Magic: The Gathering's Top-Tier Cube At Last Arrives on Arena

The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."

Understanding the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, 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 new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Entry Information

Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.