The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans 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. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but some of these 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 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 the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
