Hanjo’s Love Letters

<3

In my Masters Cubes I break singleton. Because I want to mirror the experience of the old Modern Masters drafts, I put 2 of each uncommon and 3 of each common in the draft. This breaking singleton results in cards having more impact because multiple copies are available, and it also leads to tighter design space. I have less cards I can add. 

What I always admired in the old Modern Masters sets is how cards would fit into multiple strategies. For example, in the first Modern Masters , Empty the Warrens is in that set. Combined with cards like Grinning Ignus and Desperate Ritual you could build a very potent Storm deck in those drafts. But Storm cards are usually very focussed on one strategy. But not here, no. There was also a Goblin theme that was always very happy to add an Empty the Warrens combined with a Desperate Ritual and a well set up Rift Bolt. It was combinations like these that inspired me for my Masters Cubes. 

This is where you come in, Monoskellion. You fulfill this role in multiple of my Masters Cubes, most prevalent in #2. There is an Blue and Red artifact theme and a Bant +1/+1 counter theme in this Cube. You slide perfect into both. In Hanjo Masers #1 you are also a perfect fit. You are a perfect fit for the Blue and Red Proliferate theme. But in that Masters Cube specifically I really try to push non-synergistic decks as well. I try to support enough cards that are generally good that people can also just draft ‘good cards’ decks, that evolve around a Ramp strategy or a card like Psychatog for example. And that is the great thing about you. You aren’t just a synergy piece, you are a generic good card. And cards like you are the true gems. Synergy pieces that any strategy would be happy to play, true flexibility as a Cube Designer. And not a bunch of very specific cards drafters can pick up late for free.

With love,

Hanjo

<3

I sometimes have these dreams about Magic cards. I have dreams about you. I always dream of activating you twice. 

You are in both my Peasant Cube and in my Hanjo Masters #1. In both Cubes I absolutely love playing you. In my Peasant Cube the 4/5 colour control decks are my favourite to play, and you are quite good in those. You are like the Omnath, Locus of Creation of my Peasant Cube. A strong card to slide in 4/5 color control that you always get to pick up late because nobody else is interested. 

But the dreams I have about you are most prevalent in my Hanjo Masters #1 Cube. In that Cube I try to offer my drafters the same experience as the Modern Masters sets: higher power level than retail limited, but lower power level than your average Cube. There are also 2 copies of each uncommon and 3 copies of each common in that Cube, so the 4 colour drafter could pick up 2 copies of you. I try to combine synergy heavy strategies in that cube with the option for players to draft generic strategies. It is by combining synergy cards in a generic strategy where my dream of you comes alive. There is a strong Proliferate synergy in that Cube, focussed on Blue and Red. Either going more the control route with cards like Contagion Engine, or being very aggressive with Cloudfin Raptor, Gore House Chainwalker and Splatter Thug. But sliding in a Contagion Clasp into the generic 4/5 colour ramp control strategy has made me live my dream. 

There has been a draft where I got to activate you twice. Where I had enough time to proliferate 4 extra counters on you. But usually I don’t get enough time. Because just activating you once is usually enough to win me the game. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

On the 8th of January 2022 I fell in love with you. On that day I’ve added you to my Hanjo Masters #2 Cube. It is one of my many Cubes that try to give the experience of drafting a Modern Masters set. Higher power level than retail limited, lower power level than your average Cube, and multiple copies of the lower rarity cards. I love those Masters Cubes I make. 

People who organise local Cube nights know, you don’t always have 8 people. Which is perfectly fine, drafting with 6, 4 or even 2 can be just as much fun. But my Masters Cubes are just not as much fun with 4 drafters than they are with 8. I have designed multiple Cubes that are tailored for either 4 or 6 and they just work better in those cases. And even when we are with 8, not everyone is always feeling a Masters Cube. But when the group does, I am happy. And afterwards so are the other drafters. I always get reactions like ‘I didn’t expect this Cube to be this much fun’ or ‘I always forget how much I love your Masters Cubes’. It always keeps me motivated to keep working on all 6 of my Masters Cubes. 

In my Hanjo Masters #2 there is a Landfall theme and a Domain theme. I really needed Rampant Growth and Harrow type effects in this Cube to accommodate those strategies. But when I found you, you made my heart jump. Because there is also a +1/+1 counter theme in this cube, and you are perfect for all three. The great thing is that the Landfall deck can be really aggressive and having a card like you, that is both a creature and a Landfall trigger, is amazing in that Cube. I always love it so much when you find a little gem that no one else cares about that just fits perfectly in one of your Cubes. Those are the best moments as a Cube designer. And I love you for giving me one of those moments. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

My fondest memory of you is cascading into you when casting a Bloodbraid Elf in my Peasant Cube and instantly winning the game. You are at your best in aggressive strategies, especially ones that can create a lot of tokens with cards like Spectral Procession. You are a crazy strong card that always goes under the radar. But once you hit the battlefield your opponents soon realise how big the troubles they are in. 

