The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, 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 one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. 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 Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong 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 response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement 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 boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure 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 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
