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The Vintage Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."

What Is the Vintage Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Participation Information

Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:

• Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
• Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Extra Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless mode, along with 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 October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.