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

The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital platform for playing MTG before Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on Oct. 28. As per the official description, "This thrilling occasion is distinct from all others on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

What Is the Classic Cube?

For seasoned Limited enthusiasts, a cube is a distinctive form of Booster Draft that doesn't draw cards from particular expansions, but instead from a predetermined pool. The Classic Cube has consistently served as 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 having to pay the significant money required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it excluded cards such as the iconic Power Nine — Magic's legendary high-power cards, including Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk card, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the Arena Powered Cube

The Powered Cube will include a hundred fresh MTG Arena card printings, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the addition of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could cause balance problems in Constructed formats. According to the official news, this also facilitated the launch of the new cube faster. Fans online are already speculating that this move was a reaction to the negative feedback of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of a Spider-Man themed set and the lowest-engagement Arena set to date, 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 MTG Arena, but there is an key point to add. The Powered Cube will adopt a reward system and entry fee comparable with the Premier Draft events, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC)
• Signup Close: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Participation Cost: 10,000 gold, or 1500 gems, or one draft token
• Game Style: Powered Cube Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the event cards)
• Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Additional Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless mode, along with cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, interested players can review the full details. Additionally, on October 22, professional Magic players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their video platforms.