The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on October 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible 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. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
