Magic: The Gathering's Top-Tier Draft Format Finally Arrives 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 MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary 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 enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Details of the New Cube Event

The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the launch of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Online community members are already theorizing that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Participation Details

Launching a iteration 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 adopt a prize structure and entry fee 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 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked

Rewards and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include almost every card legal in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will share further insights on their video platforms.