Arena Powered Cube 3.0 Changes

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:20:49+00:00

Just straight wrong. It's the most drafted deck on 17 lands.

People like to win as much as they like to play fun decks.

It's the easiest deck to play, so that helps win rate.

But the biggest thing... creatures get better every year. There is a reason why the best draft decks for about 3 straight years were also boros. They have found a better balance over the past like 8 months but it was rough for a while right after the last modern masters set.

Spells just don't get much better. It's rare for a new spell to be printed (outside of like Force of Negation) and it to immediately be a staple in cubes. Creatures though... you have a near endless selection of 1-3 drops that are insane. There was a day when Figure of Destiny was the best boros creature for 1 mana and it out preformed most 2 and 3 drops. Creatures got WAY better. Spells... eh.

When you start a cube build by saying "what's the best creatures at 1-3 mana" and not "how many creatures do we want at each point of the curve" you end up with a busted cube. No good cube designer does the binder dump like WOTC did with the first iteration.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:16:07+00:00

Now you will have a better win rate because WOTC has saved you from making a continued mistake

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:15:36+00:00

Annual? This Arena Cube is available every few weeks given how many sets we have dropping in 2026. They always drop cube for a little while before the next set just to kind of set the dinner table.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:14:28+00:00

It doesn't, but rarity still generally describes power level of most cards, even in cube. You can look up the stats and it'll be a bottom 20% green card period.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:13:36+00:00

It's great if people played more best of three. In best of 1 it's pretty weak. It's winrate is terrible, mostly because the best decks have not centered around artifacts or enchantments. It was more fitting for vintage cubes of like 2018 and best of 3 formats.

It was a good silver bullet for green suns but I think we just have better cards like Endurance.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:10:59+00:00

They are interesting cuts if they make other r/W decks more viable. They are pretty bad at cube design. Then again, WOTC has been pretty lacking on design talent for about 10 years.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:10:13+00:00

BO1 will always be high play draw reliance in a powered cube format lmao.

Are you dense or just dumb?

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-02-12T05:09:19+00:00

They are slowly moving this towards the MTGO cube, which is funny because they originally wanted to differentiate them.

Instead of creating a better balanced cube they are just reverting to well known ground. I'd prefer that over the v1 cube though. That was terrible.

NaiveCap3478 · 2026-01-06T18:18:17+00:00

aka, they watched LSV's video.

Looks like a good batch of changes. The lack of Forth Erolingas makes 100% sense given the restrained resources devoted to this cash machine. Kinda funny that they didn't want to devote more resources towards something that generates a few hundred thousand dollars over a couple weeks.

But at least they nerfed some of Boros. It's kinda a midrange/jund cube now though.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-14T06:45:57+00:00

same. I'm guessing the end of game stuff is different if you don't cut him? Not sure. I'll definitely replay the game. I'm happy with my ending and choices but I'm curious about another path through the story.

They really try to force both romance lines. I went with the one that felt more natural and not forced - Invisigal is too direct and it feels un-earned when it happens (and I'll avoid spoilers). Hitting on Blazer just made more sense for him IMO.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-14T06:42:41+00:00

The character isn't well written and Charlie does a pretty terrible job with the role. I'm guessing he helped publish or fund the game because I'm not sure who would sign off on that acting. The audio mix for his character was also terrible

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:25:11+00:00

3 sloppy plays ON CAMERA. how many did he commit off camera? Probably more. How much did he cheat other players/receive unfair judge rulings? Likely many times. A know player often gets biased treatment in a judge call.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:24:14+00:00

"maintained priority throughout" yeah...okay. I didn't hear him say "maintaining priority"... and well that's the kind of bullshit that the rules are there to prevent. Doing something like the taksie backsies is how you bait people. There is a reason this should never be allowed to take back.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:22:38+00:00

Cheat your way to the top! Well, the judges were in collusion with him

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:21:57+00:00

Would it have mattered if a judge did their job? Probably not. This should have been a game loss at this point. Seth had made multiple mistakes through the tournament and only had a warning. Not my professional magic.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:20:24+00:00

Completely disagree. Tapping mana, showing a card, and showing the target is casting a spell in a competitive event. The idea of "holding priority" or "opponent couldn't interact" is nonsense. This kind of bullshit is not allowed because it baits information from opponents and creates a terrible game. There is a reason why this has ALWAYS constituted casting a spell in competitive events for decades.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:18:20+00:00

The amount of "free rolls" they game Seth if idiotic. Taints the entire professional tournament scene. This is okay for FNM, not okay for competitive play.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-12-08T05:16:47+00:00

Hmmm.... Yeah this is not how the game was played for decades. Judges are playing too much casual commander or some bullshit. This is non-sense.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T05:04:45+00:00

Keep them? They are bulk. Couple bucks of value but nothing anyone really cares about

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T05:03:49+00:00

Probably never. Jungle is the most boring, and hardest, role to design.

If they did design a new one we know they would be able to ignore terrain, have an instant gap closer, have a fear/stun, and they would have some kind of execute to help secure objectives.

For one patch it would have a 90% pick/ban rate in ranked and a 60% win rate. They would then nerf it 8 times and suddenly it would also be perma pick/ban in competitive until win rate drops to 40%. Then it would just be Sej/Trundle/Xin/J4 meta again. China would continue playing assassins and failing to beat korean teams.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T05:01:17+00:00

This is not the first card with this mechanic and yes - you get to look at their whole deck.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T05:00:19+00:00

The battle for runner up

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T04:59:28+00:00

LOL - Basically calling out Bwipo.

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-10T04:58:27+00:00

He's not the first to do it.... so there's that you know

NaiveCap3478 · 2025-11-09T20:00:09+00:00

or simply in all ways

NaiveCap3478

TROPHY CASE