The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Information
Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
