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The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on Arena and will feature some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the Power Nine."

What Is 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 rather from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without needing to spend the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the New Cube Event

The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed gameplay. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a response to the poor reception of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation 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 increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a prize structure and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Signup Close: November 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
• Best-of-Three: Three matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Details

The reward packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. Additional information on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can examine the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.