The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review 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.
