The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts 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 Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure 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 add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to 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 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
