Arena Powered Cube Draft: June 2–23

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Slow Down! What's Arena Powered Cube?

Cube is like Booster Draft but pulls cards from across Magic's history. There are all sorts of permutations of cubes, from high-powered to rarity-restricted, special rules to color-restricted, and many, many more flavors. Arena Powered Cube is:

1. Powerful (and power-full): Arena Powered Cube showcases many of the strongest cards available on MTG Arena, including uncollectible cards like the Power Nine. You won't find a Limited format more chock-full of the biggest power-level outliers on MTG Arena.
2. Fast: Between the best mana acceleration, the strongest threats, and the most potent combos, this cube requires you to have a plan or be proactive. Arena Powered Cube rewards you the most for doing your homework and having a plan.
3. Singleton: Arena Powered Cube contains exactly 540 cards with only one copy of each.
4. Phantom: In tabletop, a cube is lent out to players who return the cards at the end of the draft, and the same is true here. Cards drafted are not added to a player's collection.

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger Flash Hullbreacher Animate Dead Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer Natural Order Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary Tolarian Academy

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How to Draft Arena Powered Cube

While some people have been drafting powered cubes for decades, for others, Arena Powered Cube will be their first foray. We want to give you a brief guide before you jump into the deep end.

In general, you should take intrinsically powerful cards like Sol Ring; Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; and Strip Mine that can enable wins all by themselves. However, it's ideal to draft around them to improve their potency. Sol Ring is absolutely busted, but you can find it twice as frequently with Urza's Saga. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes rewards you for having Ancient Tomb (or Mana Crypt) to accelerate them out a turn or two early. Strip Mine becomes even more misery-inducing fun potent when combined with Icetill Explorer. This heuristic is true for the majority of cards in the cube—Underworld Breach isn't the most straightforward to use, but combine it with Brain Freeze and Lion's Eye Diamond, and you'll almost certainly be able to win the game on the spot (mill yourself to fuel escape, then mill your opponent for their entire library). We won't get bogged down detailing every card and card interaction in the cube, but we want to give you a taste of all that you can discover in Arena Powered Cube. Instead, let's focus on some broad archetypes you can use as a guide.

1. Aggro: Pick a base color—usually red or white—and draft lots of cheap creatures and removal. You can load up on fixing and play multicolor aggro, you can find aggressive lanes in black or green, and you can even play a full Five-Color Domain Aggro deck.
2. Ramp: This is primarily found in green and artifacts. Generate extra mana in the first turns of the game, then deploy a devastating finisher. This could be an early Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger off a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or Channel; a Comet, Stellar Pup on turn two or three; or a massive Upheaval that leaves you ahead and your opponent discarding eight cards.
3. Cheaty: Many decks try to "cheat" a powerful card into play, putting an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or an Atraxa, Grand Unifier onto the battlefield without paying its mana cost, for example. There are many flavors of this, but the most common is Reanimator, a black-centric deck (often paired with red or blue) that seeks to put a giant threat like Archon of Cruelty into its graveyard and then cast Reanimate or Animate Dead to bring it into play. There are also Sneak decks which avoid the graveyard by using Flash, Sneak Attack, Show and Tell, or Natural Order to put these cards into play from your hand instead.
4. Artifacts: Most commonly found in blue and red, these decks take advantage of the cube having a lot of artifacts. Generate a ludicrous amount of mana with Urza, Lord High Artificer or Tolarian Academy; be aggressive with a giant Kappa Cannoneer or Nettlecyst; or Tinker out a Bolas's Citadel.
5. Control: Remove all your opponents' threats and win the long game, or keep your opponent off balance long enough and win as a Combo Control deck, such as using Hullbreacher or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse alongside Wheel of Fortune to instantly upend the game.
6. Mix and match: Hybridize archetypes, such as a Combo Cheat deck or an Artifact Aggro deck. Make no firm commitments to any one archetype, take lands to keep yourself open, and combine multiple strategies to win.

These are the broadest archetypes, but there are plenty of other directions to go toward and card synergies to discover.

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What's New with Arena Powered Cube?

Secrets of Strixhaven

As ever, a new release provides the opportunity to experiment with brand-new cards. All five cards in the Emeritus cycle are exciting, powerful, and evoke nostalgia from Magic's earliest years. They're slam dunks to at least test out. Elite Interceptor provides a novel twist on a cube stalwart: Thraben Inspector. Erode adds both redundancy and alternate functionality for Path to Exile. Wildgrowth Archaic and Magmablood Archaic are flexible tools for assertive and ambitious decks, while Ambitious Augmenter, Slumbering Trudge, Vastlands Scavenger, and Germination Practicum provide more support for green aggro and midrange decks.

Secrets of Strixhaven also brings two mainstays from powered cubes that have never been on MTG Arena: Sylvan Library and Armageddon. We know each of these cards has its fans and look forward to seeing how these cards fare on MTG Arena.

The Mystical Archive

While playing Arena Powered Cube, you may notice a different look for a small subset of cards. In honor of the Mystical Archive from Secrets of Strixhaven, we've used this card treatment for every possible card in the cube. We haven't done this sort of aesthetic pass in Arena Powered Cube and are eager to hear how you all feel about it. Not every set will have a slam-dunk aesthetic theme for Arena Powered Cube like Secrets of Strixhaven does, but we have other ideas of how we might shake things up visually.

Checking in on Prior Experiments

We try to change things up, at least a little, with each version of Arena Powered Cube. Most recently, we experimented with black and green, the two colors that generally struggle the most.

Green Lands: Two iterations ago, we gave green much more support for the lands package that center around Bristly Bill, Spine Sower; Icetill Explorer; and Titania, Protector of Argoth. In the last version of the cube, we gave it more support with cards like Tranquil Landscape, Deceptive Landscape, and Foreboding Landscape. We're happy with how this went, but this additional support is more of a "sometimes food" than a mainstay. With Secrets of Strixhaven adding a number of strong creatures, we're refocusing the core of green and moving away from relying specifically on lands while keeping the best of the lands package.

Black Creatures: In the last iteration of the cube, our big test involved giving black a lot more creatures. Black has generally been an outstanding support color, and we wanted to see if it could perform well as a primary color. By adding many more creatures, we wanted to see if black could play aggressive and midrange roles using its own creatures rather than relying on other colors' creatures. We didn't know what would happen as a result. Would black decks meaningfully underperform when pushed outside their comfort zone? Would they overperform and open up a new cube design vein?

The results are in and … not much changed. As a color, black performed slightly worse across the board, but only by a tiny percentage. A dramatic result would have been more conclusive than the -0.1% performance delta we saw, which could just be random chance. We're happy we tried this out, but we needed space for our next experiment, so we only let this experiment run for one iteration. In this version, black will have a higher density of noncreature spells.

Assertive Artifacts

Artifacts decks have been a part of Arena Powered Cube since the beginning, but they have generally been big mana decks relying on Tolarian Academy; Urza, Lord High Artificer; or Mishra's Workshop to quickly ramp into devastating threats. But there are more ways to use artifacts, especially as MTG Arena has steadily accumulated more assertive artifacts like Ravenous Robots and Pinnacle Emissary. Magic: The Gathering® | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles added Krang, Master Mind; Does Machines; and Improvised Arsenal as well as the classic Affinity card, Arcbound Ravager. In this version of Arena Powered Cube, you will see more assertive artifacts. Some will be overtly part of this archetype, like Cranial Ram, while others incidentally support the theme, like Splitskin Doll and Tough Cookie. Artifacts remain centered in red, blue, and colorless, but you will see support for them throughout the cube. As with any experiment, we look forward to seeing your experiences and how the cards perform.

Combo

Last time, we trimmed several combo cards like Tendrils of Agony. They were included because they're nostalgic favorites and offer exciting, challenging ways to win. But "challenging ways to win" meant they consistently had among the lowest win rates of all cards in Arena Powered Cube. We felt they still had a place until we wanted to use those slots for other purposes, like giving black a high density of creatures. With that experiment done and Secrets of Strixhaven's Mystical Archive adding more support for Storm Combo decks, we thought, "Why not give players another go at one of the most challenging strategies to succeed with in a powered cube?" While we were adding more combo support, we also added the classic A+B combo: Painter's Servant and Grindstone. On their own, each piece does little. But when they're combined, they can win a game in a single activation.

Multiple Power per Pack

Packs on MTG Arena, even cube packs, are more complicated under the hood than one might guess. In this iteration, we're removing one rule. Previously, an Arena Powered Cube pack could only contain a single card from among the Power Nine, Sol Ring, and Mana Crypt. Now, that limit is gone and you can open more than one of those cards in the same pack. Before getting into why we're removing the rule, let's start with why we created it in the first place.

When developing Arena Powered Cube, we believed that most of the time, a piece of power is an automatic pick. If you see one of the strongest, most historically significant cards in all of Magic in a pack, you're very likely to draft it, no matter what else is in the pack. It's an exciting pick, but not a hard pick. Well, what happens in the rare case that you open two pieces of power? Your choice is no longer automatic, but is it more enjoyable than just opening one?

Game design takes a lot of cues from psychology. We design experiences for people, so understanding how people respond to events informs what we create for them. And one thing we know is that loss aversion is powerful. The sting of losing something you want can feel worse than gaining something you want. We believed the average player would feel more sting than delight by opening two pieces of power and having to pass one. So, we eliminated the small chance of it ever happening.

The very first internal prototype of Arena Powered Cube restricted power to one per pack. We debated exactly how it should work. "Should it be just the Power Nine, or should we include other cards? Does Booster Tutor belong on the list as well? Should we remove Timetwister from the list, since it's not as powerful as the others?" We kept the rule when Arena Powered Cube went live and waited to see whether people noticed, what they said, and what the data told us. We didn't see this as a secret or a big deal. It was just one extra rule that'd affect a tiny percentage of packs and hopefully improve players' experiences in a marginal, invisible way.

Ultimately, the data changed our minds by disproving one of our assumptions. I underlined it above as a clue: among all Arena Powered Cube drafters, power was not an automatic pick. To show you why, we're going to play a guessing game using the same dataset we used: the Arena Powered Cube event that ran ahead of Lorwyn Eclipsed. (Due to our timelines, the version of Arena Powered Cube prior to Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had to be locked before the version that ran before Lorwyn Eclipsed had finished.)

Question #1: What is the most first-picked card in Arena Powered Cube? This includes your first, second, or third pack, it's not only a pack 1, pick 1. And note, this is during the time when you could only open a single piece of power, so no one ever passed one piece of power to take another.

Question #2: What percentage of the time was the aforementioned card picked first? We're wording this question a bit oddly just so as not to spoil the previous answer.

Question #3: What card was most frequently picked over the aforementioned card?

Question #4: What is the longest power has gone in a draft before being picked? Individual people in a draft pod might make surprising decisions, but they're a fraction of the total population. For power to go late, each person needs to pass it.

Again, we can't know what's in players' hearts or minds just from data. We're looking at small, outlier behavior from large datasets, but it certainly opened our eyes to how players engage with Arena Powered Cube in general and power in particular. It's unlikely that the "one piece of power per pack" rule is serving any of these players, and that led us to question whether the rule was needed at all. So, at least for now, we're turning it off and you can open multiple pieces of power in a pack. As always, we'll listen to what you all have to say and will see what your behavior says. Hopefully you enjoyed this peek behind the scenes and our little guessing game.

