Welcome back to the penultimate (what a word!) article discussing the specific card choices when building a cube - today we are looking at the various Signature cards you can draft. The rest of the articles can be found here:
As a reminder, in Draft formats of Riftbound you can play up to 3 domains and you can include ANY Signatures that are within those 3 domains.
My cube list contains 27 Signatures, 2 of each standard color combination and 1 each of the new enemy domains. Since you can include any cards you want here, the Signatures do not need to align with the Legends in the card list. Some Legends like Renekton or Renata Glasc are not playable, but their Signatures are quite interesting and can make the cut.
This is the part of cube design that I think is the most “up for debate” - different designers will have varied preferences on how they want Signatures to impact the game. Some cube designers might want more or less than 27, they might have different judgments on power level of the included cards. Here is where I ended up!
The Theory Of Signatures
Signatures lie in a delicate spot - with 27 cards and only 8 players, each drafter on average will end up with 3 Signatures each. Some players might end up with as many as 5! I have found that you want them to be strong, strong enough to pull you into your 3rd domain, but not total blowouts. If every Signature is a game-ending power swing, then each match is reduced to who draws more of them sooner. So you want them to be strong, but not TOO strong. More than any other card type, I find myself wanting to rotate out the strongest Signatures for power level reasons (more so than actual banned cards like ).
The ideal Signature is something slightly above the curve, something that is familiar to the colors as a slightly upgraded version of existing cards. These 4 are examples of ideal Signatures to me - strong enough that you would want to take them, that increase the frequency of desired effects without being too game-warping:
, for example, are great for swarm decks like but also quite efficient for bigger bodied decks. It’s slightly better than most of the time, but it is still just a gear. is a slightly more juiced or , and can decide a game if used at the exact right time. is like having copies 2 & 3 of in your list. is like or without the chance of losing your unit. Familiar, synergistic, and adds consistency to what you are already doing.
On the other hand, Signatures that can kill tons of units at the same time are a bit dangerous. Here are 4 concerning ones, ordered from most problematic to most acceptable:
is being removed from my cube as I type (it is not in the current list below), it is incredibly powerful for its multi-functional use. It is an early game disruption/base kill, and late game as a total blowout against strong holds - all at Action speed. On top of that, it is low cost AND Chaos has numerous ways to replay it with or . We found this to be incredibly game warping and largely unfun to deal with, so it has been removed. It sounds crazy, but is actually far more “fair” since it affects only a single card at a time.
is extremely powerful, especially since it targets any/all locations at once. On the other hand, it is very expensive. Spell decks need powerful effects to reclaim tempo, and Fury-Mind only has 3 Signatures to choose from currently (one of which is the unplayable ) so it remains for now. But I could see this being rotated out in the future - however is much more in-line with the power level I want to see.
is quite the blowout, a game-ending effect in the right moment. However I find this to be the upper end of acceptable because:
- A) it requires a big unit
- B) only affects one battlefield, nothing in base
- C) it is slow Spell, not usable on defense
- D) puts your unit in harm’s way
- E) costs twice as much as Moonfall
- F) Fury-Body can’t usually recur/play it again
This laundry list of restrictions makes Stormbringer much easier to swallow as an opposing player. It is probably the strongest Signature that I foresee lasting a long time in the cube format.
Finally feels like a good power level, a bit strong but within the bounds of “fun” gameplay. It requires a big unit, and usually only kills 2 smaller units. You can put in big work when combined with cards like or , but that feels like the good sort of combo that creates memorable moments and rewards intelligent drafting and gameplay.
Signatures Currently In Cube
Easy Choices
These don’t need much explanation - , , are not good enough to warrant consideration. For Body-Chaos, Bullet Time is a bit too much of a blowout in the endgame. These colors only have a few options, so these naturally fill the 2 slots for their color combination.
Similarly, there’s only 3 for Fury-Order and is arguably worse than many normal cards like . is only good for Vex specifically, and is probably better for securing a critical hold anyhow. As mentioned above, is “banned” for power level, leaving only (no thanks) as the other option - so and remain.
If you include the 3 enemy domain pairs with only 1 option each, that’s 15/27 that I think are pretty easy to universally agreed upon with only 4.5 Riftbound sets printed. This will get wildly more difficult with each passing set!
