# THE PACHA CUBE ## ☀️💧💀🔥🌳 Version: 7.0 **PEASANT RARITY: COMMONS & UNCOMMONS** This curated list of Magical cards was painstakingly selected from among all official MTG sets including Conspiracy sets, "Un-sets," Mystery Booster test cards (those which can be confidently evaluated to be of uncommon power level), downshifted MTGO and MTG Arena cards, and special foreign-printed downshifted cards. **SOME UN-SET/MYSTERY TEST CARDS ARE RE-SKINNED FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES** Cards from supplemental sets like un-sets and Mystery Boosters are too sweet to ignore but can feel out of place in their "goofy" formatting and silver borders. They may appear with different names and/or art but function as intended. If you see card images with names that don't match the card list, or if you're drafting and see a card you don't recognize, that may be why. ### CUBE OVERVIEW Named after Pacha, the wholesome peasant from *Emperor's New Groove*, this is a synergy-based cube designed for intermediate to advanced drafters. You'll find classic and a few atypical decks to build among the static 10 archetypes, not counting individual build-around cards. The card pool hosts a depth of complexity that rewards the keen-eyed drafter. There are plenty of powerful build-around cards and even some combos, too! Peasant cubes tend to yield mostly "good stuff" decks stuffed with go-to support cards, with little in the way of role-player or build-around cards. So, I carefully constructed The Pacha Cube with maximum gameplay and in-draft decision-making in mind. Modal double-faced cards (MDFCs), Conspiracies, and a fairly robust hybrid-colored section ensure your draft picks are more relevant. *** ### PRIMARY ARCHETYPES >{W}{U} **FLICKER** Grind out maximum value! Draft bounce effects and creatures with "enter the battlefield" abilities. <<[[!soulherder]][[!cloudblazer]][[!oji, the exquisite blade]][[!essence reliquary]]>> >{W}{B} **LIFE GAIN** Keep yourself in the game! Snap-up effects that gain life and trigger your lethal payoffs. <<[[!indulging patrician]][[!cliffhaven vampire]][[!fiendish panda]][[!exsanguinate]]>> >{W}{R} **EQUIPMENT** Time to suit up! Snag all the powerful equipment you find and outfit cheap creatures with strong abilities. <<[[!akiri, fearless voyager]][[!bladehold war-whip]][[!bureau headmaster]][[!loxodon warhammer]]>> >{W}{G} **COUNTERS** Crush your opponents! Look out for effects that grant +1/+1 counters and buff creatures with strong abilities. <<[[!Conclave mentor]][[!good-fortune unicorn]][[!juniper order ranger]][[!curse of predation]]>> >{U}{B} **ARTIFACTS** Pedal to the metal! Amass a board of artifacts and strong synergies backed up by sly control spells to power through any defense. <<[[!haunt the network]][[!Baleful strix]][[!rusko, clockmaker]][[!Cranial plating]]>> >{U}{R} **SPELL-SLINGER** Channel your inner wizard! Hog all the strong instant, sorcery, and payoffs to blitz and burn the opponent. <<[[!sprite dragon]][[!stormcatch mentor]][[!melek, izzet paragon]][[!Rise From the tides]]>> >{U}{G} **TEMPO** Stay one step ahead! Deploy tricky, evasive creatures and control spells to delay and frustrate your opponents. <<[[!frilled mystic]][[!mystic genesis]][[!bounding krasis]][[!capsize]]>> >{B}{R} **SACRIFICE** Greatness, at any cost! This deck asks you to sacrifice your small and recursive creatures for value and damage - whatever it takes to get ahead. <<[[!mayhem devil]][[!juri, master of the revue]][[!judith, the scourge diva]][[!goblin bombardment]]>> >{B}{G} **GRAVEYARD** Nothing stays dead forever! Self-mill, graveyard payoffs, and recursive threats make this unrelenting deck a formidable challenge for your opponents to overcome. <<[[!spider spawning]][[!insidious roots]][[!shambling shell]][[!ghoultree]]>> >{R}{G} **MILL RAMP** Go BIG or go home! Stock your graveyard with lands using self-mill effects, cycle them in and out of your grave for value and ramp, then