The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity 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 feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible 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 announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Information
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. 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:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
