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

The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform 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. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful 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 one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used 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 tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Entry 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 prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking

Rewards and Additional Information

The reward packs issued as rewards can include almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.