Magic: The Gathering's Top-Tier Draft Format Finally Makes Its Debut on MTG Arena

The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."

Understanding the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Details of the New Cube Event

The Arena Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. Based on the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback 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.

How It Works and Entry Information

Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 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: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
• Best-of-One: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.