The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
