Magic: The Gathering's Top-Tier Draft Format Finally Makes Its Debut on Arena

The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

What Is the Vintage Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills 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 introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.

Features of the New Cube Event

The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch 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 ever, as indicated by various sources.

How It Works and Participation Information

Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:

• Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
• Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Extra Details

The reward packs awarded during the event can include almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.