go over the top using scalable spells and large creatures to beat down for an easy win. <<[[!ruination rioter]][[!wreck and rebuild]][[!vengeful rebirth]][[!aftermath analyst]]>> *** #### SUB-ARCHETYPES >{B} **REANIMATOR** There are plenty of recursion spells for the smaller creatures in the graveyard and sacrifice decks, but there are also a few select spells that reanimate creatures of any size! Draft discard outlets and/or self-mill effects, spells that revive your cards, and massive creatures to bring back from the dead. <<[[!reanimate]][[!victimize]][[!troll of khazad-dum]][[!titanoth rex]]>> >{U}{R}{G} **STORM** Storm is a classic, beloved archetype in non-peasant powered cubes, and in the Pacha Cube, it's also available to draft! While it's tough to have those hallmark twenty-spell turns due to the limited card availability, there are still plenty of options for playing quick bursts of spells and casting powerful Storm cards for incredible board state advantages. Look for cards with the "Suspend," "Plot," and "Rebound" abilities, along with cards that are mana-neutral (cards that immediately replenish the mana you spent to cast them), spells that allow you to stockpile mana through ramp and treasure tokens, and cheap draw spells. You can also use support cards like [[Guttersnipe]] to reap the benefits of spellcasting. <<[[!hunting pack]][[!empty the warrens]][[!frantic search]][[!turnabout]]>> >{W}{U}{B}{R}{G} **CYCLING** The "Cycling" ability is an all-time favorite mechanic in draft formats, renowned for its positive effect on card selection. But it can be a powerful draft archetype as well! Cycling can be made relevant in already existing decks. For example, Astral Slide and/or [[Escape Protocol]] make Cycling relevant in your {u/w} Flicker deck, Faith of the Devoted helps in your {w/b} Life Gain deck, and Invigorating Boon makes cycling a good addition into your {w/g} Counters deck. But also, there are enough classic payoffs, like Zenith Flare and [[Lightning Rift]], that make Cycling a fun and formidable archetype across any color combination! <<[[!astral slide]][[!faith of the devoted]][[!invigorating boon]][[!zenith flare]]>> *** #### BUILD-AROUND CARDS >{U} **TINKER** This classic, powerful build-around is Peasant-legal and ready to overwhelm your opponent. Deploy small artifacts early and sacrifice one of them for a massive swing in the board state. A humble token can become a giant threat in the blink of an eye - this is a great first pick if you can find it! <<[[!Tinker]][[!mystical tutor]][[!perilous myr]][[!su-chi cave guard]]>> >{C} **COLOSSUS HAMMER** It's Hammer Time! This enormous equipment is decent in the {R/G} Ramp archetype, but it excels when drafted along with effects that help you cheat on the high equip cost. <<[[!Colossus hammer]][[!Ardenn, intrepid archaeologist]][[!Kazuul's Toll Collector]][[!bruenor battlehammer]]>> >{G} **CHANNEL** While it's good in the {R/G} ramp and reanimator decks, Channel is a classic combo-style build-around all on its own! Draft Channel early on, then find massive creatures & powerful {X} spells to funnel the colorless mana into for a game-ending advantage. <<[[!Channel]][[!Fireball]][[!exsanguinate]][[!walking skyscraper]]>> >{C} **SKULLCLAMP** Skullclamp fits well into the {B/R} Sacrifice and {B/G} Graveyard strategies, but any color can build around it. Draft Skullclamp, then look for effects that produce small 1-toughness creatures to equip it to. <<[[!Skullclamp]][[!young pyromancer]][[!nested shambler]][[!sprout swarm]]>> >{C} **ISOCHRON SCEPTER** Draft Isochron Scepter and grab as many cheaply-costed instants as possible. Repeatedly recast the instants for a ton of value - some cards can even lock the opponent out of the game! <<[[!Isochron scepter]][[!memory lapse]][[!power word kill]][[!lightning bolt]]>> >{C} **SUMMONER'S BOND** If you can find Summoner's Bond early, keep a look out for creature combos! This powerful Conspiracy means