The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per 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 Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — 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 Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
