Magic Online Weekly Announcements, November 28, 2023

Posted on Nov 28, 2023

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information

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THE LEAD 

MOCS Postseason Begins This Weekend

It’s time once again to qualify players for the next Magic Online Champions Showcase on January 13^th! 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 $70,000 prize pool and two Worlds invitations), the winner of each Showcase Qualifier is invited to Pro Tour Thunder Junction plus the Regional Championship round in early 2024 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.

NOTE: Legacy and Pioneer are swapped from their normal positions to avoid conflicts with tabletop’s Eternal Weekend.

If you did not reach the Showcase Qualifier stage, your chance to reach the Showcase will be the weekend of December 16-17 in the Showcase Opens – events featuring The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Limited where the winner earns a Showcase invitation.

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

Cosmium Neon Ink Bundles On Sale

MTGO debuted a fabulous new premium treatment on the Cosmium Neon Ink versions of Mana Crypt and Cavern of Souls. The time for collecting them is almost here!

The Cosmium Neon Ink Bundle sells for $20 USD and includes 1 premium foil copy of each of the two cards. Five different neon colors are available – one will be selected at random, then both cards of that color will be added to your Collection. Red is the rarest at 10%, then purple (15%), blue (20%), green (25%), and yellow is most common (30%).

This Bundle goes on sale in the MTGO Store starting next Monday, November 27 at 10 a.m. Pacific time (18:00 UTC) and will be available until the release of Murders at Karlov Manor in February. Cards obtained from this Bundle will not appear in Treasure Chests nor be available to use in any forms of All-Access.

Tri-Color Cosmium Card Giveaway Later This Week

Time has officially run out to enter the giveaway for the 100 Tri-Color Cosmium Neon Ink cards. We’ll select and notify winners later this week!

MTGO BROADCASTS

The AlphaFrog Invitational Begins Today!

A popular stream for watching Pro players try their hand at an Alt-Vintage Cube is coming to the MTGO Twitch channel starting this week! Designed by Gavin Thompson-Exner – AlphaFrog himself – the Cube has been a place for some of the biggest names in Magic to show off, goof around, and compete against their peers.

Every Tuesday at 1 p.m. PT (21:00 UTC), a single pod of eight will draft and then battle on stream. Gavin will be joined by Anuraag Das for the commentary. The four survivors with winning records after three rounds will be invited back the next week to take on new challengers. This eight-part limited series runs until January 23^rd, so mark your calendar!

Today’s first episode is literally stacked with talent – TWO World Champions, Two Hall-of-Famers, Three PT-Level Event Winners, and the Super League Champion. Just look at these names:

Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, Nathan Steuer, Luis Scott-Vargas, Reid Duke, Eli Kassis, Luis Salvatto, Kyle Rose, and Corey Baumeister – what a group!

On top of that, this will be our Spotlight Cube in Magic Online for two weeks starting next Wednesday, December 6 – mimic the Pros or forge your own path.

Check out Gavin’s article now laying out the history of the Cube, the archetypes and combos, and the full list will be presented. Get Hyped for the AlphaFrog Cube!

PREMIER PLAY 

End of MOCS QP Season Approaching

The cutoff to earn MOCS Qualifier Points for this season is tomorrow, November 29 at 9 a.m. Pacific time (17:00 UTC). As a reminder, leftover Season 3 QPs will be usable to enter Vintage Cube during its Holidays run from December 20-January 3.

MOCS Last Chance Events Wrapping Up

Did you fall just short of a Top 8 Showcase Challenge finish? Did you scrape together that 39^th and 40^th Qualifier Point at the last second? If so, your ticket to the upcoming Showcase Qualifiers could be earned in a Last Chance Event!

Until 9 a.m. PT tomorrow, all Preliminaries in Modern, Legacy, Standard, and Pioneer convert to Last Chance Events. Finish with a 5-0 record in that event to earn an Entry Token to that format’s Showcase Qualifier in December.

Entry options require both 40 Qualifier Points plus either 30 Event Tickets or 300 Play Points.

Here’s the schedule of remaining Last Chance Events this round:

*indicates next-day

Last Chance Events pre-empt Preliminaries of the same format normally scheduled at those times.

Click the Premier Play Information link at the top of this Blog for full Last Chance Event details.

Premier Play Schedule through March Now Live

We have now filled in event dates and times for the next season of MOCS and Regional Championship qualifying on the Premier Play calendar. This includes a Week of Super Qualifiers over the holidays that will cover the end of one RC qualifying season and the start of the next season.

NOTE: Some previously announced events have been moved or qualify for a different RC.

The 2024 MOCS Season will be unchanged from the 2023 Season in its basic structure. We have been very pleased with the overall increase in participation this year and we want to stick to a winning formula – thank you to the thousands of players who’ve taken part in our Premier Play!

To reflect this, we have updated the Premier Play URLs to remove 2023 – no need to worry, your existing bookmarks will link just fine.

EVENTS UPDATE

Sunday Pauper Challenge Promoted to 64-Player Level

Our Pauper community has shown up consistently for the Sunday Challenge event at 10 a.m. PT (18:00 UTC). To reward this and encourage growth, the Sunday Pauper Challenge will jump up to the 64-player event structure starting this week – 64 players will be required to fire the event, and prizes will pay down to 64^th place!

