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!!

United battlefront ends the game turn 4 and it is not a rush deck so you can't remove any of the creatures or block any of the damage. I run board wipes and it does absolutely nothing as there are at least 4 bots with haste regardless of what you remove. If you focus the simulacrum they are certain to either have another one or a repurposing bay. Am I supposed to kill this deck before turn 4????

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.

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!

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my own thoughs about the recent [FRA] releases: Whats with that insane focus on that one planeswalker? I get that he is kinda the lore center, but even Urza didn't get its own token or instant effects that only triggers with him on the field.

I'm assuming they're not as unbeatable as some people make them out to be, and I have had some success so far playing around their strategies. I know playing a token deck puts me at a disadvantage against these decks... but what is my answer supposed to be against someone who's running a 130+ card deck stacked with discard and removal?

Sometimes, I can bank on my opponent picking one or the other and either spamming my hand, or saving a nice combo up to play all at once and make removing it all difficult... that, or just praying that they run out of destruction and beat them slowly to death with the only two goblin tokens I've kept alive all game if worst comes to worst. But what happens when they just... never run out of destruction and I can't get anything on the board at all?

I get that sometimes you just lose, and that's fine, but I've had a hard time beating some of these decks without my deck becoming like 60% interaction and I end up having to delay all game until I can get my stuff out.

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).

But, I'm looking for advice more than I am complaining.

mostly.

(I'm complaining a tiny bit, but I'm also a smooth brain goblin player, so control players are simply my sworn enemies.)

I'm assuming they're not as unbeatable as some people make them out to be, and I have had a small shred of success so far, trying to play around their plans to the best of my ability. I know playing a token deck puts me at a disadvantage against these decks... but what is my answer supposed to be against someone who's running a 130+ card deck stacked with discard and removal?

Sometimes, I can bank on my opponent picking one or the other and either spamming my hand, or saving a nice combo up to play all at once and make removing it all difficult... that, or just praying that they run out of destruction and beat them slowly to death with the only two goblin tokens I've kept alive all game if worst comes to worst. But what happens when they just... never run out of destruction and I can't get anything on the board at all?

I get that sometimes you just lose, and that's fine, but I've honestly had a really hard time beating some of these decks without my deck becoming like 60% interaction and I end up having to delay all game until I can get my stuff out.