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The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the most beloved cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, Arena enthusiasts will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is distinct from all others on Arena and will showcase some of the most powerful cards from across Magic's legacy, featuring the legendary Power Nine."

What Is the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Vintage Cube has consistently served as a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to enjoy the excitement of using some of the strongest cards in the history of the game without needing to spend the significant money required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk card, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card versions, but not all of them will be obtainable at the release of the event. This enables the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a response to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, according to some reports.

How It Works and Entry Information

Launching a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely increase engagement in Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than previous Arena cubes. The event structure will be the following:

• Event Start: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or 1 Player Draft token
• Format: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Single Game Mode: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Prizes and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs awarded during the event can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless format, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can examine the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.