The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Vintage Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible at the launch 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 official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Participation Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Rewards and Extra Information
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.
