MTG's Most Popular Draft Format At Last Arrives on MTG Arena

The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."

What Is the Vintage 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 pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback 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.

How It Works and Entry Information

Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use 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:

• Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
• Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking

Rewards and Extra Details

The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.