So, I've built a cube that I'm toying with building to capture that flavor. The basic structure of that cube is:
Cards: 600
Color Ratios/Color Balanced: Yes!
- 76 cards per color
- 12 colors per guild (including the Talismans, dual lands)
- 2 colors per shard/wedge, both legendary build-arounds
- 1 5-color Legend
- 64 artifacts
- 15 additional flexible non-basics
While the vast majority of cards are from Battle for Baldur's Gate and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, I had to stretch a bit on wedges/shards and want to start by talking about those commanders as they show off the primary themes of the cube.
Themes and Strategies Overview
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Bant - Amareth, the Lustrous and Galea, Kindler of Hope: Galea is from AFR and plays into the "Equipment/Auras matter" subtheme of Selesnya and kinda-sorta-if-you-squint the "cast 2+ spells" theme of Azorious, as well as generally rewarding ramp good stuff from Simic. I'm not in love with her so far, if I'm honest. Amareth, the Lustrous was a key find, melding together GU Dragons, WG go-wide tokens, and UW Control perfectly. Paths not taken: Gorion, Wise Mentor missed the cut as I wasn't positive I'd be running enough adventures, but arguably he's easier to support than Galea so I'm still chewing on it. I didn't seriously consider anyone else at first, but I'm considering Shanna, Purifying Blade now and would consider Alistair, the Brigadier if he wasn't so egregiously off-theme. Chulane, Teller of Tales is also a choice, although, well...let me talk about him by proxy when we get to Jund.
Esper - Sefris of the Hidden Ways and Bane, Lord of Darkness: Sefris was a slamdunk as the only three-color commander that cared about dungeons, as Dungeons obviously had to be a key part of my D&D Cube (we're running every single card in existence that can Seize the Initiative or Venture into the Dungeon, even garbage-tier cards like Trailblazer's Torch). Given that Orzhov, Dimir, and Azorius all have commanders that care about dungeons as well, it's a nice melding of themes especially as it also works with reanimator-y and aristocrat-y tricks. Bane is here for the flavor first as a key lore figure. He is...okay, with aristocrat stuff, but seems much worse than Sefris as an option. Nihiloor is the other on-theme choice, and plays better with Dimir's "steal yo stuff" theme. I think that Tivit, Seller of Secrets and The Ever-Changing 'Dane are cards I'd at least consider too.
Grixis - Zevlor, Elturel Exile and Don Andres, the Renegade: Our first serious challenge, as Grixis is one of the few shards/wedges that has only one legend printed from the Forgotten Realms in Zevlor, Elturel Exile who feels weak and hard to draft around (although that being said, I think perhaps I'm too hard on him and also from test-drives this cube could absolutely stand to have more cheap interaction). I have him here for now, but I would love to replace him. Don Andres, the Renegade was the big win as a card that welds together "Steal Your Stuff" from UB, "Treasures Matter" from RB, and a dash of "Goading Disruption and Chaos" from Izzet. My struggle is I don't actually love any other commander options. I'd like to do a Dragon here, since Izzet is also "Dragons Matter", but my choices are generic goodstuff of Nicol Bolas, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen, or Crosis, the Purger.
Jund - Bhaal, Lord of Murder and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King: Bhaal is here for the flavor, and is a fine enough card letting you either spread counters among your army as stuff dies (which Golgari is great at in this cube) or Goad enemies into brawling each other (which leans into some of Rakdos' gameplan). Korvold is the dragon in the room - he's a perfect intersection of Treasures Matter (RB), Sacrifice Matters (BG), and Dragons Matter (RG)...arguably too good, like a ludicrous format-warping bomb that makes Bhaal look embarrassing in comparison. I keep debating on if a commander at Korvold's ludicrous power level is okay or not for this cube? Honestly it's less juicy but maybe this should be Prossh, Skyraider of Kher or Ziatora, the Incinerator. Vazi, Keen Negotiator is also interesting.
Naya - Mazzy, Truesword Paladin and Rith, Liberated Primeval: First, to own it - I didn't add Minsc, Beloved Ranger. I just don't think the card does enough and it felt a bit too generic goodstuffy to me. I'm trying to find commanders that unite the themes of each color, and a generic guy like Minsc doesn't feel fun to draft around. Rith, on the other hand, is a great dragon for GR Dragons that also works okay with RW and GW's focus on equipment and auras if you squint (it's easier to deal excess damage if you have lots of ways to make your team large); a slamdunk find. Mazzy, Truesword Paladin is a bit of a problem. I didn't want to cut both the actual D&D legends in Naya and she felt the most interesting, but it's pretty hard to support her in cube. Her saving grace is is that everything else feels even more goodstuffy or even harder to support in the cube, so...I'm pretty open to suggestions here? Rocco, Street Chef seems spicy given the light "cast from exile" themes in GR and WR...
