Our letters

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Yesterday I wrote to Professor of Symbology how much I love her. I’ve built my Hanjo Masters #5 cube back in 2022 as an honour to her. One of the many things I love about that cube is the Lesson – Learn mechanic. That during the draft you actively have to draft Lesson cards for your sideboard you can find with Learn. It adds so much more depth to the draft that I absolutely love. 

The original Lessons were quite bad. Which was perfectly fine, because they were a bonus. But you almost never saw a Lesson actually making the maindeck, so it was only additional depth during the draft but not during deck construction. That was until you, Origin of Metalbending, were released into the world on the 21st of November 2025 together with all your Lesson friends. 

The thing that makes you special is the way you slot perfectly into this cube. There is an enchantment theme in the cube and having enchantment removal that is flexible is an essential part of the cube. But you are also important for the enchantress theme itself, because they have to be able to protect their payoff creatures like Satyr Enchanter. Next in line are the multiple voltron strategies in the cube: white based Heroic and green based Mutate. Both need protection for their ‘build your own Baneslayer‘, and you provide just that. 

The most amazing thing you offer this cube is the depth of your flexibility, in your play patterns, during the draft and most importantly, during deck building. In 2 weeks I hopefully get to play you in the top 4 of the cube invitational I’m organising. I’m just not sure if you will be in the maindeck or in the sideboard. And I love to find out. 

With love, 

Hanjo

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Thanks to you I fell in love with the set Strixhaven: School of Mages. Back in 2022 me and my dear friends Danny, Frank and Wander played a Set Roulette. In Set Roulette you randomly select 2 big sets, 3 small sets and one core set to serve as your constructed format. And we were lucky enough to be blessed with Strixhaven: School of Mages in our Set Roulette. 

Strixhaven: School of Mages was so full of great Magic cards, and you, Professor of Symbology, are the greatest of all of them. That the Lesson – Learn mechanic was powerful, Divide by Zero proved to us in standard. As a Blue mage I was very tempted to play it in this Set Roulette. We decided to build 2 decks each and I decided to challenge myself: I was not going to build a Blue deck. I chose to build a hyper aggressive Boros deck abusing the card advantage and flexibility the Lesson – Learn mechanic had to offer, with you as the crown jewel of the deck. Not only are you very powerful, you are also very fun. 

I remember the days of playing extended with the old Wishes. There was something special about having a ‘Wish-board’, and the flexibility it brought. Playing with you, Professor of Symbology, I relived those days. Together we crushed my friends and rose as the winner of the Set Roulette. That is the day I fell in love with you. 

Shortly after I created a new cube in honour of the Lesson – Learn mechanic, in honour of you: my Hanjo Masters #5 cube. But this time I did include Divide by Zero, not because I had fomo, but because I needed something to balance out your sheer power. 

With love, 

Hanjo

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I used to work for the greatest card trader magic has ever seen and a good friend of mine: Rudy’s Magic Backpack. Back in the day he would have a stand at Spiel Essen: the largest board game convention of Europe. Crazy long work days selling Magic cards, at times people would only buy cards from physical traders and online price information was very, very limited. After a long day of work I would find about two dozen of Norin the Wary’s in the back pocket of my jeans. Rudy would slide them in there. 

I always loved Norin the Wary. Such a quirky little card. His flavour text is so perfect. I used to collect Norin the Wary. Before commander was a thing I created a casual deck combining him with Confusion in the Ranks and having a blast. Later I of course made a commander deck with Norin the Wary, creating even more chaos combining Confusion in the Ranks[/c], Mycosynth Lattice and Grip of Chaos. I enjoyed collecting him and used to have a couple 100 Norin the Wary’s. 

The problem with my love for Norin came later. Because Norin was an unplayable card and didn’t go well with my great love I found in 2009: cube. I never found a reasonable home for Norin the Wary in any cube I’ve built, and I’ve built a lot of cubes. The problem is, that I like to build cubes that work great for the competitive players, spikes, Pro Tour competitors. Norin the Wary has no place in those cubes, he is too quirky and unplayable for that. 

All of that changed on the 27th of September in 2024, the day you were released. Finally a Norin that was good, that had great play patterns, that I could just slide into a couple of cubes of mine. And you are great in those cubes. Finally a Norin in my cubes. For that I love you, Norin, Swift Survivalist. 