UI IMPROVEMENT 

Pop Out the Prompt Box! 

Have you ever wanted an easier way to tell what to do next? For most of MTGO’s existence, the Prompt Box has been hanging out on the left side of the screen displaying the action needed to progress the game. Starting with tomorrow’s patch, that box will become an item that can be popped out and moved to a different portion of the screen. 

To do this, hover over the Prompt Box and a pop-out arrow will appear – similar to the Game Log and Chat windows         

The resulting window will float onto the battlefield – from where you can move it. Maybe it works better for you in the bottom-right corner of your view. Perhaps you’re a streamer and want to more easily re-arrange the display of the game – here's another tool for that! It can also be popped back into its original position if you decide that’s best. 

ALTERNATE PLAY 

Supreme Masters Draft Starts Tomorrow

We’ve got a treat for this week – it's Supreme Masters Draft! This Phantom experience starts with a single-player draft. Select two cards, then that pack goes away. Repeat that until you have 36 cards in your pool, build a draft deck, then play up to three matches.

The gimmick here is that we’re drafting all Horizons, Masters, Remasters, and “Event” sets released in paper (sorry Masters Edition I-IV – not this time).

Entry options are 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points, and prizes are the same as normal Phantom Leagues. Each entry will see one booster from each of the following sets (cards won’t be added to Collections):

• Modern Horizons
• Modern Horizons 2
• Modern Masters
• Modern Masters 2015
• Modern Masters 2017
• Iconic Masters
• Eternal Masters
• Ultimate Masters
• Vintage Masters
• Double Masters
• Double Masters 2022
• Dominaria Remastered
• Tempest Remastered
• Time Spiral Remastered
• Masters 25
• Hour of Devastation
• War of the Spark
• March of the Machine

It’s gonna be a little weird, but it’s bound to be powerful and fun!

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and Murders at Karlov Manor. Each description mentions whether 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 (18:00 UTC) unless otherwise noted.

• November 29-December 6 – The two-pick-and-toss-em format returns – it’s Supreme Masters Draft! Encompassing 18 packs that span most Modern-era Masters sets, all the Remastereds, both Horizons, and the three event sets (Hour of Devastation, War of the Spark, March of the Machine), the power level of this League will be very high. (Phantom)
• December 6-20 – The Cube Spotlight shifts to one of the top Cubes played on streams – Gavin Thompson-Exner's AlphaFrog Cube! This alt-Vintage Cube zigs where the regular Cube zags. (Phantom)
• December 20-January 24 – Vintage Cube returns for the Holidays Festival! Like last year, this will be a five-week run that supports competitors testing for the MOCS Season 3 Showcase (Jan. 13, twitch.tv/officialmagiconline & twitch.tv/magic). Creative Director Ryan Spain will have a whole new package of changes ready to delight all MTGO players. (Phantom)
• January 17-February 6 – Ravnica Remastered will be in the spotlight with a Draft League that overlaps the last week of Vintage Cube. (Keeper)

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:

• Current Cube version: 64-Player Events only until tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. PT (17:30 UTC)
  • Check the event listings inside the game for times
• Alternate Vintage Cube: AlphaFrog Cube December 6-20
• Refreshed Cube: Holidays Festival 2023 starting December 20

WEEKLY UPDATES 

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan® on Magic Online​

It's time to descend below the surface of our tropical plane and discover a wondrous world! The Lost Caverns of Ixalan® is now live on MTGO. Check out our traditional set article for full information:

• The Jurassic World Bundle
  • 20 All-New Cards & 12 Lands for $35 USD
• Event Updates, including news on how to use leftover Qualifier Points at season’s end
  • See the grid at the bottom of the Blog for updates to Format Challenges
• A UI improvement in tracking floating mana
• Booster Fun, a Treasure Chest update, and more
• A companion article about our new Premium looks

Redemption Corner

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

WIlds of Eldraine redemption tokens are now available in the MTGO Store. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is currently slated to go on-sale the first week of December – exact date TBD.

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

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:

• The number in the title represents the minimum fire size and the lowest place to receive prizes.
• In MOCS Season 1, Standard and Pauper Challenges are never pre-empted.
• 32-Player Limited Challenge events are 6 rounds with no playoff

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

PATCH NOTES – November 29, 2023 

Quality-of-Life Improvements 

• Duel Scene | The Prompt Box will be movable and dockable like the Chat, Game Log, and other windows (see UI Improvements section above) 
• Collection | Foil cards will no longer display mismatched art 
• Chat notifications from non-Buddies will no longer appear when the In-Game Chat: Allow Only Buddies box is checked 

Card Fixes 

• Sliver tokens from Sliver Hive will correctly only trigger abilities once 
• Sacred Ground will correctly not trigger on actions not controlled by an opponent (legend rule, combat damage, etc) 
• Bronzebeak Foragers’ activated ability will work as expected 
• Creatures granted Clever Conjurer’s ability via Agatha’s Soul Cauldron will correctly be able to target themselves 

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – January 17, 2024, 9 a.m. to Noon PT 

The next scheduled maintenance will be Wednesday, January 17 from 9 a.m. to noon PT (17:00-20:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Ravnica Remastered.