Magic: The Gathering's Most Popular Draft Format Finally Makes Its Debut on Arena

The Classic Cube stands as one of the most beloved cubes on the original digital platform, the premier digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will have the chance to experience immense strength when the Powered Cube limited event launches on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This thrilling occasion is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from across Magic's legacy, including the legendary Power Nine."

What Is the Classic Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Classic Cube has long been a fun and popular way for MTG players 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. MTG Arena introduced something similar with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's classic powerhouse cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Features of the New Cube Event

The Powered Cube will incorporate 100 new Arena card printings, but some of these 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 create imbalance issues in Constructed formats. According to the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube quicker. Online community members are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set to date, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Entry Information

Launching a version of one of the most popular cubes ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an important caveat to add. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system 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:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10k gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Players do not keep the event cards)
• Single Game Mode: Seven wins or three losses; ranked
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; without ranking

Rewards and Extra Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can include nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. Additional information on the rewards and the cards present in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Additionally, on October 22, MTG pro players Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon, long-time Vintage Cube aficionados, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.