Magic Online Weekly Announcements, August 6, 2024

Posted on Aug 06, 2024

THE LEAD

One of the biggest events in Magic Online history continues this weekend. Win your way to Las Vegas to draft Vintage Cube – LIVE at MagicCon: Las Vegas, thanks to our friends at Ultimate Guard – and take everything you draft home with you!

NEW! Due to high demand during Week 1, we are making structural changes to the series which are laid out in this article that went live yesterday.

To get to Vegas, you must run a gauntlet of three different tournaments undefeated:

Step 1 – The Feeder League

The entry point for the series - 6 Event Tickets or 80 Play Points per course

Your next scheduled chance to play in the Feeder League will come this Saturday, August 10.

NEW! Starting with Week 3, you’ll need to win FOUR matches without losing in a single course to collect a Limited Championship Entry Token. There are now prizes for 2 wins and 3 wins in a course.

IMPORTANT: It is likely that the Feeder League will only be open for 24 hours or less depending on demand. Once we approach an internal target of entries that yield a Week’s worth of Entry Tokens, we will provide a 1-hour warning prior to the League closing to new entries. Players who’ve already drafted after the League closes will have 24 hours to complete their matches.

Step 2 – The 64-Player Drafts

Use that Entry Token to battle through two straight single-elimination Cube Drafts. Six match wins in a single event advances you to the last step.

There are no 64-Player Drafts this week (August 6-9) so that we can change Cube contents.

Week 3’s 64-Player Drafts for Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday will post in the MTGO game client next Monday, August 12 at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC). The Wednesday Drafts will post at 5 p.m. PT on Monday (midnight Tuesday UTC)

A reminder that if a regular-scheduled 64 doesn’t fire for some reason, the replacement will be scheduled for 3 hours later and will be posted for entries as soon as possible following the cancellation.

Step 3 – The Vegas Qualifier

The eight winners of a single Week’s 64-Player Drafts meet in one final showdown. The one player who’s left standing at the end punches their ticket to Las Vegas, while the other participants receive digital set prizes and an exclusive avatar.

Week 3’s Vegas Qualifier isn't until the end of next week - Saturday, August 17 at 9:30 a.m. PT (16:30 UTC).

The Winner’s Circle

A big congratulations to our first two players qualified for the Ultimate Guard Finals at MagicCon – MunsonJenkins and foolishpuppy.

You can get full details on the entire series on this page, including the Official Rules. The link to the announcement article is found here. The newest version of the Cube will be in play for Weeks 3-8 of Vintage Cube LIVE digital events.

Vintage Cube Update Tomorrow

Our Vintage Cube Curation Team is back with a Bloomburrow Update to incorporate new cards and swap in archetypes. This will be the Cube for the following events:

• Vintage Cube LIVE – the remainder of digital qualifying through September 28
• MOCS Season 2 Showcase – broadcast now slated for Sunday, September 15
• Vintage Cube Elimination Queues – starts tomorrow after the article goes live
• Vintage Cube League – starts Wednesday, August 21

Check out the article which is now live on MTGO.com.

MTGO BROADCASTS 

MTGO Masters Season 2 – Every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT

Sixteen online Magic luminaries are gathering for a new season of competition slinging spells in Modern on Magic Online – but with a heavy dose of Modern Horizons 3 added. It’s the return of MTGO Masters!

Continuing tomorrow at 1 p.m. PT (20:00 UTC), this 12-week series features a four-player faceoff with spots in the next round at stake. It all leads to a two-week Top 8 finale in mid-September. Until then, the format is Win 2 Before You Lose 2 – both for matches in a week and also weekly pods prior to Top 8.

Anuraag Das and Will Hall return as hosts for the stream broadcast on the main MTGO Twitch channel – twitch.tv/magiconline – as well as Anuraag’s channel twitch.tv/anzidmtg. We will also be featuring co-streaming partners throughout the season – this week, the team-up of D00mwake and YungDingo returns!

Last week, defending champ Arya Karamchandani swept the pod, while Arne Huschenbeth also made the Top 8 with a 2-1 finish. Mason Clark and Ben Wheeler fared worse and will have work to do in the Last Chance Pod later this season.

Our second Winners Pod is featured on this week’s show:

• Former World Champion Nathan Steuer
• Pro Tour Champion Alexander Hayne
• Streaming sensations Caleb Durward and Andreas Petersen (aka CalebD & Ecobaronen)

But there’s a twist! For the first six episodes, players will be tasked with brewing against a theme, then bring multiple decks to battle.

The final Theme Week of the season is Assassin’s Creed® & Bloomburrow. What new creations will the players design incorporating the newest sets?

Check out what our celebrities conjure up tomorrow and every Wednesday all season!

Next Creator Showdown – This Saturday!

Dozens of your favorite Magic content creators will be in action competing for up to $5,000 in cash and prizes in the next MTGO Creator Showdown this Saturday, August 10!

