The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable 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 formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Details
The reward packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
