The Classic Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch 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. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
