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The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per 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, including the Power Nine."

Understanding the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.

How It Works and Participation Information

Launching a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
• Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.