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The Classic Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a unique form of draft format that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but instead 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 history of the game without having to pay the significant money required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the launch 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 gameplay. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this decision was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, according to some reports.

How It Works and Participation Details

Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier 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)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
• Match Play Mode: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Information

The reward packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the full details. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.