The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on October 28. As per the announcement, "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 unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage 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 significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as 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 printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set 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 certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card 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 examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