Debatable Choices
Now let’s get into the domains where reasonable minds could disagree:
I feel is the clear favorite - it's a spell for Mind and a counterspell for Calm, nearly any deck in either color would want it. feels better in more decks than , which often requires Legend to kill more than 1 thing. Strike is 4-cost for , can deal up to 7, doesn’t cost a power and gains you a rune. Ornn is not in my main list, so I opted to exclude his 3 gear - but I think or are completely reasonable if you don’t like Siphoning Strike or want to support the Calm gear strategies more. I would argue is the worst of the options due to its insane cost and relatively minor effect, but it's not unplayable either.
These are totally up to your personal taste. To me, Body-Fury is all about big bodies doing big things - I like that both and capitalize on having monster units and feel like “big” spells that upend the game. This domain combo fits the most for these power spells. and feel more like type effects which seem out of character for the domains. But if you swapped these entirely I don’t think that’s objectively wrong - both cards are quite strong and allow for surprise point tempo.
seems like the first choice - Order has a lot of token strategies but there aren’t many ways to buff all your little tokens at once. Siphon Power allows for big Might swings at the right time for a low cost, a much more fair version of Moonfall. and are relatively similar power levels, the deciding factor for me was Hostile Takeover is 5 cost (for and ). The Hidden ability creates more surprising and memorable turns - and creating unique stories is what makes Cube great. Mirror Image has less inherent synergy, so it was cut. is simply too weak for a fast format.
is clearly the strongest - even though neither domain cares about Equipment, it fits the mold of “slightly better Long Sword” that I like for Signatures. is an iconic LoL character, it's rare to have Signature Units (so I want to play them when I can), and it provides more answers to swarm decks without being an auto-kill against the strongest holds. is probably the most universally playable - especially since it hits base - but I don’t have many discard synergies in Fury. On the other hand, feels like it has the potential to be a -like unfun way to end the game. A player just recycling all their runes to wipe your battlefield feels less interactive, especially because the final kill will be your biggest unit.
feels a bit weak, especially since the cube lacks a lot of the trash synergies you might find in Constructed play. Still, if your cube had a lot of Flow cards, resurrection effects, and Rhasa the Sunderer I could see it making the cut. But 2e1p for a 0 Might unit with Assault 4 feels worse than just playing a normal unit.
needs to exist in the Cube because Azir is one of the legends - it's a rare Signature Spell that most people won’t pick up early so it can fall to the Azir drafter and help complete their deck. Other decks could use it - getting 4+ bodies for a Jax or Fiora deck isn’t bad - but this is the sort of signal that Azir is open and playable. He is the most feast-or-famine legend in the Cube so he gets a little support.
surprises people - most expect instead. Honestly, either could work in the slot just fine. Even if Daisy’s 2nd and 3rd lines of text didn’t exist, an 8 Might ready unit is great for closing out the game with a double conquer, and big bodies are great for holding with all the Calm legends. Getting even a 1-2 energy discount from random Cat / Dog / Poro / Birds makes it even more efficient. Zenith Blade is also very strong, but I have it in the 12-player expansion alongside the Leona legend and other stun synergies. Just a personal choice.
On the other hand, seems worse than most of the time, it is underwhelming for a Signature and I don’t think even misses it too much.
Saving the best for last! All five of the Body-Order Signatures are exactly the right power level and flavor to fit in the cube. You could pick any 2 of these and it would be “correct” - all of them are fun and powerful without breaking the format.
seems to fit the style of Body more than , which feels more like a Chaos card to me. The ability to play it twice with Flow just seals it as the more efficient card to me. is strong, but I don’t have any buff synergies, including Sett himself being excluded from the main list.
feels like the most powerful, providing counterspells to colors that don’t have it normally. I like that it synergizes with Fiora, the Might buff gives it a higher upside than Showstopper. is yet another Might pump for token strategies, but unfortunately I think it is just slightly too inefficient. It compares poorly to (which costs 60% less for a similar Might swing), Grand Stratagem (150% more Might for just 1 more energy), and even . If Strike gave +3 Might I think it could edge in, but as-is it doesn’t feel strong enough.
That concludes the overview of the 27 Signature cards in my cube list - let me know what you think! This is definitely a section that draws strong opinions, and I would love to hear your experiences as I iterate the cube with future sets.