Magic Online Weekly Announcements, May 13, 2025

Posted on May 13, 2025

THE LEAD

Progressive Sealed League Debuts Tomorrow after Downtime!

Here’s a new yet familiar twist on Sealed – it's the add-a-booster League that’s popular in tabletop at stores and conventions. The Magic Online version will be a five-stage League totaling 10 Best-of-One games.

After every 2 games (win or lose), you’ll proceed to the next stage and be offered the chance to add a booster to your Sealed Pool (#improvement). The first extra booster is free!

But be sure to get into the League quickly – it lasts just 4 days ...

Here are the key points:

Khans of Tarkir Progressive Sealed League
League Starts: Wednesday, May 14 after downtime (approximately 8 a.m. PT/15:00 UTC)
League Closes: No new entries Sunday, May 18 at 12 noon PT (19:00 UTC), existing courses can start matches until 4 p.m. PT (23:00 UTC) that day.

Entry Options: 6 Event Tickets or 60 Play Points

Format: Khans of Tarkir Sealed Deck – 6 boosters in opening pool. This is a Keeper League – all cards opened will be added to players’ collections.

Structure: Up to 10 Best-of-One matches, played across 5 two-match stages. You can only be paired against players in the same stage.

Upgrade Options:

• After Stage 1 – 1 KTK booster added at no cost!
• After Stages 2-4 – 1 KTK booster can be added each stage.
  • Upgrade costs 1 Event Ticket, 10 Play Points, or 1 Khans of Tarkir booster

Prizes:

Also, 2 wins in a single stage earns a Friendly Trophy that counts toward Prestige Avatars.

Starting Next Week – MTGO Commander Cube!

We have the most peanut-butter-and-chocolate Magic experience lined up for you later this month – it's the debut of the Magic Online Commander Cube! It’s Cube... but with Commanders – an irresistible blend of traits that can appeal to every Johnny, Spike, or Vorthos.

Cube Full List and Article Coming Thursday

Creative Director Ryan Spain will be presenting the full Cube list and the philosophy and strategy behind its creation in a MTGO.com article this Thursday, May 15. This Cube has 810 cards total, 50% more than a regular MTGO cube, so it contains a lot of cards not normally found in an online cube event. Be sure to have a look before you start!

Commander Cube League Details

The League begins next Wednesday, May 21 at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC) and will run until downtime on Wednesday, June 4. Entry options will be just 4 Event Tickets or 40 Play Points. Four players queue up and draft. In a change from last week’s initial announcement, you now get to play up to two single-game, 4-player matches with your deck in a League course. Prize payouts for the League are as follows:

• 2 Match Wins – 130 Play Points and 1 Treasure Chest
• 1 Match Win – 70 Play Points

As with all Leagues, there is a matchmaking queue to join after you’re done building. This means you may not play your matches against players with whom you drafted. Like all Commander games, there is a free mulligan and the player who wins the die roll draws a card on their first turn. The timer is set for 30 minutes per player – so a maximum of 2 hours per game (though most games won’t go nearly that long).

How to Draft and Build a MTGO Commander Cube Deck

So how do you Commander Cube on MTGO? You start by adding a Command Tower to your draft pool – everyone gets a single copy. Then the draft continues by picking 2 cards at a time out of 15-card packs. There are FOUR packs to draft.

Because this is a Commander Limited game, you have to draft a Commander that fits the color identity of the colors you want to play. Fortunately, there are a few extra rules in this format to help you out:

• All colorless and mono-colored legendary creatures gain the partner ability – this will not appear on the card itself in the draft. These can partner with each other, or a 1-color card printed with partner - including Prismatic Piper (see below) 

• Any cards that were printed with partner or partner-like abilities (partner with, Choose a Background, and friends forever) can pair with each other. 

• • 1-color printed partners can pair with 1-color non-printed partners.  

• • 2-color printed partners cannot pair with 1-color non-printed partners. 

• • In this way, you can end up with as many as four colors in your deck’s color identity – two 2-color cards with printed partner. 

• Three-color legends cannot partner with anything. 

• Backgrounds can only be paired with creatures with Choose a Background. 

• Prismatic Piper has the partner ability, but it can pair only with mono-colored legends (printed partner or not).   

You’re building a deck with a minimum of 60 cards with partners included. Unlike regular Commander, you are allowed to go higher than 60 if you find it necessary.

Commander Cube Preview League Next Monday-Tuesday

To help everyone try out this format, we’re running a Preview League next week! It starts Monday, May 19 at 8 a.m. PT (15:00 PT) and concludes Wednesday, May 21 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). Like other Preview Leagues, there will be a code to enter in the MTGO Store: CMDRCUBE2025. The code is live right now!

It grants you a Draft Point token good for one free draft and game of Commander Cube during the Preview League. There are no prizes for this Preview League. The code can be redeemed once per account, but any unused Tokens will be cleared from accounts at the end of the League.

