WELCOME TO UNLIMITED MTG's SYNERGY CUBE!
DESCRIPTION
To sum it up, this is my take on @gannoncd's Powered Synergy Cube. It's a cube focused on synergy and value. Stand-alone game-winning cards are rather rare in the list.
Don't limit yourself to the archetypes listed below! A cube like this has a lot of possibilities. The archetypes and strategies that are mentioned below are just suggestions and I am also not writing down all the possible archetypes of the cube. If you've been playing MTG for a while and consider yourself a connoisseur, you definitely don't need this type of guide. Go directly to the full cube list or just try out a draft and see where your picks take you. From here, this overview is meant for readers that want to depthen their knowledge of MTG, specifically around this Cube.
There's a list of Combos and cool card interactions below the "Archetypes" section, as well as some more info about the cube, if you're interested. For now, let's get to the fun part!
ARCHETYPES
Most archetypes are well known or self-explanatory, but I would like to comment on most of them anyway, since I like to invite people to play with the cube. Although this cube is meant for experienced players, many not very experienced players have drafted this, so I want this overview to be as thorough as possible, to reward interest and knowledge during the drafts.
A few Ideas besides the mentioned above:
Spellstutter Sprite
Deep Forest Hermit
Earl of Squirrel
Priest of Titania
Undead Augur
Sample Deck:
Elves: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/wVOEUSmxPES1NUZNjpc_-g
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/Lb6-wyA_LUuIKAmAVS-NVg
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/3QYKcje7BUGQXGBOauJNDw
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/XVKZzrWme0qUXjMWUs921g
WARNING!
Play this archetype at your own risk! Destroying your rival's lands repeatedly with Strip Mine or Wasteland can be very tough for them, so be a good lad and be sportsmanlike while playing this! If you happen to play against it, don't let the playstyle defeat your spirit. This cube has a very low curve and there's ways to disrupt the lands strategies. Graveyard disruption is a good place to start.
Sample Decks:
Midrange: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/IdkdyUwl0UGfgB1-ARgcGA
Combo: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/XWEHyUA_T0qzHKazBEePyA
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BG72NC-oME2w0o9Sg0sCBA
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/QSZ_0pPUVUm2NDN_1G93pg
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/UJsBXdCySEalVoBN8i9SZg
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/lqDwg5evq0GNaps2k26Q1g
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/-ForoRSuHkazfNCgm7FeNA
Sample Deck:
"Value Town": https://www.moxfield.com/decks/yi1dPhtUtkWus5Noo9fiyw
Discard: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/7hu9QmHaIUeEO5zXddW7uw
Sample Deck:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/ZtlpeMyL7UWUwbZYhC_Tdw
Emry, Lurker of the Loch & Jeskai Ascendancy or Intruder Alarm
Intruder Alarm & Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Animate Dead/Angelic Renewal & Sun Titan/Renegade Rallier
Ghave, Guru of Spores & Ashnod's Altar
Goblin Welder & Scuttling Doom Engine
Tameshi, Reality Architect & Lotus Bloom
Goblin Welder & Scrapyard Recombiner
Faith's Reward/Second Sunrise & Zuran Orb/Squandered Resources
Deep Forest Hermit & Mystic Reflection
Mothdust Changeling & Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Chatterfang, Squirrel General & Pitiless Plunderer
Survival of the Fittest/Fauna Shaman & Squee, Goblin Nabob or Master of Death
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow & Mirror Entity
More Info
Squirrel cards in the cube:
Not a Powered Cube
A lot of cube enthusiasts love the infamous "power 9". My cube is not powered (meaning no Black Lotus, no moxen, time walk, ancestral recall, etc.). I've found the draft and gameplay experience to be a lot of fun without power. I prefer it that way.
Personal Adaptation
I have shaped the cube to be as much fun as possible to me and to the playgroup that I usually play with. For this reason I made some personalized changes, comparing to Caleb's original cube. The premise is the same though: It's a cube focused on synergy and value. Stand-alone game-winning cards are rather rare in the list.
This is a small change, but I believe it to be necessary.
Like I said at the end of last year Deep Forest Hermit has been too strong on itself. To replace him, I got a copy of the original, better designed hermit. Deranged Hermit will give you the same amount of bodies and the same synergistic power, without winning the game on it's own. What made the modern counterpart better was the fact of staying in play for three whole turns before having to be sacrificed. The buff to the tokens he made was VERY relevant, being 9 power as 5 bodies for just 5 mana. Deranged Hermit can offer powerful and spectacular plays, but you'll have to work for it. For the lord effect to be relevant, you'll have to build around him. Now it'll be about his ability for going wide with small bodies, which is easier to deal with and puts him in decks that have more obvious weaknesses. Long story short, Deranged Hermit is just a better designed synergistic card, while Deep Forest Hermit is a pushed, modern era mid-range bomb.
On the other hand I've noticed artifact decks struggling. Because of that, I'm making general buffs to artifact-based strategies. I'm adding Urza's Bauble, which I like as an additional 0 mana artifact to recur and get value from if paired with the right enablers. Additionally, I want to test Tinker. It might be too strong, time will tell. Memory Jar is a card that I've never played with and should bring interesting decks to the table. It will be the best draw-seven-effect in the cube or tied with Echo of Eons. But these effects haven't shown to be broken or unfun, so I doubt it will cause too many problems.