The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set 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 important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
