Magic: The Gathering's Top-Tier Draft Format Finally Arrives on MTG Arena

The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."

What Is the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans 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 physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, 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 massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Entry 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 Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. 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 (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked

Prizes and Additional Information

The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards 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, interested players can examine the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.