The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the legendary Power Nine."
What Is 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 rather from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new 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 least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Details
Introducing a iteration 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 adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