Abzan - Myrkul, Lord of Bones and Kethis, the Hidden Hand: Myrkul was the one D&D Abzan legend in print, and it seemed fun enough to include even without its "combo cards" in the cube (although we could easily add them!). I chose Kethis as my second, as I didn't want to go too nuts on the enchantress support with Anikthea or Narci and the cube just naturally has a ton of legendary cards to fuel Kethis. Both of these commanders appreciate the "aristocraty" themes of Golgari and Orzhov, and Myrkul is also fueled by the enchantress subtheme a bit. I think adding better supporting cards is on my radar, but this is probably the wedge I'm happiest with.
Jeskai - The Archimandrite and Zurgo and Ojutai: From my happiest wedge to my least happy. Zurgo was a good add; Dragons for UR Dragons, and a strong offensive bent. The Archimandrite sorta digs into the "Control" side of UW, the lifegain of "W", and...yaeh...uh...hm. My issue was that I thought Dynaheir, Invoker Adept (the only D&D Jeskai legend) felt pretty mediocre too. Perhaps I need to just bite the bullet and either add Kykar, Wind's Fury as a "too good" commander that really would be a synthesis of spellslinger and tokens, or add Narset, Enlightened Exile who would also dip a bit into "cast from exile" play. I was trying really hard to avoid super recognizable MTG Planeswalkers or UB characters though.
Sultai - Zimone and Dina and Muldrotha, the Gravetide: I lied - this is the wedge I'm least happy with. I decided early on that I just didn't think this cube could support Nine-Fingers Keene even though I love her so much. Sure, she could get to 12 gates in theory but that would rely on adding cards that are only good for her (all the non-fixing gates) and also hoping no one fights you for The Black Gate, Thran Portal, and the fixing gates. It just felt like too much to support one legend who is more fun than good anyways. That of course left a huge void. Once again I'd have loved a dragon here ,but my only option is the bland Vorosh, the Hunter. I landed on these two as the most fun-sounding cards that play with graveyards and ramp, but I'm certainly not settled here and considered almost every other Simic commander that isn't a UB commander.
Mardu - Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter and Shanid, Sleeper's Scourge: Really happy with Jans even with the light artifact creature count; he's such an awesome Treasures/Aristocrats commander for this wedge. Shanid was a sleeper pick due to the sheer amount of legends in the cube, but I'm certainly not married to her. Good ol' Kaalia of the Vast may actually be the right choice here in retrospect.
Temur - Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and and Riku of Two Reflections: I basically just worked backwards from Miirym for the temur colors, and he is the best possible commander for the wedge. He was so good I struggled to add a second. Riku is a placeholder for now until better inspiration strikes. I legit feel like dragons are so important here I almost just slammed Intet, the Dreamer and called it a day.
Esper - Sefris of the Hidden Ways and Bane, Lord of Darkness: Sefris was a slamdunk as the only three-color commander that cared about dungeons, as Dungeons obviously had to be a key part of my D&D Cube (we're running every single card in existence that can Seize the Initiative or Venture into the Dungeon, even garbage-tier cards like Trailblazer's Torch). Given that Orzhov, Dimir, and Azorius all have commanders that care about dungeons as well, it's a nice melding of themes especially as it also works with reanimator-y and aristocrat-y tricks. Bane is here for the flavor first as a key lore figure. He is...okay, with aristocrat stuff, but seems much worse than Sefris as an option. Nihiloor is the other on-theme choice, and plays better with Dimir's "steal yo stuff" theme. I think that Tivit, Seller of Secrets and The Ever-Changing 'Dane are cards I'd at least consider too.
Grixis - Zevlor, Elturel Exile and Don Andres, the Renegade: Our first serious challenge, as Grixis is one of the few shards/wedges that has only one legend printed from the Forgotten Realms in Zevlor, Elturel Exile who feels weak and hard to draft around (although that being said, I think perhaps I'm too hard on him and also from test-drives this cube could absolutely stand to have more cheap interaction). I have him here for now, but I would love to replace him. Don Andres, the Renegade was the big win as a card that welds together "Steal Your Stuff" from UB, "Treasures Matter" from RB, and a dash of "Goading Disruption and Chaos" from Izzet. My struggle is I don't actually love any other commander options. I'd like to do a Dragon here, since Izzet is also "Dragons Matter", but my choices are generic goodstuff of Nicol Bolas, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen, or Crosis, the Purger.
