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The Vintage Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the premier digital platform for playing MTG before MTG Arena came into existence. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter true power when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. According to the announcement, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on Arena and will showcase some of the strongest cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine."

Understanding the Vintage Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, 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 Vintage 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 history of the game without having to pay the substantial cost required for physical Vintage play. Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless format, but it did not include cards such as the iconic Power Nine — MTG's legendary high-power cards, including the famed Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Time Walk, Timetwister spell, and Ancestral Recall.

Details of the Arena Powered Cube

The Arena Powered Cube will incorporate a hundred fresh Arena card printings, but some of these will be collectible at the release of the event. This enables the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these extremely strong cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. According to the announcement, this also made the release of the latest cube quicker. Fans online are already theorizing that this move was a reaction to the poor reception of Through the Omenpaths — the Arena version of Marvel's Spider-Man and the least-played Arena set ever, according to some reports.

Event Structure and Participation Details

Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will surely boost numbers in Arena, but there is an important caveat to note. The Powered Cube will use a reward system and access cost comparable with the Premier Draft tournaments, 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 (3 p.m. UTC)
• Signup Close: November 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (3 p.m. UTC)
• Entry: 10,000 gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Format: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; ranked
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Extra Information

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards legal in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a unique bonus card list. For more details on the prizes and the cards present in the Arena Powered Cube, interested players can review the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will provide more updates on their YouTube channels.