The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, including the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic 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 significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
