The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
