The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, 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 latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, 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 examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
