The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
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 enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.
How It Works and Participation Information
Introducing a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point 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:
- Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted 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 Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
