The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital service for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."
Understanding the Classic Cube?
As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a fun and popular way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game 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 — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a larger card pool, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also made the release of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
How It Works and Entry Details
Introducing a version 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 use a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:
- Begins On: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
- Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Additionally, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.
