This cube is built to simulate an overcharged retail draft experience. It is looking to generate classic games of magic, and prioritizes meaningful decisions both in draft and in gameplay. Major power outliers within the peasant card pool (mother of runes, hymn to tourach, etc.) have been omitted to reduce upper-end variance in card quality and decrease the non-games that many of those cards create. ## Archetypes #### Azorius {W}{U}: Enter the battlefield effects Tends to be on the spectrum of tempo and midrange value, UW looks to abuse EtB effects to put their opponent on the back foot. Classical UW control decks do exist, but aren't necessarily going to be handed to you in draft <<[[!Soulherder]][[!Ephemerate]][[!Behold the Unspeakable]]>> #### Dimir {U}{B}: Control Combines blue counterspells and draw with black removal and sweepers to win the game through attrition. Fast reanimator combo isn't supported, but it is still perfectly viable as a control finisher. Additionally, a more low to the ground ninjas deck can do work if you find the pieces. <<[[!Baleful Strix]][[!Feast of Succession]][[!Ingenious Infiltrator]]>> #### Rakdos {B}{R}: Suicide aggro This deck is happy to be built as an all out aggro deck looking to clear the way with cheap removal and bash in. However if you pick up the right balance of fodder, sacrifice effects, and payoffs, opponents can be combo-ed out from surprisingly high life totals. <<[[!Mayhem Devil]][[!Gut, True Soul Zealot]][[!Sling-Gang Lieutenant]]>> #### Gruul {R}{G}: Stompy Beep beep, big idiots coming through! Nothing blows by opponents like a solid RG runout, which forgoes cute synergies in lieu of big creatures that hit fast. This deck varies depending on which of its colors you lean more in to. Red decks will look to curve out with haste creatures to kill before the opponent can respond, while green decks will spend the first turn or two getting ahead on mana before landing huge creatures to close out. <<[[!Goblin Anarchomancer]][[!Ahn-Crop Crasher]][[!Bellowing Tanglewurm]]>> #### Selesnya {W}{G}: Tokens Looks to widen the board with tokens, then create an unassailable board state with anthems and overrun effects. A more aggressive deck in this color pair looks like WG Good Creatures, leveraging the overstatted bodies in both colors to outpace the opponent. <<[[!Cadira, Caller of the Small]][[!Prava of the Steel Legion]][[!Sprout Swarm]]>> #### Orzhov {W}{B}: Aristocrats A more value-based sacrifice deck, WB wants to control the board by combining efficient fodder with payoffs that bury their opponent with card and board advantage. Another well supported side of the color pair is <3 mana value aggro, using sticky threats and recursion to kill an opponent while befuddling their interaction. <<[[!Hidden Stockpile]][[!Rite of Oblivion]][[!Recommission]]>> #### Izzet {U}{R}: Spells The bread and butter UR archetype, this deck wants to play instants and sorceries that advance their board state while getting free value off of various payoffs. Some payoffs go wide, while others go tall, so it's up to the drafter if they want to flood the board or protect a single creature. <<[[!Third Path Iconoclast]][[!Sprite Dragon]][[!Faithless Looting]]>> #### Golgari {B}{G}: Graveyard This deck wants to fill up the graveyard, then play cards that take advantage of that. Full of 2-for-1s, the way to win is through pure attrition and value. Alternatively the deck can lean away from the graveyard, as black's removal and green's threatening creatures can be enough on their own. <<[[!Grisly Salvage]][[!Gurmag Angler]][[!Lotleth Troll]]>> #### Boros {W}{R}: Heroic Does what it says on the tin. WR wants to get down creatures that want to be targeted by your spells, then protect them. This deck has some explosive turns when they get to untap with their enablers but is weak to removal, especially at instant speed. Classic Boros aggro is still definitely on the table though, just flooding the board with small creatures and burning the opponent out. <<[[!Tenth District Legionnaire]][[!Favored Hoplite]][[!Boros Charm]]>> #### Simic {U}{G}: Ramp Draw a bunch of cards, play a bunch of lands, then lose the game: that is the Simic way. This deck hopes to do the first 2 while avoiding the latter. Spending the first turns balancing getting ahead on mana and interacting with the opponent, UG has the best late game of any deck. If you can get there your one worry will be decking, not the opponent. <<[[!Tatyova, Benthic Druid]][[!Pelakka Wurm]][[!Behold the Unspeakable]]>> #### 4 Color {W}{B}{R}{G}: Persist Combo A bit of a dream, but eminently doable, this deck can run a midrange plan, then pivot to infinite combo given enough time and card selection. Combining creatures with Persist, an ideally free sac outlet, and a +1/+1 counter on EtB, the game is instantly (or close to it) won if you can keep interaction away. <<[[!Murderous Redcap]][[!Kitchen Finks]][[!Grumgully, the Generous]][[!Vampire Aristocrat]]>>