Intro
A cube is a collection of magic cards I’ve put together so people don’t need to bring their own cards to play and so that we can continually create new decks with this collection. I’ve designed this cube around cards that are legal in my favorite competitive format, Modern, with several archetypes in mind. An archetype is a way in which a bunch of cards can synergize with each other. It helps simplify people’s decisions when drafting because it helps them recognize which cards will play well together. Below is an overview of each archetype that is present. Let’s have some fun!
+1/+1 Counters
Colors: Green, White, Black
Playstyle: Aggressive Midrange / Early game
Notable cards: Anafenza, the Foremost; Conclave Mentor; Winding Constrictor; and Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager; Elenda, the Dusk Rose; Hardened Scales
Strategy: This is an archetype based around giving creatures higher power and toughness in the form of +1/+1 Counters. This usually allows you to win combat by having the biggest creatures and hopefully push through your opponent’s life total quickly. The strategy relies upon having many creatures in your deck, which means you will usually have a lot of permanents on the battlefield and not as many cards in your hand.
Flicker
Colors: White, Blue, Green
Playstyle: Control Midrange / Mid-Late game
Notable cards: Chulane, Teller of Tales; Soulherder; Yorion, Sky Nomad; Rite of Harmony; Lonis, Cryptozoologist; Ephemerate; Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
Strategy: This is an archetype based around creatures that have abilities when they "enter the battlefield" and flickering them. When you flicker something, you exile it and then return it to the battlefield under your control. This means you get another "enters the battlefield" trigger each time you flicker a creature. The strategy relies upon having many creatures in your deck that have a positive effect when they enter the battlefield. The deck scales quite well throughout the game and can play the late game better than most other archetypes in the cube.
Aristocrats
Colors: Black, Red, Green (can use others too)
Playstyle: Grindy Aggressive / Flexible
Notable cards: Korvold, Fae-Cursed King; Mayhem Devil; Judith, Scourge Diva; Diregraf Captain; The Meathook Massacre; Goblin Bombardment
Strategy: This is an archetype based around sacrificing creatures in order to gain benefits. This allows you to play an interesting style because you are flexible in how you deal with your opponent's life total. The strategy relies upon having lots of creatures that are not very important and multiple ways to sacrifice them. Because you are sacrificing creatures in this strategy, it is crucial that you have ones that do not cost much mana and can even potentially come back from the graveyard.
Reanimator
Colors: Black, Blue, Red (White)
Playstyle: Combo Control / Flexible
Notable cards: Sedris, the Traitor King; The Scarab God; Obsessive Stitcher; Unburial Rites; Rielle, the Everwise; Archon of Cruelty; Terastodon
Strategy: This is an archetype based around putting creatures that cost a lot of mana from the graveyard into play for a much cheaper cost. The challenge with this strategy is that you need a way to get the creature both into and out of the graveyard. Usually discarding is the best way, but not the only option in this cube. Discarding has other ways to be effective with certain cards that can come back on their own, let you cast them when you discard them, or even let you draw more cards each time you discard.
Prowess/Heroic
Colors: Red, White, Blue
Playstyle: Aggressive / Early game
Notable cards: Jeskai Ascendency; Feather, the Redeemed; Battlewise Hoplite; Sprite Dragon; Staggering Insight; Defiant Strike; Lava Dart
Strategy: This is an archetype based around casting spells in order to make small creatures get temporarily bigger. By cast just a few spells, you can surprise your opponents with lots of damage out of nowhere. The strategy relies upon having a few creatures in your deck with the Heroic and Prowess abilities and many cheap spells. This is the most aggressive deck in the cube and you usually want to end the game in the first 6 turns or so.