The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. 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 game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will use a reward system 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:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
