The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on October 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion 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 draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful 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 Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man 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 most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
