The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful 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 Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
