Our letters

<3

On day 4 I wrote a letter to Mystical Teachings where I made him a promise: I would build a new cube where Mystical Teachings would be the star. I am opting for my cube setup I have had a lot of success with: my Masters setup. A cube where there are 3 copies of each common, 2 copies of each uncommon and one copy of each rare in the cube. Each booster consists of 2 rares, 5 uncommons and 8 commons. The goal is to mimic the experience of the old Modern Masters sets. I feel that would be a perfect place to let Mystical Teachings shine, because I usually design them for a lower power level and I get to put 3 copies in the cube. 

I have been cooking on a sweet setup for this cube. The thing I used to love about Mystical Teachings is the toolbox it offered. Having a deck full of silver bullets you can search up offers such great gameplay. That in combination with the value Mystical Teachings offers, when using the flashback for a new copy. And you Micromancer, fit perfectly in that cube. 

You also offer a toolbox. There are so many options to design a great toolbox for you. Efficiënt removal, X cost spells and spells with additional costs like kicker or replicate. And then there is the option to find a card like Ephemerate or Daydream to get more additional value out of you. You offer the same play patterns as Mystical Teachings does, and because of you I’ve decided what the goal of this cube will be: a toolbox cube. Full of silver bullets and great value toolboxes. I am Daydreaming about you in this cube and I love you for it. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I love cards like you. As a cube designer, you are the type of card I look for. The card that makes your heart jump, the card that just clicks. When designing a cube, as the designer you look for a pallet of themes to shape your cube. The problem with a lot of different themes is that you often want to support the specific themes with cards that are hyper focussed. Which means they are only going to be picked by the player or players drafting this theme, and no one else is even going to give those cards a second look. Which is a shame, because it takes a lot of skill out of the drafting portion. 

I love the pauper format and have always loved it. I love the Boros Synthesizer value game. I love the evolution of the Affinity deck from a hyper aggro deck to almost a control deck. I love the Blue tempo decks. I love the Ephemerate synergie decks. So I wanted to build a cube to resemble that feel of the pauper gameplay that I so adore. I chose to combine this with my first ever ‘doubleton’ cube. This is the type of cube setup where every card is in the cube with 2 copies. A clean and simple rule which creates a more constructed feel to a cube, which sounded perfect for what I wanted to achieve. 

When building this cube, is where I fell in love with you Kenku Artificer. A staple of the pauper format since you were printed in 2022 because of your partnership with the Modern Horizons 2 indestructible artifact lands. You are a hyper focussed theme specific card. But you are so for multiple themes. You are great in Ephemerate synergy decks and the Affinity style decks. Even in the Jeskai Synthesiser decks or Dimir control decks you play your role. You are such a versatile card while being hyper focused. And as a cube designer I love you for that. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

You are what I love about Magic. You have such an elegant design. With so much depth. There is so much more to discover than what you offer at first glance. You do not simply return a creature to its owner’s hand. You temporise the game. You free your buddies from a Pacifism. You reuse, or should I say abuse, the enters triggers of your buddies like Mulldrifter. But the most satisfying thing you do: you recycle yourself over and over again. Powering engines like Aluren, creating an infinite combo with Soul Warden in PreModern. Or in cubes, powering funky cards like Beast Whisperer, Primeval Bounty or Warstorm Surge. 

People have argued against your design. The only downside you have is that new players have to learn the hard way, that playing you on an empty board, means you have to bounce yourself. As a result, since 2019 every blue creature that resembles you, either only returns opponents creatures, or returns “up to one other creature”. By trying to make Magic more accessible and safe, I think they are ruining it. Adding a simple “may” would have fixed the problem while keeping your depth. Now they are killing that depth. I think they are doing this on purpose to close off self bounce loops. 

What I love about cube is that I don’t have to care about Wizards doing this. I can just play you in my cubes. I think one of the most beautiful things about Magic is that depth about cards you discover along the way. The layers you have to peel of to see the real you. 

And I see the real you Man-o’-War, and I love you. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I was mesmerised by you back in 2008, Pro Tour Hollywood. Manuel Bucher created a 5 color control deck called Quick and Toast, which Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, one of my favourite players, piloted to an undefeated day one record. The sheer amazement that a 2GGGG card could be played in a 5 color deck was amazing. And the role you played in that deck was amazing. Being the perfect gear in that machine to battle the format. As the control player I was, I myself jumped on that Quick and Toast train and we together had a lot of fun. But the moment I fell in love with you came many years later. 

In 2022 after enjoying the baby bubble of the birth of my daughter and settling in our new home, it was time to reconnect with my first love: Magic the Gathering. By that time, playing Power cube was like an out of body experience. I started playing Power cube back in 2009, and a couple of years of fire design completely changed that experience. For reference, 2022 was the year Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes was released and Oko, Thief of Crowns was already a forgotten relic residing in the Power cube for 3 years by then. I decided, being a father and all, it was time to get nostalgic. So I built a new cube: a Power cube only including cards that were printed in and before 2009. That included all 10 fetch lands and Goblin Guide, but no Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Back to my early days of cube. 

