The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Classic 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 having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members 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 Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include almost every card permitted in the Timeless mode, along with 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. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
