The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on 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 negative feedback 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 Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Rewards and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.