The rotating format of battle this month is Bloomburrow Sealed Deck and all participants will be streaming simultaneously in this six-round, double-elimination event starting at 9 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC).

Once the field is whittled down to 16 undefeated players, the official MTGO Twitch channel will fire up a broadcast hosted by Will Hall and featuring a rotating cast of commentators. We’ll whip around from stream to stream catching every turn of the cards until one player emerges with a 6-0 record and scores the top prize of $1,250!

There will be giveaways galore on the MTGO channel’s broadcast, so be sure to tune in and follow the action.

PREMIER PLAY

Four RC Slots Up for Grabs Sunday 

Your next chance to earn an invite to the first Regional Championship of 2025 comes this Sunday.

After our Creators have had a chance to dissect Bloomburrow Sealed Deck on Saturday, everyone gets their chance to compete in the Limited Super Qualifier this Sunday, August 11 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). As always, it’s Swiss rounds of Sealed Deck followed by Top 8 Draft.

It takes 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Points, or 40 Season 3 Qualifier Points to enter. The Top 4 finishers in this tournament grab a seat in the January-March RC round, and prizes pay out to the Top 128! 

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 Duskmourn: House of Shadows. All 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.

• Now-August 14 – Bloomburrow is center stage for these two weeks. Note that we are not doing a Best-of-One League this time as they have been dwindling in popularity.
• August 14-21 – It’s once again time for the Battle of the Planes – the same five locations as last year will do battle, but there are a couple twists in store. (Phantom)
• August 21-September 18 – Vintage Cube returns to support the next MOCS Showcase on September 14 – this is the same set of cards that will be used in Vintage Cube Live starting August 9. (Phantom)
• September 18-24 – As promised when we had to end its run early in May, we are running back Modern Horizons 2 Flashback (Phantom only)

When Is Vintage Cube League Back?

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

• August Refresh to Support MOCS & Vintage Cube Live
  • New Cube in Feeder Leagues/64s/Vegas Qualifiers starting August 10
  • New Cube in Single Elimination Queues starting August 7 10 AM PT
  • Normal Cube Leagues run August 21-September 18

AROUND THE WEB

Content Creator Applications Open - Round 2

Yes, you are reading this correctly we are reopening our Creator Program applications for MTGO. If you missed out last time, this is your time to shine. Read about it in this article. Be part of something special and help us shape the future of MTGO. Think you have what it takes to be an MTGO Creator? 

Tell Your Friends! New Learn-to-Play Channel – MTGO University

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.

The first content on this page is all seasons of Magic Discovery Zone. This includes learn-to-play videos on all five of the decks included in the New Account Starter Kit. And keep an eye out for additional new-player videos coming very soon!

WEEKLY UPDATES 

Bloomburrow Now Available!

It's time to gather the communities of the Valley together in an epic fight against the Calamity Beasts – Bloomburrow is on sale now in the MTGO Store! Check out this article now to learn all about what MTGO has on offer with this new set:

• Play Boosters, Premium Boosters, and Commander Decks
  • Gilded frames return on the Anime cards
• Treasure Chest Update – watch our social channels linked above for exact timing
• Commander Backlog progress, plus the usual pile of updates from around MTGO

Duel Commander Now Available on Magic Online

One of the most popular ways to play competitive Commander is now available on Magic Online. Duel Commander is a 1v1, 20-life format utilizing the 99 in new ways never done digitally before. With thousands of fans worldwide, its distinct metagame and banned lists, and both a Tournament Practice room and a League, the time is ripe to take this game mode for a spin!

Check out this article now to learn all about the format, its origins, and get ready to play on MTGO.

Note: There are two Known Issues for Duel Commander:

• It’s possible to illegally add multiple Companions to a deck
• It’s possible to swap into a card banned as a Commander during sideboarding.

Although we are trying to get fixes in for these as soon as possible, if this is seen in a League match, it should be considered an Exploit and reported at help.mtgo.com.

Redemption Corner

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

Outlaws of Thunder Junction are going fast – so get those sets completed and redeemed today!

Redemption Changes

As a reminder, we announced changes to the Redemption Program starting with Bloomburrow – read all about it in this article. Bloomburrow redemption sets go on sale on September 4.

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 – August 7, 2024

Quality of Life Improvements

• Events that are at maximum capacity will remain viewable in-client until their start time.
• In Duel Commander, the sideboard area will be locked so cards dragged there can’t disappear.

Card Fixes

• Cards with Valiant will correctly trigger on your creatures if your first spell/ability is played in response to an opponent’s spell/ability.
• Dryad Arbor will correctly be exiled by Containment Priest if it’s revealed by Nadu, Winged Wisdom’s trigger.
• Necromantic Selection will correctly reanimate the chosen creature onto your battlefield, not your opponent’s.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – September 18, 9 a.m.-Noon PT

The next scheduled maintenance is set for Wednesday, September 18 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Duskmourn: House of Horror.