The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity 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 MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is the Vintage Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, 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 consistently served as a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement 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. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can include almost every card 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, enthusiasts can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
