The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on 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 unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement 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 previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