In 2024 I was away for the weekend with a group of friends to play some Magic including my friend Laurens. That weekend we drafted my 2009 Power cube. Laurens is younger than me and started playing Magic after 2009, so for him drafting this cube was not a nostalgic experience. It was a learning experience. I remember so vividly that Laurens had to read so many cards. I remember him bursting out in laughter at some point, shouting “What the hell is this card, this is unplayable!”. He was talking about you, Cloudthresher. He hadn’t seen you before and didn’t know about your glory days as the headliner of the Quick and Toast deck.

I fell in love with you that day. The reason I fell in love with you that day: after that statement Laurens made, he drafted you, he played you and he crushed skulls with you. The fact that cube can bring forth these moments is one of the many reasons I love cube. And the reason why I love cards like you. Thank you for those memories, Cloudthresher. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

The first time I ever played limited was back in 2006. It was the evening before the Dutch National Championships. I qualified by playing my beloved Heartbeat of Spring deck in a standard qualifier in Zwolle. I thought it might be a good idea to at least do one practice draft before I draft at the Dutch National Championships. So I did a Coldsnap practice draft, and let me tell you, I hated it. 

The problem with limited at that time, was that you were forced to play 2 mana vanilla 2/1 creatures. The classic Grizzly Bears and Hill Giants that were the regulars of every limited format back then. And I just thought that that was very boring. The practice actually paid off, I did 3-0 my Coldsnap draft at the Dutch National Championships. With that boring vanilla 2 mana 2/1 in my deck. Couldn’t say I enjoyed playing that draft. 

When you, Peace Strider, were released in 2011 I immediately added you to my Peasant cube. The explanation was simple. If I want to play a Hill Giant, it should at least gain me 3 life. You were and still are my uncommon version of Loxodon Hierarch. You were and still are my explanation why I didn’t like normal limited, and loved cube. Because in cube the worst Hill Giant you are going to get, at least gains you 3 life. And for that, I love you. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I love you. Which is a testament to my development as a Magic player. In constructed I used to play either combo or control decks. My friends always teased me that I didn’t know how to win with Magic, only knew how not to lose. And to be fair, they were completely right. I sucked at the combat step. I remember my old friend Timo watching over my shoulder in agony as I struggled my way through combat steps at the local FNM. Every time reminding me of how bad I was at combat. 

For years all I knew was that winning was the logical result of not losing. But I also knew that that was a very flawed way of viewing Magic. And the best way of learning, was by playing. So I forced myself to draft aggressive decks in cube more often. To grow as a player. Lucky for me, back in 2009, mono red aggro was one of the best strategies in both Power cube and Peasant cube. Those were the 2 cubes we as a playgroup played, every single week. No one liked playing mono red aggro, so plenty of room for me to develop my skills in the combat step. 

10 years later, in 2019, I was playing the finals of a Cube Invitational I organised. I was playing my dear friend Frank. Frank is a clearly better player than I was back then, and still is. But I knew something he didn’t, I knew how good you, Samite Pilgrim, are at dominating the combat step. For the top 4 draft, which was a silent auction draft with my pauper cube, I drafted a green and white aggro deck. And you were one of the stars of that deck. When I played you on turn 2 against Frank he shrugged, not thinking much of you. And you hit back, and hit back hard. Because even with only 2 basic land types in play, preventing 2 damage with each activation, we completely dominated combat and swiftly won the finals. After the match Frank had to admit, you are a whole lot better than you look. 

I knew something he didn’t. In those 10 years of learning about the combat step I learned a very specific skill. I learned to recognise a Kabuto Moth, and you my friend, are a Kabuto Moth in disguise. And I love you for it. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I love you man. I discovered you when researching cards or my cube Mich Masters. Micha-el is a good friend of mine who used to love to brew. And in honour of all the brews he made I’ve built a cube to showcase as many of them as I could. Around 2007 Micha-el was tearing through the PTQ scene with a wild Cleric brew. Using Dark Supplicant in combination with Rotlung Reanimator to fetch up Scion of Darkness while making a bunch of 2/2 Zombie tokens along the way. I wanted to capture these play patterns in a cube and my Masters cube setup was perfect for this. There is 1 copy of each rare, 2 copies of each uncommon and 3 copies of each common in this cube. A booster consists of 2 rares, 5 uncommons and 8 commons. 

