Magic Online Weekly Announcements, March 12, 2024

Posted on Mar 12, 2024

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information

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THE LEAD 

Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks On Sale Now!

Your favorite characters from Warhammer 40,000 join the Magic: The Gathering Multiverse for a special Universes Beyond set. The same four decks that debuted in tabletop in October 2022 are on offer in the MTGO Store.

• Forces of the Imperium (white-blue-black)
• The Ruinous Powers (blue-red-black)
• Tyranid Swarm (blue-red-green)
• Necron Dynasties (mono-black)

Each deck sells for $39.99 USD. Once purchased, the cards become part of your Magic Online collection for use in Legacy (#triumphofsaintkatharine), Vintage, Commander, and Freeform formats. 

Cards in these decks will not be made available in Treasure Chests nor be part of any All-Access period. The decks are only available in the MTGO Store until April 5 – be sure you don’t miss out! 

WARHAMMER 40,000 and its trademarks used with permission from Games Workshop. Warhammer 40,000 © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2024.

Spring Vintage Cube Info This Friday

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's nearly time for spring cleaning. The changing of the seasons marks another major update to the Magic Online Vintage Cube!

Our crack Curation team of Ryan Spain and Chris Wolf will be setting up another metagame puzzle for you to solve. The details will go live in an article this Friday, March 16, likely around 12 noon PT (19:00 UTC) - follow our social channels for exact timing.

That next set of Vintage Cube events will start next Wednesday, March 20 and run for three weeks.

MTGO BROADCASTS

MTGO Masters – Every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT

Our newest streaming series - MTGO Masters - rolls on with another set of four players in their opening pod.

Sixteen top Magic celebrities square off in a 12-week tournament to determine who’s best at solving the Modern metagame. Returning to host are Anuraag Das and Will Hall with added commentary from the players themselves throughout the broadcast.

Catch all the action every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT (21:00 UTC) on twitch.tv/officialmagiconline or twitch.tv/anzidmtg. There are giveaways every week during the stream, so be sure to join us!

Tomorrow’s show features:

• Another original MTGO end boss, Hall of Famer Reid Duke
• Modern Super League winner and PT commentator extraordinaire Corey Baumeister
• From Studio X, MOCS commentator and Vintage Cube expert Carmen Klomparens
• The Pro Tour’s head scribe, from magic.gg ,it’s Corbin Hosler

The Magic Discovery Zone – Every Monday at 5 p.m. PT

Looking for a fun way to introduce your friends to some of Magic Online’s competitive formats? Gather around your favorite screen of choice for our new series The Magic Discovery Zone!

Every Monday at 5 p.m. PT (01:00 Tuesday UTC), join host NileJoanRivers in a live stream on the MTGO Twitch channel. She’ll be coached by an MTG celebrity on the ins and outs of a featured deck. Then follow along as they dive into a MTGO League to practice, ask questions, and get a better understanding of the deck’s game plan. The mood here is all about fun and learning!

Season One will follow Nile through the Standard format. 

Nile, Haiyue, Yoman5, Mason, Gerry, Ashlizzle

• Episodes 1-3, featuring celebrity coaches Ashlizzle, Yoman5, and Haiyue Yu are live on MTGO’s YouTube channel now.
• Todays guest mentor was Mason Clark - that video will be live on the channel soon
• The Season One finale will be next Monday, March 18. Gerry Thompson will be the special guest.

PREMIER PLAY

It's The Last Showcase Challenge Weekend of Season 1

The current MOCS season is entering the final stretch before the Postseason, so it’s time to get another batch of players for the next round of Showcase Qualifiers at the end of March. 

It takes 40 Season 1 Qualifier Points to enter a Showcase Challenge. The Top 8 finishers in each event earn a Championship Entry Token for the event’s format plus earn Leaderboard Points toward an At-Large berth in the next Showcase!

Here are the dates and times for this weekend’s events: 

For more information on these events, click the Premier Play Information link at the top of the Blog.

