The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring 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 predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular 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 significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release 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. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat 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: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking
Prizes and Extra Information
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
