The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw 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 enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will use a reward system 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 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
