, Wild Mongrel
Theatre(s): Combo
Cross-pollination: Fatty Cheat (cards like Show and Tell and Sneak Attack work well in the deck), Rec/Sur/Pod (shares many of the same cards and could be considered the midrange version of the same archetype), Madness (both like discard outlets), Dredge (both like binning their own creatures).
Main Color(s): Black, Green
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Recurring Nightmare, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Birthing Pod, Volrath’s Stronghold
Archetype-specific Cards: Living Death, Diabolic Servitude, Genesis, Vengevine, Masked Admirers, Victimize, Attrition, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Whip of Erebos, Squee, Goblin Nabob
Theatre(s): Midrange
Cross-pollination: Reanimator (the Combo version of this archetype, sharing many key cards), Madness and Dredge (discard outlets and binned creatures, respectively), Pox/Stax (both like to sacrifice their own guys), Blink (share a love for ETB creatures)
Main Color(s): Blue, Red
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Young Pyromancer, Forbid, Deep Analysis, Faithless Looting
Archetype-specific Cards: Talrand, Sky Summoner, Guttersnipe, Augur of Bolas, Delver of Secrets, Kiln Fiend, Staggershock, Isochron Scepter, Runechanter’s Pike, Wee Dragonauts, Spellheart Chimera, Monastery Swiftspear, Jeskai Elder, Capsize
Theatre(s): Any
Cross-pollination: Tokens (especially Opposition), Burn (this deck can bring a lot of direct damage to the table), Storm (of which it is the less broken, but easier to support and more flexible step-brother).
Main Color(s): Blue, Black
Secondary Color(s): Red, Green
Anchor Cards: Timetwister, Time Spiral, Dark Ritual, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Yawgmoth’s Will, Wheel of Fortune
Archetype-specific Cards: Brain Freeze, Mind’s Desire, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Cabal Ritual, Lion’s Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Seething Song, Dream Halls, Palinchron, Frantic Search, Turnabout, Ancestral Vision, Mana Flare, Heartbeat of Spring, Dictate of Karametra, Rude Awakening, Memory Jar, Nightscape Familiar, Necropotence, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Past in Flames, Manamorphose, Snap, Cloud of Faeries
Theatre(s): Combo
Cross-pollination: Spells Matter (both like casting multiple spells in the same turn), Super Ramp (the deck needs a lot of mana and can incorporate a plan B of playing one big spell if the Storm count isn’t quite there)
Main Color(s): Green
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, Primeval Titan, Natural Order
Archetype-specific Cards: Nissa, Worldwaker, Awakening Zone, Channel, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, Omnath, Locus of Mana, Oracle of Mul Daya, Heartbeat of Spring, Dictate of Karametra, Mana Flare, Mirari’s Wake, Genesis Wave, Tooth and Nail, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Worldspine Wurm, Decree of Justice, Entreat the Angels, Rite of Replication
Theatre(s): Midrange, Combo
Cross-pollination: Fatty Cheat (many decks play a mix of ways to either ramp out or cheat in a huge creature), Elves (some Elf Tribal effects can generate huge amounts of mana), Storm (both make use of large amounts of mana).
Main Color(s): Blue
Secondary Color(s): Red, Green
Anchor Cards: Ral Zarek
Archetype-specific Cards: Time Vault, Voltaic Key, Tezzeret the Seeker, Kiora’s Follower, Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient, Rings of Brighthearth
Theatre(s): Control, Combo
Cross-pollination: Artifacts (where Tezzeret is a key card and the Key can be used to untap Mana Vault, Grim Monolith and similar cards), Twin Combo (where Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite can be used as one shot extra turns with Time Vault in play), Pox/Stax (where Time Vault can at least theoretically be used to cripple an opponent via Smokestack and Braids, Cabal Minion).
