The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to experience true power when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, featuring the Power Nine."
What Is the Classic Cube?
For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as 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 substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, such as the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.
Features of the Arena Powered Cube
The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, 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 extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.
Event Structure and Participation Information
Introducing a version of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly boost numbers in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The format details will be the following:
- Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Registration Ends: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
- Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
- Best-of-Three: Three matches; unranked
Prizes and Extra Details
The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can include almost every card legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, experienced cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.
