Welcome to the **Dupe Cube**, a draft environment built to celebrate and utilize cards from Magic's history that want you to have multiple copies of them (think [[Squadron Hawk]], [[Faerie Miscreant]], [[Whisper Squad]], [[Seven Dwarves]], [[Growth-Chamber Guardian]]). If you're interested in more of the rationale behind my choices, check out the Dupe Cube Overview Video: https://youtu.be/0vHgdx9-5NA --- >>> ## Two-Color Archetypes <<< --- >>> {W}{U} **Government Pigeons** {U}{W} AKA Flying Control <<[[!Legion Angel]][[!Council of the Absolute]][[!Sphinx of the chimes]]>> <<< Birds aren't real. But with our Bird Imitation Recording Drone System (or BIRDS), we can fool our opponents into believing the avian myth. Deploy early roaming surveillance packages like [[Faerie Miscreant]], [[Squadron Hawk]], and [[Windrider Wizard]]. Thus begins the Hitchcock-esque aerial armageddon. Once you've likened your opponent to Prometheus being punished by the gods, slow things down with the bureaucracy of [[Nevermore]], [[Ashiok's Erasure]], [[Runed Halo]], and [[Reflector Mage]]. We'll create so much red tape they'll think we're Scotch™ (okay not my best joke). Finish off the game with our patented Dissent-Busters: [[Conundrum Sphinx]], [[Voidstone Gargoyle]], or an MFing rhino soldier [[Mirror-Sigil Sergeant]]. --- >>> {U}{B} **Grave Yard Sale** {B}{U} AKA Self-Mill <<[[!Vizier of Many Faces]][[!Runo Stromkirk]][[!Undead Servant]]>> <<< Time to shop at all the local yard sales! Maybe you'll find a clone or an ominous vulture. Fill your graveyard early with [[Hedron Crab]], [[Deranged Assistant]], [[Covetous Castaway]], and [[Gorging Vulture]]. The more cards in your graveyard, the merrier you'll be! The best cards to throw into the dumpster are [[Vizier of Many Faces]], [[Rune Snag]], [[Take inventory]], and [[Undead Servant]]. These all provide additional utility from the graveyard, turning your discards or mill into a powerful advantage. Once you've started filling your graveyard, use it to fuel [[Graveblade Marauder]], [[Dreadhound]], [[Dollhouse of Horrors]], and [[God-Pharaoh's Gift]]. And if you mill your opponent just a bit, you can turn on your [[See Double]]. >>>**Secrets of the Deep** <<< Alternatively in Dimir, you can explore the ancient knowledge of the sea by picking up [[/Runo Stromkirk]] and his monsters like [[Archipelagore]] and [[Gyruda, Doom of Depths]]. You can also transform him with a [[Meteor Golem]] or [[Burning-Rune Demon]] and can even triple changelings like [[Amoeboid Changeling]] or [[Bloodline Pretender]]. --- >>> {B}{R} **Killer in the Mirror** {R}{B} Same Name Creatures <<[[!Rat Colony]][[!Demigod of Revenge]][[!Cheering Fanatic]]>> <<< There's nothing more beautiful than you. Except two of you. Focus on creating an army of identical creatures with [[Whisper Squad]], [[Whisper Squad]], [[Rat Colony]], [[Rat Colony]], [[Seven Dwarves]], [[Seven Dwarves]], and [[Brothers Yamazaki]] and [[Brothers Yamazaki]]. If your creatures are having trouble finding themselves, help them out with [[Infernal Tutor]], [[Pattern Matcher]], and [[Echoing Return]]. Or fabricate copies of them with [[Jaxis, the Troublemaker]], [[Cursed Mirror]], or [[Mirage Mirror]]. Once you have 200,000 units ready with a million more well on the way, buff your clone army using [[Assemble the Rank and Vile]], [[Incendiary Dissent]], and [[Mirror Box]]. With your large numbers and aggressive creatures, you can make sure it's your opponent who will get 7 years of bad luck. --- >>> {R}{G} **You're Just Like Me** {G}{R} Shared Creature Types <<[[!Shared Animosity]][[!Regisaur Alpha]][[!Realmwalker]]>> <<< Gruul looks for the similarities between creatures, rather than the differences. It's a beautiful sentiment. And makes chaotic destruction together much easier! Build a board of creatures and try to match up their creature types. Green goblins like [[Ignoble Hierarch]] pair with [[Cheering Fanatic]] and [[Goblin Gathering]], [[Magda, Brazen Outlaw]] supports the [[Seven Dwarves]], and