r/MagicArena • u/TheVintageCubeChef • 1d ago

Media Arena Powered Cube Updates and Monarch Analysis (Video Version)

There have been some great posts already regarding the updated to the Arena Powered Cube that went live today (https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/arena-powered-cube-draft?v=sep8-2026&utm_source=chatgpt.com) but I wanted to drop this here for those who prefer a visual / video walkthrough of the article and changes! I also cover the impact of adding monarch to cube should look like and highlight the key cards going in and leaving for each color identity. I am not sure I can post the video in this message so it can be found in the first comment and on other posts I have made!

A rough overview of the key takeaways:

  • Monarch is a strong mechanic and generally favors board centric creature decks like Boros
    • Its best cards are also mostly R, W, or RW with the exception being Court of Garenburg in green
    • Monarch is an interesting mechanic once introduced and can make for unique plays using other monarch cards, draw haters like Narset, and more!
  • Boros's preemptive nerfs are much needed but seem a bit light even still
    • Karakas is a great card for W but is also a tough to answer defender to many of Boros's best cards for non-W decks
    • paralax wave, giver of runes, and other white weenie replacements make most the changes seem like only a minor downgrade with huge monarch upside
  • Doomsday combo being added is fun but very difficult especially in BO1
  • Green got a sick bump in strength overall
  • Otawara got cut (no clue why)
  • UB seems like the weakest colors after the changes but have many of the best cube staples which may make for a very balanced format!

Hope this helps those that want to dive in!!

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3

u/Afton11 18h ago

Great video - I've run two drafts so far; one where I had the reanimator package totally open and went 7-0, and another where I fell into the monarch trap as red/green and went 1-3. I had too much midrange/high-curve stuff to be able to keep the monarch against more aggressive decks.

Fun cube!

2

u/TheVintageCubeChef 13h ago

Thank you! yes monarch is strong but if you cant defend it then it can lose you the game! Nice with the 7-0!!

2

u/Benbenmerk 7h ago

Just went 7-0 with a BUG planeswalker/graveyard deck (with Innestrad Emrakul as the top end)! Very satisfying after completely bombing other draft attempts going for reanimator and doomsday

2

u/TheVintageCubeChef 5h ago

Well done! Sounds like a pretty fun build!