Magic Online Weekly Announcements, September 5, 2023

Posted on Sep 05, 2023

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information - UPDATING IN-GAME TODAY

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THE LEAD - Wilds of Eldraine on MTGO Today!

Our return to the fairy-tale plane of Eldraine is here – Wilds of Eldraine events and products will be live on Magic Online today at 10 a.m. Pacific time (17:00 UTC)! Check out our traditional set article for information on a ton of new initiatives (we’ll go into deeper detail on a few below).

The Deck Brewer’s Pass

Our first offer of All-Access at a set’s launch – it's a big deal and a great deal!

The sooner you buy the Pass, the longer you can brew deck ideas with (almost) every card in MTGO – including Wilds of Eldraine & Wilds of Eldraine Commander!

$20 USD gets you All-Access until next Wednesday, September 13^th at 10:00 a.m. PT. Full details are available here.

Anime Borderless Bundles

Featuring whimsical illustrations by Japanese artists, 20 cards on the Enchanted Tales bonus sheet have been given an anime makeover!

Each of our Anime Borderless Bundles will sell for $19.99 USD starting today in the MTGO Store

Event Updates

Limited

Limited players, we haven’t forgotten about you. We’ve boosted prizes in our Core Limited events:

• Draft League: +1 booster per prize level
• Elimination Draft Queue and Competitive Sealed League: +33% prizes at top

Also, the Friendly Sealed League has morphed to 2 stages of three matches after a successful experiment last set. Costs and prizes have been adjusted – see the MTGO Limited Events page for details.

Finally, Limited Challenge events have trimmed their entry cost from 40 Event Tickets to 35.

Constructed

There’s a new prize structure for our most popular Challenge event on weekends, Saturday’s Modern Challenge! The Extra Large structure reaches down to 96^th place and prizes are higher across the board. Our Preliminary and Challenge page has all the details.

Even More

We’re not done – check out the article for details on these items

• Commander Gauntlet and the shift in events for New Players
• Commander Decks, Booster Fun, a handful of Unfinity cards, a Treasure Chest update, and more
  • NOTE: Changes were made to “Name-Sticker” Goblin after original publication.
  • Additional Note 9/5: "Name-Sticker" Goblin will be banned in all formats until its additional text can be added - current plan is September 13. The card will still be available in Treasure Chests from launch.

MTGO UI Improvements

On top of all of that, our new Associate Product Manager, Aaron Penfold, has his own article demonstrating some of the quality-of-life improvements we implemented following last week's downtime. This includes:

• Improved event filtering on the Home Scene and in the Constructed Play Lobby
• Right-clicking a Commander to see how many times it’s been cast this game
• Shifts in timer location and in how Atraxa, Grand Unifier works
• Choosing favorite lands for Limited and Constructed (#Yes!!!)

MTGO BROADCASTS

The Super League is Back – Wednesdays at 1pm PT

One of Magic Online’s most popular streams is back – Super League Season 1 continues every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET / 20:00 UTC). Catch all the action at twitch.tv/officialmagiconline or twitch.tv/anzidmtg. 16 Magic: The Gathering celebrities will compete over 12 weeks to determine who reigns supreme in the ever-evolving Modern format.

In Week 1, Jim Davis swept his pod. while YungDingo took three matches to advance to the upper bracket – one step away from the Top 8. Javier Dominguez and Mason Clark fared worse, so they head to the lower bracket looking to avoid elimination in their next appearance.

Week 2 features current Magic: The Gathering World Champion Nathan Steuer, 3-time top finisher Simon Nielsen, and maestros of coverage Corey Baumeister and Carmen Klomparens.

Some others competing in upcoming weeks include Hall of Famer Reid Duke, kanister, AspiringSpike, plus Gavin Verhey from Wizards of the Coast.

PREMIER PLAY

Two Super Qualifiers This Weekend

One awesome way to take advantage of your Deck Brewer’s Pass is to enter a Super Qualifier event this weekend! Ready to take on a field full of Legacy lovers and Modern maestros? Eight invitations to the first round of tabletop Regional Championships in 2024 are at stake.

On Saturday, it’s the Legacy Super Qualifier. Then on Sunday, it’s the Modern Super Qualifier! These tournaments each start at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC).

Each Super Qualifier’s entry options are 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Points, or 40 MOCS Season 3 Qualifier Points. The Top 4 finishers in each event earn seats at the RC round that starts in January and prizes pay out to the Top 128!

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

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan®. Each description mentions whether or not 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) unless otherwise noted.

• Today-September 20 – Wilds of Eldraine will be the focus. Its Best-of-One League will run exclusively during these dates.
• September 20-27 – While the MTGO team is at Magic Con Las Vegas, the game will celebrate the final run of the Magic 30 Cube. (Phantom)
• September 27-October 4 – Designer John Terrill is bringing back his CubeCon Cartographia Cube with updates to its land-focused play experience. Look for his article on September 26. (Phantom)
• October 4-18 – The current version of the Vintage Cube returns here, but it's getting the Supreme treatment - pick 2 cards from a pack, discard the pack, pick 2 from a different pack, etc. The power levels of these decks are Off. The. Charts! (Phantom)
• October 18-25 – To kick off Spooky Season, it’s Innistrad Chaos Draft! (Phantom)
• October 25-November 1 – We’re lining up something spooky for Halloween week, but it’s not ready to talk about yet ...
• November 1-8 – Let's kick Wilds of Eldraine draft up a notch and give it the Supreme treatment too! (Phantom)
• November 8-14 – There’s something even cooler in the works here – more details closer to this time.

Vintage Cube Wraps Up Tomorrow

This iteration of Magic Online’s most popular format – Vintage Cube – closes up shop soon. Get your last matches in before entries close tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC).

Creative Director Ryan Spain details the suite of updates to the Cube and his thinking behind the changes in this article.

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

Entry options for this Phantom event (your choice – League or single-elimination Queue) are the customary 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points. See you in the Cube!

WEEKLY UPDATES

Redemption Corner

We’ve updated our Redemption page with new quantity percentages – we are now completely sold out of Dominaria United regular sets.

For those who will be collecting sets of Wilds of Eldraine, you can circle Wednesday, October 4 as our anticipated on-sale date.

Information on remaining stock of March of the Machine (regular and foil), Phyrexia: All Will Be One (regular) and The Brothers' War (regular) can be found on that link above.

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

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!

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 – September 5, 2023

• Loamcaster Faun and Liberated Livestock will be implemented, completing the Virtue and Valor deck one day earlier than originally announced.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – November 8, 9 a.m. to Noon PT

After tomorrow’s downtime, the next scheduled maintenance will be Wednesday, November 8 from 9 a.m. to noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan®.