Magic Online Weekly Announcements, July 18, 2023

Posted on Jul 18, 2023

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information

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THE LEAD

MOCS Open Weekend – Last Chance to Reach the Showcase!

We are down to the final weekend of qualification events for the next MOCS Showcase on August 26^th. If you haven’t punched your ticket into that elite 8-player event, your last chances to score an invitation will be in this weekend’s MOCS Showcase Opens!

Featuring The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ Sealed Deck with a Top 8 Draft, this is your opportunity to spike a tournament for a big payoff.

In addition to reaching the Champions Showcase (with its $70,000 prize pool and two Worlds invitations), the winner of each Showcase Open is invited to the first Pro Tour of 2024 plus the Regional Championship round this fall feeding that event.

The final batch of Leaderboard Points are up for grabs in the Opens, and when the weekend ends the two highest finishers on the Leaderboard snag At-Large invites to the Showcase.

NOTE: Because we’re using LTR product for these events, the entry options are 50 Event Tickets or 500 Play Points. Prizes have also increased compared to normal Opens – see this page for details.

Our intrepid team of Digital Event Coordinators will also be on hand inside the game during the Opens to lend a hand if something goes awry. To contact a DEC, click the Chat button in the top-right corner of the Home Scene, choose Create/Join New Chat …, then type in #DEC and press Enter to join the room.

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

Commander Masters on MTGO August 3rd

Commander Masters will be added to Magic Online during our next downtime on August 3. We’ll spell out all the details on that set and some other special Store offerings when the set article goes live Tuesday, August 1st at 8 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC). 

Freeform with Commander Now Available

We’re particularly excited with our newest game mode – Freeform with Commander!

Check out Ryan Spain's article describing the how, what, and why of this wild new play mode, then give it a shot! And what better way to try out cards in a new format than ...

All-Access - Now Until July 24th!

Back by popular demand, All-Access is back in the Magic Online Store. The sooner you purchase it, the longer its benefit works for you! This edition will run until next Monday, July 24th at 10 a.m. PT.

Like the June version, the Mythic Event Token will cost $25.00 USD. July’s version is running a few days longer than usual to support those playtesting for Pro Tour Barcelona, the Modern-format tabletop Premier event that starts July 28.

To use the Mythic Event Token, simply purchase it in the Store, build any legal deck in your chosen format, and enter a game or event. No cards will be added to your collection, but you'll be able to play even if you don't have all the cards in your collection.

There are no Super Qualifiers during this run, so the most any account needs is one Mythic Event Token to get All-Access.

We'll remove all Mythic Event Tokens from accounts and turn off All-Access on July 24. If you’re still competing in a Constructed League when access ends, you’ll be allowed to complete that course.

Note: Just like previous All-Access periods, certain cards (Secret Lair versions, TRANSFORMERS, Battlebond, and old-frame Power Nine) are unavailable. All-Access doesn’t apply to Limited events.

ALTERNATE PLAY

Aether Revolt-Kaladesh Flashback Draft Starts Tomorrow

Next up for MTGO draft fans, a return to the plane of innovation – Kaladesh! We hope you'll have the energy to play this first-time flashback offering.

The Aether Revolt-Kaladesh Flashback Draft League starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC). Entry options are 10 Event Tickets, 100 Play Points, or you can enter with 2 Event Tickets combined with either 2 Kaladesh or 2 Aether Revolt boosters.

Commander Legends Draft Wraps Tomorrow

Your chance to try out the revamped Commander Legends Draft Leagues – 4-player draft pods into a single match – ends tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC).

Commander Legends booster packs – which each contain 20 cards – will remain in the Store at a reduced price of $4.99 USD, but only until Commander Masters debuts following the next downtime on August 3.

Upcoming Schedule

Here is the lineup of other play formats that will be available between The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ and the release of Commander Masters on August 3rd:

• July 19-26 – We return to the plane of innovation and energy – for the first time (somehow), it's Aether Revolt-Kaladesh Flashback Draft! (Phantom)
• July 26-August 3 – Magic 30 Cube returns for its penultimate run. The Cube’s designer, Carmen Handy, has some extra special surprises in store for this edition.

WEEKLY UPDATES

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ on MTGO

Check out this article for the scoop on everything on offer:

• Art Bundles and other items
• Event updates, including special prize structures
• Jumpstart’s return as a New Player experience
• Treasure Chest update

Redemption Corner

Redemption Tokens for March of the Machine, Phyrexia: All Will Be One and The Brothers' War remain available – except for Phyrexia: All Will Be One Premium (foil), which are now completely sold out. We’ve updated our Redemption page with that information.

IMPORTANT: As of May 23, all new orders of Redemption Tokens are non-refundable!

For more details on the redemption program, click here.

Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Live – Protect Your Account Today!

A long-requested security feature is now part Magic Online – check out Ryan Spain’s article to learn the why, what, and how to put Two-Factor Authentication into effect to help protect your account!

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:
CONSTRUCTED

• In MOCS Season 3, Vintage and Pauper Challenges are never pre-empted.
• 32-Player events require 32 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 32.
  • Pauper and Vintage Challenges are always 32-Player tournaments.
• All other events listed require 64 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 64.

LIMITED

• 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 – July 19, 2023

• Merry, Esquire of Rohan will correctly lose first strike once Equipment is no longer attached to it.
• Peregrin Took will correctly not trigger when Horn of Gondor creates no Human tokens.
• Error messages in the MTGO Store have been made more human-readable.
• URLs in tooltip (hover-over) text have been updated.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – Now August 3, 9 a.m. to Noon PT

The next scheduled maintenance has been pushed back one day – it will be Thursday, August 3, from 9 a.m. to noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Commander Masters.