Mythic Common

Grixis Cube

Andreas Sjöroos

Let me introduce you to what's currently my favorite magic format. It's my own Grixis Cube.

Design philosophy

You need to have a goal when creating a cube. And when I was thinking of building my first cube, I had multiple ideas. Why did I settle for Grixis Cube? Because I realized that the first cube I built should primarily be designed for me. And when I started to add cards, I quickly realized that this would pretty much be a Grixis Cube whether I had that restriction or not.

One thing people will ask about is the power band. I'd say it's kind of between Psychic FrogPsychic Frog and Thousand Year StormThousand Year Storm. I don't really care about the power level of individual cards. But I care about some things related to power level. And the more fun stuff a card enables, the more I'll allow it to be a power outlier. And that's true for both strong and weak cards.

I want every supported archetype to have a fighting chance. So you could say I care about the power band of decks and not specific cards. I also want every card to have a decent home and be played some amount of the time.

So if I don't care about power level, what do I care about? The primary thing I care about is players being excited when they see a pack, and in most packs having multiple options where context matters. I also want you to be able to wheel synergistic cards for your deck.

Drafting

I'll start with a quick introduction of the most supported archetypes. And then I'll discuss some standout individual cards and some other smaller pockets of synergy that you can see while drafting.

Archetypes

These are the archetypes I have taken into account when designing the cube. But I've seen decks outside of this be successful.

Aggro

I think the best version of this deck is mono red. But I've seen other versions be successful too. It is a deck that highly picks red 1-, 2-, and 3-drop creatures. Some of the best include Kumano Faces KakkazanKumano Faces Kakkazan, Inti, Seneschal of the SunInti, Seneschal of the Sun, Amped RaptorAmped Raptor, Broadside BombardiersBroadside Bombardiers, Laelia, the Blade ReforgedLaelia, the Blade Reforged. But a lot are close in power level, and I don’t even think these are the strongest five. Red targeted removal is also premium. And you strongly prefer being able to target the opponent when needed. Lightning BoltLightning Bolt is best in class here. Other strong red cards for the deck include just high power level cards like PyrogoyfPyrogoyf and Fable of the Mirror-BreakerFable of the Mirror-Breaker. But also cards like Sulfuric VortexSulfuric Vortex and FireblastFireblast that other decks shouldn’t want.

Ninjas

This is pretty much always a Dimir deck. You play evasive creatures and ninjas to ninjutsu. Some of the strong evasive creatures are creatures like Changeling OutcastChangeling Outcast and Tamiyo, Inquisitive StudentTamiyo, Inquisitive Student. While a few of the premium ninjas are Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, Kaito, Bane of NightmaresKaito, Bane of Nightmares and Fallen ShinobiFallen Shinobi.

Storm

I think there's a few versions of this combo deck. But they all try to have one explosive turn where they generate a lot of mana. Cast a lot of spells. And cast a spell with the keyword storm that hopefully wins the game. The most common way to make a lot of mana is possibly to make your lands tap for more mana and play cards that untap them Mana FlareMana Flare, High TideHigh Tide and Frantic SearchFrantic Search are some of the top cards in this category. But there are multiple more ways and this is not a deck I recommend for a new player. The best storm finisher is probably Brain FreezeBrain Freeze. Together with Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach it is very powerful. But I've seen the other storm cards work well too. Then you want to fill up the deck with defensive control elements and card draw/selection to survive until you can sculpt a winning hand.

Artifacts

Artifacts is mostly a blue based deck in this cube. There are a few cards rewarding you for playing artifacts. Some of the best ones are probably Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer, Kappa CannoneerKappa Cannoneer and Ugin, Eye of the StormsUgin, Eye of the Storms. Some other notable cards are artifact makers like Retrofitter FoundryRetrofitter Foundry, Saheeli, Sublime ArtificerSaheeli, Sublime Artificer, Third Path IconoclastThird Path Iconoclast and Chrome Host SeedsharkChrome Host Seedshark. There's a lot of support and another popular artifact gameplay is building around TinkerTinker. Some of the best tinker targets are not in the cube though! I think the best targets to tinker for in the cube could be Sundering TitanSundering Titan (no green or white mana is great for titan) and Bolas’s CitadelBolas’s Citadel. And one of my personal favorites is the combo of Ensoul ArtifactEnsoul Artifact together with an indestructible artifact land. Just watch out for the greatest thief in the multiverse Dack FaydenDack Fayden. You don't want to see him enter on your opponent's side!

