The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
What Is 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 fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition 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. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