MOCS Last Chance Events Start Sunday

Did you fall just short of a Top 8 Showcase Challenge finish? Did you scrape together that 39^th and 40^th Qualifier Point at the last second? If so, your ticket to the upcoming Showcase Qualifiers could be earned in a Last Chance Event!

Starting Sunday, all Preliminaries in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Pioneer convert to Last Chance Events. Finish with a 5-0 record in that event to earn an Entry Token to that format’s Showcase Qualifier later this month. We’ll also be supplementing the supply of Vintage Last Chance events.

Entry options require both 40 Qualifier Points plus either 30 Event Tickets or 300 Play Points.

Here’s the schedule of Last Chance Events this round:

Last Chance Events pre-empt Preliminaries normally scheduled at those times.

Click the Premier Play Information link at the top of this Blog for full Last Chance Event details.

ALTERNATE PLAY

Invasion Block Flashback Draft Start Tomorrow

A classic MTG format returns tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT – for one week, draft the old standby Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse. The usual Phantom League entry options of 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points apply along with the usual prizes.

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and Outlaws at Thunder Junction. Except for Best-of-One, all of these offerings are Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All transitions take place at 10:00 a.m. PT unless otherwise noted.

• March 13-20 – An old friend returns: Flashback Invasion Block Draft.
• March 20-April 10 – Chris Wolf and Ryan Spain will have the first quarterly refresh of Vintage Cube with packages of cards shuttling in and out.
• April 10-16 – We’ve gathered 18 sets with a medium-to-heavy emphasis on the most universal of card types to create Artifact Chaos Draft!

When Is Vintage Cube Back?

A new regular feature of the Blog, this item will mention when the next scheduled run of our most popular event will take place:

• Spring Update: March 20-April 10 (64’s TBD)
• Spring Polish Update: May TBD

AND ANOTHER THING...

Season 1 QPs Good for Vintage Cube March 20-27

Over the last two MOCS seasons, we have been able to provide an event where expiring Qualifier Points can be used just after the season’s end.

We are continuing that trend with Season 1’s Qualifier Points. If you have any left over when the season ends next week, you will be able to use them to enter Vintage Cube events from March 20 at 10 a.m. PT to March 27 at 10 a.m. PT. An entry to the Draft League or the Single-Elimination Queue will cost 10 QPs (or the normal 10 Event Tickets / 100 Play Points).

While we cannot guarantee this option will be available every MOCS season, we are happy to provide it here.

WEEKLY UPDATES 

Redemption Corner

We’ve updated our Redemption page with new quantity percentages.
Murders at Karlov Manor Redemption Tokens are now available
Stock is running low for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Redemption Tokens (both regular and premium) and Wilds of Eldraine (regular sets only).

Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Live – Protect Your Account Today!

A long-requested security feature is now part Magic Online – check out Ryan Spain’s article to learn the why, what, and how to put Two-Factor Authentication into effect to help protect your account!

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 below.

On weekends featuring Showcase Challenge events, the Format Challenge that starts at either 6 a.m., 8 a.m., or 10 a.m. Pacific time is pre-empted by the Showcase Challenge; Format Challenges scheduled at other times remain in place.

NOTES:

• The number in the title represents the minimum fire size and the lowest place to receive prizes.
• In MOCS Season 1, Standard and Pauper Challenges are never pre-empted.
• 32-Player Limited Challenge events are 6 rounds with no playoff
• Challenges with a Second Chance Event that fires 30 minutes later are shown in Bold.

Check out the Magic Online Format Challenges page for further event details.

PATCH NOTES – March 13, 2024

• Serum Snare, Fading Hope, and Anoint with Affliction will act as expected when a creature with mana value 3 of less is the target.
• The mana cost of 40K’s Lictor has been changed from 2G to 3G to match the paper printing.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – April 10, 2024

The next scheduled maintenance will take place on Wednesday, April 10 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon Pacific time (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction.