The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary 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 pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Information
Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