Control

I think this is a space where you can go fully Grixis, but I'd say that here blue is once again probably the most likely base color. Some of the archetype defining cards are cards like CounterspellCounterspell, Stock UpStock Up and Jace, the Mind SculptorJace, the Mind Sculptor. It will almost always play either black or red (or both) for removal spells. Counterspells, removal, card draw and Planeswalkers are common in this shell. And it'll often include pockets of synergy from the other archetypes.

Sac

Now we're leaving blue behind and entering the Rakdos space. This is a deck built around sacrificing your own creatures. You want a mix of fodder to sacrifice, ways to sacrifice them and payoffs from doing so. Some of the best cards in the archetype both let you sacrifice and reward you for doing so. These are cards like Braids, Cabal MinionBraids, Cabal Minion, Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianYawgmoth, Thran Physician and Goblin BombardmentGoblin Bombardment. This deck can often deal a lot of damage out of nowhere with cards like Mayhem DevilMayhem Devil, Marionette ApprenticeMarionette Apprentice and Blood ArtistBlood Artist. Other notable cards that are particularly good here are Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder, Recurring NightmareRecurring Nightmare and OphiomancerOphiomancer.

Mill

I see this as mostly one of the many potential win conditions in a control deck so I'd start by reading that first. There are some cards that will quickly mill a 40 card deck. Some of them are Fractured SanityFractured Sanity, Riverchurn MonumentRiverchurn Monument and Singularity RuptureSingularity Rupture.

Devotion

I'm trying to make black devotion into a deck. I need a few more rewards for it. I think a key to this archetype is the land package of Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers, Cabal StrongholdCabal Stronghold and Urborg, Tomb of YawgmothUrborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Some of the payoffs are then Zodiark, Umbral GodZodiark, Umbral God, Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel and Morlun, Devourer of SpidersMorlun, Devourer of Spiders. I'm trying to find some more cards for this second category.

Notable cards

I'll mention a few power outliers and some pockets of synergy.

Power outliers

Most are mentioned above, but here are some of the most powerful cards that I'm very happy to first pick Psychic FrogPsychic Frog, Broadside BombardiersBroadside Bombardiers, The One RingThe One Ring, Dack FaydenDack Fayden, Fable of the Mirror-BreakerFable of the Mirror-Breaker, Cori-Steel CutterCori-Steel Cutter, Recurring NightmareRecurring Nightmare, ReanimateReanimate, Ugin, Eye of the StormsUgin, Eye of the Storms, Chaos DefilerChaos Defiler, Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer, PyrogoyfPyrogoyf, Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, Stock UpStock Up, Tamiyo, Inquisitive StudentTamiyo, Inquisitive Student. There are also some simple best-in-class interactions that fall into this category, e.g., Lightning BoltLightning Bolt, CounterspellCounterspell, ThoughtseizeThoughtseize, DismemberDismember.

Pockets of synergy and other combos

In my first draft ever of the cube, I won most of my games with one of these combos. I was very skeptical of it before seeing it. That combo was Karn, the Great CreatorKarn, the Great Creator together with Mycosynth LatticeMycosynth Lattice. Turning off your opponent's lands is powerful. But spending 10 mana while keeping Karn alive is difficult. Already mentioned above, but any indestructible artifact land together with Ensoul ArtifactEnsoul Artifact is an indestructible 5/5. Sorin, Imperious BloodlordSorin, Imperious Bloodlord has two juicy targets in Vein RipperVein Ripper and Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector. I want to try Nine-Lives FamiliarNine-Lives Familiar with Birthing PodBirthing Pod and some good 4-drops. Dream HallsDream Halls has targets like Blood for the Blood God!Blood for the Blood God! and Cruel UltimatumCruel Ultimatum. TinkerTinkering for e.g., Sundering TitanSundering Titan or Bolas’s CitadelBolas’s Citadel sounds strong. Sneak AttackSneak Attack is missing some of the best targets, but Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror or Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector don’t sound that bad.