The Classic Cube is recognized 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, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw 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 MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost similar to 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)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain 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 examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