casting one combo creature will immediately find you the other if you don't already have it. The following section describes each of the (known) creature combos in this cube, so take note for inspiration. <<[[!summoner's bond]][[!scurry oak]][[!murderous redcap]][[!felidar guardian]]>> *** ### COMBOS >{W}{U}{B} **THOPTER SWORD** A tried-and-true combo that was once a tier deck in the Modern format. Once assembled, every mana you pay gains you a life and creates an additional 1/1 Thopter token. If left unanswered, your opponents have almost no chance of outpacing that kind of value! Look for tutor effects to improve consistency and back it up with additional artifact synergies in case things go wrong. <<[[!thopter foundry]][[!sword of the meek]][[!enlightened tutor]][[!Ashnod's altar]]>> >{W}{U}{B}{G} **LOCKOUT COMBO** Draft cards like Frilled Mystic or Nevermaker for repeatable effects that lock your opponent from casting important spells or drawing new cards for the rest of the game. To do this, use bounce effects like [[Temur Sabertooth]] and [[Soulherder]] to replay and reuse enter effects. You can also draft sacrifice + graveyard recursion effects to get the lock cards back into your hand and play them again. <<[[!frilled mystic]][[!nevermaker]][[!crystal shard]][[!Essence Reliquary]]>> >{U} **DRAKE COMBO** Peregrine Drake and a creature like Archaeomancer plus a double-flicker effect equals infinite mana! Then, funnel that mana into a bottomless effect or continue endlessly bouncing the Archeomancer and other creatures and permanents instead of the drake for multiple entering triggers. <<[[!Peregrine drake]][[!archaeomancer]][[!ghostly flicker]][[!Capsize]]>> >{G} **SCURRY OAK COMBO** Scurry Oak, [[Basking Broodscale]], and [[Herd Baloth]] can go infinite! There are several ways to achieve this. Here are a few ways to do so: Use any of the previously mentioned creatures and play Rosie Cotton of South Lane. Use Ivy Lany Denizen to do the same. Or, you can use the second level of Cleric Class and one of several "creature enters, gain life" effects like [[Soul Warden]]. <<[[!scurry oak]][[!ivy lane denizen]][[!cleric class]][[!rosie cotton of south lane]]>> >{W}{B}{R}{G} **INFINITE PERSIST COMBO** Any creature with the "persist" ability can infinitely revive if paired with another creature that places a +1/+1 counter on it. With the +1/+1 counter creature in play, cast a sacrifice outlet (preferably one that costs no mana to activate) and sacrifice the persistent creature as many times as you can for insane, repeatable value! Kitchen Finks can gain you infinite life, while Murderous Redcap can deal infinite damage. <<[[!Kitchen Finks]][[!Murderous Redcap]][[!Renata, called to the hunt]][[!goblin bombardment]]>> >{W} **FELIDAR COMBO** With Felidar Guardian, Abdel Adrian, and a flicker effect, you can infinitely flicker both creatures, creating infinite 1/1 soldier tokens! It works like this: Play Felidar Guardian, then play Abdel Adrian targeting the Guardian. Use a flicker effect (one that returns the creature to play immediately, not at the end of your turn) to bounce Abdel Adrian, and when they both enter again, stack the triggers targeting each other so that Adrian Abdel's triggers first. The Guardian will again be exiled; its ability will go off flickering Abdel Adrian again. Keep that loop going until you have as many soldiers as you need. You can also use Wispweaver Angel in place of Felidar Guardian, or you can use the Guardian and the Angel to flicker each other back and forth, triggering other enter abilities endlessly. <<[[!felidar guardian]][[!abdel adrian, Gorion's ward]][[!wispweaver angel]][[!ephemerate]]>> *** ### RE-SKINNED CARDS >[[How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy]]: Named "Charge-Up" in this cube. *** ### BAN LIST <<[[!Mana Drain]][[!Sol Ring]][[!Mana Screw]][[!Library of Alexandria]][[!Bazaar of Baghdad]][[!Strip Mine]][[!Wasteland]][[!oracle of the alpha]]>>