The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players 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, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft 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 Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration 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 adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
