Magic Online Weekly Announcements, May 21, 2024

Posted on May 21, 2024

THE LEAD

Congratulations Stefan Schütz, Season 1 Showcase Champion

Eight of Magic Online’s top competitors gathered on Saturday to earn their share of $70,000 and two invitations to this year’s World Championship. In the end, Yawgmoth ruled the day!

The day began with Vintage Cube, and veteran Sam Rolph had the hot hand. Sam defeated Anton Samoshin of Kazakhstan in the pod finals to lock up a seat in the Championship round.

In the Modern rounds, the field’s 2 Golgari Yawgmoth decks met in the pod finals. Stefan Schütz of Austria defeated Argentina’s Martin Quiroga.

Then in the Championship round, Stefan completed an undefeated day in Modern (after a winless run through Cube) by besting Sam’s Amulet Titan deck in two games.

Stefan Schütz took home $20,000 as Champion, while Sam Rolph earned $15,000. Both players will appear in Las Vegas at World Championship 30 in October!

The MTGO game team thanks all 8 Showcase competitors, our talented team of casters, and the exceptional behind-the-scenes production team for a great event!

If you want to be part of the next Showcase in September, click the Premier Play Information link at the top to learn more.

Congratulations Arya Karamchandani, MTGO Masters Season 1 Champion

The four Magic celebrities remaining from the original group of 16 battled for bragging rights, an exclusive avatar, and more in the finals of MTGO Masters Season 1. In the end, the two members of the Play Design team – Arya Karamchandani with Amulet Titan, and Carmen Klomparens on Temur Prowess – faced off in the Finals.

In the end, Arya took the glory and the title of Season 1 Champion!

We’d like to thank all 16 players in this MTGO Masters season, as well as our hosting team of Anuraag Das and Will Hall (aided as always by production whiz Jordan Baker). We have more broadcasts in the works, so stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks!

NEW THIS WEEK

MTGO’s Closed Beta Program Returns!

Want to help us squish bugs and test card functionality while getting a first look at the newest set? MTGO’s Closed Beta Program has returned after several years!

Our normal Cardset betas involve playing a selection of complicated cards against a curated set of wordy and weird cards from MTGO’s history. A Sealed Deck League will be available and Commander games are encouraged. The goal is to ensure we release a quality product, so we appreciate all the help we can get.

Signups begin today! To apply for the program, submit a ticket at help.mtgo.com - choose Apply to Beta Program as the subject, fill out the form and agree to Terms. If you're admitted to the Program, you will be invited to join us for the MH3 Beta round starting next Friday, May 31. If you were in the old Beta program and are currently opted in for marketing emails, we will contact you separately to join us.

MTGO BROADCASTS 

The Magic Discovery Zone – All Episodes of Season 2 Available

Looking for a fun way to introduce your friends to some of Magic Online’s competitive formats? Gather around your favorite screen of choice for our new series, The Magic Discovery Zone!

Host NileJoanRivers gets coached by an MTG celebrity on the ins and outs of a featured deck in each episode. Then Nile dives into a MTGO League to practice, ask questions, and get a better understanding of the deck’s game plan. The mood here is all about fun and learning!

Season Two showcased our suite of New Player Decks. Episode 5 features Pauper Format Panel member Alex Ullman as the mentor to guide Nile through the mono-blue Pauper Delver deck.

If you missed the live stream last week, catch a replay of that show plus all other VODs of this series on our YouTube channel now! And keep an eye out for Season 3 coming very soon ...

PREMIER PLAY

It's Showcase Challenge Weekend 

The current MOCS season rolls on, so it’s time to get another batch of players for the next round of Showcase Qualifiers in July.  

It takes 40 Season 2 Qualifier Points to enter a Showcase Challenge. The Top 8 finishers in each event earn a Championship Entry Token for the event’s format plus earn Leaderboard Points toward an At-Large berth in the next Showcase! 

Here are the dates and times for this weekend’s events:  

Memorial Day Super Qualifier Monday

It’s a holiday weekend in the United States, so we’re celebrating with four more tickets to the Regional Championships!

The Limited Super Qualifier starts next Monday, May 27 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). Players will duel with Outlaws of Thunder Junction Sealed Decks with a Top 8 Draft.

Each Super Qualifier costs either 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Ponts, or 40 Season 2 Qualifier Points to enter. The Top 4 finishers earn RC seats in the September-December round, and prizes pay out to the Top 128.

