The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, 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 most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but some of these 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 cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