both colors feature humans aplenty in [[Kessig Wolfrider]], [[Hanweir Garrison]], and [[Baru, Fist of Krosa]]. Them shape-changers can be quite helpful too: [[Masked Vandal]], [[Gladewalker Ritualist]], and [[Bloodline Pretender]]. Take advantage of these shared types with [[Shared Animosity]], [[Molten Echoes]], [[Grave Sifter]], [[Stoneforge Masterwork]], and [[Heirloom Blade]]. >>>**Splashing**<<< [[Blade Splicer]], [[Windrider Wizard]], [[Cryptbreaker]], and [[Rat Colony]] all care about specific creature types, and when paired with changelings or incidental creatures of those types can be quite powerful additions. --- >>> {G}{W} **The Redshirts** {W}{G} Tokens <<[[!Audience with Trostani]][[!Battle for Bretagard]][[!Blade Splicer]]>> <<< **Redshirt** (noun) : an expendable character with little or no personality or agency Someone's gotta chump block, and it's not Kirk, McCoy, or Spock. Probably best if it's the nameless, fourth away team member. Acquire those token creatures from [[Citizen's Crowbar]], [[Cubwarden]], [[Scute Swarm]], [[Caller of the Untamed]], and [[Esika's Chariot]]. Grow your army even further with [[King Darien XLVIII]], [[Rhys the Redeemed]], [[Dutiful Replicator]], [[Second Harvest]], and [[Battle for Bretagard]]. The latter two of those can multiple not just creatures, but other tokens as well, so look out for [[Thraben Inspector]], or get tricky with a [[Lithoform Engine]]. Once your battalion is large enough, pump it with [[Kjeldoran War Cry]], [[Trial of Solidarity]], or [[Echoing Courage]], which grows each token of the same type. --- >>> {W}{B} **Feasting on the Lower Class** {B}{W} Aristocrats <<[[!Doomed Traveler]][[!Maw of the Obzedat]][[!Nightmare Shepherd]]>> <<< From your ivory tower, you sneer as filthy 1/1s scuttle about below. [[Doomed Traveler]]s and [[Whisper Squad]]s and [[Squadron Hawk]]s alike with their peasant business. Despite their grotesque nature, they might be of some use to you... Once you've rounded up a fair number of small creatures, sacrifice them for advantage using [[Sanguine Spy]], [[Cabal Therapist]], and [[Plumb the Forbidden]]. As you amass advantage, remove pesky threats with cheap removal like [[Declaration in Stone]], [[Bile Blight]], and [[Legions to Ashes]]. To help bring the game to a decisive victory, turn all your tiny creatures into [[Dreadfeast Demon]]s or grow the hoard with [[Maw of the Obzedat]]. [[Nightmare Shepherd]] is particularly powerful in this deck, letting you double up on death triggers/activated abilities, or just letting you have your cake and eat it too (you can let them eat cake if you want to)! --- >>> {U}{R} **Practice Makes Perfect** {R}{U} Same Name Spells <<[[!Take inventory]][[!Saheeli, Sublime Artificer]][[!Harness the Storm]]>> <<< Gain advantage as your graveyard fills up with instants and sorceries. [[Rune Snag]], [[Take Inventory]], [[Galvanic Bombardment]], and [[Goblin Gathering]] are the main spells that improve in multiples. Slow down your opponent's strategy by casting these early. Alternative methods of putting these in your graveyard include [[Windrider Wizard]], [[Dragon's Rage Channeler]], [[Cloudpiercer]], and [[Loch Dragon]]. Also don't be afraid to use self mill cards like [[Deranged Assistant]], [[Covetous Castaway]], and [[Hedron Crab]]. [[Guttersnipe]] and [[Murmuring Mystic]] give us bonuses with every spell cast, and once we've started filling our graveyard, [[Frostpyre Arcanist]] can find us a copy of a spell and [[Harness the Storm]], [[Backdraft Hellkite]], and [[Spellweaver Helix]] can allow us to continue casting our spells. --- >>> {B}{G} **Actually, it's Ludevic's Monster** {G}{B} Reanimator <<[[!Dreadhound]][[!Diregraf Rebirth]][[!Noose Constrictor]]>> <<< DAY 1: I'm attempting to put giant creatures into the graveyard, in order to reanimate them. Experiments show that [[Cryptbreaker]], [[Pack Rat]], [[Noose Constrictor]], and [[Lotleth Troll]] have the needed skill to make this happen. I should cast one of them early... DAY 6: The most