MTGO Spellgrounds Debut May 27

We apologize for the technical issues that stopped us from getting the Legacy Spellgrounds event off the ground last week. A fix is in place, and we intend to restart Spellgrounds on Tuesday, May 27 with Modern as the format.

ALL THINGS VINTAGE CUBE

Vintage Cube Rolls On

It’s time for a new round of MTGO’s favorite – the Magic Online Vintage Cube!

Learn about the latest changes to the Cube from Cube Curator Chris Wolf in this article.

Want to see the full card list? Here’s your page.

NOTE: 64-Player Single-Elimination Drafts will be off the schedule this week due to low fire rates.

Vintage Cube "Holiday” Bundle Returns

Another feature that’s proven to be a hit is the Vintage Cube Holiday Bundle which returns with the same value!

For $27 USD, you get the following:

• 3 Vintage Cube Draft Tokens – each Token is an entry option into either a League course or an 8-player single-elimination draft until May 21 – a savings of $1 per draft!
• A Loot, the Pathfinder avatar - the same one we offered in last month’s Bundle.

The Draft Bundle itself is not tradeable nor are its contents. The Tokens expire when the Cube League ends on May 21, so be sure to use them all up (we’ll remove them at that time and they are non-refundable)!

MOCS SHOWCASE THIS WEEKEND

Congratulations Ryan Waligora, 2025 Season 1 MOCS Showcase Champion!

Eight of Magic Online’s top competitors gathered this weekend to earn their share of $50,000 and two invitations to the 2025 World Championship. In the end, it was WingedHussar, Ryan Waligora, who ruled the day!

The day began with Vintage Cube and Ryan was the top performer. The American player ran a Five-Color Good Stuff strategy that featured a dash of reanimator with Atraxa, Grand Unifier as well as face-smashing with Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. The pod finals were a surprising battle of the players with the lowest lifetime Cube win rate in the field. Ryan edged Finnish stalwart Lauri Törnström, who was sporting a sick Underworld Breach combo deck aided by a slew of draw-sevens plus Narset, Parter of Veils, to lock up a seat in the Championship round. Ryan had under 30 seconds on their timer when the win was secured!

In the Modern rounds, the Worlds slot was contested between MOCS veterans and multiple Pro Tour Top 8 finishers Yuuki Ichikawa of Japan and America’s Jesse Hampton. Yuuki’s Jeskai Narset deck (featuring the new Tarkir: Dragonstorm version) bested Jesse’s Goryo’s Vengeance reanimator deck in two games to lock up a place at Worlds.

Then in the Championship round, bringing the instant-win combo power of Goblin Charbelcher, Ryan exacted revenge from an earlier loss to Yuuki in Modern to emerge as the Showcase Champion!

Ryan took home $13,000 as Champion, while Yuuki earned $9,000. Both players will appear at the 2025 Magic World Championship later this year!

The MTGO game team thanks all 8 Showcase competitors, our talented team of casters, and the exceptional behind-the-scenes production team for a great event!

You can watch all of the action on MTGO’s YouTube channel and get decklists and standings on the event page on Magic.gg.

If you want to be part of the next Showcase in October, click the Premier Play Information link at the top to learn more.

MTGO BROADCASTS

Lucas Giggs Wins the Modern Creator Showdown!

Dozens of your favorite Magic content creators took on the Modern format competing for up to $5,000 in cash and prizes in Saturday’s MTGO Creator Showdown!

After five rounds of play, only LucasG1ggs and BHobbsie emerged unscathed. In the finals, Lucas’s Boros Energy squeaked past BHobbsie’s Mono-Green Eldrazi build that featured Tarkir: Dragonstorm newcomer Ugin, Eye of the Storms to take home the top prize of $1,250 USD!

Other top finishers earning cash included Beekeeper (Mono-Green Broodscale), Mateus Fernandes (Gruul Eldrazi), MisplacedGinger (Boros Energy), and Skura (Jeskai Ascendancy).

We’ll be back in July with the next Creator Showdown!

MTGO Masters Returns with New 1v1 Challenge Format

Our competition series has switched gears for 2025. MTGO Masters returns as a show on our YouTube channel, but this time it’s all about 1-on-1 quick duels – a 15-minute content bite instead of a four-hour stream.

Hosts Anuraag Das and Will Hall return alongside a rotating cast of top streamers and formats. This episode features Ben Wheeler and Nathan Steuer facing off in the Canadian Highlander format (playable in MTGO in the Freeform room)!

The fun begins tomorrow at 5 p.m. PT (midnight Thursday UTC) on the MTGO YouTube page!

MTGO Twitch Streams Four Nights a Week

MeatMTG Wednesdays & YungDingo Fridays

Magic Online is pleased to bring you weekly streams from some of our top creators. We’ve teamed up with YungDingo and MeatMTG to show off MTGO at a regular time each week.

