The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Details
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
