Magic: The Gathering is about to get one of its most shocking high-stakes tournaments but, with $65k value of the most prized and highly effective playing cards up for grabs. Later this 12 months, Magic: The Gathering Online developer Daybreak will companion with TCG accent maker Ultimate Guard to host a contest centered round the iconic Classic Cube format, culminating in a reside “for retains” draft with booster packs full of exceptionally uncommon playing cards, together with an precise Black Lotus.
Referred to as “Magic On-line Classic Cube LIVE: Powered by Final Guard,” the on-line qualifiers for this event will begin later this week and run by way of the lead up to MagicCon: Las Vegas in October, the place the high eight rivals will do one remaining Classic Cube draft in-person and maintain all the playing cards they choose. MTGO Inventive Director Ryan Spain explains to me that the idea was to make this “dream come true” Cube draft a actuality, whereas Final Guard’s Martin Jůza, who’s challenge supervisor of the occasion and got here up with the concept in the first place (and can be in Magic’s aggressive Corridor of Fame), says they honestly wished to make “the coolest occasion we will do for the neighborhood.”
When you’re not conversant in the idea of Cube, it’s another method to play Magic the place somebody places collectively a curated record of a number of hundred playing cards to make a customized draft expertise of their very own design. In contrast to a typical draft at your native retailer, gamers don’t maintain the playing cards of their deck after the matches are over, as constructing a dice and tinkering with it over time might be fairly an concerned course of for its creator as they dial in precisely what kind of play expertise they need it to present. That might imply enabling particular methods or playstyles, together with your private favourite playing cards only for fun, or gathering all the strongest choices throughout the 30-year historical past of this recreation.
In the case of MTGO’s Classic Cube, which is seen by many as a kind of benchmark record due to each its official standing and its simple availability, it means a combination of flashy new playing cards alongside some of the most notorious ones ever printed. For instance, the entirety of the Power Nine is offered to draft in the event you’re fortunate sufficient to open any of them, and there are a lot extra playing cards which have by no means been reprinted thanks to Magic’s notorious Reserved List.
That’s what makes the prospect of doing a “for retains” Classic Cube draft — the place the playing cards you choose on your deck are yours to take dwelling — so distinctive and thrilling. Whereas the precise card record for this event has but to be revealed, Dawn has already dedicated to a number of parameters for it, like together with the Energy 9, the unique twin lands, and all the different playing cards which have been in each iteration of MTGO’s dice over the years. On high of that, the objective is to make all of them actually fascinating variations of these playing cards, reasonably than low cost reprints or copies which are in horrible situation.
“There’s so many variations of Llanowar Elves it will be trivial to discover one which excited no one,” Spain explains, “nevertheless it’s an iconic card beloved by many, me included, and it’s going to be a lot cooler for everyone when that card flips over and it’s a Beta Llanowar Elves as a substitute of one thing from 2015.” In truth, Spain says any Frequent or Unusual rarity playing cards that had been initially printed in Magic’s first set will likely be variations from Beta at the newest, which can considerably enhance each the financial worth and the nostalgic enchantment of the total dice.
The remaining record gained’t look precisely like MTGO’s typical Classic Cube lists both, as these regularly have a tendency to experiment with newer playing cards or methods – Spain even said explicitly in an article last year that the MTGO dice was about “curating a fascinating play expertise, not a card museum.” He says this dice, nonetheless, really is supposed to be extra of a combination of each. Equally, Jůza says they’re “aiming for just about the most old skool model of the dice attainable, so in a method we’re showcasing the final 30 years of Magic.”
The end result of their dedication to not simply doing this, however doing it proper, is a dice that will likely be value at the very least $65k in complete. Whereas every of the high eight rivals will solely be going dwelling with a slice of that pool, the odds are good that their cuts will nonetheless be value a considerable quantity. For reference, inserting in the high eight of the 2023 Magic World Championship (which had a $1,000,000 prize pool) earned you $20k, which might hypothetically be surpassed by the worth of this event’s Black Lotus alone relying on the card’s printing and situation. Each participant will draft 48 playing cards instantly (three 16-card packs every), however not all of the 540-card Cube record will likely be opened this fashion, so profitable matches along with your deck may also earn you a much bigger chunk of the leftovers.
For a neighborhood of Cube lovers who’re accustomed to handing their playing cards again after each draft, this occasion is certain to make a splash. I had the likelihood to ask Twitch streamer Caleb Durward, the winner of the inaugural CubeCon event again in 2022 and finest recognized for his Classic Cube content material on-line, for his ideas on this occasion forward of the announcement, and he says “it’s a particular factor for positive.”
