The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. 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 substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including 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 a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.