Main Color(s): White, Red
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Accorder Paladin, Blade Splicer, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Mirror Entity, Hero of Bladehold, Cloudgoat Ranger, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Ajani Goldmane, Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, Spectral Procession, Opposition, Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Ophiomancer, Bitterblossom, Young Pyromancer, Goblin Rabblemaster, Siege-Gang Commander, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Hellrider, Master of the Wild Hunt, Deranged Hermit, Garruk Wildspeaker, Garruk Relentless, Lingering Souls, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Archetype-specific Cards: Spear of Heliod, Glorious Anthem, Dictate of Heliod, Intangible Virtue, Ogre Battledriver, Signal Pest, Curse of Predation, Overrun, Mirari’s Wake, Sarkhan Vol, Sublime Archangel, Archangel of Thune, Master of Pearls, Precinct Captain, Ajani Steadfast, Elspeth Tirel, Master of Waves, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Curse of Shallow Graves, Marsh Flitter, Skeletal Vampire, Mogg War Marshall, Beetleback Chief, Goblin Bombardment, Greater Gargadon, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Martial Coup, Decree of Justice, Entreat the Angels, Tempt with Vengeance, Thelonite Hermit, Hooded Hydra, Precursor Golem, Grizzly Fate, Predator’s Howl, Raise the Alarm, Triplicate Spirits, Mignight Haunting, Gather the Townsfolk, Dragon Fodder, Krenko’s Command, Hordeling Outburst, Increasing Devotion, Conqueror’s Pledge, Geist-Honored Monk, Scion of Vitu-Ghazi, Rootborn Defenses, Sundering Growth, Gaea’s Cradle, Gavony Township, Kjeldoran Outpost, Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree, Moorland Haunt
Theatre(s): Any
Cross-pollination: Blink (many creatures create tokens upon entering the battlefield), Goblins and other Tribal archetypes (all the major tribes have token makers for the appropriate creature type), Pox/Stax (tokens help to make the eponymous spells less symmetrical)
Main Color(s): Blue, Red, Green
Secondary Color(s): None
Anchor Cards: Chandra, Pyromaster, Courser of Kruphix, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Sylvan Library, Sensei’s Divining Top, Mystical Tutor, Brainstorm
Archetype-specific Cards: Future Sight, Thassa, God of the Sea, Prognostic Sphinx, Prophetic Flamespeaker, Bonfire of the Damned, Oracle of Mul Daya, Domri Rade, Scroll Rack, Temple of Epihany, Temple of Abandon, Temple of Mystery, Noxious Revival, Worldly Tutor, Sylvan Tutor Keranos, God of Storms
Theatre(s): Midrange
Cross-pollination: Lands (via Courser of Kruphix and Oracle of Mul Daya, plus this archetype appreciates shuffle effects more than most).
Main Color(s): Green
Secondary color(s): Blue
Anchor Cards: Courser of Kruphix, Crucible of Worlds, Life from the Loam
Archetype-specific Cards: Fastbond, Exploration, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya, Horn of Greed, Burgeoning, Trade Routes, Gush, Future Sight, Explore, Amulet of Vigor
Theatre(s): Combo
Cross-pollination: Lands Matter (they share several cards, and the combo version of the deck is even better at racking up Landfall triggers), Super Ramp (makes good use of large amounts of mana), Storm (also likes a ton of mana and mass card draw), Top-of-deck Matters (via Courser of Kruphix, Oracle of Mul Daya and Future Sight).
Main Color(s): Blue, Red
Secondary Color(s): White
Anchor Cards: Restoration Angel, Zealous Conscripts
Archetype-specific Cards: Deceiver Exarch, Pestermite, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Village Bell-Ringer, Sky Hussar, Imperial Recruiter
Theatre(s): Control, Combo
Cross-pollination: Time Vault Combo (Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch can untap Time Vault), Blink (Kiki and Twin are solid as a way to copy an ETB-trigger every turn, and the other archetype-specific cards have ETB-effects themselves).
Main Color(s): White, Green
Secondary Color(s): All five
Anchor Cards: Mirran Crusader, True-Name Nemesis, Thrun, the Last Troll, Bonesplitter, Sword of Fire and Ice (and the other Swords), Umezawa’s Jitte, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Geist of Saint Traft, Rancor
Archetype-specific Cards: Fencing Ace, Soltari Trooper, Soltari Priest, Soltari Monk, Soltari Champion, Fabled Hero, Hero of Iroas, Kor Spiritdancer, Silverblade Paladin, Angelic Destiny, Sublime Archangel, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Ethereal Armor, Griffin Guide, Invisible Stalker, Prophetic Flamespeaker, Markov Blademaster, Pyrewild Shaman, Reckless Charge, Madcap Skills, Wrecking Ogre, Silhana Ledgewalker, Troll Ascetic, Witchstalker, Boon Satyr, Briarhorn, Berserk, Vines of Vastwood, Stonewood Invocation, Elephant Guide, Loxodon Warhammer, Ghor-Clan Rampager, Boros Charm, Rafiq of the Many, Fleecemane Lion, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Simic Charm, Uril, the Miststalker, Hatred, Spiteful Returned, Herald of Torment, Mogis’s Warhound
Theatre(s): Aggro
Cross-pollination: Enchantments Matter (if focusing on the Aura aspect), +1/+1 Counters (putting those onto this archetype’s creatures is powerful), Tokens (any Anthem or pseudo-Anthem effect is good, especially with double-striking creatures).
