The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Details
The reward packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
