Modern Cube Update on Magic Online
Posted on Sep 28, 2022
Howdy, gamers!
It's time for another cube update, and this time we've got Modern Cube on the docket. It's been a while since we've visited this cube, we've released a ton of cards in the time since we were here, and the cube is relatively young in its iterative process. There's a lot to cover, so let's get to talking about it!
First, I'd like to roll out the red carpet for one of Wizards' design interns Aaron Sorrels, who made a ton of updates on this iteration of Modern Cube, and give him a chance to speak to what fueled his changes and some of his favorite things to do in this cube:
Hello! My name is Aaron Sorrells, and I was a casual play design intern over the summer. I worked with Carmen to craft this massive cube update. We added a lot of new cards from throughout the last year, changed some supported archetypes, and I even got to add some of my personal favorites from my own cube.
One of the archetypes we added to the cube in this update is Bx Sacrifice. This is one of my favorite cube archetypes because a lot of the cards are so modular and there are a variety of builds within the archetype.
One of the variations is Black-Red Sacrifice. This deck leans into the aggressive side of its red cards. It's trying to get its opponent's life total to 0, not through an infinite combo or huge turn, but through individual cards adding up to the lethal threshold. Falkenrath Aristocrat is an absolute slam dunk in these decks. It's not only a sac outlet, but it also clocks in for 4 precious points of damage every turn. Pay special attention to some red cards like Fanatical Firebrand and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame. These slots may not look like they're meant for you, but I promise that the former is the glue that holds this shell together, and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame is a powerhouse in concert with cards like Blood Artist. My last tip for this variation is to take burn spells like Lightning Strike and Char with a higher priority than you might think. Games are often decided by being able to reach that lethal threshold with combinations of Blood Artist and Goblin Bombardment. That Lightning Strike can often act as the final piece to the puzzle.
The other major version of this deck is a more combo-centric deck in Abzan. This time, you're looking to put together various combo pieces like Viscera Seer; Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit; and Kitchen Finks. This variation cares a lot about its shell of creatures and ways it has to find them. Aside from your combo pieces, be on the lookout for tutor effects like Eladamri's Call and Finale of Devastation.
One overlooked side of these decks is their synergy with planeswalkers. Your small sacrifice fodder will make perfect blockers for planeswalkers that grind the game out and eventually find combo pieces. Cards like Vivien, Monsters' Advocate and Ajani, Mentor of Heroes are some of my favorites here.
Aside from sacrifice, I'm excited to see some of my personal favorites make their appearance in this cube. Kogla, the Titan Ape is one of these. This primate is a super underrated threat and has amazing synergy with Humans like Charming Prince and Eternal Witness. You haven't lived until you take infinite turns using Kogla to loop Eternal Witness, bringing back Time Warp.
For anyone who remembers last year's update to Modern Cube, the tonal shift in favor of combos is a bit of a departure from the previous change. In general, assembling combos is fun, and it allows for some more powerful cards to be included in the cube in the interest of feeling truer to Modern. Reanimator was in the cube previously but felt like a watery version of a beloved Vintage and Legacy Cube archetype, so eschewing that in favor of some combos that have seen play in Modern before (like the Kitchen Finks combo Aaron described) just makes sense in terms of resonance and identity.
I'm happy that Aaron was so excited about the proposition and dove into these changes head first, and I can't wait to see y'all in the queues!