The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "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 does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without needing to spend 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 — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — 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
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
