The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used 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 tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Details
Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
