Magic Online Weekly Announcements, February 14, 2023

Posted on Feb 14, 2023

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information

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IMPORTANT ACCOUNT SECURITY INFORMATION

Players have been understandably expressing concern about account security in light of account-theft reports on social media.

Two-factor authentication for MTGO is in active development, but in the meantime, please remember:

Players with a strong MTGO-only password that they have never shared or exposed aren't targets of account theft—having such a password should be part of every player's account security.

Until we can deploy two-factor authentication, awareness of how passwords are stolen is a player's best defense against account theft. Here are some critical mistakes to avoid:

• Password Re-Use: There have been no Magic Online data breaches under Daybreak, but a data breach or bad actors on a website where you have re-used your Magic Online password can lead to bad actors trying the password elsewhere. Never re-use your Magic Online password or one similar to it.
• Password Sharing: Whether given intentionally to friends or unintentionally to phishing and social engineering efforts, sharing your password with any person or entity puts your account at serious risk of theft.
• Password Strength: Accounts with passwords that are guessable, short, or overly simple are at greater risk of theft. Make your password strong!

Password strength and care are the common threads here. Change your MTGO password today to a unique, complex alternative and never give it to anyone or enter it in anything other than our login screen or Help site. Players who do reduce their risk of account theft to near zero.

Should you suspect your account has been compromised, you can log into help.mtgo.com to file a Customer Service ticket. If you are locked out of the account due to a compromise in progress, you should create a brand-new MTGO account and then log into the Help site with those credentials. Contacting us via social media can help, but that generally isn't quick enough to stop an event in progress.

DOWNTIME TOMORROW - INCLUDING FORUMS & CUSTOMER SERVICE

Magic Online will be down for scheduled maintenance tomorrow, February 15. The downtime begins at a special time of 6 a.m. Pacific time (14:00 UTC) and is slated to last four hours. Both our Forums and Customer Service will be down during this time as well. If you have any concerns during that time, reach out via the Twitter or Discord links at the top of the Blog.

MAGIC 30 CUBE RETURNS TO MTGO TOMORROW

As part of Magic: the Gathering’s 30th Anniversary celebration, Magic Online is running a special recurring Cube concurrently with each MagicCon event. With the festival in Philadelphia upon us, the first return of the Magic 30 Cube takes places for a week following tomorrow’s downtime.

Each iteration features changes prescribed by the Cube’s original designer Carmen Handy. There are just seven changes baked into this edition:

The full Cube card list can be viewed on this page.

Entry options for this Phantom event (your choice – League or single-elimination Queue) have returned to the regular 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points.

TWELVE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP INVITES AT STAKE THIS WEEKEND 

Your next opportunities to earn an invitation to tabletop’s Regional Championship Cycle 3 come up this Friday through Monday.

The weekend is bookended by two Limited Qualifiers - one on Friday, February 17 starting at 2 p.m. PT (22:00 UTC), and the other on Monday, February 20 at 7 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC).

The sole entry option for each event is 40 Qualifier Points, and the top 2 finishers in each event earn invitations to the second Regional Championship of 2023 serving their country of residence (held in late spring). This is the first weekend that Premier events feature our latest set, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, in Sealed Deck and Top 8 Draft.

Sandwiched in between are two Super Qualifiers – Pioneer on Saturday, February 18 and Limited on Sunday, February 19. Both events begin at 7 a.m. PT.

Each Super Qualifier’s entry options are 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Points, or 40 MOCS Season 1 Qualifier Points. The Top 4 finishers earn seats at that same RC round and prizes pay out to the Top 128! As with the Qualifiers, the Limited Super Q will feature ONE Sealed with Top 8 Draft.

Click the Premier Play Information link at the top of this Blog for full details. For more details on tabletop Regional Championships, visit magic.gg. 

ALTERNATE PLAY SCHEDULE

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and March of the Machine. Each description mentions whether or not the Draft is Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All event transitions are at 10 a.m. PT.

• Through February 22 – Phyrexia: All Will Be One Best-of-One League (Keeper) – this has the same entry options and prizes as the previous versions but runs for just two weeks.
• February 15-22 – The Magic 30 Cube returns for the first time with updates! (Phantom) This Cube will recur each time a Magic Con takes place in 2023. (Runs concurrently with Week 2 of the Best-of-1 ONE League)
• February 22-March 1 – Our first trip back to the meeting point of technology and tradition – it’s Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty! (Keeper)
• March 1-8 – An alternate version of Dominaria’s saga returns – Time Spiral Remastered (Keeper)
• March 8-22 – Mid-March = Modern Horizons Madness! We’ll kick it off with the original Modern Horizons Flashback (NEW! Phantom only) for two weeks …
• March 22-April 5 - … then it’s two weeks of Modern Horizons 2! (Keeper & Phantom Draft options)
• NEW! April 5-12 – By popular demand, we will bring back Dominaria Remastered for one week as a Flashback (Phantom only)
• April 12-MOM Release – Still thinking this one through ...

PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE ON MTGO

The latest Standard-legal expansion, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, is now available in the MTGO Store. Check out this article for updates on the following:

• MTGO’s Art Bundles, available for a limited time in the Store
• Event schedules and improvements on how they are displayed in the Play Lobby
• Treasure Chests
• Magic Online Player Rewards
• Alternate Play
• The latest suite of Avatars

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:

• In MOCS Season 1, Pauper and Standard Challenges are never pre-empted.
• 32-Player events require 32 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 32.
  • Pauper, Vintage, and Standard Challenges are always 32-Player tournaments. 
• All other events listed require 64 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 64.
• 32-Player Limited Challenge events are 6 rounds with no playoff
• 64-Player Limited Challenge events are 7 rounds with no playoff

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

PATCH NOTES – FEBRUARY 15, 2023

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier will correctly display the cards added to its controllers hand once its trigger has finished resolving.
• All sealed products will have their respective arts displayed in Collection and in the Store.
• The Magic 30 Cube will be updated.

PATCH NOTES – FEBRUARY 9-10, 2023

• Fable of the Mirror-Breaker's second chapter ability will correctly allow its controller to draw cards if they've chosen the "Always Yes" auto-yield.
• Kethek, Corrupted Goliath no longer reveals its controller's library when they choose not to sacrifice a creature.
• Zenith Chronicler will correctly make the opponents of a multicolored spell's caster draw (instead of the Chronicler's controller).
• Mite tokens created by Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold will correctly be unable to block.
• Abilities where you "may remove oil counters" will correctly not function from the graveyard (looking at you, Atraxa's Skitterfang).
• Plane and Phenomenon cards from Planechase can no longer be in deck submissions for paid event formats, Commander, or Commander 1v1.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – APRIL 5, 6 A.M. PT

After tomorrow, the next scheduled downtime is planned for Wednesday, April 5 beginning at 6 a.m. PT (13:00 UTC). This is slated to last longer than usual – up to six hours – due to changes needed in our internal infrastructure.