Remaking Arabian Nights / Rabiah as a custom Cube — looking for feedback

Small disclaimer: I wrote the project and card designs myself, but English is not my first language, so I used AI to help translate and polish the text of this post. Any design mistakes, wording problems, or flavor decisions are mine.

Hi everyone.

I’m working on a custom Magic project: a modern remake / reinterpretation of Arabian Nights, with the final goal of building it as a custom Cube.

This is still early, and I’m looking for feedback on Oracle wording, power level, rarity, color pie, Cube structure, archetype clarity, and top-down flavor.

The goal is not just to update the original cards one by one, but to imagine what an Arabian Nights-inspired Rabiah Cube could look like if it were designed today: clearer archetypes, modern templating, better Limited play patterns, and more room for legendary characters, stories, relics, Djinns, Efreets, deserts, bargains, and strange top-down designs.

Since this is meant to be a Cube, I’m not trying to follow premier set structure perfectly. I still want the cards to feel clean and printable, but I’m allowing more legends, build-arounds, nostalgic designs, and weird top-down effects than a normal Standard-legal set would usually have.

For now, I started with the creatures from the original Arabian Nights. I know the full Cube will need many more cards later: removal, fixing, artifacts, enchantments, lands, Sagas, and additional “reflections” of existing Rabiah concepts.

I’m showing two rendered examples:

Aladdin
Aladdin is designed around the idea of the three wishes. His three activated abilities represent different kinds of wishes: wealth, destruction, and restoration. The restriction “Activate Aladdin’s abilities only if you control a Djinn” is meant to tie his power to the classic wish-granting Djinn fantasy rather than making him a generic value engine.

Old Man of the Sea
Old Man of the Sea is based on the episode from Sindbad’s voyages where the Old Man clings to Sindbad and forces him to carry him, until Sindbad eventually gets him drunk and escapes. Mechanically, the card tries to capture that story: he locks down another creature as long as he remains tapped, but over time he accumulates drunkenness counters until he finally untaps and releases the victim.

The rest of the creature file is below in text form so people can review it more easily.The rest of the creature file is below in text form so people can review it more easily.

Project context

In Magic lore, Rabiah is associated with many reflected / mirrored versions of itself. I want to use that as a design tool: some old cards or concepts can have “reflections” that preserve the original identity while expanding the Cube mechanically.

I also want to eventually add more characters from Rabiah-related Magic lore and Arabian Nights-inspired stories, such as Taysir and Fatima, and more Djinns, Efreets, storytellers, merchants, thieves, and legendary figures.

About Stone-Throwing Devils

I intentionally left Stone-Throwing Devils out of the active design file.

Respecting Wizards of the Coast’s decision to remove that card from the game, I don’t want to preserve or redesign it here. I kept the slot only as a historical note in my working file.

Current Cube archetypes

WU — Sagas / Storytellers
Sagas, historic cards, Storytellers, memory, protection, and stories unfolding over time.

UB — Illicit Commerce
Gold tokens, smugglers, evasive attacks, surveil, artifacts, and uneven deals.

BR — Pain
Self-damage, life payment, above-rate creatures with drawbacks, and turning pain into pressure.

RG — Ferocious
Power 4 or greater, large creatures, trample, Djinns/Efreets with chaotic drawbacks, and risky combat.

GW — Food
Food tokens, survival, caravans, desert provisions, lifegain, sacrifice-for-value, and creatures that convert Food into combat advantages.

WB — Judgment
Death, sacrifice, punishment, blocking, martyrdom, and destroying “guilty” creatures.

UR — Flying
Flying creatures, aerial pressure, Rukh tokens, Serendib creatures, tempo, and damage.

BG — Cursed Bargains
Cursed relics, artifact protection, and venom.
Venom counters are not poison counters. At the beginning of a player’s upkeep, if they have one or more venom counters, they may pay {1}. If they don’t, they lose 1 life. Then they remove a venom counter from themselves. The idea is that venom works like a temporary debt or delayed tax, not an alternate poison-win condition.