That's all for this time. As ever, we hope you enjoy Arena Powered Cube however you choose to draft it and look forward to hearing from you. See you in the queues!

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Changelog

OUT

IN

Giver of Runes Leonardo, Leader in Blue Nurturing Pixie Ademi of the Silkchutes Makdee and Itla, Skysnarers Sun-Blessed Healer Monastery Mentor Ranger-Captain of Eos Amped Raptor Beza, the Bounding Spring Leonardo, Sewer Samurai Timeless Dragon Overlord of the Mistmoors Ultima Aang's Iceberg Parallax Wave Spyglass Siren Kitesail Larcenist Dig Through Time Time Warp Treasure Cruise Fresh Start Sundering Titan Proft's Eidetic Memory Cryptbreaker Evolved Sleeper Forsaken Miner Bitterbloom Bearer Blood Artist Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia Tenacious Underdog Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER Warren Soultrader Woe Strider Archfiend of the Dross Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Harvester of Misery Tragic Trajectory Deceit Night's Whisper Bomat Courier Hired Claw Nia, Skysail Storyteller Robber of the Rich Scuzzback Scrounger Detective's Phoenix Yuffie, Materia Hunter Raphael, the Nightwatcher Bonehoard Dracosaur Etali, Primal Conqueror Ghostfire Slice Fireblast Goblin Bombardment Elvish Reclaimer Sazh's Chocobo Michelangelo, the Heart Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 Tarmogoyf Tifa Lockhart Chatterfang, Squirrel General Nissa, Resurgent Animist Michelangelo, Improviser Mightform Harmonizer Primeval Titan Heritage Reclamation Explore Exploration Earthbender Ascension Razorlash Transmogrant Myr Battlesphere Triplicate Titan The Endstone Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger Bumi, Unleashed Knight of the Reliquary Bebop & Rocksteady Glissa Sunslayer Showdown of the Skalds Loot, the Pathfinder Omnath, Locus of Creation Tranquil Landscape Deceptive Landscape Foreboding Landscape Ba Sing Se Multiversal Passage

Elite Interceptor Skrelv, Defector Mite Usher of the Fallen Cloud, Midgar Mercenary Intrepid Adversary Splitskin Doll Blade Splicer Emeritus of Truce Thousand Moons Smithy Erode Settle the Wreckage Exorcise Armageddon Harmonized Trio Glen Elendra Guardian Emeritus of Ideation Thought Monitor Krang, Master Mind Cryogen Relic Does Machines Etherium Pteramander Tinybones, the Pickpocket Mai, Scornful Striker Grave Researcher Emeritus of Woe Grave Titan Yawgmoth's Will Tendrils of Agony Dark Petition Blood Fountain Wishclaw Talisman Bolas's Citadel Clockwork Percussionist Rabbit Battery Rust Harvester Voldaren Epicure Emeritus of Conflict Goblin Engineer Molten-Core Maestro Birgi, God of Storytelling Breya's Apprentice Magmablood Archaic Pyretic Ritual Seething Song Trash for Treasure Empty the Warrens Experimental Synthesizer Improvised Arsenal Ambitious Augmenter Gene Pollinator Slumbering Trudge Outland Liberator Tough Cookie Emeritus of Abundance Vastlands Scavenger Wildgrowth Archaic Verdurous Gearhulk Nissa, Ascended Animist Germination Practicum Sylvan Library Haywire Mite Arcbound Ravager Chrome Dome Monoskelion Painter's Servant Phyrexian Revoker Scrapwork Mutt Steel Overseer Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender Phyrexian Dragon Engine Traxos, Scourge of Kroog Karn, Legacy Reforged Grindstone Manifold Key Nutrient Block Shadowspear Sword of Fire and Ice Cranial Ram Ob Nixilis, the Adversary Traumatic Critique Professor Dellian Fel Kellan, the Fae-Blooded Lorehold, the Historian Spire of Industry