The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar 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 spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive 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: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain 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 included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
