The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Information
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
