The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Details
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
