The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 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 drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.
