Bottling an Iconic Mirror Match: the Jeskai Control Battle Box

Andy and Anthony linger on the topic of Battle Box for a second week in a row, discussing a novel design: Andy’s Jeskai Control Battle Box, modeled after what some have called Magic’s most interesting mirror match. They start things off by drawing and comparing opening hands from the list and then go deep on the benefits of designing an environment for a more narrow range of play and what can be learned from playing it.

Follow along with the visual spoiler of all cards mentioned in the episode.

Discussed in this episode:

• The Ship of Theseus - Cube from Rotisserie Draft
• Rotisserie Draft
• Jeskai Control Battle Box
• The most fun mirrors on Twitter
• Ben Stark vs Shahar Shenhar
• Jumpstart
• Hobo Names

Timestamps:

• 1:59 — Brags and Bad Beats: Parker’s Roto Draft Edition
• 8:26 — A brief review of Battle Box
• 11:36 — Opening hand evaluations
• 12:47 — Introduction to the Jeskai Control Battle Box
• 16:24 — Structure and design considerations
• 21:40 — Temples in the land package
• 27:15 — Expectations - Do players really just love blue that much?
• 31:08 — Lessons on removal from Jumpstart
• 35:38 — Gameplay lessons from the Jeskai Control Battle Box
• 43:46 — Single card discussion: Jeskai Battle Box Edition

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You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

• Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
• Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited, your pronouns, a link to your cube if relevant. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.