Magic Online Weekly Announcements, January 24, 2023
Posted on Jan 24, 2023
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CONGRATULATIONS BART VAN ETTEN, 2022 SEASON 3 MOCS SHOWCASE CHAMPION!
The Magic Online team congratulates Bart Van Etten, the winner of the 2022 Season 3 MOCS Showcase! Bart took down the Modern pod, then bested Damian Buckley in the final match using Izzet Murktide. Bart took home $20,000, while Damian walked away with $15,000 – and both of them qualified for World Championship XXIX to be held later this year.
Full coverage of the event can be found at magic.gg
PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE ON MTGO – ARTICLE THIS THURSDAY
Keep an eye on mtgo.com - information on what’s happening with the release of the new Standard set Phyrexia: All Will Be One will be provided in an article going live this Thursday at 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC).
MTGO DOWNTIME THIS THURSDAY – INCLUDES FORUMS & HELP SITE
MTGO will be down for scheduled maintenance this Thursday, January 26, starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time (17:00 UTC). The downtime is slated to last for up to three hours.
NOTE: Our Customer Support site and our Forums will both also be down for the duration of the downtime. Follow our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord channels linked above for live updates.
DOMINARIA REMASTERED ON MTGO STARTING THURSDAY
Between that downtime and the start of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, we will be featuring the all-reprint set Dominaria Remastered (DMR). Magic Online will be treating that set as a cross between Cube and Standard – that is:
- Boosters will cost $3.99 USD, the same as a Standard set.
- Both a Draft league and a single-elimination queue will be offered, but they are keeper and cost the same as those of a Standard set (12 and 15 Event Tickets, respectively, plus the normal suite of alternate entry options).
- The events kick off immediately following downtime and run only until ONE events start at 10 a.m. PT (18:00 UTC) on February 7.
- NEW INFO THIS WEEK: Challenge and Premier events during this 12-day period will award booster and set prizes of Dominaria Remastered. Limited Preliminaries will use DMR for Sealed product – no change in entry options.
- Treasure Chest contents will be updated with Dominaria Remastered included once we come up from downtime - be sure to look for the usual suite of extended-art and borderless cards!
- Due to some technical limitations, we have removed borderless and retro commons and uncommons from DMR boosters (the slot where those would have appeared will revert to a regular common slot). We are shifting that group of cards to Magic Online Player Rewards – more details to come in our ONE article on Thursday morning.
- Finally, rarity downshifts for DMR will apply right after downtime and will affect the Pauper Qualifier event the following Saturday.
PRELIMINARY-CHALLENGE SCHEDULE UPDATE STARTING JANUARY 27
We have heard plenty of feedback from players (particularly from the Asia-Pacific region) who want as much top competition as possible around the clock.
To help with this, we are re-arranging the weekly schedule by upgrading two Preliminaries on Friday nights (Pacific time) to small Challenge events, plus adding another on Saturdays, starting this Friday, January 27:
- Modern Challenge 32 (includes Top 8 playoff)
- Friday 6pm PT (Saturday at: 02:00 UTC / 11:00 Japan / 13:00 AEDT / 15:00 NZ)
- Saturday 6pm PT (Sunday at: 02:00 UTC / 11:00 Japan / 13:00 AEDT / 15:00 NZ)
- Limited Challenge 32 (6 Swiss rounds of Sealed, no playoff)
- Friday 4pm PT (Saturday at: midnight UTC / 09:00 Japan / 11:00 AEDT / 13:00 NZ)
NEW INFO THIS WEEK: Additionally, to help Vintage players get more Qualifier Points to get into Showcase Challenges this season, we are adding back two time slots for Vintage Preliminaries starting next Monday, January 30:
- Vintage Preliminary – 4 Swiss rounds
- Monday 5 p.m. PT
- Wednesday 6 p.m. PT
TWO EVENTS FEEDING CYCLE 3 REGIONAL CHAMPS THIS WEEKEND
Your next opportunity to earn an invitation to tabletop’s Regional Championship Season 3 come up this weekend. First up is the Pauper Qualifier on Saturday, January 28 starting at 7 a.m. PT (15:00 UTC).
The sole entry option is 40 Qualifier Points, and the top 2 finishers earn invitations to the second Regional Championship of 2023 serving their country of residence (held in late spring).
Then on Sunday, January 29 at 7 a.m. PT, it’s the Vintage Super Qualifier.
The 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!
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.
VINTAGE CUBE ENDS AT DOWNTIME
The five-week run of our most popular format, Vintage Cube, wraps up at downtime on Thursday. Be sure to get your last matches in before the events end. Any unused Vintage Points (good for 1 free entry to the League) will be cleared from accounts during the downtime, so if you or a friend received a Vintage Point last month and have not used it yet, it’s now or never!
Cube design maven Carmen Handy has all of the latest updates in this article – give that a read if you haven’t already! The full card list with changes can be viewed at this page.
REDEMPTION UPDATE
Redemption Tokens for The Brothers' War and Dominaria United are now on sale in the MTGO Store. The Dominaria United Tokens are down to about one-sixth of their original stock – when supplies run out, they’re gone for good!
For more details on the redemption program, click here.
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 once on Saturdays and once on Sundays for each Constructed format! 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:
- Pauper and Vintage Challenges are never pre-empted.
- 32-Player events require 32 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 32.
- All other events listed require 64 players 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
| TIME (PT) | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 a.m. | Vintage Challenge | ||
| 1:00 a.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | 32-Player Limited Challenge | |
| 2:00 a.m. | Pauper Challenge | ||
| 4:00 a.m. | 32-Player Legacy Challenge | Modern Challenge | |
| 6:00 a.m. | Standard Challenge | Pioneer Challenge | |
| 8:00 a.m. | Modern Challenge | Legacy Challenge | |
| 10:00 a.m. | Vintage Challenge | Pauper Challenge | |
| 12:00 p.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | 32-Player Limited Challenge | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Standard Challenge | Pioneer Challenge | |
| 4:00 p.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | ||
| 6:00 p.m. | 32-Player Modern Challenge | 32-Player Modern Challenge |
Check out the Magic Online Format Challenges page for further event details.
NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – FEBRUARY 15, 6 A.M. PT
After this Thursday, the next scheduled downtime is planned for Wednesday, February 15 beginning at 6 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). This is slated to last longer than usual – up to four hours – due to changes needed in our internal infrastructure.