Magic: The Gathering's Most Popular Cube Finally Makes Its Debut on Arena

The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used 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 substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the New Cube Event

The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Participation Details

Introducing a iteration 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 reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Rewards and Additional Information

The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.