The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per 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, including 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 rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players 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 physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 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 include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
