The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. 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, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Details
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
