The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The reward packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