RW — Legendary Heroes
Legendary creatures, heroic attacks, relics, dramatic combat scenes, and survival moments.

GU — Tap / Untap
Activated abilities, tapping and untapping creatures, restraint, power manipulation, and slow value engines.

Some cards are marked as Structural if they support the Cube generally rather than one specific archetype.

Creature file for review

White

Abu Ja’far — {W}
Legendary Creature — Human Storyteller — 0/1
Uncommon — Archetype: WB / RW
Whenever Abu Ja’far blocks or becomes blocked by a nonartifact creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
When Abu Ja’far dies, you gain 1 life for each historic permanent you control.

Camel — {W}
Creature — Camel — 1/1
Common — Archetype: GW
Vigilance
When Camel enters the battlefield, create a Food token.

King Suleiman — {2}{W}
Legendary Creature — Human Noble — 2/3
Rare — Archetype: RW
Other legendary creatures you control get +1/+1.
{2}{W}, {T}: Destroy target Djinn or Efreet.

Moorish Cavalry — {2}{W}
Creature — Human Knight Rider — 2/2
Uncommon — Archetype: GW / RW
Trample
Whenever Moorish Cavalry attacks, you may sacrifice a Food. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Moorish Cavalry and create a Gold token.

Repentant Blacksmith — {1}{W}
Creature — Human Artificer — 1/2
Uncommon — Archetype: RW
Prevent all noncombat damage that would be dealt to Repentant Blacksmith.
Whenever one or more artifacts enter the battlefield under your control, you may pay {R}. If you do, Repentant Blacksmith deals 1 damage to any target. This ability triggers only once each turn.

War Elephant — {3}{W}
Creature — Elephant — 3/4
Common — Archetype: GW
Trample
When War Elephant enters the battlefield, create a Food token.
Whenever War Elephant attacks, you may sacrifice a Food. If you do, War Elephant gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

Blue

Dandân — {U}{U}
Creature — Fish Horror — 4/1
Uncommon — Archetype: GU
Dandân can’t attack unless defending player controls a tapped creature.
Whenever Dandân becomes untapped, target creature an opponent controls gets -1/-0 until end of turn.

Flying Men — {U}
Creature — Human Soldier — 1/1
Common — Archetype: UR
Flying
This creature can block only creatures with flying.

Giant Tortoise — {1}{U}
Creature — Turtle — 1/1
Common — Archetype: GU
Giant Tortoise gets +0/+3 as long as it’s untapped.
Whenever Giant Tortoise becomes tapped, target creature gets +0/+3 until end of turn.

Island Fish Jasconius — {1}{U}{U}{U}
Legendary Creature — Fish Leviathan — 10/10
Rare — Archetype: GU
Island Fish Jasconius enters tapped with four slumber counters on it.
As long as Island Fish Jasconius has a slumber counter on it, it’s an Island land. It isn’t a creature.
Whenever Island Fish Jasconius becomes untapped, remove a slumber counter from it.

Merchant Ship — {1}{U}
Artifact — Vehicle — 0/5
Uncommon — Archetype: UB / GU
Whenever Merchant Ship attacks and isn’t blocked, target opponent creates a Food token and you create a Gold token. Then surveil 1.
Crew 2

Old Man of the Sea — {1}{U}{U}
Legendary Creature — Djinn Marid Rogue — 2/3
Rare — Archetype: GU
Old Man of the Sea doesn’t untap during your untap step.
{1}, {T}: Tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s untap step for as long as Old Man of the Sea remains tapped.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Old Man of the Sea is tapped, put a drunkenness counter on it. Then if it has three or more drunkenness counters on it, remove all drunkenness counters from it and untap it.

Serendib Djinn — {2}{U}{U}
Creature — Djinn — 5/6
Rare — Archetype: UR / GU
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice another nontoken permanent. If an Island was sacrificed this way, Serendib Djinn deals 2 damage to you and taps each creature without flying you control.

