The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the 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 rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for Magic fans 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 format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move 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 to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra 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 included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
