The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event 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."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players 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 tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. 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 reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.
How It Works and Entry Details
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Rewards and Additional Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
