Another Magic set, another cube.

Somehow I got on a heater for the Lorwyn cube and lucksacked my way up to the #2xx mythic ranks on Arena. I don't think I'm gunna do this well again, so I'll savour the heat while I can!

Just like last time, here're a few of the decks we played this season.

7-2 Mini Naya

A Naya deck with a curve so low we almost don't need the Sol Ring.

Despite ongoing nerfs to Boros in the cube, these proactive white decks can still pick up more than their share of wins. Even though we're missing the cream of the crop - Minsc, Comet, Phlage - we had enough assertive cards to prey on the slower, clunkier decks.

Still, there's only so much Boros one can draft. The one angle making this slightly interesting is the Wrenn and Six + Strip Mine. I think a straight red/white deck would be more powerful for the consistency, but the green splash was pretty free here and it gave us another angle of attack.

7-1 Esper Tempo

Carrying on the theme from the previous deck, I frequently find myself grabbing strong white cards and seeing where that leads me. The cards are powerful and most people just don't want to take them, so there tends to be a strong deck in that direction if you're willing to chase it.

In this draft, we ended up drifting into Dimir ninjas territory. The big weakness of this deck is a lack of two drops. We had enough happening on one to make up for it, but I would've killed for a few more cheap flash threats.

That said, there's enough here to muscle through, especially against durdly decks that need an extra turn or two to set up. Boy, I love a good Fallen Shinobi. Best game was when I ninjutsu'd in just to whiff and peel two lands off the top of their deck, then forced it through the next turn to rip an Ugin.

Endless 7-x White Agro

Did I mention white was good?

No surprises with any of these decks - cheap agro threats and a Pyrogoyf or Comet to drop the hammer.

There's an ongoing discussion about how to properly balance out these agro decks in the cube. Some folks suggest removing redundant elements so the deck doesn't come together as frequently. We'd have to see; since the core is so streamlined and uncontested, I'm genuinely unsure if that'd be enough to break it up.

Anyway, I enjoy drafting Boros more than most, so no complaints from me.

7-1 Jund Reanimator

They don't all have to be white decks! Here we've got a stompy jund deck with a very light reanimator package (and nice a Mox Jet).

I'm lower and lower on dedicated reanimator as an archetype. I've had too many clunky hands that end up doing nothing, losing the game with some big chungus rotting in my hand.

On the flip side, I do really like these more midrangey decks that can backdoor into a big reanimation. Red has tons of great ways to incidentally discard cards and churn through the deck - Inti, Ivora, Tersa - so you can bin a reanimation target while still advancing a proactive gameplan.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to land a couple haymakers like Minsc & Boo or Pyrogoyf along the way. One card I was kind of curious about was The Legend of Roku and I still don't know how I feel. I guess it was kind of awkward in hand, but I've still gotta believe there's something to an Ancestral Recall that starts pooping out dragons.

7-2 Big Strippies

Bit of an odd duck. We started with Flash, then moved into Boros, then settled in green lands when that started flowing.

I think lands is generally a weaker archetype, but there's something to be said for Strip Mine + Icetill. The deck was pretty open here, so we got a lot of the important pieces.

Even in an ideal lands deck though, I think the all-in cards are kind of a trap. I cut Fastbond and passed over Zuran Orb in favour of Comet and Laelia and I still think that was the right call. No awkward draws; these cards just win the game.

The funniest part of this deck is the pair of Torsten and Archon hanging out. Now there's some chunguses. Chungi? They're holdovers from the Flash plan, but the deck can make enough mana to honk them out.

7-2 Nondu

This was a surprising trophy, but I guess it's hard to be too humble with double moxen.

I was shooting for a Bant Nadu deck, but that didn't really fly, so to speak. Most games just played out as grindy midrange and the bird didn't show up much.

If you squint, you can see the bones of a white agro deck again with Ocelot Pride and Adeline. Tough to resit the pull of that black white hole.