The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive 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 enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a response to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — 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 Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The 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 event structure 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 (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players 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.
