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The Vintage Cube is recognized as one of the highly popular cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena was launched. Now, Arena enthusiasts will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a unique form of Booster Draft that does not pull cards from one or more specific sets, but rather from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been 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 substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless play style, but it excluded cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card printings, but not all of them will be collectible at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a larger card pool, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also made the release of the new cube faster. Online community members are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Participation Details

Introducing a iteration of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will adopt a prize structure and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being costlier to play than earlier cube events. The format details will be the following:

• Event Start: October 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (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: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; with ranking
• Match Play Mode: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Extra Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain almost every card permitted in the Timeless format, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the full details. Also, on Oct. 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their video platforms.