value is produced from large, explosive creatures that snowball quickly. [[Dreadfeast Demon]], [[Essence of the Wild]], and [[Giant Adephage]] are perfect specimens. Now to find the correct formula to bring them back to life... DAY 15: I've cracked it! [[Animate Dead]], [[Dread Return]], and [[Diregraf Rebirth]] are able to restore any slain behemoth as though it was never dead. And [[Bloodbond March]] works well when discarding multiple smaller creatures. POSTUS SCRIPTUS: Though not as explosive as the previously mentioned finishers, cards become more potent after discarding [[Undead Servant]] and [[Slime Against Humanity]]. And [[Reach of Branches]] doesn't stay in the graveyard for long... --- >>> {R}{W} **I Think Your Pants Look Hot** {W}{R} Auras/Equipment <<[[!Godsend]][[!Koll, the Forgemaster]][[!Infectious Bloodlust]]>> <<< Boros wants to cast creatures fast and help those early aggressors scale with the help of Aura and Equipment spells. Because you're balancing creature slots with these buffs, prioritize creatures that can make additional creatures. [[Doomed Traveler]], [[Blade Splicer]], [[Kessig Wolfrider]], [[Hanweir Garrison]], and [[Baird, Argivian Recruiter]] can all leave behind tokens to pick up dropped armaments. Similarly, the best auras/equipment are those that provide a creature too: [[Lion Sash]], [[Citizen's Crowbar]], [[Rabbit Battery]], [[Ogre-Head Helm]], and [[Bladehold War-Whip]]. Also keep an eye out for creatures that synergize specifically with auras/equipment, especially at higher mana costs like [[Sram, Senior Edificer]], [[Halvar, God of Battle]], [[Valduk, Keeper of the Flame]], and [[Brood Keeper]]. >>> **Runes and Trials** <<< Auras feature two sub-archetypes to look out for: [[Cartouche of Solidarity]] and [[Cartouche of Zeal]] can reclaim [[Trial of Solidarity]] and [[Trial of Zeal]], granting you value that Boros often lacks. In addition, each color includes a Rune: [[White|Rune of Sustenance]], [[Blue|Rune of Flight]], [[Black|Rune of Mortality]], [[Red|Rune of Speed]], [[Green|Rune of Might]]. These can modify creatures directly or your equipment, and you can help splash the off-color runes with [[Runeforge Champion]] and [[Runed Crown]]. --- >>> {G}{U} **If Everyone's Special, No One Is...** {U}{G} Clones/Different Names <<[[!Sakashima the Impostor]][[!Volo, Guide to Monsters]][[!Guardian Project]]>> <<< Despite the overall cube theme being multiple copies of cards, this deck wants you to have cards with different names. The immediate benefit for this strategy, is having [[Lutri, the Spellchaser]] as a companion, [[Guardian Project]] drawing cards off all your creatures, and [[Volo, Guide to Monsters]] being much more likely to copy your creatures. Just because your cards have different names in your deck, doesn't mean you can't have multiple creatures of the same name. There's a variety of clones to choose from: [[Phantasmal Image]], [[Cryptoplasm]], [[Vizier of Many Faces]], [[See Double]], [[Blade of Shared Souls]], [[See Double]], [[Phyrexian Metamorph]], and [[Littjara Mirrorlake]]. Several cards also come with an innate ability to copy themselves, such as [[Mist-Syndicate Naga]], [[Scute Swarm]], [[Giant Adephage]], [[Progenitor Mimic]], and [[Mishra's Self-Replicator]]. And if you don't end up with two many copies of creatures, that allows you to be more resilient to the cube's removal. You'll only be losing one creature when your opponent casts [[Declaration in Stone]], [[Echoing Truth]], [[Sever the Bloodline]], [[Homing Lightning]], [[Maelstrom Pulse]], or loads of others. --- >>> ## Other Archetypes <<< --- >>> {U}{B}{R} **Capitalist Toy Factory** {R}{B}{U} Artifacts <<[[!Mechanized Production]][[!Mishra, Artificer Prodigy]][[!Food Fight]]>> <<< There a small number of powerful build-around cards that care about artifacts. [[Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam]], [[Mechanized Production]], [[Mishra, Artificer Prodigy]], and [[Cogwork Assembler]] can continuously multiply your artifacts, giving