With love, 

Hanjo

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I love you. You are such a clear and banger of a build around card. You are the type of card that makes any Johnny that sees you in a booster smile. Smile in a way that they know: I can break the game with you. You are the type of card I, as a designer, love to include in a cube because my drafters will just know that I’ve cooked up something special including you. 

Usually you are paired with black because of the strong sacrifice synergies black has to offer. Black has a broad variety of sacrifice outlets and recursive creatures that help power your engine. But to me, that is just cooking up the same recipe. I wanted to cook up something spicy, I wanted to match you up with something more than just plain old black. 

In my Hanjo Masters #3 cube, a cube where there are 2 copies of each uncommon, I added you as a build around synergy piece. I’ve added a plain (and boring) black and red sacrifice theme. With black offering the players solid sacrifice outlets and recursion. But I’ve also added a spicy route for you, Furnace Celebration. Combining you with something we don’t usually see: Eldrazi’s. No, not those plane devouring titans. Those little cute quirky ones: Spawns and Scions. 

On the 28th of March 2026, during the Cube Invitational Weekend I organised, my dear friend Rudy walked up to me to show me his Hanjo Masters #3 deck. Rudy is a true Johnny player and the smile on his face said everything: he had been cooking. I love you for that smile you’ve brought him, Furnace Celebration, and all I want to do is share his deck with you. 

With love,

Hanjo

<3

We met at the same tournament I met Obelisk Spider, whom my love letter of yesterday was addressed to: Dutch Nationals 2017. You were part of the draft that mended my broken heart, my 3-0 trophy draft where I had to read every single card because I was completely unprepared. And while I love that memory, I fell in love with you at a later moment. 

When I’ve built my cube Hanjo Masters #4 as a monument to that memory and Obelisk Spider, I also had to include you. But the great thing about designing a cube is, I can supersize the better cards from a draft format. I was including the -1/-1 counter strategy that was in the Amonkhet draft format, but only choosing the limited bangers and cherry picking cards from all of Magic to help support them. And I found the perfect buddy for you, Exemplar of Strength. 

On the 28th of March I set down for a draft with my Hanjo Masters #4 cube. I was playing in the Cube Invitational Weekend tournament that I organised, and it wasn’t going well. This is no surprise, because I like to surround myself with people who are very good at what they do. Preferably better at it than I am. Most of the 20 participants have been Pro Tour competitors, while I never made it to that stage. So it made perfect sense that I had a 2-4 record after the first 2 drafts. To keep my top 8 dreams alive, I needed to do better. 

And that is where you, Exemplar of Strength, and your buddy Young Wolf came in. A one-two punch that lands 6 power on the board on turn 2. On the surface you guys are very fair Magic cards, but together in a Masters power level environment, you destroy people. Playing the two of you together feels like unlocking a super power, and that is where I fell in love with you. Because you embody the beauty of cube. Combining cards that would otherwise never meet, but in the right environment, work perfectly together. We didn’t manage to trophy the draft, but at least got a solid 2-1 record. Pairing you together with your brother from another mother, Young Wolf, unlocking your super power, kept my dream of a top 8 alive in a field of players a whole lot better than me. And I love you for it. 

With love, 

Hanjo

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In 2017 I qualified for the Dutch Nationals. This used to be an impressive feat, either being one the top players in the national combined ELO rating, or making top 8 of a qualifier tournament. But the ELO system had its problems and in 2012 was replaced by the Planes Walker Points system. In this new system, basically playing and making day 2 at one Grand Prix, would earn you enough points to qualify for that year’s Nationals. Which is what I did that year. 

I did not prepare for nationals. I broke up with my girlfriend a couple of weeks before and couldn’t be bothered to prepare, I was heartbroken. I borrowed a deck for the standard portion, which was explained to me the morning of the event. There was just a new set release for the limited format and I didn’t look at a single card of that set. I went 1-2 in the first 3 rounds of standard and I sat down for the draft. At a higher level event like Nationals the drafts are timed drafts. This means that you have less than a minute to make your draft pick during each booster. Usually this is fine, but if the only cards in the draft set are the ones you’ve just seen during the standard portion, this is not fine. Let me tell you, you can’t read all the cards in a pack in less than a minute, let alone evaluate a pack and make a decent enough decision. 