Main Color(s): Red
Secondary Color(s): All five (but mainly Green)
Anchor Cards: Thundermaw Hellkite, Inferno Titan, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Kalonian Hydra, Primeval Titan, Coalition Relic, Solemn Simulacrum
Archetype-specific Cards: Wildfire, Burning of Xinye, Destructive Force, Ember Swallower, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Everflowing Chalice, Chandra Nalaar, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Vorapede, Greater Gargadon
Theatre(s): Midrange, Control
Cross-pollination: Artifacts (both value mana rocks more than most decks), Ponza (pinpoint Land Destruction synergizes decently with Wildfire), Lands Matter (which is very good at re-using the sacrificed lands plus Knight of the Reliquary survives even a “naked” Wildfire).
Main Color(s): Black
Secondary Color(s): Blue, Green
Anchor Cards: Gravecrawler, Sarcomancy, Diregraf Ghoul, Grave Titan
Archetype-specific Cards: Carrion Feeder, Geralf’s Messenger, Skinrender, Graveborn Muse, Blood Scrivener, Cemetery Reaper, Xathrid Necromancer, Curse of Shallow Graves, Call to the Grave, Death Baron, Diregraf Captain, Lotleth Troll, Lich Lord of Unx, Lifebane Zombie, Liliana’s Reaver, Lord of the Undead, Necromancer’s Stockpile, Sidisi, Blood Tyrant, Undead Warchief, Nightscape Familiar, Putrid Leech, Spiteful Returned, Tidehollow Sculler, Wight of Precinct Six, Putrid Imp, Dreg Mangler, Fleshbag Marauder, Undead Gladiator
Theatre(s): Aggro, Midrange
Cross-pollination: All the graveyard-centric archetypes, but mainly Pox/Stax.
Should you choose to support the Lifegain or the +1/+1 Counters archetype (or both!) this card is the first one to add to your list. It is also a strong roleplayer in the Tokens deck and a solid addition to any generic White midrange or control deck. There are several infinite combo’s with this card as well:
•Archangel + Spike Feeder (a card versatile enough that it almost made this top-10 in its own right) gives you infinite life and an enormous flier
•Archangel + Kitchen Finks + a sacrifice outlet is the same (plus you get infinite of whatever the sac outlet is doing)
•Archangel + Triskelion + Nearheath Pilgrim or any other way to give the Trike lifelink is infinite damage
•Archangel + a Soul Warden effect + any mass token generator doesn’t go infinite but leads to ridiculous board states
Let’s just list the archetypes this card is relevant for: Artifacts, Blink, +1/+1 Counters, Pox/Stax, Rec/Sur/Pod, Storm and Wildfire. And that’s in addition to its baseline utility as a cheap and easy to cast value engine for any matchup where you’re more interested in blocking than attacking in the early game.
Putting cards in the graveyard is useful for Reanimator, Dredge and sometimes Artifacts, costing no mana helps with casting multiple spells in the same turn, which is good for Storm and Spells Matter, generating mana with any land producing more than one is good for Super Ramp and again Storm, and it’s a great Madness enabler as well (you can pay for a madness spell you discard with the lands you untap). If your Cube is Combo- and/or Graveyard-oriented, this card should be in it.
Similar to Frantic Search in that it provides a spell without costing mana (or even a card, in this case) for Storm and Spells Matter (if you want more of that effect, Gitaxian Probe is another good option), it doubles as a low-opportunity cost fixer for multicolor aggro decks that can’t afford to play nonland fixing otherwise and absolutely need to play their bombs (for example, the Khans of Tharkir wedge cards) on curve. As a bonus, it’s a pretty neat card to stick under an Isochron Scepter.
A green card advantage engine, which is a pretty rare sight. It can be Blinked, milled and re-used (Dredge), discarded and re-used (Madness and Rec/Sur/Pod), sacrificed and re-used (Rec/Sur/Pod and Pox/Stax), and it’s an Elf! There aren’t that many situations where a 3/2 for 4 that draws you a card is actively bad by itself, either.
This little guy is so unassuming, yet does so much. Artifacts, Pox/Stax, Rec/Sur/Pod and Wildfire all love to add him to their rosters, and he’s a valuable early drop for control decks of any color as well, stopping many an aggro deck’s best starts right in their tracks.