I love underrated cards in Cube. It is a way for my drafters to separate the wheat from the chaff. To put their experience into practice and build a better deck. Because that is what I enjoy as a designer, building Cubes that offer my drafters the experience to excel. Because to assess cards correctly takes a lot of skill and I like to build and play cubes that reward that skill. 

The greatest thing about you is that you do not only excel as an aggressive banger. Your ‘downside’ actually counts as an upside in the right deck. Combining you with a card like Blood Artist creates for so much depth making games even more complex. Even more chances for my players to show their skill. And I love that even more, cards that do so much more than you can see at the surface. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I love you. But it took me a long time before I fell in love with you. I first faced you in 2007, during the Time Spiral block constructed season. I always played Mystical Teachings in block constructed, but you were at your best in the green Tarmogoyf shells. You were also a staple in my long favourite non-Cube format Modern and I have faced you many times there. But it was Cube where I fell in love with you. 

My first cube that I still keep up to date is my common and uncommon only Peasant cube. Since the beginning 4/5 Elixir of Immortality color control was, and still is, my favourite strategy in that Cube. But for a long time I also felt it was too good. And with the increase in card quality aggro fell behind because on a mana base level it couldn’t keep up. I’ve written about this in my love letter for Polluted Delta. 

The fact that the 4/5 color control deck in a Peasant Cube gets worse with the addition of prime rare fixing lands is such a counterintuitive concept. But it is exactly the type of concept why I love cube design so much. You fit perfectly in my goals for this Cube. I want to give aggro a boost without giving 4/5 color control a boost. And the biggest problem aggro has in that Cube is remaining tempo while having a consistent mana base. And the addition of you, and your partners in crime, are perfect for this cause. And I thank you, and love you, for that Horizon Canopy. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

In the summer of 2011 I tried to qualify together with you for the Dutch National Championships. I didn’t play much that past year and decided to only try my luck with the last chance qualifier (LCQ). Together with my dear friend Ronald we spent that summer testing for the LCQ, perfecting you, Sun Titan. 

You were by far the most fun deck to play back then. That was because of the freshly released Phantasmal Image. The two of you feel like an actual combo together. Because when you have 2 Phantasmal Image’s in your graveyard, casting you, Sun Titan, results not in 1 copy of you, not 2, but 3. Three Sun Titan’s for the price of one. A deal of a lifetime. 

Those were our best times, back in the summer of 2011. That summer I fell in love with you, and that love never faded. That is why I was so enthusiastic about adding you to my Gimmicky Cube. I’ve had variants of that Cube for over 10 years now, but half a year ago I reworked the Cube thoroughly. You are so cool in that Cube. In that Cube you are the control finisher that I remember from the summer of 2011. Combining you not with Phantasmal Image, but with Mirror Image for a good deal. You are also the top end for Birthing Pod decks. You are a core piece of combo puzzles with Fiend Hunter and Saffi Eriksdotter, combining them with Dredger’s Insight, Desecrated Tomb or Soul Enervation. You are banger to combine with Greater Good. You are just so much fun packed into one creature. 

Back in 2011 I was also having so much fun with you in the LCQ. We picked up a draw in round 2 against the Blue Black control deck, which was actually quite a good matchup. And being in the draw bracket I played that deck a lot more in the other rounds. We ended up at a 5-1-1 record that day. Usually, with the top 8 earning qualifications, good enough to qualify, but we were not that fortunate that day. We ended up in 9th place. We were so close to qualifying, and a bit of bad luck got to us. But I wasn’t bumped out, it didn’t matter. Because you were so much fun to play, that you even compensated for that 9th place. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

In 2008 I qualified for the Dutch National Championships with you. Playing a deck that revolved around you. The value that you offer together with Mulldrifter. The combo you offer together with Body Double and Mirror Entity. I absolutely loved you during that time of Magic, I still do and I love the memories I have of you, qualifying for my second Dutch National Championships. 

You are in 3 of my Cubes. You offer the two classic one-two-punch combinations in those Cubes: with either Karmic Guide or Body Double. I love those combo’s. But in my Gimmicky Cube I wanted to explore your true combo potential. Body Double is also in that Cube, but there is so much more. The first contender is Saffi Eriksdotter. Combining you with Saffi and a sacrifice outlet like Mirror Entity or Greater Gargadon and another creature with an enters ability goes infinite. Especially if that ‘another creature with an enters ability’ is either Voldaren Eppicure or Twinshot Sniper. 

I love these types of combo’s. All these cards are already great in a vacuum, synergistic with each other and when you have all 4 pieces you just straight up win the game. But we didn’t stop there at just Body Double and Saffi Eriksdotter. There is more. Both Felidar Guardian and Fiend Hunter have infinite lines with you. But we are not even stopping there. My players don’t need those red cards. They can gain infinite life with Dredger’s Insight, infinite Bat tokens with Desecrated Tomb or drain infinite life with Soul Enervation. Going from a Jeskai combo build all the way up to an Abzan combo build, and back to a Bant combo build. The options are endless. They can even use Mirror Entity, Fiend Hunter and Dredger’s Insight together with Sun Titan to gain infinite life. And so on. The options are really endless. And all of that started because I wanted to build my nostalgic love for you into this Cube.

