Magic Online Weekly Announcements, April 1, 2025

Posted on Apr 01, 2025

THE LEAD

Read All About It - Tarkir: Dragonstorm Set Article

After speeding across three planes in a single set, we’re nearly ready to return to the land of dragons and clans! It's time to share what MTGO has in store for Tarkir: Dragonstorm, which hits our digital shelves next Tuesday, April 8. Click this link to learn more about:

• The Draft Bundle returns - $32 USD for 3 League Drafts and an exclusive avatar!
  • The Tokens are usable for the first three weeks this time – one more than Aetherdrift.
• Each clan has its own Commander Deck - $29.99 USD each.
• The Premium Booster is back as well for $6.99 USD each.
• Our premium card effect for this set, the Dragon Eye lands, will be given away primarily via our Player Rewards grant at the start of May covering April’s paid event play and Store spending!

Extended Downtime Tomorrow – 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT

Magic Online will be down for a longer-than-normal maintenance period tomorrow starting just after 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC). It is expected to last around five hours, ending around 2 p.m. PT (21:00 UTC). Be sure to follow our social channels linked at the top of the Blog for precise timing.

We won’t start downtime until the last Legacy Last Chance event concludes, and Scheduled Events that normally start on or after 12 noon PT will be re-scheduled as soon as feasible later Wednesday. Thank you for your patience.

Vintage Cube League Ends at Downtime

The Magic Online Vintage Cube League is ending tomorrow morning. If you’re holding onto any leftover Draft Tokens, they must be used up prior to the League’s closure at 4 a.m. PT (11:00 UTC) tomorrow! We’ll remove the Tokens during downtime and they are non-refundable!

Use Expired Season 1 QPs for Free Drafts Starting Tomorrow

Starting after tomorrow’s downtime and only until the start of Tarkir: Dragonstorm events on April 8, you will have one final chance to spend leftover Season 1 (Yellow) QPs. As an additional entry option, you can spend 10 Season 1 QPs for an entry into either:

• Flashback Kaladesh Draft League, or
• Vintage Cube Single-Elimination Queue

Banned & Restricted Update

As announced yesterday on Daily MTG, the following changes were applied in MTGO yesterday:

Modern

Banned: Underworld Breach

Legacy

Banned: Sowing Mycospawn and Troll of Khazad-Dum

Pauper

Banned: Basking Broodscale, Deadly Dispute, and Kuldotha Rebirth

Unbanned: High Tide and Prophetic Prism

New Event Type – Pauper Throwdowns!

With the shakeup to the Pauper metagame yesterday and the format being featured in the upcoming MOCS season, we decided to try a new event!

Introducing the Pauper Throwdown – a five-round Scheduled Event with extra everything compared to a League course. We’re running one of these tournaments every weekday starting after tomorrow’s downtime. Here are the details:

Start Times (all PT, for UTC add 7 hours)

• Monday 2 p.m.
• Tuesday 6 a.m.
• Wednesday 6 p.m.
• Thursday 1 p.m.
• Friday 1 a.m.

Players: Min 17, Max 64

Entry: 15 Event Tickets or 150 Play Points

Prizes:

• 5-0 – 300 Play Points, 10 Treasure Chests, and 20 Qualifier Points
• 4-1 – 200 Play Points, 6 Treasure Chests, and 10 Qualifier Points
• 3-2 – 150 Play Points, 3 Treasure Chests, and 5 Qualifier Points

MTGO BROADCASTS

MTGO Twitch Streams Four Nights a Week Starting Today!

MeatMTG Wednesdays & YungDingo Fridays

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

MeatMTG begins streaming Wednesdays at 5:30 PM PT (00:30 Thursday UTC) starting tomorrow! Then catch YungDingo 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 April 8th

MTGO Masters Returns Wednesday with New 1v1 Challenge Format

Our competition series has switched gears for 2025. MTGO Masters returns as a weekly 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. The first episode, coincidentally, features YungDingo and MeatMTG facing off in Modern format!

The fun begins next Wednesday at 5 PM PT on the MTGO YouTube page!

New Education Series Comes to MTGO University This Week

Starting this week, we’re launching 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.

Use Code "Oblivion" April 8th

Look for streams on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting April 1 at 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET) with YouTube postings of the episodes soon afterward!

PREMIER PLAY

MOCS Postseason Begins This Weekend

It’s time once again to qualify players for the next Magic Online Champions Showcase in May! Over the next two weekends, Top 8 finishers from Showcase Challenges and 5-win players from Last Chance events (see below) will battle until one remains as this season’s Showcase Champion for that format.

In addition to reaching the Champions Showcase (with its $50,000 prize pool and two invitations to the 2025 World Championship), the winner of each Showcase Qualifier is invited to the second Pro Tour of 2025 plus the Regional Championship round in January-March feeding that event. Leaderboard Points are also on the line as players seek one of two At-Large invites at the end of the postseason.

Here’s the schedule:

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

MOCS Last Chance Events Wrapping Up 

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! 

