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 Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee comparable with 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 (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
