The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as 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 having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing 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 lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt 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 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