For more information on these events, click the Premier Play Information link at the top of the Blog.

ALTERNATE PLAY

Modern Horizons 2 Flashback Draft Starts Tomorrow

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen Grief, Fury, Solitude and friends battle in the Limited arena. One of the most powerful recent sets gets the Flashback treatment for one week only! The MH2 Flashback Draft League opens tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC) with the normal entry options of 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points and the normal suite of prizes for a Phantom League.

NEW: Gold Single-Elimination Queue

Also, we are raising the stakes in the single-elimination queue as a test this week. MH2 single-elimination Phantom drafts will cost 15 Event Tickets or 150 Play Points. Prizes are increased 50% in line with the entry jump, but additional QPs are on the line:

• 1^st Place: 360 Play Points, 4 Season 2 QPs, 1 Treasure Chest, 1 Competitive Trophy
• 2^nd Place: 240 Play Points, 2 Season 2 QPs
• 3^rd-4^th Places: 150 Play Points, 1 Season 2 QP

Vintage Cube Polish Pass Info This Friday

While the current run of Vintage Cube is wrapping up tomorrow, you won’t have to wait long for that sweet, sweet content! Chris Wolf and Ryan Spain will publish the Polish Pass update for this season this Friday, May 24. Then the Cube returns next Wednesday, May 29 until the release of Modern Horizons 3!

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and Modern Horizons 3. All these offerings are Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All transitions take place at 10:00 a.m. PT unless otherwise noted.

• May 22-29 – As a prelude to the next big thing in Modern, we’re running back Modern Horizons 2 Flashback (Phantom only)
  • New This Week: The debut of the Gold Single-Elimination queue – higher stakes, higher rewards!
• May 29-June 11 – The Polish Pass of Vintage Cube will add some tweaks to improve the experience.

When Is Vintage Cube Back?

A new regular feature of the Blog, this item will mention when the next scheduled run of our most popular event will take place:

• MOCS Support Round: Through May 22
• Polish Pass: May 29-June 11
• Summer Refresh: Late June TBD

EVENT UPDATES 

Commander Leagues are Live!

Leagues for all types of Commander players are back on the menu! They are:

• Competitive Commander: a 4-Player pod with winner-take-all prize
• Commander Masters Phantom Draft: 4-Player Draft & 4-Player Matches, winner-take-all prize

Full details can be found in the OTJ Set Article linked at the top of the Blog. These Leagues run until the launch of Modern Horizons 3 in June.

PRODUCT NEWS

New Player Kits Updated

Big news (and be sure to tell your buddies): The items that new accounts receive on sign up and after upgrading have changed. Check out this article as Creative Director Ryan Spain shares the thought process behind the changes intended to make playing games right away a frictionless experience!

UPDATE: Collection Upgrade Kit Available with MH3

We have heard a lot of community feedback regarding the rollout of these New Player product changes. Ryan Spain discusses the topic in this section of the article. We will be offering a new product starting June 5 that provides all cards in the Account Upgrade Kit plus the five Starter Decks that can be purchased by pre-existing accounts. The Collection Upgrade Kit will go on sale on June 5 following downtime for USD 4.99.

Commander Workshop Now Available

Calling all Commander Players: Kick-start your Collection with 2,000 cards from across MTGO’s history curated for the 100-card format – all for just $39 USD! To learn more about this new evergreen product that goes on-sale after tomorrow’s downtime, check out Product Manager Tony Mayer’s article found here.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is Available Now!

Breaking News! It’s time to gather your motley crew of outlaws for a Crime Spree to collect a Big Score! Outlaws of Thunder Junction is available now for purchase. But you can read all about all of this now in our :

• Play Boosters – including the Special Guests and The Big Score on The List, plus a Breaking News bonus sheet – and Commander Decks
• Art Bundles and two new Premium Effects – Gilded and Rain
• The return of Commander Leagues
• The usual slate of updates (MOPR, CMDR Backlog, Prestige Avatars, etc.)

WEEKLY UPDATES 

Redemption Corner

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

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is now on sale – both regular and premium Redemption Tokens are available. Murders at Karlov Manor Tokens (both regular and premium) are running low.

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 – June 5, 2024 

The next scheduled maintenance will take place on Wednesday, June 5 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon Pacific time (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Modern Horizons 3.