Magic Online Weekly Announcements, December 3, 2024

Posted on Dec 03, 2024

THE LEAD

No Holds Barred Vintage Cube Continues!

Our Discord community demanded it, so it’s here – the most broken, combo-riffic, game-altering cards are all in one place for another week! 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!

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...

Also, congratulation to stefanocanclini, winner of AspiringSpike’s Modern Madness tournament held yesterday

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

This Week

• Standard Mini-League
  • It’s Standard’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.
• Even More All-Access - $20 USD for 6 Days
  • Jet Entry Token on sale today at 10 a.m. PT, All-Access runs until Monday, December 9 at 10 a.m. PT
• Birds of Paradise Standard Spectacular – Qualify Dec 2-7, Finals Dec 8
  • We’re running back the tournament structure from Legacy Week. Just 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 Jet 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!

Next Week

• Even MORE All-Access - $15 USD for 5 Days
  • Pearl Entry Token on sale Monday, December 9 at 10 a.m. PT, All-Access runs until Friday, December 13 at 5 p.m. PT
• Duel Commander Mini-League
  • Wednesday-Friday, December 11-13
• CoreyB’s Duel Commander Week – December 9-12, Finals December 13
  • We’re running two Trial events a day Monday-Thursday during this week. They’re basically 5-round versions of other format’s Prelims with higher prizes.
  • Each Trial is five rounds, and those you go 5-0 or 4-1 earn a Vintage Point good to enter Friday’s Finals.
  • Like the other 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 Yorion, Sky Nomad avatar!

PREMIER PLAY

MOCS Postseason Continues 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.

Congratulations to johnmtg and FreeEducation, our first two qualified players!

For more information on MTGO Premier Play, click the link at the top of the Blog.

Duskmourn Returns to Limited Scheduled Events

Because Foundations is not currently planned for use at a tabletop Pro Tour or Spotlight Series event, we have made the decision to use Duskmourn: House of Horror for our upcoming MOCS Opens – the highest-level Limited tournaments on Magic Online.

To help players prepare for those events in mid-December, we are converting Limited Preliminary and Challenge events starting tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT (19:00 UTC) to Duskmourn. Entry options and prizes remain the same (Duskmourn set for 6-0 in Limited Challenge). You can also play in existing Swiss Draft queues to practice draft.

We do plan to convert these scheduled events back to Foundations on December 18 to help players prepare for the next three Limited RCQs (Qualifier on December 22 and January 19, Super Qualifier on December 29). Foundations’ existing Leagues and single-elimination queue remain available.

ALTERNATE PLAY

Season 3 QPs Usable for No Holds Barred Vintage Cube

If you still have leftover Red Season 3 QPs – you have one more week to use them as free entries into our No Holds Barred Vintage Cube. 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 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 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 main line 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:

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

EVENT UPDATES

Some Standard Challenges Promoted to 64, Modern/Legacy Down to 32

The community has turned out for Standard this month, so we are going to increase prize support for certain Standard Challenges! Starting this Sunday, December 8, Standard Challenges on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays will be promoted to the 64-player level – 64 minimum to fire, and Top 64 get prize. We will be keeping an eye  on other days as well for consideration as early as next week.

Meanwhile, the Modern and Legacy Challenges that were at the 64-player level are being relegated to 32 starting this weekend. We will watch them for signs to be moved back up at a later date.

The full schedule of Preliminaries and Challenges can be found here.

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!

WEEKLY 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.

LAST WEEK’S PATCH NOTES – November 26, 2024

Card Fixes

• The cost discounts of both Eris, Roar of the Storm and Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer work as expected.
• Gemstone Caverns correctly requires a card to be exiled to gain a luck counter (no more Undoing as a bypass).
• Nylea, Keen-Eyed's activated ability functions as expected.
• Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker no longer allows the opponent to choose the sacrificed permanent (this has also been updated in Oracle).
• Tarmogoyf is once again legal in Commander.

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.