I couldn’t just rely on the staple bangers of the Cleric archetype. I needed to find new Clerics to bring to the table and that is where I found you: a long forgotten common from Nemesis. And I loved what you had to offer. Because you made playing combat impossible for your opponents. Four activations just meant no one could keep up with what you were bringing to the table. And that was exactly what I was looking for for the Cleric archetype. But there was more. Micha-el was also a fervent lover of the cycling menace Astral Slide. And you also fit in perfectly in that strategy. Dominating combat and then resetting you is an amazing play pattern to keep doing over and over again. As a cube designer, findings like you make my heart jump. Cards that slot into multiple strategies you want to support. 

And after the first time playing with you myself I just knew I would love you forever Defender en-Vec. Because I had just found another Kabuto Moth. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

Never pass a Kabuto Moth. It was a saying from old Kamikawa limited, because you were by far the best common in that format. It was impossible to lose in combat when you were active. Personally I didn’t play a single draft or sealed deck in the old Kamikawa block. I only started playing limited when I discovered cube, and there I needed a little bit of help before I fell in love with you. 

When building my first Masters cube back in 2013, a cube designed to copy the feel of the old Modern Masters draft experience, I was looking for white common Spirits. Because I wanted to include a Tallowisp strategy in that cube. In this cube, there is 1 copy of each rare, 2 copies of each uncommon and 3 copies of each common. So it was easier to support a fringe card like Tallowisp because the setup of the cube supported multiple copies. In my first version of this list I opted for Voiceless Spirit. In the first drafts of this cube it was loved by the players for the unique experience it brought to the table, it did really feel like the Modern Masters experience. The impact forgotten commons had on the games was beautiful to see. But it had some rough edges, and Voiceless Spirit was one of those edges. It was bad. 

When I discussed this cube with my dear friend Danny he gave me the best feedback I ever got as a cube designer. The players playing my cubes were all spikes, PTQ grinders, competitive players. Cards like Voiceless Spirit offered little interesting gameplay, it was way too vanilla. Danny told me I should design for board states so complicated that even the most skilled players would miss on board tricks due to the complexity of all the pieces. He did play with you, Kabuto Moth, in Kamikawa limited and used you as THE example of what this cube was missing. Not even realising that you are a Spirit, the perfect company for Tallowisp. But he teached me as a cube designer what made Magic so beautiful: complexity. And you are the pinnacle of complexity, Kabuto Moth. 

After the first time playing with you I fell madly in love with you. My friend Rinke got so frustrated with you that he had to kill you with a Gruul Ragebeast because he couldn’t attack, because of you. Needing a 7 mana 6/6 rare to pick off a 3 mana 1/2 common. At that moment I knew Danny was right, and I fell madly in love with you. 

At the time of writing this I own 19 unique cubes. And my friends always tease me with my love for you, because they have the feeling you are in each and everyone of those cubes. To be fair, you are in 7 unique cubes, and in 4 of my 6 Masters cubes. Because you still are the best at offering what I am looking for: complexity. And I love you for that.

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I love you. For years I have sad that red aggressive decks in Magic Online Vintage cube became a scam. Red Deck Wins was a staple in Power Cube for many years, from when I first started playing Power Cube back in 2008 until fire design in 2019. In those days seeing a turn one Goblin Guide told you the fun police were there to seal your doom. But after fire design the creature cards got better and better and we saw a shift away from red aggressive one drops in Power cubes. In 2024 we hit the low point when there were a total five one mana aggressive creatures in the Magic Online Vintage cube. I will list the five for you:

• Blazing Rootwalla
• Dragon’s Rage Channeler
• Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer 
• Voldaren Epicure
• Figure of Destiny

Five cards on 540 cards means on average 3.33 red aggressive one mana creatures in a draft. In 2024 I thought, red aggro is dead in Power Cube. 

At the time of writing this, in 2026, there are nine aggressive one mana creatures available to red in the MTGO Vintage cube. Still not enough for mono red aggro, but it is a testament to the aggro players that they still have a place in Power Cube. Especially in Boros. Because after the 2025 release of Power Cube to Magic The Gathering Arena, 17lands data proved that Boros aggro was by far the best performing strategy in that version of Power Cube. Red aggro was alive and how!

And even though in that data you don’t show up as one of the higher win percentage cards, I do think that red aggro reclaiming a top spot in Power cube is thanks to cards like you. Because you are so much more than a red aggressive one drop. So much more than Goblin Guide could ever be. You provide an artifact for the Blue and Red Tolarian Academy decks. You provide a discard outlet for Black and Red reanimator decks. And you are a good enough way to start applying the pressure when playing a red aggressive deck. I love that red aggro cards have evolved away from singular cards like Goblin Guide into such much deeper cards from a design perspective like you, Voldaren Epicure. And I love you for that. 

And personally, when I get to draft you in a Power cube, you take me back to those sweet old days of doing what I love doing: being the fun police. 

With love,

Hanjo