The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
