The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion 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 unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.
How It Works and Participation Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
