The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
Understanding 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 Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement 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 Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost similar to 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, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
