The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar 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 Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