MeatMTG is streaming Wednesdays at 5:30 PM PT (00:30 Thursday UTC), while YungDingo takes the reins Friday nights at 6 pm PT (01:00 Saturday UTC) – both at twitch.tv/magiconline.

There will be giveaways galore, including Play Point codes and their own unique in-game avatars!

Visit their streams to earn and collect starting Wednesday and Friday this week

Oblivion Sorrow’s MTGO University How-To Series Tuesdays & Thursdays

We have launched an exciting new How-To series featuring one of our favorite content creators, OblivionSorrow from The Grim Tutors! Join her as she embarks on a journey through Magic: The Gathering Online, guiding both new and returning players through the ins and outs of the game. From streams to YouTube videos, shorts, and more—there’s something for everyone.

Look for streams on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET) with YouTube postings of the episodes soon afterward. Be sure to tune in to the stream starting this week to get OblivionSorrow’s exclusive in-game avatar!

Use Code "Oblivion" Today

PREMIER PLAY

Three Chances to Qualify for the Next RC This Weekend!

Six more seats in 2025’s final Regional Championship round are at stake this weekend!

Each event begins at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). The schedule is:

• Friday, May 16 – Pauper Qualifier
• Saturday, May 17 – Pioneer Qualifier
• Sunday, May 18 – Vintage Qualifier

It takes 40 Season 2 Qualifier Points to enter a Qualifier. The Top 2 finishers in each tournament grab a seat in the October-November RC round, and prizes pay out to the Top 64! 

Click the MTGO Premier Play link at the top of the Blog for more information.

ALTERNATE PLAY

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and Magic: The Gathering®–FINAL FANTASY™. Each description mentions if the Draft is Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All transitions take place at 10:00 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC) unless otherwise noted.

• Until May 21 – The Vintage Cube will be back with another refresh for a four-week run to support the next MOCS Showcase premiering on May 11. (Phantom)
• May 21-June 4 – It’s Commander Cube – a 4-player queue that drafts together and plays 1 game – easy peasy! (Phantom)
• June 4-10 – To be determined ... either a third week of Commander Cube or a Flashback Draft.

When Do Vintage Cube Leagues Return?

• Until May 21 – Update to support MOCS
• July 2-23 – Summer Refresh

AROUND THE WEB

MTGO University – MTGO Fundamentals How-To Short-Form Video Series

We’ve introduced a brand-new landing spot for everything related to getting your new-to-MTGO friends up to speed on playing our game – MTGO University! Whether you’re new to a specific format, new to Magic Online, or are just curious about what this version of MTG is all about, check out MTGO University.

New to MTGO University – the MTGO Fundamentals playlist: short-form videos showing off a bunch of tips and tricks. Check it out on YouTube today!

WEEKLY UPDATES

Redemption Corner

We’ve updated our Redemption page with new quantity percentages.

Aetherdrift regular redemptions remain on sale in the MTGO Store. Both Aetherdrift and Outlaws of Thunder Junction foil-for-regular has very little stock remaining.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm redemptions are now on sale!

As a reminder, we announced changes to the Redemption Program starting with Bloomburrow – read all about it in this article.

Magic Online Format Challenges Every Weekend

Format Challenges are the first step toward qualifying for Premier Play through your favorite Magic formats and provide excellent prizes for those looking to test their mettle in their favorite formats. Learn more about Premier Play qualification to get started today.

Magic Online's Format Challenges run as shown on the schedule on this page.

TOMORROW’S PATCH NOTES – May 14, 2025

Collection Scene

• When new cards are received into your Collection, you’ll be able to add them directly to the trade binder of your choice by right-clicking the card in the Added to your Collection
• The Add 1 to Deck option will be available at all times when a card is right-clicked.
• When importing a text deck file, unowned cards will display by default using the most recent printing in a regular frame, if applicable.
  • Most of the time, this is the Magic 2015 (regular) or Universes Beyond card frame
  • This does not apply to .DEK files which have version-specific card info.
    • If you are bringing in a list with Secret Lair or other premium treatments, importing as a .DEK file will provide the desired results.

Play Lobby

• Casual play rooms will be renamed Best-of-One and Best-of-Three instead of Open Play and Tournament Practice.
  • Game hosts are encouraged to use the Comments field to state the power level/type of game they seek.

Duel Scene

• Agitator Ant’s triggered ability will work as expected – no extra counters on creatures for anyone.
• In a multiplayer game, Gluntch, the Bestower’s trigger will no longer cause a soft lock if only two players remain.
• Cards with Bestow revealed from hand will correctly only appear once in the Revealed Cards zone.
• Worship will no longer cause a game reset.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – May 14, 6-8 a.m.

The next scheduled maintenance has been reset to Wednesday, May 14 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. PT (13:00-15:00 UTC). This is to support a postponed hardware changeover.