The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on October 28. According to the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, including the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding 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 rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Details
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, along with 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 review the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