This card is like a charm, but with ten different modes (albeit more situational ones) instead of a mere three. It’s a combat trick that lets an aggro deck efficiently remove a midrange or control deck’s speedbump (like a Wall or Courser of Kruphix). It can be discarded for value in a Madness deck and brought back via one of that deck’s tramplers. It’s a late-game mana sink and repeatable damage source for aggro decks. It can pump one of Voltron’s Hexproof or Double Strike attackers at instant speed. It can come down as a creature and pick up a Rancor or a piece of Equipment. It can take advantage of a Goblin Tribal effect. It’s repeatable fodder for cards like Butcher of the Horde, Lotleth Troll and the Masticores. It’s a one-toughness creature for Skullclamp, it’s a situational Lava Spike and if worst comes to worst it can even block!
The third of the durdly recursive engine cards with a relevant creature type. He provides a discard outlet for Madness and Reanimator, a repeatable cycler for Astral Slide and Lightning Rift, a convenient way for Dredge to put a creature into the graveyard to kickstart Splinterfright or Sewer Nemesis, and a Zombie for Gravecrawler and Graveborn Muse. That’s in addition to his functionality as a warm body and as a late-game card quality engine.
At face value, Waterfront Bouncer is a terrible Magic card. Unsummon is a situational effect, in essence because it trades card advantage for tempo, which may not be what you need. Waterfront Bouncer requires you to pay three times as much mana, wait a turn, and discard another card (!) to get the same effect. And yet, the Bouncer does a lot of work in the right Cube list. It’s a discard outlet for Reanimator and Madness (fitting particularly well into the latter’s tempo game) and it’s an engine card in Blink decks. It also works well with some other individual cards like Sneak Attack, and provides a means to interact with opposing Reanimator of Fatty Cheat strategies and Control Magic effects.
The Whip is an Artifact for the Artifacts deck (useful for returning Myr Battlesphere and Sundering Titan, or becoming a 5/5 Lifelink with Tezzeret 2.0 or Karn) and an Enchantment for, well, the Enchantment Matters deck. It is insane in the Blink deck, since its various anti-abuse clauses still allow shenanigans with temporary Exile effects. It’s a decent support card in the various graveyard-related strategies, mainly Rec/Sur/Pod and Dredge, and it provides some very welcome lifegain for the heavy Black strategies that often run a lot of self-damaging effects, as well as for the Lifegain deck.
A Comprehensive list of Cube Archetypes
Good call, I edited them in.I have no clear answer, because I haven't tried most of these ideas myself (obviously). However, taking a quick look at your list, there are a number of "almost free" changes you could make in order to get more Elves in the list: Civic Wayfinder for Borderland Ranger, Boreal Druid for Wild Growth, any of the Green 5-drops for Deranged Hermit, Masked Admirers for Vengevine, Twinblade Slasher for Wolfbitten Captive or Jungle Lion, and then probably cut Werebear and Wolfir Avenger for Priest and Archdruid. Your card quality wouldn't suffer much at all, IMO.
You're right, it's not listed. I guess it just never occurred to me that Turboland was a supportable Cube archetype. Fastbond and Exploration seem pretty bad in a vacuum; what sort of cards would you run to support them? Gush is pretty spicy in Vintage, but that's just one card. If you could explain a bit more, it could be a good addition to the list. Maybe it's better to just lump it in under the Lands Matter archetype.
A Comprehensive list of Cube Archetypes
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I don't know if Upheaval is a strict build-around card. You can put it in a Wildfire deck that utilizes mana rocks, or Super-ramp or Artifacts for the same reasons. It's basically useful in any deck that can get a lot of mana out quickly.
I don't really think it's possible to make an aggro Blink deck, the archetype feels too durdly to end games quickly. Also, I think Kor Skyfisher and maybe Galepowder Mage deserve mention.
A control Token deck doesn't seem plausible either. Control spends the game answering threats until a win-condition, not fielding a bunch of creatures.
Sylvan Tutor maybe deserves a mention for Top-of-Deck Matters. I've found it to be not that different from Worldly Tutor when it's used.
I think Voltron is very much a midrange archetype as well, depending on the build.
Otherwise, FANTASTIC analysis! This should be stickied
Token generators make great wincons for control decks because they're hard to interact with, stabilize the board, and often can win the game quickly on their own. Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion and Kjeldoran Outpost in particular come to mind. A control deck running multiple token generators doesn't seem all that out there, IMHO.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Speaking as a Vintage player, I have certainly fed a decent number of turns to Time Vault in competitive games - basically, if I have nothing to untap, I'll usually skip my turn. Then, when I want to fight over a play, I'll do so on the first of two consecutive turns.
If you support anything like the Draw-Go decks of old, Time Vault is a strong card both in and against them.
It also cross-pollenates well with Twin as you say, and is interesting if Ral Zarek is in your cube (as he is a Voltaic Key replacement that is desired by some other decks too).
