Magic Online Weekly Announcements, November 26, 2024

Posted on Nov 26, 2024

THE LEAD

No Holds Barred Vintage Cube Starts Tomorrow!

Our Discord community demanded it, so it’s here – the most broken, combo-riffic, game-altering cards are all in one place for the next two weeks! The No Holds Barred Vintage Cube is a special edition concocted by our Curation Team for maximum ... everything:

• Combos for days – no really, sooooo many combos
• Card advantage through the roof (hello again, initiative)
• The wildest ways to say No – even without playing a land

Check out this article from Creative Director Ryan Spain and Cube Curator Chris Wolf to see what exactly distinguishes this group of ne’er-do-well digital cardboard, then play to see all the power (both capital and lower-case P) unleashed! The usual Cube entry options and prizes apply – we'll see you in the queues!

FDN Phantom Sealed Starts Tomorrow

We’re bringing back an old tradition – Phantom Sealed. Play three rounds with your Phantom Sealed Deck in this fast and breezy League for the low price of 6 Event Tickets or 60 Play Points. Prizes are in Play Points: 90 for 3 match wins, 60 for 2, and 30 for 1.

MTGO CREATOR SEASON

For the first time, we’re letting a handful of MTGO’s Creator Program members curate and inspire some unique event experiences. Magic Online’s Creator Season runs until December 18! Read all about it in this article ...

NEW! We’ve updated the article with two more creators running weeks of events in December – Birds of Paradise & Corey Baumeister

Here’s what’s on deck for Creator Season:

This Week

• Modern Mini-League
  • It’s Modern’s turn to run as a mini-League for exclusive Trophy Race avatars! The League begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (18:00 UTC) and runs just 48 hours until Friday at 10 a.m. PT. Accounts finishing in the Top 15 and ties on the Leaderboard will snag the avatar.
• More All-Access - $15 USD for 5 Days
  • Emerald Entry Token on sale tomorrow, November 27 at 10 a.m. PT, All-Access runs until Monday, December 2 at 10 a.m. PT
• AspiringSpike’s Modern Madness – Sunday, December 1 at 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC)
  • This one-day tournament encourages you to Spike it (#puntotallyintended) for big prizes, plus the Top 32 and ties score an event-exclusive avatar!
  • Entry Options – 40 Event Tickets or 400 Play Points
  • Full details in the article link above

Next Week

• Even More All-Access - $20 USD for 6 Days
  • Sapphire Entry Token on sale Tuesday, December 3 at 10 a.m. PT, All-Access runs until Monday, December 9 at 10 a.m. PT
• Standard Mini-League
  • Wednesday-Friday, December 4-6
• Birds of Paradise Standard Spectacular – Qualify Dec 2-7, Finals Dec 8
  • We’re running back the tournament structure from Legacy Week. Starting Monday, December 2 after 8 a.m. PT, do one of the following to gain entry to the Finals on Sunday, December 8:
    • 5-0 a Standard League course
    • 4-0 or 3-1 a Standard Preliminary
    • Top 8 a Standard Challenge
  • Alternately, you can purchase 2 Sapphire Entry Tokens to enter the Finals (and have that sweet, sweet All-Access).
  • Like the other big Creator Season events, there’s big prizes on the line in the Finals with Standard-legal digital sets for the Top 8. Plus the Top 32 and ties will receive an event-exclusive alternate-art Birds of Paradise avatar!

Be sure to keep an eye on this space to see who else will bring the fun this Creator Season!

PREMIER PLAY

Premier Play Rules Updates for 2025 – New Qualifier/MOCS Schedule Live Today!

The 2025 MOCS year begins tomorrow. After 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC), players will earn the Yellow Season 1 Qualifier Points good toward qualification for the Showcase in May 2025 as well as the current Regional Championship Qualifying season.

Our Premier Play Rules pages have been updated to show information on the new season, including the next schedule of Qualifiers, Super Qualifiers, and MOCS events.

The key changes from 2024 to 2025 are:

• Standard and Pioneer swap places in the hierarchy of MOCS formats – Standard will be contested every season, while Pioneer will be a rotating format returning to MOCS in Season 3.
• No changes to qualification paths or prize tables for Premier events.
• Updates to the Legal information section affect eligibility of players in certain regions starting with the new season.

Your first chance to use the new Yellow Season 1 QPs will be on December 20^th.

MOCS Postseason Begins This Weekend

It’s time once again to qualify players for the next Magic Online Champions Showcase in January! Over the next two weekends, Top 8 finishers from Showcase Challenges and 5-win players from Last Chance events 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.

If you did not reach the Showcase Qualifier stage, your chance to reach the Showcase will be the weekend of December 14-15 in the Showcase Opens – events featuring Duskmourn Limited where the winner earns a Showcase invitation.

For more information on MTGO Premier Play, click the 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! 

All Preliminaries in Modern, Legacy, Standard, 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 Standard Last Chance events.

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

Here’s the schedule of remaining 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. 

ALTERNATE PLAY

Season 3 QPs Usable for No Holds Barred Vintage Cube

Don’t fret if you end up with leftover Red Season 3 QPs – you'll be able to use them as free entries into our No Holds Barred Vintage Cube which goes live on November 27. Each entry will cost 10 Season 3 QPs – the red ones (normal entry options will also be available). That Cube is now slated to run until December 11.

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and Magic: The Gathering Foundations. 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 until Nov. 3, 18:00 UTC after) unless otherwise noted.

• Until Tomorrow – Our first Creator Season offering is from Amaz, who returns to the Cube Spotlight for the second time. The Amaz Cube focuses on creature-type synergies and more! (Phantom)
• November 27-December 11 – We'll celebrate Thanksgiving with the long-awaited No Holds Barred Vintage Cube – the variant with power to the max! (Phantom)
  • Season 3 QPs will be usable as an alternate entry option.
  • Check out this article for info and a card list.
• December 11-18 – We're still thinking over what to present during this week ...
• December 18-January 22 – The Vintage Cube returns to its regular time slot as part of the Holiday Season and as support for the next MOCS Showcase in January. We’ll provide more details closer to the holidays. (Phantom)

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:

• November 27-December 11 – No Holds Barred Vintage Cube
• December 18-January 22 – Vintage Cube for the Holiday Season

AROUND THE WEB

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!

EVENT UPDATES 

Magic: The Gathering Foundations On Sale Now!

It’s already time for another new set! Click here for more details on the Foundations expansion. Highlights include:

• FDN Premium Booster for $5.99 USD – includes five rare/mythic cards and eight foils (some are both!)
• Wall of Roots Fixed!
• Commander Corner, Treasure Chest Updates, and more

Redemption Corner

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

Bloomburrow redemption sets (both regular and foil-for-regular) are now on sale. As a reminder, we announced changes to the Redemption Program starting with Bloomburrow – read all about it in this article.

Duskmourn: House of Horror redemption tokens are also now available in the Store.

Finally, Magic: The Gathering Foundations is not a redeemable set – redemptions will resume with Aetherdrift.

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.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – December 11, 9 a.m.-Noon PT

The next scheduled maintenance is set for Wednesday, December 11 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT (17:00-20:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Magic: The Gathering Foundations.