The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
