The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to encounter true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from one or more specific sets, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. 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 five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will include 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. 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 poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Information
Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to 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 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Additional Information
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
