ack after a brief hiatus, the Magic Online Cube returns tomorrow, a week earlier than previously announced (more on that later). A big hit every time we have offered it, the Magic Online Cube is a challenging draft format that tests players with powerful cards and strategies from throughout Magic's storied history.

As we continue to work to ensure that the Cube is both interesting to players and fits within the general event structure of Magic Online, each Cube release has seen changes to how we offer it, often with updated card lists and prize adjustments. This release is no different and features three major changes: new cards, a longer duration, and the introduction of the all-new Cube Ticket.

It's in the Cards

Our goal is to ensure that the Magic Online Cube is an evolving experience, much like a player's personal Cube would be. As we move forward, when a set is released in Magic Online we'll update the Cube card list as well. While often this will just be adding awesome cards from the new set, this is also an opportunity for R&D to make changes to the play experience, either adjusting draft and play strategies or integrating feedback from the community. The latest version of the Cube features 35 card swaps. The full list of changes can be found below, but in short we have added new cards from Magic 2013, more mana fixing, and a preview card from Return to Ravnica!

Check out the change list to see what cards are in and out, or you can view the complete Cube card list.

A Fortnight of Fun

In the past, we have run the Cube for a single week (or only three days in the case of the preview weekend) so we can see how it performs and evaluate its integration with our other tournament options. As a result of its limited release, however, we have received a lot of player feedback that the Cube is never available long enough. Well, message received!

While we originally announced that we would run the Cube from October 3 until October 10, we are going to start early and launch the Cube after this week's Wednesday downtime! This means that starting after the downtime on September 26, the Cube will be up and available for two full weeks! Players will be able to Cube to their hearts' content—or until the downtime on October 10, whichever comes first.

A Ticket to Cube

Finally, and most importantly, we are completely revamping the entry options and prize structures for Cube events by introducing the Cube Ticket.

A Cube Ticket is an untradeable digital object that will be the primary prize and alternate entry option for Cube drafts going forward. When the Cube draft queues are available after the downtime on September 26, each Cube draft queue will require either 8 Event Tickets or 2 Event Tickets and 10 Cube Tickets to join. While alternative entry objects are not exactly new—see the Mirrodin Besieged and upcoming Return to Ravnica Prereleases—the fact that Cube drafts are Phantom gives us more flexibility to experiment with entry options and prize structures than we've ever had before. When looking at how we were going to use these new tickets, we really wanted to provide a structure that focuses on players who love Cube, but in a way that encourages participation for all players.

Our first goal was to ensure that players who do well in a Cube draft were able to play again. This means that a player who wins a Cube draft will earn enough Cube Tickets to hop right back into the queue without jumping through any hoops. Players will have two queues to choose from, a single-elimination queue with mixed prizes and a Swiss queue for players who just want to play Cube. Regardless of which queue you choose, if you win you will have more than enough Cube Tickets to join the next queue.

The new Cube Ticket also lets us reward participation more than ever. For the first time in Magic Online history, all players who participate in a Cube draft will earn product that can be used to join their next draft, regardless of their final standings in the tournament. This means that players will be able to earn entry into another Cube queue just by playing Cube.

Finally, we wanted to make sure that the Swiss queue was clearly the place for players who just want to play Cube while it is available. With three rounds of play and a generous helping of Cube Tickets in the prize structure, Cube fans should be very happy. Meanwhile, players who are looking for a more varied Magic Online experience, like that of previous Cube releases, can still earn booster packs for the classic product drafts by playing in the single-elimination queues.

Speaking of classic product drafts, we are excited to offer two queues—a different draft each week—during this Cube release. The first week, starting September 26, a Mirage Block queue will be available and the single-elimination Cube queue will have Mirage Block prizes. The second week, starting October 3, the Classic queue and prizes will change over to a Tempest Block and run until October 10.

We are very excited about the return of the Cube and hope you all are too. Have fun and good drafting!

The Magic Online Cube Draft Queues

START TIMES: On demand beginning after the downtime on Wednesday, September 26, until the downtime on Wednesday, October 10.
LOCATION: Limited Queues room.
ENTRY OPTION(S): 8 Event Tickets OR 2 Event Tickets and 10 Cube Tickets.
PRODUCT: Magic Online will provide 3 Phantom Magic Online Cube booster packs for this event. Cards that players draft and play with in a Phantom event are NOT added to those players' collections.
SIZE: 8 Players.
DURATION: Drafting and deck building time plus 3 rounds, single elimination OR 3 rounds, Swiss pairings depending on event entered.
PRIZES: Prizes for single-elimination events are based on placement at the end of the tournament. Prizes for Swiss pairing events are based on the total match points at the end of the tournament. Each match win awards 3 points and each match loss awards 0 points.

The Magic Online Cube Single-Elimination Draft

Note: Booster pack prizes for Cube draft events from September 26 until the downtime on October 3 will be from Mirage Block. Booster pack prizes for Cube draft events after the downtime on October 3 until the downtime on October 10 will be from Tempest Block.

The Magic Online Cube Swiss Draft

Mirage Block Draft Queues

START TIMES: On demand beginning after the downtime on Wednesday, September 26, until the downtime on Wednesday, October 3.
LOCATION: Limited Queues room.
ENTRY OPTION(S): 14 Event Tickets OR 2 Event Tickets plus product.
PRODUCT: 1 Mirage booster pack, 1 Visions booster pack, and 1 Weatherlight booster pack.
SIZE: 8 Players.
DURATION: Drafting and deck building time plus 3 rounds, single elimination.
PRIZES: Prizes for single-elimination events are based on placement at the end of the tournament.

Tempest Block Draft Queues

START TIMES: On demand beginning after the downtime on Wednesday, October 3, until the downtime on Wednesday, October 10.
LOCATION: Limited Queues room.
ENTRY OPTION(S): 14 Event Tickets OR 2 Event Tickets plus product.
PRODUCT: 1 Tempest booster pack, 1 Stronghold booster pack, and 1 Exodus booster pack.
SIZE: 8 Players.
DURATION: Drafting and deck building time plus 3 rounds, single elimination.
PRIZES: Prizes for single-elimination events are based on placement at the end of the tournament.

Check out what has changed in this version of the Magic Online Cube:  

Check out the full contents of the Cube below: