The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event 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."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
