The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase 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 Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, 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 strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members 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 to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Details
Launching 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 Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details 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 (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
