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 is the classic choice, providing an easy sacrifice engine and recast option all-in-one.
With Soultrader, all you need is a Blood Artist 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, 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 it finds enters untapped, it could be used over Farseek 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 is arguably the most exciting, thanks to its prolific combo with Splinter Twin.
After this, however, things fall off a bit of a cliff, as Guardian Scalelord and Hero of Bladehold
Hero of BladeholdBattle 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, which is usually only found in Cat Typal decks.
Dropping off even more, it’s difficult to get excited about either Flametongue Kavu or Lose Focus. 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, Walking Ballista, and Exhume, for instance, are all now in the Cube and could potentially be made playable eventually.
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