Serendib Efreet — {2}{U}
Creature — Efreet — 3/4
Uncommon — Archetype: UR
Flying
Serendib Efreet can block only creatures with flying.
At the beginning of your upkeep, Serendib Efreet deals 1 damage to you.

Sindbad — {1}{U}
Legendary Creature — Human Sailor Storyteller — 2/2
Rare — Archetype: WU / GU
Whenever Sindbad becomes tapped, surveil 1. Then you may reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a historic card, you may put it into your hand.

Black

Cuombajj Witches — {B}{B}
Creature — Human Witch — 1/3
Uncommon — Archetype: BR
{T}: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Cuombajj Witches deals 1 damage to you.

El-Hajjâj — {1}{B}{B}
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard — 1/3
Rare — Archetype: BG / WB
When El-Hajjâj enters the battlefield, you may search your hand, graveyard, and/or library for a card named City in a Bottle and put it onto the battlefield. If you search your library this way, shuffle.
Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control for the first time each turn, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

Erg Raiders — {1}{B}
Creature — Human Warrior Rider — 2/3
Common — Archetype: BR
At the beginning of your end step, if Erg Raiders didn’t attack this turn and didn’t enter the battlefield this turn, Erg Raiders deals 2 damage to you unless you pay {1}.

Guardian Beast — {3}{B}
Legendary Creature — Beast — 2/4
Rare — Archetype: BG
Noncreature artifacts you control have ward—Sacrifice a creature.
Guardian Beast gets +2/+0 for each noncreature artifact you control.

Hasran Ogress — {B}{B}
Creature — Ogre — 3/2
Common — Archetype: BR
Whenever Hasran Ogress attacks, it deals 2 damage to you unless you pay {1}.

Junún Efreet — {1}{B}{B}
Creature — Efreet — 4/3
Uncommon — Archetype: BR
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 2 life. If you don’t, sacrifice Junún Efreet.

Juzám Djinn — {2}{B}{B}
Creature — Djinn — 5/5
Mythic Rare — Archetype: BR
At the beginning of your upkeep, Juzám Djinn deals 2 damage to you and you draw a card.

Khabál Ghoul — {2}{B}
Creature — Ghoul — 1/1
Uncommon — Archetype: WB / BG
Whenever another creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Khabál Ghoul.

Nailah, Sorceress Queen — {1}{B}{B}
Legendary Creature — Human Sorcerer — 1/1
Rare — Archetype: Structural
{T}: Target creature other than Nailah has base power and toughness 0/2 until end of turn.
{4}{B}: Destroy target creature with toughness 2 or less.

Red

Aladdin — {2}{R}{R}
Legendary Creature — Human Rogue — 2/3
Mythic Rare — Archetype: RW / UB
Activate Aladdin’s abilities only if you control a Djinn.
{R}, {T}: Create a Gold token.
{3}{R}, {T}: Aladdin deals 4 damage to any target.
{5}{W}, {T}: Return target historic creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Ali Baba — {1}{R}
Legendary Creature — Human Rogue — 2/2
Mythic Rare — Archetype: RW / UB
Whenever Ali Baba attacks, create a Gold token.
{8}{R}, {T}: This ability costs {1} less to activate for each historic permanent you control. Exile the top seven cards of your library. You may play one of them without paying its mana cost. Activate only as a sorcery.

Ali from Cairo — {4}{R}{R}
Legendary Creature — Human Mystic — 0/3
Mythic Rare — Archetype: RW / BR
Flash
This spell costs {1} less to cast for each historic permanent you control.
When Ali from Cairo enters the battlefield, until end of turn, damage that would reduce your life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead.

Bird Maiden — {1}{R}
Creature — Human Bird — 1/2
Common — Archetype: UR
Flying
When Bird Maiden enters the battlefield, another target creature with flying you control gets +1/+1 and gains haste until end of turn.

Desert Nomads — {1}{R}
Creature — Human Nomad — 2/2
Common — Archetype: Structural / RW
When Desert Nomads enters the battlefield, up to one target creature can’t block this turn.

