The Classic Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the primary digital service for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."
What Is 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 pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has consistently served as a fun and popular way for MTG players to experience the thrills of using some of the most powerful cards in the game's history without having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.
Details of the New Cube Event
The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new MTG Arena card versions, but not all of them will be collectible at the launch of the event. This enables the addition 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 new cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a response to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.
Event Structure and Entry Information
Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and access cost similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:
- Event Start: October 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
- Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
- Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
- Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
- Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking
Prizes and Additional Details
The reward packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their YouTube channels.
