The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on October 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG 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, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered 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 ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