Jund - Bhaal, Lord of Murder and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King: Bhaal is here for the flavor, and is a fine enough card letting you either spread counters among your army as stuff dies (which Golgari is great at in this cube) or Goad enemies into brawling each other (which leans into some of Rakdos' gameplan). Korvold is the dragon in the room - he's a perfect intersection of Treasures Matter (RB), Sacrifice Matters (BG), and Dragons Matter (RG)...arguably too good, like a ludicrous format-warping bomb that makes Bhaal look embarrassing in comparison. I keep debating on if a commander at Korvold's ludicrous power level is okay or not for this cube? Honestly it's less juicy but maybe this should be Prossh, Skyraider of Kher or Ziatora, the Incinerator. Vazi, Keen Negotiator is also interesting.
Naya - Mazzy, Truesword Paladin and Rith, Liberated Primeval: First, to own it - I didn't add Minsc, Beloved Ranger. I just don't think the card does enough and it felt a bit too generic goodstuffy to me. I'm trying to find commanders that unite the themes of each color, and a generic guy like Minsc doesn't feel fun to draft around. Rith, on the other hand, is a great dragon for GR Dragons that also works okay with RW and GW's focus on equipment and auras if you squint (it's easier to deal excess damage if you have lots of ways to make your team large); a slamdunk find. Mazzy, Truesword Paladin is a bit of a problem. I didn't want to cut both the actual D&D legends in Naya and she felt the most interesting, but it's pretty hard to support her in cube. Her saving grace is is that everything else feels even more goodstuffy or even harder to support in the cube, so...I'm pretty open to suggestions here? Rocco, Street Chef seems spicy given the light "cast from exile" themes in GR and WR...
Abzan - Myrkul, Lord of Bones and Kethis, the Hidden Hand: Myrkul was the one D&D Abzan legend in print, and it seemed fun enough to include even without its "combo cards" in the cube (although we could easily add them!). I chose Kethis as my second, as I didn't want to go too nuts on the enchantress support with Anikthea or Narci and the cube just naturally has a ton of legendary cards to fuel Kethis. Both of these commanders appreciate the "aristocraty" themes of Golgari and Orzhov, and Myrkul is also fueled by the enchantress subtheme a bit. I think adding better supporting cards is on my radar, but this is probably the wedge I'm happiest with.
Jeskai - The Archimandrite and Zurgo and Ojutai: From my happiest wedge to my least happy. Zurgo was a good add; Dragons for UR Dragons, and a strong offensive bent. The Archimandrite sorta digs into the "Control" side of UW, the lifegain of "W", and...yaeh...uh...hm. My issue was that I thought Dynaheir, Invoker Adept (the only D&D Jeskai legend) felt pretty mediocre too. Perhaps I need to just bite the bullet and either add Kykar, Wind's Fury as a "too good" commander that really would be a synthesis of spellslinger and tokens, or add Narset, Enlightened Exile who would also dip a bit into "cast from exile" play. I was trying really hard to avoid super recognizable MTG Planeswalkers or UB characters though.
Sultai - Zimone and Dina and Muldrotha, the Gravetide: I lied - this is the wedge I'm least happy with. I decided early on that I just didn't think this cube could support Nine-Fingers Keene even though I love her so much. Sure, she could get to 12 gates in theory but that would rely on adding cards that are only good for her (all the non-fixing gates) and also hoping no one fights you for The Black Gate, Thran Portal, and the fixing gates. It just felt like too much to support one legend who is more fun than good anyways. That of course left a huge void. Once again I'd have loved a dragon here ,but my only option is the bland Vorosh, the Hunter. I landed on these two as the most fun-sounding cards that play with graveyards and ramp, but I'm certainly not settled here and considered almost every other Simic commander that isn't a UB commander.
Mardu - Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter and Shanid, Sleeper's Scourge: Really happy with Jans even with the light artifact creature count; he's such an awesome Treasures/Aristocrats commander for this wedge. Shanid was a sleeper pick due to the sheer amount of legends in the cube, but I'm certainly not married to her. Good ol' Kaalia of the Vast may actually be the right choice here in retrospect.
Temur - Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and and Riku of Two Reflections: I basically just worked backwards from Miirym for the temur colors, and he is the best possible commander for the wedge. He was so good I struggled to add a second. Riku is a placeholder for now until better inspiration strikes. I legit feel like dragons are so important here I almost just slammed Intet, the Dreamer and called it a day.
