One year ago, Wizards of the Coast announced the Powered Cube for MTG Arena to much fanfare. Since then, this occasionally returning Draft experience has proven beloved by fans, especially since it occasionally provides new cards. Arriving via the Prize Packs, the Arena Powered Cube can deliver some pretty spicy new-to-Arena reprints if we’re lucky.
Today, Wizards of the Coast more than delivered on that front, introducing new new-to-Arena cards to prize packs. With none of these getting banned, too, Historic, Timeless, and Brawl players all have some new toys to play with.
Gravecrawler
Out of the ten cards arriving in the Powered Cube Update tomorrow, Gravecrawler is arguably the most exciting. Because you can recast it from the graveyard for just one mana, this card goes infinite with a ham sandwich.
Warren Soultrader
Warren Soultrader
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
is the classic choice, providing an easy sacrifice engine and recast option all-in-one.
With Soultrader, all you need is a
Blood Artist
Blood Artist
Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
or similar effect, and you can win on the spot. Considering Gravecrawler was the only part of this combo missing in Historic and Brawl, it’s bound to make waves soon. Admittedly, it’s unclear if this combo will be fiercely competitive, but it’ll definitely be worth watching out for.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Much like Gravecrawler, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is another tried-and-true combo classic. Alongside any creature that can untap another creature, like
Zealous Conscripts
Zealous Conscripts
Haste
When this creature enters, gain control of target permanent until end of turn. Untap that permanent. It gains haste until end of turn.
, you can easily make infinite creature tokens. To do this, you only have to create a copy of Zealous Conscripts, untap Kiki-Jiki with it, then rinse and repeat.
While this has long been a popular Commander combo, and will soon be in Brawl, it may also have Historic potential. Occasionally, Kiki-Jiki pops up in Modern Goblin decks for an infinite combo with Conspicuous Snoop, so it could make a Historic appearance here, too. Even if Kiki-Jiki doesn’t do much, it’s always great to see a classic, beloved card arrive on the client.
Through the Breach
Considering Wizards had to develop the Splice onto Arcane mechanic to make it happen, Through the Breach is easily the most surprising addition here. That said, it’s definitely a welcome one, as Through the Breach sees somewhat steady play in Modern right now. As one of the namesake cards in Eldrazi Breach decks, this card can cheat in game-ending threats way ahead of schedule.
Considering most Eldrazi Breach cards are legal in Historic, MTG players will surely build around this new card. While this deck’s viability isn’t entirely clear right now, it could easily pop up in Brawl. Admittedly, Through the Breach isn’t quite as strong in Commander formats; however, you definitely shouldn’t count this card out.
If nothing else, we already know that Arcane will be a big part of Darkhold Destinies in 2027. This could give Through the Breach a major boost next year, but that remains to be seen.
Nature’s Lore
At the very least, Nature’s Lore arriving on MTG Arena is a godsend for Brawl players. As a Commander staple, this iconic ramp piece appears in over 1.5 million decks. In Brawl, we can expect this card to be just as popular, appearing in most green-aligned decks.
Notably, while this is predominantly a Brawl card, Nature’s Lore could still have some competitive applications. Since the
Forest
Forest
({T}: Add {G}.)
it finds enters untapped, it could be used over
Farseek
Farseek
Search your library for a Plains, Island, Swamp, or Mountain card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
in Gruul Valakut decks. Just how much of an impact this will have, or if it’ll be widely adopted, however, is unclear at the moment.
A Selection of Draft Chaff
Sadly, while this Powered Cube Update did give us a few bangers in Prize Packs, they’re not all gems. The remaining six cards are fairly mediocre, largely just being Brawl-playable draft chaff. Out of these,
Deceiver Exarch
Deceiver Exarch
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
When this creature enters, choose one —
• Untap target permanent you control.
• Tap target permanent an opponent controls.
is arguably the most exciting, thanks to its prolific combo with
Splinter Twin
Splinter Twin
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has "{T}: Create a token that's a copy of this creature, except it has haste. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step."
.
After this, however, things fall off a bit of a cliff, as
Guardian Scalelord
Guardian Scalelord
Backup 1 (When this creature enters, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following abilities until end of turn.)
Flying
Whenever this creature attacks, return target nonland permanent card with mana value X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is this creature's power.
and
Hero of Bladehold
Hero of Bladehold
Battle cry (Whenever this creature attacks, each other attacking creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.)
Whenever this creature attacks, create two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens that are tapped and attacking.
are really just for Brawl. While each of these cards can work effectively and see some Commander play, neither is close to game-breaking. The same is also true for
Qasali Pridemage
Qasali Pridemage
Exalted (Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
{1}, Sacrifice this creature: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
, which is usually only found in Cat Typal decks.
Dropping off even more, it’s difficult to get excited about either
Flametongue Kavu
Flametongue Kavu
When this creature enters, it deals 4 damage to target creature.
or
Lose Focus
Lose Focus
Replicate {U} (When you cast this spell, copy it for each time you paid its replicate cost. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays {2}.
. Both of these cards are real draft chaff, with little hope of seeing play anywhere. Technically, these cards can have their uses, but the scope is so narrow that I wouldn’t expect much.
All in all, with four strong additions and a few interesting Brawl cards beyond that, this Powered Cube Update isn’t bad at all. Notably, while these are the new cards we get to play with, plenty more have been added to Arena without being craftable.
Baloth Prime
Baloth Prime
This creature enters tapped with six stun counters on it. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)
Whenever you sacrifice a land, create a tapped 4/4 green Beast creature token and untap this creature.
{4}, Sacrifice a land: You gain 2 life.
,
Walking Ballista
Walking Ballista
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{4}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target.
, and
Exhume
Exhume
Each player puts a creature card from their graveyard onto the battlefield.
, for instance, are all now in the Cube and could potentially be made playable eventually.
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