Continuing until 3 a.m. PT tomorrow, all Preliminaries in Modern, Legacy, Standard, and Vintage 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 also supplemented the supply of both Standard & Vintage Last Chance events.

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

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

*indicates next-day  

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. 

EVENT UPDATES

Expanded Trial Event Schedule

In case you haven’t heard, we’re trying something different with some of our weekly time slots!

Phantom Sealed

MTGO now offers a Phantom Sealed Trial 24 tournament five days a week. a re-jiggered variant of the Limited Challenge priced to reflect being an event where Sealed cards are not added to Collections.

These five-round events require 24 players to fire and have entry options of 25 Event Tickets or 250 Play Points. Prizes are listed at the bottom of the Preliminary & Challenge info page- they include a mix of boosters, Treasure Chests, Qualifier Points, and a regular set for a 5-0 finish.

Phantom Sealed Trials will be run at the following times:

• Tuesdays at 8 a.m. & 4 p.m. PT (15:00 & 23:00 UTC)
• Wednesdays at 4 p.m. PT (23:00 UTC)
• Thursdays at 12 noon PT (19:00 UTC)
• Saturdays and Sundays at 1 a.m. PT (08:00 UTC)

Duel Commander

For those of you who have wanted to try out Duel Commander in a more competitive environment, we have expanded Trial events to all weekdays! With the next B&R update having just passed (no changes), it’s a great time to get ahead of the metagame.

These tournaments require a minimum of 16 players to fire. Full entry & prize details can be found on our Format Challenge info page. The new times include (all times Pacific, for UTC add 7 hours):

• Monday at 8 a.m.
• Tuesday at 3 p.m.
• Wednesday at 6 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Thursday at 9 a.m.
• Friday at 12 noon

ALTERNATE PLAY

Flashback Kaladesh Draft Starts Tomorrow

Before leaving Avishkar and Aetherdrift behind, we’ll make a return trip to the plane’s original format – Triple Kaladesh Draft. This Flashback draft traces the debut of energy as a mechanic and imparts a spirit of innovation.

The usual entry options of 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points for a Phantom Flashback league apply. But you can also enter this draft with 10 of the expiring Season 1 Qualifier Points. Normal prizes are in force as well – check out the Limited Events page for full details.

Hurry, though – this draft only lasts until Tarkir: Dragonstorm launches next week.

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.

• Tomorrow-April 8: Kaladesh, as mentioned above. (Phantom)
• April 8-23 – Tarkir: Dragonstorm Limited is front and center for these two weeks.
• April 23-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 5 – We’ve got something very special up our sleeve, but we’re not ready to talk about it just yet.
• June 5-11 – We’re still considering our options for this final week before the year’s first Universes Beyond set.

When Do Vintage Cube Leagues Return?

• April 23-May 21 – Update to support MOCS

AROUND THE WEB

Content Creator Applications Are Back on MTGO!

Missed your shot to join the MTGO Content Creator Program? No worries — applications are open once again! Whether you're streaming, brewing, or building the next viral MTGO moment, now’s your chance to get in the mix.

Check out the updated requirements and how to apply right here!

MTGO University – MTGO Fundamentals How-To Series Live

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 redemptions are now on sale in the MTGO Store!

A limited number of Duskmourn redemption tokens – both regular and foil-for-regular – have been added back into the Store.

Meanwhile, the technical issue of Starter Kit cards being required to complete Bloomburrow redemption sets has been corrected earlier than expected. A limited number of that set’s redemption tokens remain.

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

The last batch of Outlaws of Thunder Junction foil sets still remain available.

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 – April 2, 2025

Quality-of-Life Updates

• A game server improvement will go live that:
  • Allows the game to process more loops before disabling auto-yields/declaring a game a draw, and
  • Allows more triggers to be placed on the stack at once, particularly in multiplayer games (#nekusarpluswheeleffects)
• Lag during priority passes will be reduced due to the game needing less time to process state-based actions.
• All Scheduled Events with a Top 8 will use Swiss standings to determine who gets the play-draw option in Game 1 of a playoff round! The game will display this by having the higher-ranked player winning the die roll.
• Player names will no longer occasionally replace card names in the Game log of a multiplayer game.
• The Modern Gauntlet will be refreshed. The new League begins after downtime.

Card Fixes

• Abilities that trigger on a number of cards being exiled from the graveyard (Ketramose, the New Dawn, etc), will correctly only trigger once per exile event, not once per card.
• Blim, Comedic Genius will function as expected.

General

• The following regions are now eligible to create MTGO accounts: Albania, American Samoa, Azerbaijan, Belize, Cambodia, Curacao, Guam, Honduras, Moldova, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, and Vietnam.
• Additionally, the following regions will be eligible for Premier Play in MOCS Season 2: China, Macau, and Hong Kong.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – June 4, 9 a.m.-Noon PT

After tomorrow, the next scheduled maintenance is set for Wednesday, June 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Magic: The Gathering–FINAL FANTASY.