you more bang for your buck, while [[Mirrormade]], [[Phyrexian Metamorph]], and [[The Mycosynth Gardens]] provide a single extra copy of your favorite toy. Keep your production line moving with [[Saheeli, Sublime Artificer]] and [[Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer]]. Once you've amassed a tiny robot army, lob your various creations at your opponent's creatures and face with [[Food Fight]]. --- >>> ## Powerful Combos <<< --- >>>{W/B}{B/R}{R/G} Meld {W/R}{W/G}{B/G}<<< >>><<[[!Bruna, The Fading Light]][[!Gisela, the Broken Blade]]>><<< Best in the {W}{U} control deck, as it will grant you time to assemble your expensive combo. Use cards like [[Anointed Peacekeeper]], [[Runed Halo]], [[Echoing Truth]], and [[Ashiok's Erasure]] to slow down the game, and don't worry if Gisela dies early, as Bruna can bring her right back. >>><<[[!Graf Rats]][[!Midnight Scavengers]]>><<< Best in the {B}{R} aggro deck, alongside cards that care about multiple copies, like [[Echoing Return]] and [[Cheering Fanatic]], and with any [[Rat Colony]]s you can find. >>><<[[!Hanweir Battlements]][[!Hanweir Garrison]]>><<< Powerful cards on their own, Battlements and Garrison are most effective in the {R}{G} creature type matters deck, with many Human (or Eldrazi) tokens increasing the effects of [[Basalt Ravager]], [[Shared Animosity]], [[Bloodline Pretender]], and [[Stoneforge Masterwork]]. >>><<[[!Titania, Voice of Gaea]][[!Argoth, Sanctum of Nature]]>><<< Best in the {B}{G} reanimator deck, where Argoth's mill will fuel your graveyard, and you have access to other ways to put lands into your graveyard, like [[Cryptbreaker]], [[Pack Rat]], [[Gorging Vulture]], and [[Noose Constrictor]]. And try to pick up as many [[Evolving Wilds]] as you can too. --- >>>{W/U}{U/R}{R/G} Mutate {W/R}{W/G}{U/G}<<< >>><<[[!Cubwarden]][[!Archipelagore]][[!Cloudpiercer]]>><<< One of the best parts about mutate is that copies of a mutated creature will retain all abilities from those creatures. Meaning you can make a giant beast with tons of different abilities on it. This cube features three mutate creatures, each with powerful effects that slot well into multiple draft archetypes falling into white, blue, and red. >>><<[[!Nacatl War-Pride]][[!Scute Swarm]][[!Myr Propagator]][[!Volo, Guide to Monsters]]>><<< There are a plethora of ways to copy your mutated creatures. [[Scute Swarm]] and [[Myr Propagator]] work similarly, being 3-drop creatures that inherently have a way to create more copies of themselves, which becomes a lot more potent when they are 7/7s. [[Nacatl War-Pride]] makes copies of itself tapped and attacking, and when those tokens are enormous, you can not only wrath your opponent's board, but likely mess them up pretty good too. And [[Volo, Guide to Monsters]] will duplicate your mutate creatures on the stack, assuming you don't have any other creatures of their types, which will increase the number of mutate triggers you receive from a single card. There are tons more synergy pieces with mutate, like [[Mist-Syndicate Naga]], [[Pack Rat]], [[/Sun-Blessed Guardian]], [[Mirror-Sigil Sergeant]] among others. These Ikoria Behemoths can really go the distance. --- >>>{W}{U}{B}{R}{G} Grandeur {G}{R}{B}{U}{W} >>><<[[!Oriss, Samite Guardian]][[!Linessa, Zephyr Mage]][[!Korlash, Heir to Blackblade]]>><<< >>><<[[!Tarox Bladewing]][[!Baru, Fist of Krosa]]>><<< One of the best parts about this cube is that the Grandeur cycle finally has a home. All 5 of these cards can be used to great effect if you're able to pick up both copies of them that are in the cube. But even if you can't, [[_____]] can change its name to match any of them while in your hand, giving you the ability to activate its ability anyway. There's also potential to get tricky, creating a copy of a grandeur creature on the battlefield, then bouncing the original to be able to activate its ability. In any case, this can be one of the most powerful actions you can take in this cube, if you're able to pull it off. >>>[[!_____]]<<<