The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been 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 having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include 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.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Participation Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