You're welcome. That's what the intention of the article is: to provide ideas and challenge people's preconceptions, while trying hard not to be prescriptive.
Exactly, and it's pretty useless in any deck that *isn't* able to get a lot of mana out quickly. That makes Upheaval an ideal example of a build-around card to me. But generally, I just wanted to point out that one card doesn't make an archetype by itself.
Possibly, but I could imagine an U/W Tempo deck with White 1- and 2-drops that uses cards like Flickerwisp and Man-o'-War to remove blockers and has Venser the Sojourner's minus ability as a finisher. I'd classify that deck as an aggro deck, but it's obviously somewhat arbitrary. The cards you mention have been added.
Apart from what Spike Rogue mentioned, I could also see a Control/Ramp crossover deck that runs Mirari's Wake, Decree of Justice, Entreat the Angels, Martial Coup and/or Rude Awakening as finishers. Is that still a Tokens deck? Debatable, but I tried to err on the side of giving more possibilities instead of less.
Sure.
It's a deck that tries to win relatively fast, using mostly cheap creatures and a form of reach and/or increased damage output, doesn't have any real card advantage engine (on the contrary, it opens itself up to card disadvantage with Auras and pump spells), and actually wants to interact with the opponent as little as possible. Sounds like Aggro or Aggro/Combo to me.
While that may be true for Vintage, in Cube there is such a thing as the combat phase, and giving your opponent extras of those is usually not going to end well. I can understand that Time Vault is going to be good in a mirror match between two counter-heavy, creature-light decks, but since there's actually not that many counters in most Cubes (and tons of creatures), that seems like a niche application all the same. Bottom line is that Time Vault is very unlikely to make it into any list where the combo is not both a desirable possibility and actively supported.
A Comprehensive list of Cube Archetypes
And thank you for mentioning Epochrasite as a Multi-Archetype All-Star! I brought it back when I started supporting more archetypes in my cube a few years ago (after a period of rigorous streamlining for power level alone) and I am a huge fan of it ever since. There are so many neat interactions with this card in a bunch of very different decks. Sure, it is not one of the most powerful cards, but certainly one of the most interesting 2-drops around.
Minor nit-pick: In the cross-pollination section of the Time Vault Combo, you mention some cards from the Twin Combo that untap Vault once. You don't mention Zealous Conscripts though, who also does that and who is one of the most commonly run cards from the Twin Combo.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
I suppose when I think of a Tokens deck I think of a deck that synergizes tokens with anthems, Purphoros, and the like. Some token cards are certainly a win-con, but if you throw in a couple token win cons in your control deck, is that necessarily a Token deck?
I suppose a Pox/Stax or Opposition deck can be controlling, so that could be a controlling Token deck.
Hmm, a fair point. But what about Time Vault? Couldn't we make the same argument for that card? In its archetype section you basically list a bunch of cards that can untap it - the same could be done for Upheaval, where you list a bunch of mana rocks and other mana accelerators to flood your mana pool.
I think your basic midrange deck that puts out a bigger resilient threat kind of falls in line with this strategy. Instead of spending your early game mana ramping into a bomb, you're making your little hexproof guy into the bomb.
Modern: Jund
THANK YOU!!!
Somehow, rather than satisfying me, it has made me thirstier for more Multi-archetype All-stars! Do you have more than 10, or do they start dropping off really quickly after that?
You clearly 1) put a ton of time into this and 2) have a great grasp of the game.
Thank you, you've given us some ideas for tweaking, and I've certainly learned a few things!
:kudos:
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
UBRGrixis Kiki Control
BGUSultai Shadow
GWRBushwhacker Zoo
EDH:
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose
GWU Roon of the Hidden Realm
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
would you consider another archetype of Flash; main color blue, secondary color green/white.
key cards: collected company, summoning trap, teferi, mage of zhalfir.
support cards of creatures with flash.
synergizes with fatty cheat, blink, tokens.
My Blog - contains my decklists
Uril, The Miststalker
Frankie Peanuts - needs to move to multiplayer.
I'm planning my first cube and trying to make it a ground-up affair. I took a 14-year hiatus from the game in 2004, so my internal encyclopedia is... incomplete to say the least. This guide is exactly what I was looking for: a comprehensive but concise resource that avoids just providing a simple pre-made cube list. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthanky...
It's such a great thread, but is coming up on 2 years old, couple new sets,
any new archetypes people are trying out?
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Like UG Clue seems an OK archetype for a low powered cube. You get slowly growing creatures, incidental bonuses like mill, life gain, creatures. The option to bog the board down with your stuff and then drop a huge beasty in with Tracker etc.