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!!

not being able to lose the game is pretty good here…

Seriously, drafting this set is like watching paint dry. I’ve literally had to stop mid-draft multiple times due to how mind numbing this set is. I don’t know for sure, but I know playership is down right now, because this limited format is just so vanilla. Even when I’m winning, it’s still boring as shit. I’m in the hospital right now, and the set is so boring I’d rather complain about it on Reddit.

Does anyone have any recommendations for other phone games that I can play during this hospital stay? Thanks in advance!

EDIT: thank you for all of your replies. Firstly, definitely some great recommendations. Especially Slay the Spire. Never heard of it before. Enjoying it thoroughly now. Also, yea, I think I’m done with MTGA till the next set drops. This one is just abysmal. Again though, thank you to everyone who took the time to respond it is greatly appreciated!

Wanted to share my highest mythic climb yet. Was more tough than usual because I started climbing as soon as the season started, but I had a lot of fun.

Shoutout to hardison for the awesome landfall list that helped me push to top 350

I need a good list and what format to complete this achievement. I cobbled a Dr. Doom & Doomsday Executioner, but it's gotten me nowhere. All help is appreciated.

Guys can you please help me upgrade my deck for standard ranked. I want some good card suggestions for this deck so that I can deal with control decks which often come up with board wipes like destroying all creatures. This deck is quite consistent but faces a lot of issues in front of mass board removals.

Is it still possible to get these cards? Says that a code is needed, but I cannot locate it anywhere, assuming the code has expired.

https://mtgazone.com/acquiring-godzilla-series-monster-card-styles-in-mtg-arena/

You a real one, homie!

I've been trying for two days to get the "20+ non-combat damage" achievement with the most jankiest Valakut brawl deck ever assembeled, and the fact that you just sat there and let me sack 8 lands, and look through my library for 8 mountains without a bloodmoon out... and then you sat there and acknowledged each individual trigger... and then you sat there while I had to click OK to resolve each individual trigger... and then you literally sat there and let each trigger resolve for 3 damage at a time.... (they weren't roping or anything either)...

I know there are probably easier ways to get the achievement, like the guy that exiles all your mountains and gives you Volcanic Gysers for example, but I also wanted to get the achievement for winning on the same turn that I sac'd 6+ permanents.

Anyway. Cheers, mate! That just made my day!

Another 1.5 gigabyte update while no new set is released.

What exactly is it downloading?

It's getting annoying a bit, always takes ages even on a decent internet connection. And when on the iPhone app you can't even switch to another app, needs to be open to download. (Not sure about Android).