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The Classic Cube is recognized 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 have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. According to the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without needing to spend the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Entry Details

Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the drafted cards)
• Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
• Match Play Mode: Three matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Details

The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, plus 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. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.