The Vintage Cube is recognized 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 have the chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.
How It Works and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The 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 format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: 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
Prizes and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
