MTG's Top-Tier Draft Format At Last Makes Its Debut on Arena

The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."

Understanding the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible 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 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 poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, 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 Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Extra Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.