The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the 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 rather 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 history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release 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 formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in 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 tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.
