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The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest 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 — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.

How It Works and Entry Details

Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:

• Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 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; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Rewards and Additional Details

The reward packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.