The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a response to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Details
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include 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 included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