Hurr Jackal — {1}{R}
Creature — Jackal — 2/1
Common — Archetype: Structural / BR
When Hurr Jackal enters the battlefield, it deals damage equal to its power to target creature an opponent controls that was dealt damage this turn.

Kird Ape — {R}
Creature — Ape — 1/1
Uncommon — Archetype: RG
Kird Ape gets +1/+2 as long as you control a Forest.
When Kird Ape enters the battlefield, if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, add {G}.

Mijae Djinn — {2}{R}
Creature — Djinn — 5/4
Uncommon — Archetype: RG / BR
Whenever Mijae Djinn attacks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, remove Mijae Djinn from combat, tap it, and it deals 2 damage to you.

Rukh Egg — {1}{R}
Creature — Bird Egg — 0/3
Uncommon — Archetype: UR / RW
Defender
When Rukh Egg dies, create Zahra, Mother Rukh, a legendary 4/4 red Bird creature token with flying and haste.

Ydwen Efreet — {2}{R}
Creature — Efreet — 4/4
Uncommon — Archetype: RG
Defender
{3}: Ydwen Efreet loses defender until end of turn.
Whenever Ydwen Efreet blocks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, remove Ydwen Efreet from combat.

Green

Erhnam Djinn — {2}{G}
Creature — Djinn — 4/5
Uncommon — Archetype: RG
At the beginning of combat on each opponent’s turn, that player may have target creature they control get +2/+0 and gain trample until end of turn.

Ghazbán Ogre — {G}
Creature — Ogre — 2/2
Uncommon — Archetype: BG / GW
At the beginning of your upkeep, if an opponent has more life than you, you may sacrifice a Food or Gold. If you don’t, that player gains control of Ghazbán Ogre.

Ifh-Bíff Efreet — {X}{2}{G}
Creature — Efreet — 3/3
Rare — Archetype: Structural
Flying
When this creature enters the battlefield, it deals X damage to each other creature with flying.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dealt damage this way dies this turn, that creature’s controller creates a Gold token.

Nafs Asp — {G}
Creature — Snake — 1/1
Uncommon — Archetype: BG
Deathtouch
Whenever Nafs Asp deals combat damage to a player, that player gets a venom counter.

Singing Tree — {2}{G}
Legendary Creature — Plant — 0/4
Uncommon — Archetype: GU
Defender
{T}: Target creature has base power 0 until end of turn.

Wyluli Wolf — {1}{G}
Creature — Wolf — 1/2
Common — Archetype: GU / RG
{T}: Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. If that creature has power 4 or greater, it gains trample until end of turn.

Colorless / Artifacts

Brass Man — {1}
Artifact Creature — Construct Soldier — 1/3
Common — Archetype: Structural / GU
This creature doesn’t untap during your untap step.
{1}: Untap this creature.
{2}, {T}: Brass Man deals 1 damage to target player or planeswalker.

Dancing Scimitar — {4}
Artifact Creature — Equipment Spirit — 1/5
Uncommon — Archetype: RW / UR
Flying
Equipped creature gets +1/+5 and has flying.
{3}: Attach Dancing Scimitar to target legendary creature you control. Activate only as a sorcery.
While attached, this isn’t a creature.

Venom counters

At the beginning of a player’s upkeep, if that player has one or more venom counters, that player may pay {1}. If they don’t, they lose 1 life. Then they remove a venom counter from themselves.

Feedback I’m looking for

I would appreciate feedback on:

• Oracle wording / templating problems.
• Power level and Cube balance.
• Rarity and complexity.
• Color pie issues.
• Whether the archetypes are clear and draftable.
• Whether some cards are too narrow, too parasitic, or too complex.
• Whether the cards still feel like Arabian Nights / Rabiah.
• What kind of noncreature support this Cube would need most urgently.

Thanks in advance. This is a rough file, and I expect many corrections. My goal is to improve the Cube iteratively, not defend every current version.