The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage 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 history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing 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 ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