“It’s not solely a excessive, prestigious Cube occasion that you’ve got to win a qualifier for to go and play,” which he says is a uncommon sufficient prevalence in the neighborhood, “however simply the really feel of really drafting with these outdated playing cards shouldn’t be one thing that everyone will get the likelihood to do lately.” Durward says although he’s been privileged sufficient to draft paper cubes with actual Energy 9 playing cards in them earlier than, it’s nonetheless thrilling to do, and even simply seeing others draft with the actual playing cards for the first time might be very cool.
This event additionally feels prefer it couldn’t be coming at a greater time for the format – whereas idea of Cube is in no way a brand new one, it has been going by way of a bit of a renaissance in recent times. Dawn has been iterating extra aggressively on its dice, Cube-focused neighborhood occasions like CubeCon and lots of extra have been bobbing up, and a few content material creators are turning their focus towards it extra often. Even Magic’s unique creator, Richard Garfield, recently expressed his love for the format.
Durward says there are so much of elements to this growth, however partially praises how receptive Dawn has been to suggestions because it took over growth of MTGO two years in the past. Jůza factors towards the recognition of fellow Corridor of Famer Luis Scott-Vargas, who began posting day by day Cube movies on his YouTube channel a few 12 months in the past. In the meantime, Spain is cautious of taking an excessive amount of credit score for something when Cube is simply a lot enjoyable on its personal, describing it as “Commander for Restricted” in the way it brings large, thrilling performs to the Draft expertise.
To that finish, Durward tells me that half of why he enjoys Cube a lot is as a result of it’s an “expressionistic” method to play Magic. “As a result of there are not any unhealthy playing cards in Cube, as a result of all of the playing cards are designed for that setting and the energy degree is so excessive,” he explains, ”you are able to do various things with the recreation each single time you play it.” He compares drafting a Cube deck to portray with a brush, letting you comply with no matter temper strikes you in a method that’s distinctive in the scheme of Magic drafting.
That stated, Dawn Product Supervisor Tony Mayer says “the curation factor cannot be understated” in phrases of what has helped Cube flourish, at the very least when it comes to MTGO’s Classic Cube. It’s sometimes solely accessible to play throughout timed home windows in order that it doesn’t battle with or distract from Magic’s primary set releases – however the downtime has been getting briefer these days. Spain says that’s been influenced partially by the success of MTG Arena, Magic’s more moderen digital consumer. It’s a platform that’s much more consumer pleasant, making it interesting for issues like drafting the latest units, nevertheless it’s additionally far much less complete in its card pool and choices, which leaves it unsuitable for one thing like Classic Cube.
“Whereas earlier than [Cube] was a filler, it’s now our primary occasion,” says Spain, recognizing that the ecosystem has modified as Magic continues to develop. Mayer follows up by saying “we used to evaluate it to ‘Is it the McRib or is it the Large Mac?’ And the reply for us proper now could be one thing in between.” That philosophical shift has actually impacted Cube’s progress, and with out the newfound enthusiasm Dawn has put towards the format we doubtless wouldn’t be seeing a event of this scale in any respect.
It’s becoming, then, that qualifying for the remaining occasion at MagicCon will contain (you guessed it) enjoying an entire lot of Cube on MTGO. Extra exact particulars will likely be shared in an official weblog publish later immediately, however a sequence of single-elimination qualifiers will happen over the subsequent few months beginning with a “Feeder League” that prices six Occasion Tickets (about $6 USD) or 80 Play Factors to enter. Getting three match wins there’ll qualify you for a 64-person two-draft occasion later on, and profitable that will get you entry to one final qualifier draft to discover the remaining eight for Las Vegas. So whereas anybody with a number of spare bucks and the consumer put in can strive their luck, reaching the high eight will primarily imply profitable 12 Cube matches in a row throughout 4 completely different drafts main up to MagicCon.
It’s in no way a simple process, however contemplating the prize on the line in contrast to the low preliminary entry worth, it’s a remarkably accessible occasion for individuals who need to give it a shot. And given the alternative is probably going to entice every kind of Magic gamers, I requested Durward and Jůza if that they had any ideas for people who is likely to be new to Cube which are hoping to win a Black Lotus of their very own.
Jůza really helpful doing a little analysis about the dice forward of time, watching movies of skilled gamers drafting, and when unsure, drafting easy however dependable methods like mono-red or mono-white aggro over making an attempt to get too fancy. Durward’s recommendation echoed that final sentiment, although maybe in a barely extra direct method:
“Attacking is at all times good. Simply assault, simply kill individuals.”
Tom Marks is IGN’s Government Evaluations Editor for video games. He loves card video games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and plenty extra.