MTG's Top-Tier Draft Format Finally 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 encounter immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including 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 particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for 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 decision was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Entry Details

Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:

• Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked

Prizes and Additional Details

The reward packs issued as rewards can include almost every card permitted in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, 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.