The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on October 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event 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."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead 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 most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a response 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
Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive 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)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Match Play Mode: Three matches; unranked
Rewards and Additional Details
The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