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

I know you are a card not loved by all. People think you should be excluded because you take up so much time. All I see is that you create a whole lot of gameplay. Gameplay that I have been enjoying as a player, opponent and audience of this game. 

You were part of the Heartbeat Combo deck I qualified for the 2006 Dutch National Championship with. I also played that deck at the 2006 Dutch National Championships. You are pure nostalgia for me. 

I remember watching Ruben Snijdewind play you, Sensei’s Divining Top, together with Future Sight every chance he got. Such an insane combo, drawing a card for every colourless mana one has at his disposal. Ruben showcased your power together with Future Sight at Pro Tour Los Angeles in 2005, piloting it to a strong 52nd place finish. 

And yesterday I remembered why I fell in love with you as your opponent. Playing my friend Martijn in my 2019 Cube Invitational. He had a unique strategy in the Rotisserie draft we did with my Peasant Cube, aiming to abuse the freshly printed uncommon Planeswalkers printed in War of the Spark. He saw Saheeli, Sublime Artificer and asked himself: how can I generate a lot of spells? And then he looked at you, a spell he could 100% play every single turn, after every single draw. And a little interaction was born. Not drawing a card for each colorless mana one has at his disposal. But a way to generate a whole lot of little tokens, because every cantrip he played didn’t just make one token, because of you it made 2. 

And it is that type of gameplay that you offer that makes me love you. Not the endless activating you, then cracking a fetchland, activating you again. No, none of that. It’s mostly that second ability, of you putting yourself on the top of the deck to draw a card, opening up a world of synergies that can be abused, that makes me love you. That and a whole lot of nostalgia, thinking back to my 16 year old self enjoying Magic. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

You are such a quirky little Magic card. In 2019 I organised my 4th Cube Invitational. For the second draft we did a Rotisserie Draft with my Peasant Cube. I opted to build a very, very strong Blue and Black Makeshift Mannequin deck. But you, Contagion Clasp, inspired my dear friend Martijn to draft a very funky little deck. 

In 2019 a very unique set of cards was released with War of the Sparks: uncommon Planeswalkers. They were perfect, having enchantment-like effects in combination with only minus abilities meant they could never walk away with the game on their own. They felt really intune with my Peasant Cube’s power level, so I included them in my Cube. Martijn saw them in the list and was very curious to see if he could abuse them. And one of the ways he sought out to abuse them was with you, Contagion Clasp. Your recurring Proliferate ability made sure that the minus abilities on the uncommon Planeswalkers also became a never ending supply of value. Such a unique way of approaching this Rotisserie draft where he could perfectly sculpt a deck around those Planeswalkers. 

Martijn went 2-1 with his amazing list, only to lose to me and my Makeshift Mannequin value. He secured his spot in the top 4 with his amazing brew exploiting you. I was so amazed by his deck, the way he approached the Rotisserie draft, the fun he had playing you. And I was amazed by the fun I had playing against you, because it was one hell of a match that I will never forget. Such a tight match full of gameplay with a lot of back and forth. The reason I love Magic and Cube so much. 

With love, 

Hanjo

<3

You are the only card I ever had a Pro Player sign. Well that is not completely true, because my friend Thomas also signed my Azusa, Lost but Seeking after winning a Cube Invitational, but at the time he wasn’t a Pro Player yet. But that is a story for a different day. But you, Angel of Despair, I’ve asked Brian Kibler to sign you. 

In October of 2009 Brian Kibler won the Pro Tour. During game 5 of his quarter finals match he played the Hypergenesis deck piloted by Evangelos Papatsarouchas. During that quarter finals Evangelos resolved Hypergenesis and put you, Angel of Despair, onto the battlefield. During those times, the rules were such that both players should actively remember triggers. And your trigger, Angel of Despair, is a mandatory trigger. So at that time both Evangelos and Brian were responsible for your trigger resolving. Both players forgot, which gave Brian the window to win the game, match and eventually the Pro Tour. He wrote about this in his tournament report, stating it was an honest mistake. 

I met Brian in 2010 at Spiel Essen. I was there working for my dear friend Rudy, who is a legendary Dutch Magic the Gathering trader, who used to have a stand at Spiel every year. Brian was there promoting Ascension, Chronicle of the Godslayer (awesome game by the way, I still play it till this day). Me and my friend Paul got the brilliant idea to both get an Angel of Despair and ask Brian to sign them. He laughed and did so with a nice little touch. He added a ‘may’ to the wording. 

I love my signed copy Angel of Despair. Reminds me of that amazing fun weekend in 2010 working at Spiel Essen with my friends. I love that in 2018 you got a downgrade to uncommon in Ultimate Masters, because I could put you in your forever home: my Peasant Cube. A perfect place for me to keep my relics from the past, for example my Junior Super Series Slith Firewalker, and you, Angel of Despair. I love that Cube for many reasons, but you are certainly one of them. 

With love, 

Hanjo