The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful 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 play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release 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 made the release of the new cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback 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 Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