I drafted a green and black deck evolving around the -1/-1 counter theme including 2 copies of you, Obelisk Spider. Together we won the first 2 rounds, reading so many cards I had never seen before. But that was no issue, because you were so strong in my deck. For the finals of the draft we got to play a very enthusiastic teenager, he was very happy to make the finals of a draft on Nationals. In the last game I used my experience as a cube drafter: my opponent left open one green mana and I chose not to attack into it. Because I didn’t know if there was a Giant Growth type effect in this set and I calculated my chances were better not attacking. Because having played so many different cubes, you learn to read situations from a “could be” perspective, making decisions knowing you have so little information. Together we won that match swiftly to 3-0 (trophy) our draft. After the match my opponent asked why I didn’t attack in that situation, and after I explained I was playing around a potential Giant Growth, he responded surprised: ‘there is no such effect in the set?!’. I still vividly remember his face when I told him I didn’t see a single card of the set before today. He was heartbroken. 

I wasn’t heartbroken anymore. That draft, thanks to your help, mended my broken heart. And I love you for that Obelisk Spider. As a monument to that draft I’ve built a cube for those 2 copies of you, together with the whole -1/-1 counter theme: Hanjo Masters #4. So I can always relive those days. But just to be sure, I did add a one green mana combat trick. 

With love, 

Hanjo

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Back in 2009 we always played Magic at my friend Tim’s place. Testing for Pro Tour Qualifiers or Grand Prixs, playing FiFa or, my favourite, jamming cube. In 2009 I built my first cube, my peasant cube, and Tim built his first cube, a power cube. And it was there in Tim’s kitchen I fell in love with kitchen table Magic, and fell in love with you Fire Imp. 

Flametongue Kavu was one of the best cards of my peasant cube at that time. And you, Fire Imp, were like it’s little brother. But people didn’t respect you as much as they should have, they passed you too late in the draft. My favourite archetype was 4/5 color control in that cube, and before Elixir of Immortality was printed, I always had to scrabble out a win with pesky value creatures like you. Especially you, because I always got to pick you up because I did give you the respect you deserved. I fell in love with you during those days, how careful I had to manage my way through games to create a board state where you could nibble away at our opponents life total to claw our way to a win. 

As a cube designer it’s my joy to find cards like you. Cards that never made a splash in any constructed format, but that can make a splash in cube. Cards people didn’t know about, have never seen before, but will enjoy as a banger in a cube. 

Because we showed them Fire Imp, that you shouldn’t be underestimated, that you are a secret little banger. And I love you for it. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

Yesterday I’ve told Ornithopter how much I love him for inspiring Andy Mangold to reimagine the way Magic can be enjoyed with his 100 Ornithopter cube. Today I want to talk about another very inspiring reimagining by Nick Floyd: Forgetful Fish. 

For those who do not know, Forgetful Fish is a 80 card deck both players draw from. The only way to win is either with the 10 Dandân’s in the deck, or by decking your opponent. The deck consists of great ways of interacting with Dandân’s unique rules text and ways to manipulate the top of the deck. I first learned about this beautiful reimagination from my friend Rudy while we were driving to our annual Magic-friends-weekend. After the weekend, I kept thinking about Dandân. I saw so much potential in this reimagining, and to be honest, a lot of potential to reimagine a better version of the Dandân deck.

Rudy told me that Dandân is an extremely complex format. And it is this complexity that makes it so much fun, and I love me some complex Magic. But in my mind Dandân is a simple card. Because for me Dandân could just have been a 4/1 vanilla creature. And Mind Bend could be any one mana removal spell. Dandân’s unique rules text and the way cards like Mind Bend interact with it makes it an amazing gimmick. And as much as I appreciate this gimmick, it doesn’t add to the complexity. The complexity of Dandân is in manipulating the top of the deck. And the way to add to the existing complexity, is a different win condition. 

This is where you come in, Delver of Secrets. You and Dandân are both aggressively costed creatures. There are a ton of cheap removal spells that can destroy you, like Mind Bend destroys DanDan. It is easy to reimagine the original Dandân list to your context, Delver of Secrets. But most important, you add so much more complexity. The manipulation of the top of the deck became so much more important, and complex, all thanks to you. 

DelverDelver is now the favourite ‘in between matches pastime’ of our playgroup. For us the doubling down on complexity has trumped the gimmick. I’m really proud of my reimagination, it is so much fun. And I love you for inspiring me, Delver of Secrets. 

With love, 

Hanjo