The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts 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 across Magic's legacy, including the 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 pre-selected collection. 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 most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG 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 events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
